Epaper_22-12-31 ISB

SENIOR c vil an and mi itar y leaders on Friday reiterated the resolve to respond with full force to those who challenge the countr y wh le terming terrorists the enem es of Pakistan – at the meeting of National Security Committee (NSC) – the h ghest decision-making forum on foreign policy and national security

According to a statement issued by the Pr me Minister s Off ce (PMO) after the moot Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the NSC meeting, which reviewed the countr y ’s economic and security situation with special focus on recent spate of terror st attacks

The federal m nisters, ser vice ch efs and heads of inte ligence agencies attended the meeting Finance Minister Ishaq Dar briefed the partic pants about the economic situation and challenges of the countr y and briefed the partic pants about the econom c strategy and the measures adopted by the government Dur ng the meeting the heads of inte ligence institutions gave a detailed br efing to the participants on the law and order situation in the countr y, the recent wave of terrorism, and steps to tackle it Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rab-

ban Khar briefed the meet ng on the s tuat on n Afghanistan and Pakistan’s relationship with the interim government in Kabul

“ We are in trouble but not defaulting,” said a part cipant of the meeting of NSC The particpant confirmed that the NSC was given brief ng on terror sm, economy and Afghanistan

This was the first meeting of the NSC since the change of army command and came at a time when Pakistan s facing mu tiple challenges including dwindling foreign reser ves and the resurgence of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

The PMO statement reads that partic pants of the meeting expressed an unequivocal opinion” that Pak stan’s nat onal interests would not be compromised and no one would be alowed to harm the countr y s national security

“The basic interests of Pakistan’s sur vival, secur ty and development wi l be protected with great courage consistency and steadfastness

The participants also pa d tribute to the sacrifices of the martyrs against terrorism expressed sympathy and condolence to the r fami ies and collect vely prayed for the elevation of the ranks of the martyrs

“The meeting expressed determination that terrorists are enem es of Pakistan The entire nation s united on one narrative against terror sm and terror sts Those who chal enge Pakistan wi l get a fu l-force response the statement asserted

The meeting between the two took place a day after the corps commanders conference at the General Headquarters where the surge in terrorism incidents dominated the agenda AL ArminG rise in terrOr incidents: Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the countr y has worsened with terrorist groups like the outlawed Tehreek-i-Tal ban Pakistan (TTP), the Is amic State group and Gul Bahadur Group carr ying out attacks On the other hand insurgents in Balochistan have also stepped up subvers ve activit es and formalised a nexus with the TTP

The inc dent at Khyberpakhtunkhwa Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department interrogation centre n Bannu and the botched suicide bombing attempt in Is amabad not only set off alarm bel s in the power corridors but also left severa countries worr ed about the security of their nationals The US UK Australia and Saudi Arabia have issued advisor es asking their nationals to restr ct movements in Pakistan and avoid non-essential trips

Balochistan Wheels extends plant shutdown to 26 days

g COMPANy ExTENDS DECISION TO HALT PRODUCTION IN RESPONSE TO REDUCED DEMAND By AUTO MANUFACTURERS

Baluchistan Wheels Limited has not fied the Pakistan Stock Exchange that t wi l extend its plant shutdown t ll Januar y 6 2023 The company wil have cumulat vely obser ved 26 calendar days as non-production days (NPDs) from December to Januar y Baluchistan Wheels is a manufacturer of steel disc whee s for automobiles based out of Hub Balochistan The company s clientele includes both domestic and nternat onal passenger cars, commercial vehicles and tractor OEMS The company had nitially publicly conveyed that it wou d obser ve NPDs from December 12 to December 23 This halt in production was then extended December 30, and now f nally ti l Januar y 6 Profit had previously asked Muhammad Asad Saeed Company Secretar y of Baluchistan Wheels Limited about the reasoning for the decision to which he responded that it was purely to the depressed demand in the automotive sector

The decision of NDPs seems like the logical consequence of the current demand destruct on that ’s occurred in Pakistan’s automotive industr y The current five month Fy 2022-23 volume stands at a total of 601 971 units wh ch is a 31 52% yoy decrease from the 879,401 un ts so d in Fy 2021-22 based on the figures released by the Pak stan Automot ve Manufacturers Association

The decision comes the week of Suzuki announcing their NPDs for Januar y two weeks after Toyota s decision to cease operations for the remainder of December, and three weeks after M llat Tractors ’ decision to obser ve Friday as an NPD in perpetu ty

pr ofit report A h m A d A h m A dA n i

Th e g o v e r n m e n t w i l l s i t a n d w a i t f o r a t l e a s t t h e f i r s t h a l f o f J a n u a r y b ef o r e a n n o u n c i n g a n y c h a n g e n t h e p r c e s o f p e t r o l a n d h g h - s p e e d d e s e l ( H S D ) A c c o r d i n g t o s o u r c e s i n t h e o i n d u s t r y, s o f a r v e r y n o mn a r e d u c t o n i n p e t r o l a n d H S D p r c e h a s b e e n c a l c u l a t e d o n t h e b a s i s o f e x i s t i n g r a t e o f p e t r o e u m l e v y ( P L ) G e n e r a S a l e s Ta x ( G S T ) I nl a n d F r e i g h t E q u a l i z a t i o n M a r g i n ( I F E M ) A n d , t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t i s l k e l y t o a n n o u n c e n o c h a n g e i n p e t r o l a n d d i e s e l p r i c e s f o r t h e f r s t h a l f o f J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 B a s e d a t e x i s t n g r a t e s o f P L G S T a n d I F E M m a r g i n , 4 0 t o 4 5 p a s i a r e d u c t i o n i n p e t r o l a n d 9 0 t o 9 3 p a i s a i n H S D p r i c e h a s b e e n c ac u l a t e d w t h e f f e c t f r o m J a n u a r y 1 , 2 0 2 3 s a i d s o u r c e s a d d i n g t h a t t h e p r i c e o f p e t r o l a n d d e s e l ( H S D ) w i l g o u p i f t h e g o v e r n m e n t i n c r e a s e s P L t o m e e t t h e c o n d i t o n o f I M F A t p r e s e n t, t h e e x p e c t e d c l a i m e x c h a n g e o s s o f Pa k i s t a n S t a t e O l

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T h e e x c h a n g e r a t e o f r u p e e a g a i n s t U S d o l a r i n c r e a s e d b y R s 1 1 1 f r o m R s 2 2 4 5 1 t o R s 2 2 5 6 2 t h e s o u r c e s a d d e d M e a n w h i l e, t h e O i l a n d G a s R e g u l a t o r y A u t h o r t y ( O G R A ) h a s i s s u e d a n o t i f i c a t i o n o f d e c r e a s e i n L i q u e f e d Pe t r o e u m G a s ( L P G ) p r c e b y R s 1 2 p e r k i l og r a m f o r t h e n e x t m o n t h o f J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 A n d , w i t h t h e e f f e c t o f O G R A s n o t i f c a t i o n o f c u t i n L P G p r i c e t h e p r i c e o f d o m e s t i c c y l i n d e r h a s b e e n r e d u c e d b y R s 1 3 7 a n d c o m m e rc i a l c y l i n d e r b y R s 5 2 7 f o r J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3

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t i c c y i n d e r t o b e a v a l a b e a t R s 2 4 1 1 w h i l e c o m m e r c a c y l i n d e r a t R s 9 2 7 8 d u r i n g J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3

r a t e t o c o u n t r y m e n t h a n t o s u g a s r a t e i f t h e g o v e r n m e n t f a c i i t a t e s t h e L P G i n d u s t r y a s i t i s c u r r e n t l y f ac i l i t a t i n g t h e L q u e f i e d N a t u r a G a s ( L N G ) i n d u s t r y H e f u r t h e r d e m a n d e d f r o m t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o a l l o w t h e L P G p l a n t o f J a m s h o r o J o n t Ve n t u r e L i m i t e d ( J J V L ) t o s t a r t L P G p r o d u c t o n t o p r ov i d e c h e a p e r g a s t o t h e c i t z e n s o f t h e c o u n t r y d u r i n g t h e o n g o i n g c o l d w e a t h e r s e a s o n a n d t o a v o i d f u r t h e r l o s s e s t o t h e n a t i o n a l e x c h e q u e r H e s a i d t h e g o v e r n m e n t s h o u d d e v i s e L P G i m p o r t p o i c y t o b r i d g e t h e n a tu r a g a s s h o r t f a l T h e g o v e r n m e n t m u s t s t o p f a c t o r i e s o f G u j r a n w a l a w h i c h a r e p r o d u c n g s u b s t a n d a r d L P G c y l i n d e r s a n d t a k e s t r i c t a c t i o n a g a n s t a l t h o s e w h i c h a r e i n v o v e d i n t h e s a l e o f s u b s t a n d a r d L P G c y i nd e r s i n t h e c o u n t r y, s a i d I r f a n K h o k h a r C h a r m a n L P G I n d u s t r i e s A s s o c i a t i o n I t i s p e r t i n e n t t o m e n t i o n t h a t p r e v i o u s y t h e L P G w a s a v a l a b l e a t R s 2 1 6 p e r k l o g r a m a n d d o m e s t i c c y l n d e r w a s a v a l a b e a t R s 2 5 4 8 w h i e c o m m e r c a c y l n d e Govt likely to keep POL prices unchanged for first half of Januar y

r a t R s 9 8 0 4 i n D e c e m b

g S E N I O R C I V I L, M I L I TA R y L E A D E R S B R I E F E D O N E C O N O M I C A S W E L L A S S E C U R I T y C H A L L E N G E S

g C O M M I T T E E M E E T I N G TO C O N T I N U E O N J A N 2 , TO F U R T H E R D E C I S I O N S I N L I G H T O F P R O P O S A L S

iSLAMABAD

It added that the NSC meeting wil continue on Monday, Januar y 2, in which further decisions wil be taken in light of the proposals According to sources, decis on to convene the NSC meeting was taken in a meeting between PM Shehbaz and Ch ef of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir he d on Thursday

B a n k a l fa l a h c o m p l e t e s B i g g e s t 2 0 0 m

B u y B a c k ; w h i l e i f c g i v e n pa r t i a l e x i t

BA n K Alfalah Limited (BAFL)

has completed the purchase/buyback of 200 million shares the biggest buyback volume of 2022 On the last trading day on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the year, the bank aggressively bought about 54,479,709 (approximately 27%) of its total buyback

This is approximately Rs 1,626,354,661 worth of shares bought by the bank during the day; and signifies the International Finance Corporations (IFC)’s partial exit from the bank The company subsequently made the announcement to the PSX on Friday “Bank Alfalah Limited (“the Bank”) has carried out / completed the purchase / buyback of the approved ordinary shares i e 200,000,000 (Two Hundred Million) shares, as per special resolution passed by the members of the Bank at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on December 6, 2022, through the Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited, at the relevant spot / current share price prevailing from time to time during the purchase period Accordingly, since the Buy-Back of shares has been completed

The bank started the purchase/buy-back period on December 14, 2022 The buyback period was for a period of 60 days until June 02, 2023, or whenever the buyback was completed

The 200 million represented approximately 11 25% of the current paidup capital of the company and approximately 32 20% of its free float The free float represents the number of shares available on the stock market for trading The purpose of the buyback was the cancellation of shares i f c g i v e n e x i t t h r o u g h b u y b a c k?

In 2014, IFC acquired a stake of 15 percent in the Bank, which represented a key strategic alliance at the time During the buyback period, IFC sold upwards of 85 million shares, comprising 43% of the total buyback announced by the bank

Buybacks usually raise the price of a share as the breakup value of a stock increases However, the BAFL buyback has decreased its share price raising the question of what actually happened This is where IFC, a major shareholder in BAFL holding approximately 14 74% equity comes in

According to Suleman Maniya, head of advisory at Vector Securities, giving IFC a

pti chief urges masses of active par ticipation in capital cit y’s lg polls

iSLAMABAD S tA f f r e p o r t

masses of active participation In a special message to the citizens of Islamabad, the PTI chief congratulated the people of the federal capital on the IHC’s order to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold LG polls tomorrow as per the announced schedule Imran Khan was of the view that the Islamabad people can now elect their local government via their votes He said that it is unfortunate to see a nexus between an ‘imposed corruption gang’ and the ECP He alleged that the election commission always takes anti-democracy decisions to support the ‘thieves’ but the honourable courts always reject its illegal steps The PTI chief said that the ‘corrupt gang’ is afraid of the nation and fleeing the elections every time “These thieves are making efforts to maintain their possession of the country ” Khan slammed that the mafias used to trade consciences and horse-trading to extend their rule He added that the mafias have no option left after facing complete rejection from the nation

gov t decides to outsource countr y’s 3 major airpor ts

iSLAMABAD S tA f f r e p o r t

The government decided on Friday to outsource airports in Islamabad Lahore and Karachi in a bid to attract foreign direct invest m e n t a n d p r o v i d e “ w o r l d - c l a s s f a c i l i t i e s ” t o p a s s e n g e r s T h e d e c i s i o n w a s t a k e n i n a m e e t i n g c h a i r e d b y P r i m e M i n i s t e r S h e h b a z S h a r i f t o d i s c u s s m a t t e r s p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e a v i a t i o n s e c t o r, a P M O ff i c e p r e s s r e l e a s e s a i d I t w a s d e c i d e d t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d h i r e t h e s e r v i c e s o f o p e r a t o r s o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e p u t e t o r u n t h r e e m a j o r a i r p o r t s i n t h e f i r s t p h a s e A s p e r t h e p l a n , t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l o p e r a t o r s w o u l d h e l p r u n t h e s a i d e n t i t i e s f o r a p e r i o d o f 2 0 - 2 5 y e a r s T h e m e e t i n g a l s o d e c i d e d t o e n g a g e t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l F i n a n c e C o r p o r a t i o n t o p r o v i d e c o n s u l t a n c y s e r v i c e s T h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l o p e r a t o r s w o u l d p r o v i d e t h e s e r v i c e s o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t a n d a r d s a t t h e s a i d a i r p o r t s b e s i d e s u p l i f t i n g t h e m t h r o u g h f o r e i g n i n v e s t m e n t

partial exit has been detrimental for the minority shareholders who would have otherwise benefited from the potential increase in share price if IFC had not offloaded its investment through the market

He says If one looks at the total buyback of BAFL, and then compares it with how much IFC sold, then it shows that this buyback is only for IFC So it seems that shareholder funds have been used whereas it is being claimed that this is done to increase shareholder wealth The question is, why is IFC given an exit? The sponsors of the bank could have directly bought IFC’s stake if IFC really wanted an exit So, it seems that minority shareholders have lost in this kind of buyback which is why the share price of the bank has gone down normally, if someone had bought 200 mn shares from the market, the price would have gone materially up So this buyback has not created value effectively ”

IFC took advantage of the buyback to partially offload its investment in the bank During the buyback period IFC sold a total of 85,909,126 shares, which comprised 43% of the 200 million shares to be bought back by the bank

It started selling its shares on December 14th, then continued on 15th, 16th, 19th, and

finally on 27th Before IFC sold its shares, the BAFL share price was Rs 32 50 After closing on December 19th the share price dropped to Rs 30 05 The share price then slightly dropped below Rs 30 and stayed below for the next two weeks By the end of the week on Friday, when BAFL bought its last chunk of 54 million shares, the share price marginally crossed above 30 to finally close at Rs 30 14

IFC shareholding as at 31 December 2021 was 261,895,095 shares or 14 74% shareholding After IFC sold 85,909,126 shares during the buyback period (approximately 32 8% of its shares), it is now left with 175,985,969 shares When the shares bought back are finally cancelled by the bank, IFC s new shareholding will be 11 15% This still makes IFC a significant shareholder in the bank BAFL new total paid up shares 1 577 165 119 BAFL’s new free float will be 422,007,792 or 26 75% W h y e x i t t h r o u g h a b u y b a c k?

The head of research at a brokerage firm explains on the condition of anonymity that IFC exited through a buy back due to FX outflow restrictions “SBP apparently did not allow direct buyback so they went

through this route The SBP probably did not allow a direct buyback fearing dollar outflows

He adds that even though IFC has exited BAFL, it is likely that they may find it hard to take the money out of Pakistan and will reinvest In november IFC proposed to invest in an unfunded risk participation facility of up to $200 million with Standard Chartered (Pakistan) Limited (SCBPL)

Following this, on november 15 the IFC announced a new $225 million venture capital platform to strengthen venture capital ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies addressing development challenges through technological innovations in climate, health care, education, agriculture, e-commerce, and other sectors in Africa Middle East Central Asia, and Pakistan

IFC may be exiting BAFL as their views on sector allocation may have changed,” says Fahad Rauf Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities

The BAFL buy-back was the fifth such announcement by a listed company in 2022 It started with nETSOL in May (2 million), followed by Maple Leaf Cement (25 million) then Lucky Cement (10 million), JDW Sugar Mills (2 million), then BAFL (200 million), and finally EnGRO (70 million)

During the year, the share prices of many profitable and established companies took a huge hit This made their valuations attractive But due to a lack of institutional and foreign investors in the market, the sponsors of these companies decided to take advantage of the decline in share prices and buy back their own companies’ shares

Faysal Bank branches now 100pc Islamic

Faysal Bank has completed its transition to a complete Islamic bank after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued FBL an Islamic Banking License In one fell-swoop, the license has made Faysal the second largest full-fledged Islamic Bank in Pakistan

FBL, named after Mohammaed bin Faisal Al Saud, a Saudi Prince and businessman started its operations in Pakistan back in 1987 Incorporated in 1994 as a public limited company, the bank continued to expand its footprint in Pakistan as a commercial bank

In 2015 FBL announced its decision to convert itself into a full fledged Islamic bank At the time it already had the second largest Islamic banking window in the country with 53 standalone branches Faysal Bank currently has 639 branches that have all been converted to Islamic branches

“Conversion of Faysal Bank is first of its kind in the banking history of Pakistan This is a groundbreaking accomplishment not only for the bank, but also for Pakistan’s Islamic banking industry,” said

On April 28, the Shariat Court announced a verdict in a long-pending, declaring the prevailing interest-based banking system as against the Shariah and directed the government to facilitate all loans under an interest-free system The court had instructed the government to make laws within five years with regard to the implementation of Islamic banking within the country

The court had ruled that the federal government and provincial governments must amend relevant laws and issued directives that the country’s banking system should be free of interest by December 2027 Faysal Bank’s conversion from a conventional bank to a full fledged Islamic bank adds pressure on other conventional banks in the country that have appealed the court’s decision a s h i f t i n b a n k i n g Even before the Shariat Court verdict, a sizable shift had been observed towards Islamic Banking in Pakistan According to data from the State Bank of Pakistan and Profit’s analysis of the

financial statements of every single bank in the country, it accounts for about 20% of net new deposits between 2002 and 2019 Crucially for the industry, net new Islamic banking deposits hit approximately 30-35% of total industry net new deposits

And the rise has only grown since then Islamic banking assets reached around 19 5% of total assets as of end June 2022 while share of deposits reached 20 5%

On a year on year basis, assets and deposits of Islamic Banking institutions were up by 41 4% and 27 0%, respectively by end June, 2022 The country currently has 22 Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) with a branch network of 4,086 branches, including 1 463 windows spread across 129 districts that provide Shariah compliant banking services IBIs include 5 full-fledged Islamic banking and 17 Islamic banking windows of conventional banks In the inaugural SBP Governor s report released this year, Governor Jameel Ahmed noted the growth of the Islamic Banking industry in Pakistan The Islamic banking industry has made

significant contributions to the overall growth of the banking sector during the review period Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) have shown more accelerated growth and better performance in recent years as compared to conventional banking segment, which reflects the acceptability of Islamic banking and its potential to promote financial inclusion , reads the report h o W h a s t h e i s l a m i c b a n k i n g i n d u s t ry b e e n g r o W i n g?

Following a change in Faysal Bank’s status, the country currently has 22 Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) with a branch network of 4 086 branches, including 1,463 windows spread across 129 districts that provide Shariah compliant banking services IBIs include 6 full-fledged Islamic banking and 16 Islamic banking windows of conventional banks

Islamic banking assets reached around 19 5% of total assets as of end June 2022 while share of deposits reached 20 5% On a year on year basis, assets and deposits of Islamic Banking institutions were up by 41 4% and 27 0%, respectively by end June, 2022

C e l l u l a r s e r v i c e s o f f i n G w a d a r f o r f i f t h d a y

QUETTA

Cellular services and mobile networks on Friday remained suspended in Gwadar for the fifth consecutive day as business centres and shops in the city remained shut on the call of an organisation, which has been leading protests and sit-ins there for over the last one month against “illegal fishing through trawlers” and “unnecessary check posts”

Led by Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, the Gwadar Rights Movement (GRM) has also been demanding easing trade with neighbouring Iran

However, the Gwadar deputy commissioner claimed that normalcy had returned to the city

He added that people had started reopening their shops and business centres People rejected the miscreants and elements disrupting the traditional peace of Gwadar”, the deputy commissioner said in an official

handout issued on Friday evening

Despite repeated attempts, no contact could be established with the GRM chief

Police also arrested a journalist Obaidullah along with his three sons in Gwadar Sources said the police later released the three sons but the journalist was still under the custody till the filing of this report

Security was tightened in and around Gwadar and baton-wielding policemen were deployed to maintain law and order However no untoward incident was reported on Friday because of the increased security

A court in Turbat, the headquarters of the Kech district of Makran division of Balochistan released GRM activists Waseem Safar and Sibghatullah

The police had arrested them over charges of inciting violence in the district

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziallah Langove, while addressing a new conference a day earlier, accused the GRM chief of inciting violence against the

government and administration

He was accompanied by Parliamentary Secretary of Information Mitha Khan Kakar, Inspector General of Police Abdul Khaliq Sheikh and other high-level officials “The [provincial] government [has already] accepted 42 demands of the GRM, Langove claimed

He added that the provincial government was committed to address the issues faced by the residents of Gwadar He further claimed that the government had restrained the law enforcement agencies from using force against the protesters The Balochistan government has also imposed Section 144 on pillion riding and the display of weapons in Gwadar to maintain law and order GRM chief Hidayatur Rehman has accused the provincial government of depriving the fisherfolk of their daily bread by allowing the illegal fishing and trawling in the Arabian sea

However, the provincial government has repeatedly contradicted these claims

PTI kicks off protest drive against back-breaking inflation, sinking economy today

iSLAMABAD

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) finalized a well-conceived strategy to launch protest movement in major cities across the country against the back-breaking inflation and sinking economy, which would be commenced from today (Saturday)

The public miseries were increasing with each passing day due to flawed economic

policies of the inapt imported government

As per the set plan the PTI would start its massive protest rally drive against skyrocketing inflation from Gujranwala on December 31, which would be culminated in Sialkot on January 16

On January 1, major protest rallies would be taken out in Lahore from Azadi Chowk to Choburji Chowk, Multan, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad against increase in prices of daily use commodities at

breakneck speed Similarly, on January 2, a massive protest rally against unbridled price hike would be held in Shahr-e-Iqbal, Sialkot Likewise, PTI would hold protest rally in Attock on January 3 As per the set plan, on January 4 and 5, protest demonstrations against inflation and dwindling economy would be held in Jhelum On January 6, PTI would hold protest demonstration in DG Khan and on January 7 in Sheikhupura On January 8, a protest rally against

inflation would be organized from Thokar niaz Baig to Chungi Ferozepur Road in Lahore and similar protest demonstrations would also be held in Multan, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi on the same day

According to the schedule plan, protest demonstration would be held in Sialkot on January 9 and in Gujarat on January 10 against the imported government for compounding the public miseries manifolds

Moreover, anti-inflation protests would

be held in Jhelum on January 11, Gujranwala on January 12 Sahiwal on January 13 and Bahawalpur on January 14

Massive protest demonstrations would be held in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi on January 15

According to the pan, the last protest demonstration against the inflation would be held in Sialkot on January 16 A large number of people would participate in the protests against inflation across the country

Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Friday hailed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order regarding the Islamabad local government (LG) polls and urged

Governor SBP Jameel Ahmed W h y i s t h i s c o n v e r s i o n s i g n i f i c a n t f o r o t h e r b a n k

penalt y reduced to rs25m: sc upholds ccp ‘carteliz ation verdict’ against ppa

tH E Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday

decided the civil appeal filed by Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) against the judgment of Competition Commission Appellate Tribunal, that upheld the Order of CCP dated 29 February 2016 with respect to price fixing in contravention of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had imposed a fine of Rs100 million on the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) for price fixing of poultry products, in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010

The Supreme Court however reduced the penalty from Rs100 million imposed by CCP to Rs25 million, taking into account that the said advertisements by PPA were discontinued after a few days i e after two days for eggs and five days for poultry” The SC directed PPA to pay the penalty amount of Rs25 million within a period of 15 days from the date of the Order

Moreover, the Supreme Court directed the CCP to “frame and notify relevant rules inter alia relating to imposition of penalties Currently there exist guidelines on imposition of financial penalties Under Section 57 of the Act, the Commission, with the approval of the Federal Government has the power to make rules

The Supreme Court proceedings pertained to CCP’s Order wherein CCP found that PPA had inter alia

discussed and approved the advertisement of prices of certain poultry products (concerning broiler chicken and chicken eggs) in the national press, which was prohibited under the Competition Act

Against CCP’s Order, the first appeal was filed by PPA before the Competition Tribunal and its decision was authored by the Member Technical Mr Ahmed Owais Pirzada The Competition Tribunal held that: “ By advertising prices of the poultry products in the national press the appellant has clearly prevented restricted and reduced competition within the relevant market, which is a clear violation of section 4 of the Act It was further observed that the findings recorded by CCP were “based on proper appraisal of relevant provisions of Competition Law as well as other material

President assents to law requiring T V channels to air news with sign language

iSLAMABAD S tA f f r e p o r t

President Dr Arif Alv i h a s a c c o r d e d h i s a s s e n t t o t h e A c c e s s t o t h e M e d i a (Deaf) Persons Act, 2022 under which a l l p r i v a t e a n d s t a t e - r u n b r o a d c a s t e r s w i l l b e r e q u i r e d t o a i r n e w s b u l l e t i n w i t h s i g n l a n g u a g e i n t e r p r e t e r s t o e n s u r e s p e c i a l p e r s o n s ’ a c c e s s t o t h e m e d i a T h e A c t p r o v i d e s t h a t a f t e r s i x m o n t h s o f t h e c o m m e n c e m e n t o f t h e A c t , t h e G o v e r n m e n t s h a l l n o t a l l o w t o b r o a d c a s t a n y n e w s b u l l e t i n o n t h e

n a t i o n a l b r o a d c a s t e r, s t a t e o r p r i v a t e r u n e l e c t r o n i c m e d i a , p r i v a t e t e l e v i s i o n c h a n n e l s , C a b l e T V o r a n y o t h e r b r o a d c a s t m e d i a w i t h o u t P a k i s t a n s i g n l a n g u a g e i n t e r p r e t e r s , ” s a i d a s t a t e m e n t i s s u e d b y t h e P r e s i d e n t O ff i c e o n F r i d a y A f t e r o n e y e a r o f t h e c o m m e n c e m e n t o f t h e A c t , t h e g o v e r n m e n t w i l l n o t a l l o w t o b r o a d c a s t a n y p r o g r a m m e , e n t e r t a i n m e n t , a d v e r t i s e m e n t , t a l k s h o w, d r a m a , f i l m o r a n y o t h e r p i c t o r i a l s e g m e n t o n t h e n a t i o n a l b r o a d c a s t e r, m e d i a , p r i v a t e t e l e v i s i o n

c h a n n e l s , c a b l e T V o r a n y o t h e r b r o a d c a s t m e d i a “ w i t h o u t P a k i s t a n s i g n l a n g u a g e i n t e r p r e t e r s ”

T h e A c t d i r e c t e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t a n d p r i v a t e m e d i a h o u s e s t o a p p o i n t s i g n l a n g u a g e i n t e r p r e t e r s w i t h i n s i x m o n t h s “ T h e A c t s h a l l c o m e i n t o f o r c e a t o n c e a n d s h a l l e x t e n d t o t h e w h o l e o f P a k i s t a n I n J u n e t h i s y e a r, t h e S e n a t e s t a n d i n g c o m m i t t e e o n i n f o r m a t i o n a n d b r o a d c a s t i n g u n a n i m o u s l y a p p r o v e d t h e b i l l t i t l e d “ T h e A c c e s s o f M e d i a ( D e a f ) P e r s o n s B i l l , 2 0 2 2 ”

T h e b i l l w a s m o v e d b y P P P S e n a t o r S a l e e m M a n d v i w a l l a w h o g a v e a d e t a i l e d b r i e f i n g t o t h e c o m m i t t e e c h a i r e d b y S e n a t o r F a i s a l J a v e d H e p o i n t e d o u t t h e g r o w i n g s e n s e o f a l i e n a t i o n a m o n g t h e s p e c i a l p e r s o n s w h o c o u l d n o t w a t c h d r a m a s a n d l i s t e n t o t h e n e w s o n t e l e v i s i o n c h a n n e l s T h e s e n a t o r h a d a l s o s o u g h t t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n m i n i s t r y a n d P a k i s t a n E l e c t r o n i c M e d i a R e g u l a t o r y A u t h o r i t y ( P E M R A ) f o r i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e b i l l o n c e i t b e c o m e s a l a w a f t e r a p p r o v a l f r o m r e l e v a n t f o r u m s

Flood devastation to keep economic growth below target: finance ministry

The finance ministry has hinted that economic growth is likely to remain below the budgeted target of 5 percent due to devastation created by floods

Monthly Economic Update and Outlook December 2022 released by the Ministry of finance, shows that CPI inflation will remain in the range of 2123% Whereas standing water due to recent floods, may create further problems in achieving the assigned wheat sowing target

As per the report, the average MEI, during the first 5 months of the current FY points towards a positive but slow YoY economic growth

The first four months of FY23 have witnessed a higher expenditure growth on the back of higher mark-up payments Currently, the government is facing the unprecedented challenge of providing relief to people in flood-hit areas

The government is providing relief through the Kisaan package and BISP Although the government is committed to achieve fiscal consolidation by reinforcing fiscal discipline additional spending due to flood-related activities

may put significant pressure on total expenditure

As in many other countries, Pakistan s economic activity remains currently below potential implying a negative output gap During the first five months of FY2023, Pakistan s economy showed signs of resilience to domestic and global challenges Despite facing inflationary pressures, trade and current account deficits are continuously showing improvement, which is a sigh of relief for financing challenges

On the fiscal front fiscal consolidation is topmost priority to achieve targeted fiscal deficit despite the government is facing the unprecedented challenge of providing relief to people in flood-hit areas

For FY2023 economic growth is likely to remain below the budgeted target due to devastation created by floods This combination of low growth high inflation and low levels of official reserves is particularly challenging for policy makers In the short run demand management policies by Pakistan’s Central Bank and Government are designed to fight inflation and protect official reserves and protect inclusive

growth

But in the long run the Government aims to stimulate the supply side to elevate the long run potential growth rate of the economy Increasing the long run growth trends of output, per capita real incomes and employment can only be achieved by stimulating investments in new production capacities and improving overall productivity

The report states that wheat crop for Rabi season 2022-23 has been sown on an area of 20 77 million acres The input situation is expected to remain favourable due to incentives announced in Kissan Package 2022 that will boost agriculture productivity

The CPI recorded at 23 8 percent on a YoY basis in november 2022 as compared to 26 6 percent in the previous month On a MoM basis, CPI increased to 0 8 percent in november 2022 as compared to an increase of 4 7 percent in the previous month and an increase of 3 0 percent in november 2021 The average CPI in the first five months of the current fiscal year remained 25 1 percent compared to 9 3 percent during the same period of last year The SPI for the week ended on 22 December 2022,

recorded a decrease of 0 11 percent as compared to previous week

The FBR ‘s net revenues increased by 9 2 percent to Rs 1317 billion during Jul-Oct FY2023 against Rs 1205 billion last year Tax collection grew by 16 8 percent to reach Rs 2139 billion in the first four months of FY2023 up from Rs 1830 billion in the comparable period of last year In contrast, non-tax collection was reduced by 23 4 percent to Rs 346 billion during Jul-Oct FY2023 against Rs 452 billion last year

Total expenditure rose by 26 1 percent to Rs 2737 billion during Jul-Oct FY2023 against Rs2171 billion in the same period of last year The increase is driven by a 34 4 percent growth in current spending While PSDP expenditures stood at Rs 98 billion during Jul-Oct FY2023 against Rs 207 billion in the comparable period of last year Overall the fiscal deficit stood at 1 5 percent of GDP (Rs 1266 billion) during Jul-Oct FY2023 as compared to 0 9 percent of GDP (Rs 587 billion) last year Primary balance posted a surplus of Rs 136 billion (0 2 percent of GDP) against the surplus of Rs 206 billion (0 3 percent of GDP) last year

Suraj Cotton M ills reduces produc tion by 40pc due to economic downturn

brought on record The same are, therefore, maintained ” PPA had filed an appeal against the said Competition Tribunal order before the Supreme Court

The CCP has time and again highlighted collusive/anti-competitive practices in the poultry sector First in 2010 where the CCP issued show cause notices against 25 poultry association members and imposed a fine of PKR 50 million on PPA for contravention of Section 4 of the Competition Act In 2021, the show cause proceedings against the said poultry association members also resumed after the Honourable Islamabad High Court had set aside the stay order(s) granted after a period of over 10 years

CCP also concluded two enquiries in 2021 concerning possible collusive and anti-competitive practices in various market categories in the poultry sector including the market for broiler meat eggs day old broiler chicks and various poultry feed segments The first enquiry report revealed that inter alia the poultry feed mills collectively fixed the price of poultry feed and in the other enquiry, it was concluded that inter alia the hatcheries/poultry companies collectively discussed and decided on prices of day-old broiler chicks which are in prima facie violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act

Ministr y of Industries proposes subsidised e -bike scheme

ConTinUED froM BACk pAgE

Scheme may be initially started as a Pilot Project for 2022-23 in Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore and Karachi c a b i n e t m e e t i n g o n e-b i k e s c h e m e: The new scheme was presented in the meeting of the Federal Cabinet here on Wednesday in which a detailed briefing was given by officials of Engineering Development Board (EDB) and the Ministry of Industries and Production As per an official statement, at present there are 90 companies manufacturing motorcycles and auto rickshaws in Pakistan and the country has the capacity to manufacture 6 million motorcycles annually It was further informed in the meeting that 22 companies have been issued licenses to manufacture E-Bikes in Pakistan The meeting was further informed that the promotion of E-Bikes in Pakistan will save a lot in terms of fuel The use of EBikes will not only save fuel, but these eco-friendly electric bikes will also reduce carbon emissions As per officials, the Prime Minister has referred the scheme to the Economic Coordination Committee for further deliberation and working on the financial model

turkish nav y ship conducts naval drills with pakistan nav y

kArACHi S tA f f r e p o r t

The Turkish navy Ship TCG BURGAZADA on Friday visited Karachi Port and participated in bilateral naval Exercise TURGUTREIS – VII The Turkish ship port was earlier called Karachi harbour and was welcomed by senior officers of the Pakistan navy along with officials of the Turkiye Consulate, a Pakistan navy news release said During the stay at port, the Commanding Officer of the Turkish Ship called on Commander Pakistan Fleet and matters of mutual interest and bilateral collaboration were discussed In port activities, joint professional interactions including the planning of bilateral exercises at sea, tabletop discussions on professional topics sports & social events including a wreath laying at the Mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam were conducted with an aim to strengthen mutual cooperation and integration between the two navies On completion of the port visit Pakistan navy and Turkish naval ship participated in bilateral Exercise TURGUTREIS-VII and conducted joint patrolling in the north Arabian Sea to further hone professional skills and enhance interoperability

In other sectors Fauji Fertilizer

Qasim Limited (FFBL) also closed its Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) Plant temporarily last week Suzuki announced its first plant shutdown for 2023 after a string of nonoperational days last year Similarly, Toyota also shut down production in December for the remainder of the year Similarly, Balochistan Wheels and Millat Tractors have also had non-operational days At the start of this week on Monday, the patronin-chief of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Dr Gohar Ejaz, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan detailing the challenges faced by the textile industry and the exports sector According to the letter, the textile industry was a l r e a d y o p e r a t i n g a t l e s s t h a n 5 0 % c a p a c i t y utilisation across the country The letter further said,

“A substantial number of jobs have already been lost and many more are to follow if remedial measures are not urgently undertaken And just last week, the APTMA in another letter to the Prime Minister also said that textile exports are expected to drop below $ 1 b i l l i o n p e r m o n t h f r o m J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 T h e e x p e c t e d d e c l i n e w a s d u e t o s u p p l y - c h a i n disruptions, liquidity constraints, energy shortages, and the non-functioning of new projects f i n a n c i a l s S U R C h a d a g r e a t y e a r a s i t a c h i e v e d a s a l e s revenue of Rs 23 5 billion in the fiscal year ending June 2022 This was an increase of 35% on a yearly basis The company posted an after tax profit of Rs 2 , 7 9 0 M i l l i o n a s c o m p a r e d t o R s 2 , 5 5 8 M i l l i o n reported last year This led to an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of Rs 62 89 as compared to 57 66 last year F o r t h e l a s t q u a r t e r e n d e d 3 0 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 2 , t h e c o m p a n y r e p o r t e d a n e t p r o f i t o f R s 11 4 9 7 9 m i l l i o n w i t h e a r n i n g s p e r s h a r e o f R s 2 5 9 T h e quarterly net profit declined significantly by 85% on a quarterly basis According to the Board of Directors report for the last quarter, “The performance of first

quarter is indicative of the challenges that the textile industry is facing since the start of the current financial year, but in fact began to manifest themselves in the last quarter of FY2022 After the high earnings in the 2- year period following COVID-19, the company is faced with rising input costs due to depreciation of the Pak rupee and stagnant demand due to recession in the world Due to these trends, the Company’s gross profit margins declined significantly as compared to the corresponding period I n i t s f u t u r e o u t l o o k t h e r e p o r t m e n t i o n e d c h a l l e n g e s f a c e d b y t h e c o m p a n y w i t h w o r l d - w i d e d e m a n d d e s t r u c t i o n a n d t h e d e v a s t a t i n g f l o o d s i n P a k i s t a n T h i s b a d l y a ff e c t e d t h e d o m e s t i c c o t t o n crop leading to a shortage of cotton It also said that t h e c o u n t r y w i l l n e e d t o i m p o r t a l m o s t 5 m i l l i o n bales of raw cotton to meet the shortage which will be expensive due to currency devaluation

Suraj Cotton Mills Limited is a Public Limited Company incorporated on December 18 1984 The C o m p a n y i s e n g a g e d i n t h e m a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d trading of high quality Yarn and Woven Fabrics The C o m p a n y h a s f o u r o p e r a t i n g u n i t s l o c a t e d a t nooriabad (Sindh), Shahkot and Raiwind (Punjab)

iSLAMABAD

ConTinUED froM BACk pAgE

pr ofiT rEporT

N LC p L a N s m o d e r N T o s i N s Ta L L aT i o N o N b o r d e r - C r o s s i N g s T o e N h a N C e e f f i C i e N C y

The National Logistics Cells (NLC) has planned developing modern Terminal Operating System (TOS) for all border crossing points (BCPs) to further enhance efficiency, ensure transparency and reduce dwell time

According to official sources the processes of cargo-handling and information sharing will be fully automated including plugging time and cost slippages with implementation of the system Laboratory test of the Terminal Operating System (TOS) was already completed successfully at NLC headquarters while Beta version was being deployed at Kharlachi Border Terminal (BT) First

of

Land-grabbing-case: Cour t sends pmL-N mNa to jail on judicial remand

A District and Sessions Court Lahore on Friday sent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf to jail on 2-day judicial remand in a land fraud case The PML-N MNA was produced before the district and sessions court, Lahore where Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) sought his physical remand The court, however, after hearing arguments, sent Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf to jail on 2-day judicial remand It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment team Tuesday arrested PML-N MNA Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf over ‘state land grabbing’ charges

re-

quired data The system will enable seamless conduct of terminal operations It will help in effective yard management by sharing instant information including but not limited to scanned images of containers, weighment, arrival and departure of cargo and crew members

The operational modules of the system include RFID management, gate-in management, vehicle inspection, 3rd party integration (WeBOC Health Dept etc), yard management (for parking & vehicle identification at any time), warehouse management vehicle tracing and gate-out management

The system will issue alerts in case of any inordinate delay in cargo handling and will fully configure the process flows and reports generation

Current rain to bring positive impac t on wheat, oil seeds, pulses: exper t

passing through initial stage (tillering) and will help to strengthen the health of the plant to enhance local output during the season

Much awaited first rain of the winter season will bring about a positive impact on all seasonal major and minor crops, fruit orchards and vegetable farms across the country besides it would have far-reaching impact on human health and the local environment

The rains are a blessing in disguise and most beneficial for wheat sown over 21 million acres which is a major cash crop of the season and mega source to fulfill the domestic requirements of staple food and particularly it would have a positive impact on wheat sown across the rain-fed areas across the country

Besides, recent rains would have a positive impact on pulses sown during the season as well as oil seeds including mustard and canola, said National Coordinator Wheat, National Agriculture Center Dr Sikander Khan

Commenting on the impact of current widespread rains on different crops he said that these rains are most beneficial for wheat as the crop was

The rains would put a positive impact on wheat sown in Potohar region and other rain-fed areas in the country, he said, adding that a large number of small-scale farmers cultivating different minor crops and seasonal vegetables in these areas and timely rains will help them to enhance their farm income by enhancing output

The irrigated areas of the country would also be the beneficiary of the blessed rains as it would save the cost of electricity and other costly fuels, he said adding that current rains have fulfilled the irrigation requirements naturally and it would reduce the cost of input as well

D r S i k a n d e r s a i d t h a t i t w a s t h e r i g h t t i m e f o r a p p l y i n g f e r t i l i z e r s t o f i e l d s f o r a c h i e v i n g m a x i m u m o u tp u t d u r i n g t h e s e a s o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e u s e o f u r e a f e r t i l i z e r s i n w h e a t f i e l d s H e a l s o a d v i s e d t h e f a r m e r s t o t a k e a p p r o p r i a t e m e a s u r e s t o e r a d i c a t e w e e d s t o a c h i e v e m a x im u m p e r- a c r e o u t p u t

In order to achieve higher per-acre wheat output during the current season, he said that NARC had evolved a strategy to impart training to farmers and other field extension workers and conducted about 17 training programs and trained about 21,000 farmers across the country Meanwhile over 5 000 bags of certified high-yielding seed verities of wheat seeds were also provided to growers that would help multiply the certified seed production and ensure the provision of high-yielding, diseases hit and drought-resilient seeds It is worth mentioning here that wheat sowing across the crop-sowing country has witnessed an encouraging trend, which was attributed to incentives introduced by the government, particularly aftermaths of catastrophic floods and rains during the last moon soon season

According to data from field extension departments of provincial governments, by the last week, wheat sowing was completed over 91 percent of set targets as grains sowing was completed over 21 million acres as against the set targets of 22 85 million acres

SHC seeks Sindh’s reply on transfers/postings ahead of LG polls

KARACHI

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday expressed displeasure over transfers and postings of officers by the Sindh government days ahead of the second phase of the local government elections and sought a reply from the Sindh Chief Secretary on the next hearing scheduled for Jan 4

A two-member SHC bench comprising Justice Yousaf Ali Saeed and Justice Adnan Iqbal

Chaudhry heard a petition seeking court orders against the recent transfers and postings made by the provincial government

During the hearing the bench inquired about the whereabouts of the secretary local government The petitioner said he had also been transferred, leaving the court shocked

The counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) informed the SHC that the provincial government made transfers and postings after the announcement of

the election scheduled He said several notifications were withdrawn by the government after the ECP raised the matter Some of the notifications of transfer of officers were yet to be taken back, he said The petitioner argued that the government committed violation of election laws by making such transfers and postings

Later the SHC directed the government lawyer to submit reply within three days and warned of strict action if orders were not complied with

Cg Zhao confers twent y-one ‘friendship awards 2022’

ISLAMABAD

S

Chinese Consulate Lahore has conferred 21 “Friendship Awards 2022” to prominent Pakistani individuals and institutions in a ceremony held at Lahore Gymkhana Club This year the Consulate has based on the merits and contributions of the relevant stakeholders and taking representation into account, chosen 17 excellent individuals and 4 institutions from different fields and areas as the Friendship Award recipients Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR) a think-tank dedicated to Sino-Pak relations, global diplomacy, CPEC and BRI, is also among the recipient of Friendship Awards 2022 Speaking on the occasion Chinese Consul General Lahore Zhao Shiren said that the year of 2022 almost drawing to a close, it is high time to celebrate wonderful efforts and great endeavors made by 21 individuals and institutions in strengthening PakChina bilateral relations and enhancing practical cooperation in various sectors He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz paid his successful maiden visit to China, and CPEC is gaining new momentum into its high-quality development Although our two countries are facing and dealing with various kinds of difficulties, challenges and problems on both domestic and international fronts the state of our bilateral relations is strong and will remain so and even grow stronger in the coming days Against this backdrop, the Consulate General of China in Lahore has also made its tireless efforts in promoting mutual trust, business cooperation, cultural and educational exchanges between China and the Punjab he opined “With the support and efforts of Pakistani friends, brothers and sisters of the media houses, think tanks, universities business chambers public institutions consular corps, law enforcement agencies and Chinese associations, we are forging ahead together to make things happen he concluded

102m saplings planted across punjab during year 2022

S ta f f R e p o R t

MULTAN

S ta f f R e p o R t

The maiden initiative Pakistan s south Punjab school education department set into motion two years back to prepare a generation well-versed and aware on environmental issues has won the country recognition from United Nations and the United Kingdom

“The South Punjab School Education Department received another international honor after it became the first region in the world to introduce a book on adverse impact of climate change part of syllabus According to an official release issued here Friday the Green Book” on climate change is being taught to 7th graders in schools for the last two years

T h e B r i t i s h M i n i s t e r o f E d u c a t i o n h a s c o nt a c t e d t h e S o u t h P u n j a b S c h o o l E d u c a t i o n t h r o u g h a z o o m m e e t i n g t o g e t i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t G r e e n B o o k c u r r i c u l u m a n d c o n t e n t s w h i l e t h e U n i t e d N at i o n s h a s p r a i s e d t h i s g o o d i n i t i a t i v e , ” i t s a i d Ta ki n g t h e i n i t i a t i v e a s t e p a h e a d , t h e S o u t h P u n j a b e d u c a t i o n d e p a r t m e n t h a s e s t a b l i s h e d M i y a w a k i f o r e s t s i n 2 5 7 s c h o o l s a n d t h e o ff i c e r s a n d t e a c h e r s w h o p l a y e d t h e i r r o l e i n t e a c h i n g “ G r e e n B o o k ” a n d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n M i y a w a k i f o r e s t i n i t i a t i v e w e r e h o no r e d a t a c e r e m o n y a t M u l t a n A r t s C o u n c i l o n F r i -

d a y I n c h a rg e s a n d t r a i n e r s o f 2 5 7 s c h o o l s o f S o u t h P u n j a b a t t e n d e d t h e c e r e m o n y

Secretary School Education Department South Punjab Dr Ehtsham Anwer, Additional Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries all CEOs DEOs and Deputy DEOs of South Punjab Education Department were also present Dr Ehtesham Anwer heaped praise on teachers who participated in teaching the Green Book and in the Miyawaki forest campaign He said, they started giving insights to class seven students two years ago through Green Book with the aim of making the new generation aware of the adverse effects of climate change, a phenomenon that hurt the country’s agriculture and daily life the most, recently in south Punjab and other provinces where rains, floods caused devastation This adverse impact proved fears of the School Education Department South Punjab to be true, Dr Ehtasham said adding that rains and floods have caused a loss of 30 billion dollars to the country

Dr Ehtesham Anwer said, the green book is not a theory but a compilation of stories about climate change He said that the second edition of the book has been launched after the recent floods The natural forest grows in 100 years but the result can be achieved in just 10 years in the case of the Miyawaki forest that is 30 times denser than the natural forests, said Dr Ehtasham

P u n j a b f o r e s t d e p a r t m e n t p l a n t e d 1 0 2 m i l l i o n p l a n t s a c r o s s P u n j a b f r o m J a n u a r y t o D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 T h e h i g h e s t p l a n t a t i o n w a s d o n e i n B ah a w a l p u r w i t h 2 m i l l i o n A c c o r d i n g t o t h e d e p a r tm e n t a l p e r f o r m a n c e r e p o r t 2 0 2 2 i s s u e d h e r e o n F r i d a y, t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f t r e e s p l a n t e d u n d e r t h e Te n b i l l i o n Tr e e Ts u n a m i P r o g r a m r e a c h e d 3 1 0 m i l l i o n t i l l n o w A s m a n y a s 2 6 1 4 a w a r e n e s s p r og r a m s w e r e o rg a n i z e d i n t h e p r o v i n c e t h i s y e a r, w h i l e t h e n u m b e r o f o t h e r a w a r e n e s s a c t i v i t i e s r el a t e d t o e n c o u r a g i n g p l a n t a t i o n w a s 3 1 5 9 T h e d ep a r t m e n t d i s t r i b u t e d 3 5 m i l l i o n s a p l i n g s t o t h e p e o p l e f r e e o f c h a rg e a g a i n s t t h e t a rg e t o f 3 4 m i ll i o n i n 2 0 2 2 , w h i l e 2 3 n e w g o v e r n m e n t n u r s e r i e s w e r e a d d e d t h i s y e a r, n o w t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f n u r s e r i e s a c r o s s P u n j a b r a i s e d t o 4 6 0 M o r e t h a n 5 8 m i l l i o n p l a n t s o f v a r i o u s t y p e s w e r e p r o d u c e d i n n u r s e r i e s , w h i l e m o r e t h a n 5 5 6 a c r e s o f o c c up i e d l a n d o f t h e f o r e s t d e p a r t m e n t w a s r e c o v e r e d S i m i l a r l y, 2 2 8 F I R s w e r e r e g i s t e r e d a g a i n s t t h e i nc i d e n t s o f t r e e c u t t i n g a n d t h o u s a n d s o f l o g s w e r e r e c o v e r e d T h e d e p a r t m e n t c o m p l e t e d t h r e e d e v e lo p m e n t s c h e m e s a t t h e c o s t o f R s 8 0 3 m i l l i o n , w h i c h i n c l u d e d t h e e x p a n s i o n a n d r e n o v a t i o n o f B h a k k a r F o r e s t P a r k F o r e s t a c a d e m y a n d F o r e s t C o m p l e x O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a n i m a l b r e e d i n g r es u l t e d i n t o i n c r e a s e o f 3 8 1 a n i m a l s a n d b i r d s i n t h e s a f a r i z o o a n d 2 8 7 i n t h e L a h o r e z o o M i n i s t e r F o re s t S y e d A b b a s A l i S h a h a n d S e c r e t a r y F o r e s t S h a h i d Z a m a n e x p r e s s e d t h e i r s a t i s f a c t i o n o n t h e p e r f o r m a n c e r e p o r t a n d s a i d t h a t d u r i n g t h e y e a r 2 0 2 2 , s p e c i a l m e a s u r e s w e r e t a k e n t o i m p r o v e t h e o v e r a l l p e r f o r m a n c e a n d c r e a t i n g a w a r e n e s s a b o u t p l a n t a t i o n a n d a n i m a l p r o t e c t i o n M i n i s t e r F o r e s t a n d S e c r e t a r y F o r e s t e x p r e s s e d t h e i r d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o c o n t i n u e t h e s a m e v i s i o n i n 2 0 2 3

LAHORE

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

its kind on any land port, the TOS will be deployed on all Border Terminals by April 2023 ” the official said

The TOS will provide real-time in-

formation of terminal operations to all relevant stakeholders connected with the system through their API (Application Programing Interface) for sharing

LAHORE

ISLAMABAD

Green initiative in S outh Punjab schools won recognition from UN, UK

GB to pUrchASe 13000 Mt wheAt to Meet ShortAGe

AS thousands of people have staged protests and shutter down strikes in Gilgit Baltistan against wheat shortages, electricity load shedding and absence of land reform the regional government has decided to purchase 13000 metric ton wheat at market price and out of the existing subsidy program

As per documents available with this scribe, the Ministry of Food Security and Research has informed PASSCO that GB

government has intended to purchase 13000 MT of local wheat from its allocated quantity of 160000 MT on full cost (Rs 55000/PM) and incidental (Rs 6822 73/MT)

The Ministry has approved the deal considering the weather sensitivity of GB

This is the second time the regional government has decided to use its regular budget for purchase of wheat to meet shortages as it had purchased around 15000 MT wheat from the Punjab government last year Since the existing subsidy of Rs 8 billion is not sufficient to purchase the required wheat quota from the center, the GB government has

been left with no option but to use a regular budget to meet the deficit

By purchasing 13000 MT wheat the GB government would be paying Rs 803 69 million to PASSCO in addition to the already allocated subsidy to the area

Earlier during a recent meeting with Finance Minister of GB Javed Manwa and others, the Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar had assured that the short supply of wheat owing to a jump in prices of the commodity in the center would be addressed on priority basis

According to insiders, the Dar was in-

formed that the GB is not being given wheat as per the required quota of 160,000 MT per annum for the shortage of subsidized amount as the existing allocated subsidy of Rs 8 billion is not catering the required quantum of the commodity

The supply of imported wheat, cost of which is high as compared to the local wheat, has caused further reduction in releases to GB in terms of quantity Earlier the GB government had also requested the center to supply domestic wheat to the region instead of imported commodities After detailed discussion on the issue,

Javed Manwa informed this scribe that the Federal Minister of Finance has given instructions to concerned stakeholders including PASSCO, Ministry of Food Security and Research to ensure delivery of the required quantity of wheat as soon as possible in the light of the recommendations of ECC

Meanwhile, in a statement issued here on Friday, Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Khalid Khurshid said that the imported government in the center, by cutting the wheat quota of the GB, has taken away bread from the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and food security in the province

C h i n e s e e m b a s s y d i s t r i b u te s awa rd s to Pa ki s t a n i s t a ff wo r ki n g at C P E C p ro j e c t s

ISLAMABAD

An engaging conference on equitable and sustainable growth held at LUMS

ISLAMABAD

p r

The first day of “Pathways to Development: Equitable and Sustainable Growth in Pakistan” saw prominent academics, researchers, social scientists, practitioners, policymakers, politicians, and great minds from the Pakistani diaspora gather at LUMS to discuss issues vital to sustainable development in Pakistan The conference was organised jointly by the Chaudhry Nazar Muhammad Department of Economics and the Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre at LUMS, the Institute of Development & Economic Alternatives (IDEAS) the Institute of Development Studies at University of Sussex (IDS), Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR) International Growth Centre, and Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP) Rector LUMS Mr Shahid Hussain formally inaugurated the conference and expressed great pride in the University for being the frontrunner in furthering dialogue for development He said, “The role of any academic institution is to nurture an environment where people with curious minds can pursue their goals Higher education has a huge role to play in exchange of new ideas and research For that reason, we are proud to be hosting this conference this year ” The inauguration session included participation from Mr Mueen Afzal Chairperson of the Board of Director from Institute of Development & Economic Alternatives, Mr Maroof A Syed President & CEO of Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan and Ms Shandana Khan Mohmand, Cluster leader and Research Fellow at Institute of Development Studies

Securit y of parliament house beefed up amid terror threat

ISLAMABAD S ta f f r e p O r t

In the wake of the current wave of terrorism in the country, the federal government has strengthened the security of the Parliament House by deploying Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel According to details, the capital police have banned the entry of unauthorized people into the premises of Parliament House Moreover, all scheduled meetings of standing committees have been postponed for an indefinite period Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police has decided to beef up security of the federal capital and called 1,000 Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel to assist the police at the checkposts The decision has been taken following the suicide car bomb blast in the federal capital that left one policeman martyred and 10 injured The ICT Police wrote a letter to interior ministry demanding 1 000 FC personnel for enhancing security Residents are requested to report any suspicious activity on Police Helpline Number 15 The FC officials will be deployed at the checkposts created at 25 locations in Islamabad, to aid the police in enhancing their security and checking procedures ICT police tweeted that residents are being checked at different locations, so people are advised to leave from home a bit earlier to reach the destination on time

m i a n a b r a r

Chinese embassy on Friday distributed awards among Pakistani staff working at the CPEC projects for making those projects a success through their hard work

During the ceremony, the representatives of the Pakistani staff from three projects Mr Mir Arslan Ali, from Matiari to Lahore ±660kV HVDC Transmission Line Project; Ms Shakeela Kosar, from Metro train Orange Line Project Lahore; Muhammad Hamza Khalid from Sahiwal Power Plant delivered their speeches

O n t h e o c c a s i o n , A h s a n I q b a l ,

M i n i s t e r f o r P l a n n i n g , A m b a s s a d o r

N o n g R o n g , M r P a n J i a n g , D e p u t y

D G N a t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t a n d R eform Commission of China, Mr Ying

M i n g h a o D e p u t y C E O , C o u n c i l M e m b e r o f A P C E A a l s o g a v e s p e e c h e s R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f C P E C c o m p a n i e s , P a k i s t a n s t h i n k t a n k s , and media circles attended the event

Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan should learn from China for economic and technological development He said that to ensure economic development, the country should have a peaceful environment adding “we must first ensure political stability, continuity of policies, and social solidarity because economic development does not take place in an atmosphere of conflict and polarization

He said that everyone thought that CPEC is an impossible mission But p e o p l e o n t h e g r o u n d m a d e i t p o s s ible which is remarkable

Highlighting the friendship bond

between Pakistan and China, the minister said that the changes in world aff a i r s h a v e a l s o b r o u g h t c h a n g e s i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s Wo r l d o r d e r s b r i n g countries together and the world order c h a n g e s T h e c o u n t r i e s f r i e n d s h i p s also drift apart H e s a i d t h a t t h e P a k i s t a n a n d China friendship has defied all rules of international affairs and diplomacy

He said that the purpose of CPEC was not to advance China s business i n t e r e s t s T h e p u r p o s e o f C P E C w a s t o h e l p P a k i s t a n w h i c h w a s a c l o s e strategic partner to improve its econo m y a n d b r i n g P a k i s t a n ’s e c o n o m y from an agricultural structure into an industrial structure

Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong s a i d t h a t i n 2 0 2 2 , a g a i n s t t h e c h a ll e n g e o f g l o b a l e c o n o m i c d o w n t u r n and historical floods in Pakistan, the C P E C p r o j e c t s h a v e m a d e g o o d progress

“Our two sides are committed to m a k i n g f u l l u s e o f t h e J C C o f t h e CPEC, advancing CPEC with greater efficiency, and making CPEC an exemplar of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, he added

envoy

added

s o f g o o d n e w s a r e c o m i n

r e s s w a y o f G w a d a r p o r t h a s b e g u n operation

June enhancing conn e c t i v i t y o f t h e p o r t , w h i c h i s n o w t r a n s p o r t i n g t w o h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d tons of fertilizer H e s a i d t h a t K a r o t H y d r o p o w e r started commercial operation in June a s w e l l w h i c h p r o v i d e s c h e a p a n d c l e a n e l e c t r i c i t y, a n d c a n r e d u c e 3 5 m i l l i o n m e t r i c t o n s o f c a r b o n e m i ssions annually

T h e A m b a s s a d o r s a i d t h a t t h e TEL and Nova power plants in Thar also started operations with the local c o a l T h e S h a n g h a i E l e c t r i c T h a r coal-based power plant has been connected to the national grid Six model f a r m s u n d e r P a k i s t a n - C h i n a R e d C h i l l i C o n t r a c t F a r m i n g P r o j e c t a r e a c h i e v i n g a h a r v e s t i n P u n j a b a n d S i n d h P r o v i n c e , w i t h a n e s t i m a t e d yield of 700 tons of dried chilly So far, he said, CPEC has created 192,000 jobs, 6000MW of power supply, 510 km of highway, and 886 km o f t r a n s m i s s i o n l i n e , w h i c h l a i d a

H e a l s o i n f o r m e d t h a t r e c

n t l y, China adjusted its COVID prevention a n d c o n t r o l p o l i c i e s , w h i c h i n c l u d e the removal of measures to control the n u m b e r o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l f l i g h t s a n d r e s t o r a t i o n o f p e o p l e - t o - p e o p l e e xchanges for business and study Mr Pan Jiang, Deputy DG of the NDRC said that he was moved by the t o u c h i n g a n d v i v i d s t o r i e s o f C P E C staffs

It is your contribution, creativity, and devotion that makes CPEC come so far today You are the most beautif u l c o n t r i b u t o r s a n d i n f l u n c e r s o f C P E C c o n s t r u c t i o n Yo u r s p i r i t o f hard-working, innovation, and contrib u t i o n n o t o n l y r e p r e s e n t s t h e b r a v e and industrious people of our two nations, but also demonstrates the strive and hope for a better life of our people Heartfelt thanks and deep repect f o r y o u r c o n t r i b u t i o n a n d d e v o t i o n H o p e y o u c o u l d c o n t r i b u t e m o r e t o tightening our friendship ” he said

“Next, we will follow the consens u s o f t w o s t a t e l e a d e r s , c o l l a b o r a t e with the guidance of 11th JCC meeting, make more efforts with the focus o n G w a d a r P o r t , E n e rg y, I n f r a s t r u cture and Industrial Cooperation construction CPEC will be an exemplar project of B&R high-quality developm e n t A n d a c l o s e r C h i n a - P a k i s t a n community with a shared future in the n e w e r a w i l l b e a c h i e v e d s o o n , ” h e concluded

Despite DG Excise orders, c ase could not be registered against ETO

S h a h a b O m e r

Despite the orders of Director General Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department Punjab Dr Asif Jalil, the First Inquiry Report (FIR) could not be registered against the Excise & Taxation Officer (ETO) and Avari hotel’s vend shop staff over their alleged involvement in illegal actities

According to the details, on 16 November 2022, the ET&NC Director Region D Nauman Khalid inspected the Vend Shop of Avari Hotel Lahore and in his report, he identified in writing such irregularities in the permit room of the vend shop which fell under the offense under the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order & Rules, 1979 Later, as no action was taken by the Director Region D, the DG ET&NC warned him on Dec 03, 2022 in writing and directed to register an FIR against those responsible “You were directed to obtain the explanation of

Excise and Taxation Officer (Excise-II) Lahore and furnish the same alongwith your comments within three days positively However, you have not responded to this very critical issue The nature of illegalities reported by you in the inspection report warrant criminal proceedings, whereas it seems that you are intentionally not pursuing the case You, in your capacity as Collector under Punjab Excise Act, 1914 is hereby directed to lodge an FIR under Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order and Rules, 1979 against Excise and Taxation Officer (Excise-II), Lahore and permit room staff of the licensee who are directly responsible for this criminal act Further necessary action to be taken and compliance report to be submitted within 3 days,” the letter reads However, when no action was taken despite the written orders of the DG ET&NC the DG also issued a show cause notice to the Director Region D on December 15 and sought a clarification Interestingly despite the show-cause notice the

director Region D did not lodge any FIR against the responsible parties However, on December 20th, by the orders of DG ET&NC, the ETO (Excise-II) was changed and Safeer Abbas Jappa was appointed as new ETO in his place

In this regard, several attempts were made to know the position of DG ET&NC and Director Region D but they could not be contacted On the other hand, the sources in the department termed the orders of DG ET&NC as a big step against the alleged interference of an old and dismissed ETO of ET&NC, Masood Bashir Waraich, in the vend shops

Sources claimed that despite the dismissal, Waraich was considered to have full hold on the vend shops in Lahore and Rawalpindi and there was an impression that not a single bottle of liquor could be sold to a Muslim or a non-permit holder without Waraich’s consent However, sources also claimed that Waraich s influence behind the non-registration of an FIR cannot be ignored

Technocrat setup c an be whimsic al idea but prac tic ally it c an’t happen: Tarar

ISLAMABAD

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar Friday categorically described the muchtalked technocrat setup as unconstitutional saying there is no room for such a thing in the constitution

The technocrat government can be a whimsical idea of somebody but practically it cannot happen,” the Federal Law Minister elaborated on while talking to a private media channel

Mr Tarar said that the constitution is very

lucid about it that if assemblies are dissolved before their terms, then the elections would be held within 90 days and if assemblies go after completing their tenures then the polls would be held within 60 days

“If assemblies are dissolved, then a caretaker setup would replace the government he added Replying to a question, Tarar said that there was talk of a technocrat government but the Constitution of Pakistan does not allow it The law minister also rubbished rumours regarding long-term caretaker setup and economic emergency in the country He suggested that measures to improve the

economy be made while remaining within the limits of the constitution

He hoped that the current elected government could deal with all challenges being faced by the country

To a query whether the PDM government has contacted with the PTI over the technocrat setup, Nazeer Tarar said that he does not have any knowledge about it

Earlier yesterday PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry termed the “installing a technocrat government” a “joke”, saying that such a setup would not be able to resolve the prevailing current issues

His statement comes after senior economist Shabbar Zaidi, in an interview with ARY News yesterday, said that discussions were underway regarding a caretaker government” comprising experts that could replace the Pakistan Democratic Movement given the current economic crises

Speaking regarding this proposal in a media talk in Islamabad today, Chaudhry said that the idea of sending the current government home and installing a technocrat government for 2 5 years was a big mistake

He demanded that such experiments and jokes” with Pakistan must come to an

end Posing a hypothetical scenario he said: “You will import a technocrat from the US and have him sit here; he will take a decision [then] there will be criticism [and] rallies against it, [after which] he will leave his shoes here and run away ”

The PTI leader reiterated that the best solution was general elections, arguing that if the government falls, the Constitution had a solution elections

He claimed that it was a “straightforward matter” as the Constitution provided a clearly and precisely written political skeleton for Pakistan”

The

further

that a ser i e

g f r o m different sectors under the CPEC umbrella The China-aided Eastbay Exp

since

solid foundation for Pakistan’s socioeconomic development The achievem e n t s o f t h e C P E C a r e n o t p o s s i b l e without the joint efforts of staff from both China and Pakistan

e

LAHORE

me e T i n G s of the national security Committee and the Corps Commanders have both acknowledged the upsurge in terrorist incidents in recent days, but have both come forward with any action plan, beyond the anodyne proclamation of a resolve to defend the soil of the motherland? At least both have accepted that there is a problem, something neither the civilian leadership nor the military had been willing to do it is possible that the change of guard at GHQ has been something of an encouragement for the militants, who might have gathered the impression that they now had a free hand one of the most insidious traps that could appear is any attempt to draw distinctions between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban Those who have patronized ‘good’ Taliban should accept that many bad Taliban have become ‘good’ so as to use this as a cover for militancy none should be allowed to protect a terrorist on the plea that he is ‘our guy ’ This should apply to the Taliban government in Kabul, and those who had crowed so loudly at their take-over of Kabul should now find ways of making them withdraw the support of the TTP which has allowed them to commit its depredations one of the reasons touted for Pakistani support of the Taliban was that it would lead to Pakistan being able to control terrorism committed on its soil That has not happened so far

Another development that must be watched closely is the nexus alleged between the Baloch separatist groups and the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan it will be of no avail just to hit them with force, or make a few more young men forcedly disappear The genuine grievances of the Baloch must be removed, which would dry up the base of recruits for both sectarian terrorists and separatists That is a task best carried out by civilian politicians, rather than military men who believe (and right; so in a limited context) in shooting first and asking questions later That approach led to the gunning down of nawab Akbar Bugti in an army operation - with then President Gen Pervez musharraf saying he “wouldn’t know what hit him” - even though he had always been loyal to Pakistan Though his grandson Brahamdagh, is in self-exile and is a prominent nationalist his grandson shahzain is part of the present coalition

C S S 2 0 2 2 : P a k i s t a n A f f a i r s

in and after 2017 A slew of critics got activated to denounce the amendment in order to pave the way for its reversal Through their comments, even some judges of the supreme Court also expressed antagonism to the amendment obstacles were two: first, a two-thirds majority was required to undo the amendment in Parliament; and second the sC had no power to strike the amendment down To ensure provincial autonomy, making and passing the amendment was a great feat made by political parties to improve the 1973 Constitution By so doing, the need for launching military operations to subdue dissenting voices in (smaller) provinces has been minimized

A Niazi Joint Editor

s

Yousaf Nizami Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor Aziz-ud-Din

Joint Editor

In 2022, the Federal Public service Commission (FPsC) held the yearly written examination of Central superior services (Css) from may 12 to may 20, 2022 for the recruitment of officers against basic pay scale 17 The paper of Pakistan Affairs (General Knowledge iii) caught attention The paper intended to explore knowledge and personal assessment of Css candidates regarding issues in Pakistan affairs The paper did not encourage the regurgitation of crammed information that a Css candidate was holding to express Questions asked were remarkable For instance, “Discuss the role of regional and nationalist political parties in Pakistani politics How far these parties are necessary for the political system?” The second half of the question was meant for revealing the core understanding of Css candidates in Pakistan there is a school of thought which propagates that no political system can run the country, which should be placed under a military general similarly, there are people who think that heterogeneity on the political chessboard is otiose These critics demand a simplistic political environment based on as little diversity as possible reasons for simplifying the political domain are two: first, the critics live mentally in the medieval age of the Caliphate and yearn for the revival of that era in the modern times; and second, the critics think that fewer political parties are easy to manipulate to achieve the objective of cohesion to translate the concept of unity of command These ideas are now peddled on TV talk shows, which permit speakers averse to democracy Hence, several Css candidates could be found condemning heterogeneity, and falling prey to the ire of the examiner

The next question was also brilliant “Discuss the Federal structure of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan after the 18th Amendment Why criticism on the 18th Amendment started recently?” Again, the second half of the question was meant for inviting understanding of Css candidates who must be having their opinion about the significance of the amendment (which comprised around 102 changes) to the Constitution it is true that the amendment which had taken place in 2010 became the subject of immense criticism mostly

The next question was also excellent “evaluate the factional politics of the early years (1947-58) and their impact on the democratic process of Pakistan This question was meant for exploring the understanding of Css candidates about the politics influencing initial formative years in these years even those parties (and their leaders) emerged that had opposed Pakistan’s formation nevertheless, these opponents adapted to Pakistan s reality and changed themselves to serve the country one reason for the factional politics was that the All india muslim League (AimL) kept other parties (of the muslims) dwarfed Hence, the muslims generally were not attuned to running their independent political parties second, the politics of the AimL remained restricted to opposing the indian national Congress The reactionary tinge trickled down to the muslim politicians who tried to run their political parties after Partition along the same lines embodying the term, factional politics, which then opened the path to another power broker, the martial law administrator

The next question was also exceptional, in fact an award winning question “every state designs its foreign policy on its national interests rejecting feelings and emotions Why did Pakistan prefer emotions, feelings, and ideology in its foreign policy? Also, analyze its impact Pakistan s foreign policy is shorn of objectivity if national interests are still relevant, these are defined by emotions, feelings and ideology, and not by rationality Compared to the past, Pakistan has learnt this lesson the hard way now Pakistan is so terrified that neither does it contest india’s act of August 2019 to merge Kashmir nor does it recognize the government of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul

The next question was also outstanding “What is the volume of grants, aid and loans in Pakistan s economy in the last ten years to stimulate growth? Discuss ” Who can give an overview of it, perhaps no Css candidate? By the way, what has been left with Pakistan: more expenditures (which are non-developmental) and less earning? The tyranny is that a country running on grants, aid and loans claims to be independent and thinks that it can devise an independent foreign policy

The next question was also wonderful “Why did Pakistan join Western Defence Pacts? What cost does it have to pay for that? explain ” Again the second half of the question was meant for revealing the core understanding of Css candidates about the country’s past and future Pakistan was keen to join the defence pacts in 1954 and 1955 meant for halting the advance of communism in south Asia and south east Asia The real crunch time came in 1979 when Pakistan got

The next question was also luminous. “Discuss the issues and mistrust in US-Pakistan relations after the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan.” The source of issues and mistrust is one: Pakistan tries to equate itself with the United States (US) as equal par tners, though Pakistan is a beneficiary of the US’ financial and military aid

engulfed in a civil conflict between islamists and Communists ravaging Afghanistan Pakistan made it a war Pakistan has still been paying the price of its past decisions interestingly, the Afghans are now annoyed at Pakistan’s fencing the Durand Line

The next question was also luminous Discuss the issues and mistrust in Us-Pakistan relations after the withdrawal of the Us troops from Afghanistan ” The source of issues and mistrust is one: Pakistan tries to equate itself with the United states (Us) as equal partners, though Pakistan is a beneficiary of the Us financial and military aid

The writer can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo com

a k i s t a n i n n e e d o f n e w c o u n t e r - t e r r o r i s m p o l i c y ?

Te r r o r i s m has raised its head again in the land of the pure amid attacks both on civilians and security officials on and off across PakAfghan border and within the country With the changed political situation in Afghanistan Pakistan needs to re-calibrate its approach towards Tehrike-Taliban for its wrecking destruction, destroying the peace of public creating law and order situation and posing a serious threat to the already beleaguered economy of the country it has been noticed that the Afghan Taliban are not helpful when it comes to TTP for they are their twin brothers, and also the latter is the driving inspiration from them to establish another emirate in Pakistan Though it is a far-fetched dream, the TTP is posing a great threat to the peace and tranquility of the citizens as it has become emboldened aggressive and belligerent in its demands, intentions and aims for the reason that it has perceived the weakness of the security establishment of Pakistan for its readiness to talk to settle the score Pakistan, thus, has to understand that talking to the TTP would serve them, providing a space to recruit more people to attack Pakistan

After 9/11 when Pakistan agreed to help the UsA, the security situation of the country went from bad to worse with the rise of the TTP around 2004 as a terror organization since then Pakistan had given more than 80,000 lives to bring security back to normal Despite Pakistan having gotten control of them by conducting various operations after the APs attack of 2014 where more than 150 kids got killed by militants, the callousness of our security establishment had given them a chance to rise to subvert the security landscape of Pakistan

This time around the rise of TPP portends a different message, that Pakistan has yet to grapple with, as they are being helped by the Afghan Taliban not only by providing arms money and other logistical support but also by giving them space to operate from across the border Using the TPP, the Afghan Taliban are making the Durand line even more vulnerable which is a long standing issue between the two countries as not a single government in Afghanistan has accepted its legitimacy

The strategic depth policy of Pakistan to help the Afghan Taliban though was a good approach to dismantle the military nexus of the UsA and india in Afghanistan as they were operating without the input of Pakistan or considering its geographical interests

To secure itself Pakistan thus had to keep its contact with factions in Afghanistan for it could let not india squeeze it from both the east and west borders of the country But given the Afghan Taliban at the helm now Pakistan needs to change its policy of counter-terrorism so that it could dismantle all terror organizations which are operating from across the border To do that Pakistan must give a clear message to the Afghan Taliban that it would not tolerate its evil designs against the country as it did not allow india

The attack on the consulate of Pakistan by the is-K chapter on the chargé d’ affaires of Pakistan should serve as a wake-up call for our military as not only the TTP has risen but also the Afghan Taliban in addition to many others to incur damage on Pakistan The Chaman incident, where 7 Pakistanis got killed with 16 sustaining injuries as a result of unprovoked firing, has exposed the Afghan Taliban in a way that there is no doubt they are on the same page with other terror organizations who are operating from across the border in violation of the Doha Agreement more importantly, the audacious act of the TTP to have taken over the Counter Terrorism Department in Bannu while taking state officials as hostages was some-

thing unimaginable for the public of Pakistan it indicates that everyone is equally vulnerable, from the public to the security institutions, and it sends an unequivocal message that Pakistan will have a tough time in dealing with the latest surge of terror activities from its western neighbor But thanks to our ssG commandos, of whom two embraced martyrdom The compound was cleared and the terrorists killed

it seems like Pakistan is once again at a crossroads, as its economy is tanking in addition to political instability that is halting the state from functioning properly Given the multi-pronged crisis that the country has fallen into while the politicians are fighting over petty political disputes, terrorists are making inroads into the public arena with a threatening message of arson, killing and mayhem Pakistan should form a new counter-terrorism policy in association with the UsA, as an unstable Pakistan would ultimately engulf the region and may lead to global jihad once again which is in fact a violation of the Doha Agreement

Shahzaib Hassan can be reached at They6776@gmail com

It seems like Pakistan is once again at a crossroads, as its economy is tanking in addition to political instability that is halting the state from functioning properly. Given the multi-prong ed crisis that the countr y has fallen into while the politicians are fighting over petty political disputes, terrorists are making inroads into the public arena with a threatening messag e of arson, killing and mayhem

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

M

Ahmad

S i n o - S a u d i N e x u s a n e w s t r a t e g i c a l i g n m e n t

Sharing the burden of refugee crisis

A C C o r D i n G to the United nations High Commissioner for refugees (UnHCr), there were at least 89 3 million people around the world at the end of 2021 who had been forced to flee their homes due to conflict persecution or natural disasters Among them were nearly 27 1 million refugees, around half of whom were under the age of 18

While the UnHCr is making considerable efforts to ensure the protection of refugees around the globe, it is not enough to end the ordeal of millions who get either outright rejection when seeking asylum in foreign countries or face racial discrimination xenophobia exploited labour and endless human rights abuses in the host countries

Their struggles begin the very day they decide to move away from their homes in the form of uncertainties lying ahead As per UnHCr estimates, more than 50,000 people have died while trying to migrate between any two countries since 2014 The recent tussle between France and italy over immigrants intake reminds the world of the apathy that has grown deep among the masses regarding immigrants amid the global economic downturn every other country among the wealthiest democracies, including the United states, Germany, the United Kingdom and France, is tightening immigration policies for domestic political gains But these massive economies should be cognizant of the fact that their foreign military interventions, proxy wars, funded guerrilla and militant groups have created the crisis in the first place Whether it is northern Africa or the middle east, foreign-funded infightings made it impossible for their residents to live in their homes peacefully, and compelled them to move abroad for the sake of their own lives

The misplaced priorities of the Us and europe can be gauged from the fact that despite being the biggest donor to UnHCr, the Us has contributed only a total of $1 87 billion in 2021 while it has funnelled $8 billion alone in dumping weapons and ammunition in the ongoing Ukrainian war against russian aggression

Fo r m e r American president Barack obama referred to himself as the first Pacific president The proponents of his policy frameworks greatly admire him for his attempt to rebalance American foreign policy’s focus away from the middle east to Asia Asia is considered as a prophesied center of the 21st century economy

However now it seems a failure of the obama Administration to abandon the middle east The reality is that the pivot was a failure that created a security vacuum providing an opportunity for China to seep in it is said that you mustn’t put all your eggs in one basket China in the same vein is trying to integrate various states across the globe in its geo-economic and geostrategic model saudi Arabia has long been in a strategic partnership with the UsA, however the recent setbacks badly harmed the longstanding nexus

China smelled the need and has proffered a hand of alliance to the Kingdom The UsA, which has for more than eight decades prized its strategic alliance with saudi Arabia, today finds its old partner in search of new friends; particularly with China, which the UsA worries is expanding its sphere of influence around the world

The welcome given to President Xi Jinpeng by saudi Arabia signals a new beginning, ominous to Us global designs, wherein the middle east has a special place The oil producing middle east has an exclusive relevance in international politics saudi King salman and President Xi of China have inked a comprehensive strategic partnership along with 34 investment agreements during Xi s visit over and above the two countries signed several agreements and moUs, including on hydrogen energy and encouragement of direct investment

Additionally two other summits including the China-Gulf summit and China-Arab summit, were held with leaders from GCC and other Arab states China fought for a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian conundrum everything came under discussion and endorsement except validation to any of the American foreign policy objectives To achieve further gratitude and warmth in the relationship, Crown Prince muhammad Bin salman proposed to hold a bilateral summit after every two years and transform the existing consanguinity into a strategic

partnership The saudi inclination towards China has various logical bases in August 2022 Us President Joe Biden visited the Kingdom unsuccessfully after no respectful response in fact President Biden during his election campaign vowed to follow obama’s doctrine of focusing on China and a swift withdrawal from the middle east He promised to return to the nuclear deal with iran, to end the war in Yemen and to treat saudi Arabia as the “pariah” he considered it to be moreover the saudi demand for precision missiles for the Yemen war was also not fulfilled Biden also failed to revive nuclear the deal with iran coupled with the Ukrainian war lead to an energy shortfall Consequently the UsA has to utilize its strategic stockpiles of oil amid production cuts and a rise in fuel prices Arab states, primarily saudi Arabia and the UAe, remained neutral in case of a UsChina trade war refrained from choosing sides during the Ukraine war

China also enjoys a congenial environment with Iran The Sino-Saudi nexus may help freeze the ice of rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The likely course of events would surely catalyze smooth and strong trade prospects in the region.

The subsequent Us attempts to tame the Arabian states remained in vain Consequently the Arab world seems no more interested in fulfilling Us designs The connections of the Gulf states primarily saudi Arabia, to China are vital to their economic development, meaning that Us security commitments cannot be a substitute for their economic relations with China According to saudi officials, two-way trade has experienced a swift boom which was almost 304 billion saudi riyals ($80 billion) in 2021 and 103 billion saudi riyals ($27 billion) in the third quarter of 2022

The events indicate the strong Chinese ingress into the peninsula China vows to rise peacefully with a multilateral approach incorporated in its Belt and road initiative riyadh and Beijing have a convergence of interests primarily in economic development projects and in a regional security mechanism Chinese Bri and saudi vision 2030 have mutual endeavours

Those very aspirations have received a phenomenal impetus during President Xi’s visit to the Kingdom since Chinese economic multilateralism has extended its fruits of development to more than 150 states across the globe, it is likely to be a big opportunity for the Arabian peninsula to bear fruits This year saudi Arabia has already made a huge joint venture with the Chinese government with Aramco s $10 billion investment in a refinery and petrochemical complex in China’s northeast

The visuals from Xi s visit choreographs a preceding course of partnership between the premiers of Asia and the Arab world This initiative appears to harness economic arenas and avoid either sort of binary vision of global politics usu-

ally vowed by the UsA Beijing and the Kingdom seek to further their nexus with a vision to grab global capital in the contemporary world China is the largest buyer of oil with saudi Arabia as its largest supplier Both sides have signed agreements worth $30 billion initially with prospects of further increase The most significant deal is the one over Huawei Technologies, a company which has been banned by the UsA China is also eyeing to create a cooperation over security and defence arena for a Kingdom once a staunch opponent of the communist bloc moreover the significant factor of their convergence is non-interference in the domestic affairs of each other Amid a radical stance of successive Us administrations over the issues of domestic politics, regional security and global energy the Kingdom seems exhausted Luckily it finds China with nothing to do with the internal matters of allies The former affirmed its support for the one-China Policy and the latter vowed to materialize its security concerns China appreciates the role of the Kingdom in maintaining a balance and stability for the oil prices now China has loomed up as an alternate and fruitful partner with a financial and political replica more congenial to the Arabs it adheres to the principle of noninterference and does not, therefore, link its diplomatic and economic role with issues of democracy and human rights The above mentioned arguments have been substantiated by a 4000-word joint statement given by Xi and mBs

China also enjoys a congenial environment with iran The sino-saudi nexus may help freeze the ice of rivalry between saudi Arabia and iran The likely course of events would surely catalyze smooth and strong trade prospects in the region This visit may not substantively expand China’s influence but signal the continuing decline of Us influence in the region Till now no response from the UsA over Xi’s visit however a heightened anxiety, could be smelled and that may burst out in a while

President Xi’s visit to saudi Arabia is being juxtaposed with Biden’s trip earlier in August China considers the recent activity as a maiden large-scale diplomatic engagement with the Arab world it is an attempt to detach a Us ally and further expand its global footprint Professor Dr Zahid mehmood Zahid argues that now the UsA might put its weight into the favour of UAe, the way it has already done in the case of AUKUs by preferring the UK over France elevating the status of the former and endorsing it as the leader of europe

The writer is an Assistant Research Officer at the, Center for International Strategic Studies AJK

The same can be stated for the role of the european Union (eU) which, since July 2018, has contributed £37 million from its development budget and £10 million from its humanitarian resources to support Afghan refugees and their host communities in particular through the UnHCr’s regional programmes But its contribution towards Ukraine has been £2 5 billion through the european Peace Facility for arms and equipment, signalling a more muscular eU foreign policy featuring the unprecedented provision of direct military assistance This is in addition to the bloc’s recent announcement of providing Ukraine with £18 billion in financial assistance for 2023 Although russian invasion of Ukraine is condemnable, diplomatic efforts could have averted it altogether if the big players had prioritised international peace and stability over gains of military-industrial complex and political manoeuvrings

As far as the global refugee crisis is concerned, there is a need for a more radical concerted effort by the Un, the Us and europe There should be an active debate in the Un General Assembly to reach a consensus on a more empowered UnHCr, with funding coming from all the wealthy nations, for better accommodation and protection of refugees and asylumseekers About 39 per cent of the total refugee population is hosted by only five countries; Pakistan, Turkiye, Germany, Columbia and Uganda Therefore, more economic incentives should be available to these countries to ensure the wellbeing of the refugees An empowered department for monitoring and evaluation of the entire asylum process should be established within the UnHCr for ensuring transparency and eliminating discrimination The 1951 refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocols must be upheld by the wealthier countries, and all international organisations must ensure their members’ compliance with the international customary law regarding protection of refugees

SAMAN AFTAB LAHORE

Can we welcome the returning doctors?

THere are nearly 226,000 doctors in Pakistan, as per the survey done by the ministry of Finance in 2017-18 Funnily enough there are around 122 000 doctors registered with the Pakistan medical Commission (PmC), as per its recent data some of these may be registered here, but still practising abroad in any case for a population of over 220 million the numbers mean there is at the most one doctor for every 1,000 patients on an average in a situation like this, another important factor in the equation is the number of doctors moving abroad for the promise of three times the salary better life and better work-life balance social media trends are definitely playing a major role They see their colleagues, who started at the same time as they did but after what seems like a short span they are way ahead of them in financial terms with a high feel-good factor about their lives The ones who do not leave mostly end up wondering why they never thought of such an option in such a scenario the doctors who had left the country and now want to return represent a key community The primary pull force is almost always family or parents, followed closely by culture and religion Those for whom the second set of reasons is primary generally go to the middle east for obvious reasons Under these circumstances, the odds are never in our favour All that we can hope to do is to optimise the use of those who return for family reasons Do we have a plan to do that? Hardly We are losing a prime resource that we acquired after investing millions of rupees i am sure it is not confined to doctors alone We are losing basically just about every professional who can and wants to leave While moving back to Pakistan, we were questioned by our friends and family what we would do there We felt and still feel all eyes were and are on us; whether we succeed here or fail will help many others make this critical decision most Pakistani doctors have an intense desire to come back to the country of their origin, and to their parents They want to show their children the love family and cultural values they experienced in their younger days money is never going to be the reason for doctors to return to Pakistan not because they do not want it or need it, but because they were and are making much more abroad Those who return are realistic enough to make the financial compromise But if the returning doctors can find an institution that respects the work they do and makes them feel welcome, they are more than satisfied once the number of satisfied repatriates’ grows, others will come back in numbers But the milliondollar question is: will Pakistan welcome these natives?

DR RUBIA USMAN ISLAMABAD

raja abDul basit

The sec urit y architec ture of the whole idle East is being revised

idioTs... lisTen To Them

“

Th e difficulty, the extraordinary, is not to score 1,000 goals like Pele – it’s to score one goal like Pele ” I was going to take the whole of this week off, but I could not resist a final comment on this, the very last business day of 2022 2022 has been an interesting year What s the main lesson we’ve learnt?

* that interest rates don’t stay low for ever?

* Inflation is real?

* real events overcome hopes and expectations?

* All Ponzis are uncovered – sooner or later?

Or,

* Financial markets are largely driven by idiots shysters, charlatans and fools?

I suspect the final one contains a sizable element of truth Markets are just enormous voting machines calculating the opinion of every participant, therefore no single idiot can drive them but they can certainly influence how the other participants vote

A few months ago I mentioned one of my favourite Sci Fi authors, John Scalzi I ve been reading him for years he’s written some very clever series including Old Man’s War, and the off-the-wall Kaiju Preservation Society he also written fantastic tales for the Netflix series Life Death and robots – with some very unsubtle digs

at big tech barons! this week a client posted me this fascinating and insightful comment by Scalzi: the Worthless Billionaires of 2022 It is spot on Scalzi debunks the whole mythos of the assumed competence and virtue of billionaires with style and aplomb he focuses on the implosion of value-bunkum across crypto and big-tech, and is particularly scathing about the self-immolation of elon Musk he warns on the danger of believing billionaires come with inherent virtue Believe that, and it’s easy to follow dangerous ideological concepts like trickle-down economics –which simply doesn’t exist btw!

Scalzi can be quite blunt: “Billionaires do not deserve your respect simply for being rich, and that fact that people gave them respect because of that money allowed them to cover for their other and continuing ethical and moral deficiencies, of which there are many, and which continue to damage our society ” the thing is Billionaires are the not the only folk we should probably not be unquestioningly listening to It’s a false assumption to think people in positions of power know what they are doing or understand what they are saying 2022 has been an extraordinary year for seeing our idols exposed as mere craven images

If there is one lesson from this difficult year, it’s the realisation most folk are not that clever Understand that, and suddenly everything becomes clearer in terms of how markets are driven by behaviour Behavioural economics: understanding why markets

The global abolition of sex

Women’s Declaration International has suggested an alternative bill, the equality for All Act, which would protect women and girls on the basis of sex; lesbians, gay men and bisexual people on the basis of sexual orientation; and all people on the basis of nonconformity with sex stereotypes

Self-ID has already been the law in California since 2018 In that state, anyone can obtain a new birth certificate with the opposite sex marked as their own the law does not require input from any physician or any surgical or hormonal changes to the person’s body

function the way they do by understanding why participants act in the ways they do

Markets tend to follow the noise trading floors are absolutely littered with people who believe they are bone-fide geniuses – and loudly tell us just how clever they are typically the successful ones might have been dealt a lucky hand or make a fortunate throw and ascribe their success to smarts In reality, most don t have a breeze about what they are doing or the damage they could inflict upon us all they got lucky – but think they are clever Danger, Danger, Will robinson, Danger! herd stupidity is a problem but it’s also an opportunity When you realise that its ok to question, disagree, argue and counter the propositions of the consensus (which is often built around luck and stupidity) then markets start to get interesting again! Understand why others are wrong, and you are halfway to grasping why you might be right 2022 has been extraordinary for the sheer scale of mistakes people have made the volume of miscalculations most of which are then reinforced and magnified by denials and rebuttals after the initial mistakes have clearly been made, has been staggering

From Liz truss establishing herself as the least competent UK leader of all time, Putin beggaring europe and russia through the invasion of Ukraine, Musk buying twitter fund managers seeking bargains in big-tech crypto-shills telling us this is the buy-moment before a new crypto-spring, to the man who is putting everything

on red because it’s come up Black the last three rolls (clue – its still a 50/50 discrete call), 2022 has been revelatory I suspect there are good reasons why 2022 represented “peak-silliness” in markets We had a whole series of macro behavioural forces coinciding:

* the end of the speculative era of easy Qe money distorting markets

* the instability in global systems from Covid, Supply Chains Ukraine taiwan etc

* the growing income inequality caused by Qe

* Growing voter disenchantment and new generations feeling unwanted

* FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) becoming a driver of wealth hopes

* the rise of social media fake news and news manipulation, and a pandemic of conspiracy theories

Put all these trends/themes together, and its no wonder behaviours changed people began to accept the unlikely as probable, and unquestioningly believed a pocketful of pixels was worth more than gold the bottom line is markets and the factors that influence them, are full of idiots they range from politicians making fundamental mistakes, fund managers dramatically mispricing risks central bankers studiously miscalculating economic shifts, company boards focusing on all the wrong things, right the way down to investors who really did believe what the reddit Boards told them

It’s a skill to listen Its even more skilful to question

K a R a Da n S K Y

oN December 22, the Scottish Parliament passed a controversial new law that allows for gender self-ID two days earlier it had voted down an amendment to the law that would have prevented sex offenders from being able to gain access to women s prisons on the basis of their self-declared “female gender identity ” On Wednesday morning, it voted down another amendment that would have made an application to change sex retroactively fraudulent if the applicant was subsequently convicted of rape

What this means is that any adult (or minor as young as 16), including sex offenders, can obtain legal recognition that he or she is a member of the opposite sex on the basis of his or her say-so the law passed over the objections of countless Scottish women who have explained repeatedly that this will result in men being able to force themselves into women-only spaces like domestic violence shelters and prisons and despite two-thirds of the Scottish population opposing it

For the past several days, women (and plenty of men) have been standing outside holyrood bearing signs and banners, to register their dissent A UN special rapporteur on violence against women has also warned about its dangerous repercussions

the Spanish Congress passed similar legislation on December 22 as well, and that bill will now go to the Spanish Senate for consideration in 2023 the German legislature is debating doing something similar, and will be considering legislation early next year think these developments are irrelevant on the other side of the pond? think again For years, the U S Congress has been considering a bill called the equality Act (h r 5) the text of h r 5 does not contain the phrase “self-ID,” but it’s effectively the same thing that bill would redefine the word “sex” to include the nebulous phrase gender identity throughout U S civil rights law President Joe Biden promised during his 2020 campaign to get the law passed within 100 days of taking office, and it has been before the U S Senate since March 2021 the U S chapter of the global feminist organization

Self-ID means that any person (man or woman) can simply declare himself or herself to be a member of the opposite sex and to have the government validate that delusion on demand No one, anywhere in the world, has properly grappled with the implications of this Most of the people pushing back globally are politically left-leaning feminists, and the vast majority of people (regardless of political orientation) agree with us

Feminists have argued for years that allowing anyone to “self-identify” as any gender will result in men forcing themselves into women s spaces this is already happening in the U S at the state level Many states allow men to be housed in women’s prisons on the basis of their self-declared female gender identity California’s SB 132 was enacted in 2020 and went into effect in January 2021 Washington state does the same thing by way of administrative policy New Jersey implemented a similar policy through a settlement agreement with the ACLU Incarcerated women all over the country are being assaulted raped and impregnated by men who claim to be women (many of whom have been convicted of very serious crimes like rape and murder) these women are terrified this should be a national and international scandal

What else has our society neglected to consider in the campaign to redefine sex to mean gender identity? Will national health bodies like the NIh and CDC be able to track the impacts of various medications on men and women as distinct sex classes? Will the FBI be able to continue to track crime according to sex?

All of this is the inevitable result of pretending that sex isn t real or that it can be changed I made the case for pushing back against that in my 2021 book the Abolition of Sex: how the ‘transgender ’ Agenda harms Women and Girls

Anyone who cares about the rights privacy and safety of women and girls; anyone who cares about acknowledging the material reality of biological sex; and anyone who thinks that public policy should be grounded in science needs to take a stand Now would be a good time Sex was abolished under Scottish law this month and it may soon happen in Spain and Germany Americans should not be surprised when it comes for us next

Kara Dansky is the president of the U S chapter of Women’s Declaration International and the author of the book The Abolition of Sex: How the Transgender Agenda Harms Women and Girls

Wh e t h e r it s the North Korean leader’s eccentric haircut, or his passion for basketball, Kim Jong-un’s quirks get more attention than the depravities of his police state As Adrian hong, a onetime Atlantic columnist, succinctly put it in 2014, the world has always been more interested in the oddities of the oppressors than the torment of the oppressed” eight years ago, hong – born in Mexico, but of Korean descent – was understandably impatient about the world’s inaction over North Korea he wanted to act today, as a result, he has an international arrest warrant out in his name In this mesmerising book, Bradley hope a former reporter on the the Wall Street Journal, expertly traces hong’s path from softly-spoken, idealistic, Ivy League activist to incongruous global fugitive against the backdrop of North Korea’s short yet turbulent history In 2015, hope helped break the story of one of the biggest money-laundering frauds in history Malaysia’s 1MDB financial scandal In 2020, he cowrote a book on the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman unearthing a series of striking revelations about one of the world’s most dangerous men Yet throughout those years, he kept his attention on hong a relatively young Yale graduate the son of Christian missionaries, active in international human rights issues, whose chief claim to fame was selection to the inaugural class of teD Fellows Like many others, hope was impressed by hong’s combination of drive, charisma, knowledge and high ideals hong even secured a White house photo op with the Obamas, so intent was he on raising the profile of his advocacy work But hope also sensed a naivety in the tech-savvy humanitarian with a fragmented identity and supersized ideas

By the time of that Atlantic article (a broadside against the Interview the 2014 comedy film about Kim), hong had already helped set up – and left – an NGO to assist North Korean refugees in passing safely through China en route to freedom It had led to him and others being briefly jailed in the country the experience sharpened hong’s focus, and within a few years he launched a covert group designed to destabilise the North Korean regime by targeting those of its diplomats who might consider defecting hope made a point of staying in touch with the increasingly furtive hong, but journalistically not much came of their long relationship When Kim had his family tree pruned, killing his half-brother with a nerve agent, it was hong and colleagues who helped get Kim Jong-nam’s family to safety in February 2017 But by now, though he was dropping broad hints that there

was a secret aspect to his work, hong rigidly compartmentalised his activities It was only in 2019 that his double life unravelled that February, hope rang him after an unexplained raid on the North Korean embassy in Madrid made international headlines the reporter was keen to pick up any leads as to who might have been behind the assault, particularly as Donald trump was preparing to fly to hanoi for his second summit with Kim and the timing made it look like the mission was coordinated to place pressure on the Kim regime hong had no suggestions but two months later, scrolling through twitter, hope learnt why the US Marshals Service had uploaded a wanted poster with Adrian s face, announced he was sought for his involvement, and declared he was “armed and dangerous” hope’s source was suddenly his quarry, though he couldn t believe that his instinctively generous friend had morphed into a violent fugitive the “raid” was in reality cover for a planned diplomatic defection that never materialised this book tells as much of hong’s story as can be pieced together in his absence (until today he has evaded not just hope s clutches but also the US government s)

Fascinatingly, it reveals enough to leave one largely sympathetic with its protagonist – a man still on the run

The Rebel and the Kingdom is published by John Murray at £20

newsweeK

The extraordinary plot to overthrow the north korean regime

E L A N D T H E K I N G D O M , R E P O RT E R B R A D L E Y H O P E T R AC K S N O RT H K O R E A N D I S S I D E N T A D R I A N H O N G – U N T I L H E B E CO M E S A N I N T E R N AT I O N A L F U G I T I V E

Morningporridge coM

B i l l B l a i n

D I O T S . T H E Y R A N G E F R O M

O L I T I C I A N S M A K I N G F U N D A M E N TA L M I S TA K E S , F U N D M A N A G E R S D R A M AT I C A L LY M I S P R I C I N G R I S K S , C E N T R A L B A N K E R S S T U D I O U S LY M I S C A L C U L AT I N G E C O N O M I C S H I F T S , C O M PA N Y B O A R D S F O C U S I N G O N A L L T H E W R O N G T H I N G S ,

R I G H T T H E WAY D O W N T O I N V E S T O R S W H O R E A L LY D I D B E L I E V E W H AT T H E R E D D I T B O A R D S T O L D T H E M

Telegraph, UK S i m o n F i n c h

corporate corner

NUST and NUMS ink Doc ument of Understanding

129 under-trial afghan women, 178 kids in sindh jails: sharjeel memon

not a picture of Landhi Jail

i s l a m a b a d: The National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) and the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) have reached an understanding to foster academic and research cooperation in the areas of mutual interest Signed by Lt Gen (Retd) Engr Javed Mahmood Bukhari, HI(M), Rector NUST, and Lt Gen Wasim Alamgir, HI (M), Vice Chancellor NUMS on Friday, the Document of Understanding (DoU) is aimed at enhancing collaboration between the two universities vis-à-vis undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and joint research in areas of Health Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Applied Biosciences, and Psychology to name a few Under the newly forged partnership, the universities will also conduct joint conferences, workshops and trainings in the relevant fields, and hold joint activities to create awareness among students and faculty on research methodology, writing research proposals etc In his comments, Rector NUST Lt Gen (Retd) Engr Javed Mahmood Bukhari, HI(M), shared an overview of NUST’s history, including its affiliation with Army Medical College (AMC) P R

PR O V I N C I A L Ministers

Sharjeel Inam Memon, Mukesh Kumar Chawla Adviser to Chief Minister Sindh on Prisons Aijaz Jakhrani and Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh on Media Affairs Fahad Haroon have said that rumers are being spread on social media against the prisons of Sindh province and added that a picture of jailed Afghan children has been made

They categorically denied the athencity of it and added that the viral picture not belonged to any jail of Sindh They added that it was said on social media that this is a picture of Landhi Jail when they checked it is found that it is

Then it was said that picture is of the women s jail, but when checked in women it is found that this picture is not even of the women's jail

They expressed these views while holding a joint press conference at the Sindh Archives Complex on Friday Secretary Food Department Raja Khurram Shahzad Umar and DIG Prisons Sheeba Shah were also present on this occasion

Provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon strongly denied it and said that this photo is not of any jail in Sindh He said that 129 undertrial Afghan women and 178 children are in jail in Sindh He said that these children are not arrested They live with their mother in jail He added according to prison rules, female prison-

ers are allowed to keep children up to 7 years old with them He said that when the children s parents are in jail and there is no one to take care of them, according to the law women can keep the children with them Sharjeel Inam Memon said that illegal immigrants are not allowed to live in any country, illegal immigrants are arrested according to the constitution and law which is the international practice law all over the world

He said that these illegal immigrants have arrested and produced in the courts, now they are in jail on court order He added that no one can be jailed without court's orders Provincial Information Minister said that this should not be taken in the context of their Afghan nationality, women from Nigeria, Bangladesh and

Pak istan Nav y seizes huge cache of drugs at sea

other countries are also imprisoned in Sindh The law applies to all illegal immigrants equally, he said, adding that the courts have sentenced 54 women to two-month sentences and their sentences will be completed in the first week of January after completion of their sentences these women will be deported with the help of the federal government Sharjeel Inam Memon said that Sindh government s stance on illegal immigrants is clear action is being taken against them under the laws of the country

Illegal immigrants are not allowed to buy and sell properties in any country He said that if illegal immigrants are involved in crimes, action will be taken against them on merit according to the law, it will not be judged on the basis of their nationality but crime history

Rehman

Firoz

Association of Pakistan & Chairman

Group ofCompanies, Mr Arif Suleman Trade Advisor to Thailand Kanwar Kutub uddinFormer MNA & Leading businessman from Islamabad, Mr Mashkoor A G KhanRegional Manager, Mr Aslam Khaliq Vice Chairman Advisory Council ConsumersAssociation of Pakistan, Renowned Islamic scholar Allama Ahsan, Mr AmirKhuwaja President UK Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mr AliHaider leading businessman, Mr Kumail Polani CEO House of Polani Ms NadiaBaloch CEO Nadoz Salon, Mr Sarfaraz Ahmed Country Head Salman's Food, Mr Zahid Hameed CEO Apparel Zone, Mr Saleem Khan DGM Exide Pakistan, Mr KhalilNajmi Renowned Portrait Artist,Mr Mahmood Ahmed Khan CEO Star Marketing Pvt Ltd P R

DALFA Cattle S how promoting growth in livestock sec tor: S indh Governor

K a r a c h i: Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori has said that the need to modernize the livestock sector has increased in view of the growing demand for food He was speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of 3-Day DALFA Cattle Show that kicked off at Karachi Expo Center here on Friday “This show gives me confidence that Pakistan with the support of its farmers’ community can meet the economic challenges,” said the governor He added that DALFA Cattle Show offers an exceptional interactive forum to the representatives associated with Dairy Agriculture Livestock, Fisheries and associated industry “Expos like DALFA Cattle Show provides new opportunities for farmers and such expos are also playing an important role in accelerating the growth of livestock sector in Sindh, he added Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Abdul Bari Pitafi delivered a welcome address in which he said the government of Sindh provides maximum facilities to the private sector for investment in the livestock sector On the occasion, Patron in-Chief DALFA Haris Mithani said that the Cattle Show has become an important and supportive event for the development of the livestock sector in Sindh P R

Karachi

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued an Islamic banking license to Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) making it the second-largest fullfledged Islamic bank in Pakistan Commenting on the momentous occas i o n , M r J a m e e l A h m e d , G o v e r n o r S t a t e B a n k o f P a k i s t a n s a i d C o n v e r s i o n o f Faysal Bank is first of its kind in the bank-

is estimated to be approx Rs 2 Billion (PKR) Successful operation by Pakistan Nav y r esulting in seizure of narcotics is a testament to

the facts that despite the prevailing situation the criminals are active for their nefarious design and PN is more vigilant to counter them and remains committed in preventing use of Pakistani maritime zones for any unlawful act/ purpose Pakistan Navy will continue to shoulder its national obligations and responsibility to establish lawful order at sea

As you are well aware Iran and Pakistan as two neighboring countries have many religious, cultural, historical, and social commonalities, and have been able to preserve and protect their longstanding and rich relations throughout the history In the field of Eastern thought and philosophy Allameh Iqbal who is referred to as Allameh Iqbal Lahori in Iran, is considered one of the most prominent literary and intellectual figures, Allameh Iqbal is one of the foremost Paki s t a n i n a t i o n a l s w h o t h e I r a n i a n p e o p l e h a v e great passionate to him and has a great place in t h e i r t h o u g h t s A r o u n d 8 0 0 0 v e r s u s o f t h e poems of this great poet are in Persian and he can be called one of the leading Persian poetry in the contemporary arena

KU awards 29 PhD, 96 MPhil, six MS degrees in various disciplines

The Advanced Studies and Research Board of the University of Karachi has awarded 29 PhD, 96 MPhil, and six M S (30 Hours Course Work) degrees in various disciplines during the recently held ASRB Meeting

The ASRB meeting was chaired by the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi in which MPhil degrees were awarded to Ahmed Nabi, Saima Nazeer Dana, Atique Baloch, Marium Javed, Ruqaiya, Maria, Zaira Anees, Syeda Zuimah Wasim Hafeez Ullah Rehmat Wali Shah, Maryam Raees, and Farzan Nazeer (Applied Economics [AERC]), Ramsha, and Hamna Rafique (Biochemistry) Hussain Ahmed (Biotechnology [KIBGE]), Komal Shoa (Botany), Sahar Abbas (Botany [ISHU[), Biby Samia Shaikh (Business Administration [KUBS]) Sabila Anjum, Asma, Osama Zahid, Aasma Hashmi,

Saeeda, and Batool (Chemistry), Rimsha Irshad, Afshan Gul Sanya Khursheed Nisar Ahmed Wajeeha Muzafar, and Zeeshan Akbar (Chemistry [HEJ]), Zahra Jamal, Umm-e-Haram, and Danish Arooj (Clinical Psychology) Faryal Ikram (Commerce), Sanaullah, Qurat ul Ain Rizvi, and Muhammad Ibrahim (Criminology), Shahana Kiramat (Economics) Hadia Zafar (ELT and Applied Linguistics [English]), Sana Mujeeb, Mubah Shahid, and Falak Naeem (Environmental Studies) Bushra (Genetics) Asim Nawaz and Masood Alam (Geography [RS-GIS]), Muhammad Arsalan Afzal Choudhary (Geology), Muhammad Malahan Khan and Imtiaz Ali (International Relations), Laraib (Islamic History), Muhammad Siddiq Ahmed, Shahzeb, and Khair-un-Nisa (Islamic Learning) Rashid Ali and Attya Shahid (Library and Information Science), Qudsia Malik (Mass Communication), Muhammad Kamran Khan Sharjeel Faheem

NBP par tners with KPT to c ater for banking needs of KPT employees

K a r a c h i: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Karachi Port Trust (KPT) have signed an agreement for “Employee Banking” for provision of banking facilities to KPT employees Under the aforementioned arrangement NBP will facilitate KPT employees to meet their financial needs through provision of its wide range of assets and liabilities products under the preferred service mode The arrangement offers concessional rates and dedicated services designed to address the financial needs of KPT employees The agreement was signed by Mr Faisal Ahmed (SEVP / Group

Head – Consumer Assets, NBP) and Mr Mashoud Ahmed Jan (General Manager - Finance, KPT) Other senior executives of NBP and KPT also witnessed the signing ceremony Speaking on the occasion, Mr Faisal termed the arrangement as mutually beneficial for both the organizations as it will further strengthen NBP’s partnership with KPT

S enator Ir fan S iddiqui launches poetr y book ‘Guraiz Pa Mausmon ki K hushbo’

The event started with the name of Allah from his poetry book "Guraiz Pa Mausmon Ki Khushbo" The author Senator Irfan Siddiqui stated that people know me as an analyst, as columnist but this is the first time I am introducing my work as a poet This book is really close to my heart and it has everything for the reader, whether it is related to loved one or whether it is related to politics Since I am also part of senate, I have also added flavor of parliament sessions Poetry has its own soothing effect and when a person is absorbed in its magic, its difficult to come out of it Similarly, it happened with me, and I waited my entire life to express how I feel to the entire world Different participants read different excerpts from his poetry book and praised how they were mesmerized by Senator Irfan Siddiqui's work P R

i n g h i s t o r y o f P a k i s t a n T h i s i s a g r o u n d breaking accomplishment not only for the bank, but also for Pakistan’s Islamic banking industry ”

Mr Farooq Rahmatullah Khan Chairman BoD of Faysal Bank said, “The team o f F a y s a l B a n k h a s m a d e h i s t o r y w i t h a l a n d m a r k a c h i e v e m e n t o f t h e w o r l d s largest conversion of a conventional bank t o a n I s l a m i c o n e I h a v e c o m p l e t e f a i t h t h a t S h a r i a h c o m p l i a n c e w i l l b e o u r

strongest motivator in making this transformation the most successful one as the bank c o n t i n u e s o n i t s g r o w t h t r a j e c t o r y i n t h e years to come also ” Expressing his delight on the issuance o f I s l a m i c B a n k i n g l i c e n s e , M r A h m e d Abdulrahim Mohamed Abdulla Bucheery, Vice Chairman BoD of Faysal Bank said “ T h i s u n p r e c e d e n t e d e ff o r t a n d g r e a t a c h i e v e m e n t i s r e f l e c t i v e o f t h e B a n k ’s firm resolve to be the best Islamic Bank in

the country, contributing majorly towards the growth of Islamic Banking industry”

On the occasion, Mr Yousaf Hussain, President and CEO of Faysal Bank said, The transformation has indeed been a journey of faith, belief, commitment and determination to succeed

their continued support and partnership F B L c a r r i e s t h e h i g h e s t l o c a l S h a r i a r a t i n g o f S C F R 1 b y t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l I slamic Rating Agency (IIRA) and provides the best and widest range of Shariah comp l i a n t b a n k i n g p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s t o meet their customer ’s Halal banking needs with SBP issues Islamic Bank ing license to Faysal Bank Limited

convenience With an expanding netw o r Karachi P R In a successful Intelligence Based Counter Narcotics Operations by Pakistan Navy at sea, Two boats carrying Narco were apprehended and a h u g e c a c h e o f n a r c o t i c s w h i c h i n c l u d e s m o r e t h a n 1 5 0 0 K G s o f H a s h i s h a n d 1 4 3 K G s o f C r y s t a l I C E w e r e r e c o v e r e d f r o m t h e a p p r ehended boats The value of narcotics in International market

C AP hosts dinner in honor of Pakistani origin Americ an businessman

Karachi: Chairman of Consumer Association of Pakistan (CAP), Kokab Iqbal, hosted a dinner in honor of Tanveer Ahmed, a well-known Pakistanibusinessman based in America at the Marriott Hotel in Karachi His ExcellencyConsul General Malaysia Mr Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad, Deputy High Commissioner Bangladesh S M Mahbubul Alam Brig (R) Azhar Manzoor Chairman Advisory Consul ConsumersAssociation of Pakistan, Mr Tanweer Ghori CEO Metco Rice, Mr Shoaib KhanLeading businessman Mr Gulzar

FPCCI Sheikh Khalil ur

Sr ViceChairman Consumers

Khalil

Allama Iqbal has great place in thoughts of Iranian people, says Iranian CG

Pr

09 Business-31 December_Layout 1 12/30/2022 10:49 PM Page 1

U k r a i n e fa C i n G ‘ T o U G h ’ e n e m y i n b aT T l e f o r k e y C i T y

UKRAINE A f p

bEHIND the frontline near Kreminna, a strategically located Russian-controlled city in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv s troops say they are facing a tough enemy

We fight them every day in any weather We attack in the direction of Kreminna, but they are not easy to defeat,” says a 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier who goes by the call sign “Kulak” or “Fist”

“They are good, they are tough,” he tells AFP in Yampil, a village located some 30 kilometres (18 miles) west of Kreminna and recaptured by Ukrainian forces in late September

The city in the eastern Lugansk region which Moscow claimed to have annexed along with three other Ukrainian regions has been the scene of intense fighting in recent days

“We had some successes on the Ukrainian side, but nothing huge The enemy is not giving up,” Kulak says, smiling

For the past few days the region’s governor Sergei Gaidai has been posting encouraging if slightly contradictory messages on social media On Thursday, he wrote that Ukraine’s troops advanced

2 5 kilometres in the direction of Kreminna in a week

A day earlier, he said Russians had sent reinforcements to the area, while adding that the city could be re-taken early next year According to the Washingtonbased Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces “appear to be preparing for a decisive effort” in the Lugansk region

– Get it over with –

Yampil looks like a hive of wartime activity Military vehicles criss-cross the main street of this largely destroyed vil-

Posters appear in Srinagar demanding right to self-determination

SRINAGAR Ag e n c i e s

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, posters have appeared in Srinagar and other areas, appealing the United Nations to resolve the Kashmir dispute as per its resolution passed on 5th January 1949 According to Kashmir Media Service, the posters were displayed by pro-freedom organizations, including Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Movement and Jammu and Kashmir Political Resistance Movement, in Srinagar and other areas The posters urged the World Body to take notice of violation of Kashmiris right to self-determination recognized by the UN Security Council through its resolution passed on January 5, 1949 The posters were also seen on social media, including facebook and twitters It was on January 5, 1949 when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves through a UN-sponsored plebiscite The posters reminded the UN that it must implement its relevant resolutions to settle the lingering Kashmir dispute The posters having pictures of illegally detained Hurriyet leaders, including All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman Maasrat Alam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah

lage There are nearly as many soldiers as there are civilians

In a field behind several half-abandoned houses, soldiers are busy keeping two tanks nicknamed Natalya and Salvador in fighting shape The tanks have been captured during the Russian army s retreat

“If we liberate Kreminna, we will cut off the Russians supply route in Rubizhne Severodonetsk and Lysychansk,” says one of the soldiers, Vlad, referring to other occupied towns in the region

We don t want the situation to be put on ice We want to push them back, get it over with,” says Vlad, who hails from Kyiv –

‘Nowhere better than home’ –

Although Yampil has been liberated by Ukrainian forces during a sweeping counteroffensive in the fall, it is still within reach of Russian artillery A few kilometres up north, battles are raging in the village of Torske and the shelling has intensified in recent days

“It’s more or less fine It would be better if it weren’t for these deafening noises,” Olga, a 69-year-old retired teacher, says, declining to give her last name

Every day she meets up with other residents of Yampil outside the only operating store

The convenience store is both a collection point for humanitarian aid and a place to gather for a chat

Despite the cold, they sit around a table in front of the store, talking and arguing as military vehicles drive by

“We come here to talk, it’s our living room,” Olga says smiling, while a woman sitting next to her laments the power cuts and lack of aid in the village

“They don’t care about us!” she says Humanitarian aid dominates conversations here

C h i n e s e e nvoy t o U S Q i n G a n g a p p o i n t e d n ew Fo r e i g n M i n i s t e r

Mr Qin Gang, currently serving as the Chinese ambassador to the United States has been appointed as China s new foreign minister on Friday

With the appointment of the new foreign minister, the process of formation of a new government in China has commenced

Qin is the 11th Chinese ambassador to the United States, assuming office in July 2021 Prior to his ambassadorship, he was Chinese vice foreign minister

Wang Yi was elected as one of the 24 members of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee recently

The 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) will kick off its inaugural annual session in the capital Beijing This will be its first session after the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) handed President Xi Jinping an unprecedented third term as its head in October Xi, 69, is the first Chinese

Türkiye tells US it lost its balance in Greece, Cyprus issue

T h e U S h a s l o s t i t s b a l a n c e d p o l i c y i n i s s u e s r e l a t e d t o G r e e c e a n d C y p r u s d i s p u t e , a s Wa s h i n g t o n ’s w e a p o n s s u p p l i e s t o A t h e n s i s a c l e a r i n d i c a t i o n o f t h i s , t h e Tu r k i s h f o r e i g n m i n i s t e r s a i d o n T h u r s d a y

T ü r k i y e h a s “ c l e a r l y t o l d t h e U S t h a t t h e y a r e d i s r u p t i n g t h e i r b a l a n c e ( p o l i c y ) o n G r e e c e a n d C y p r u s , ” M e v l u t C a v u s o g l u t o l d r e p o r t e r s a t a n e n d - o f - y e a r p r e s s b r i e f i n g i n t h e c a p i t a l A n k a r a T h e f a c t t h a t t h e y h a v e g i v e n s o m a n y w e a p o n s t o G r e e c e i s a c l e a r i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t h e y h a v e l o s t t h i s b a l a n c e , ” h e s a i d Tu r k i s h p o l i t i c i a n s h a d p o i n t e d t o t h e l i f t i n g o f t h e e m b a rg o a s e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e U S h a d a b a n d o n e d i t s p o l i c y o f “ b a l a n c e ” b e t w e e n t h e G r e e k C y p r i o t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d i t s n e i g h b o r o n t h e i s l a n d , t h e Tu r k i s h R e p u b l i c o f N o r t h e r n C y p r u s , w h i c h r e m a i n s u n d e r i n t e r n a t i o n a l e m b a rg o e s O n S y r i a c r i s i s , C a v u s o g l u s a i d t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n a l C o m m i s s i o n m e e t i n g a n d A s t a n a t a l k s h a v e n o t p r o g r e s s e d a s d e s i r e d d u e t o A s s a d r e g i m e s r e s i s t a n c e U rg i n g t h e S y r i a n r e g i m e a n d t h e o p p o s i t i o n t o r e c o n c i l e , C a v u s o g l u s a i d T ü r k i y e i s “ t h e g u a r a n t o r o f t h e S y r i a n o p p o s i t i o n “ We d o n o t a c t a g a i n s t t h e r i g h t s o f t h e S y r i a n o p p o s i t i o n , i n f a c t , w e c o n t i n u e o u r t a l k s w i t h a i m s t o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e c o n s e n s u s o n a r o a d m a p t h e y w o u l d w a n t “ A s s a d r e g i m e w a n t s S y r i a n s t o r e t u r n h o m e I t i s i m p o r t a n t f o r t h e m t o r e t u r n s a f e l y h e a d d e d S u p p o r t t o P K K t e r r o r g r o u p ’s v i o l e n t p r o t e s t s i n P a r i s ‘ u n a c c e p t a b l e ’ O n “ b l a c k p r o p a g a n d a ” a g a i n s t T ü r k i y e a m i d v i o l e n t p r o t e s t s i n t h e F r e n c h c a p i t a l , C a v u s o g l u s a i d A n k a r a h a s t o l d P a r i s t h a t i t i s “ u n a c c e p t a b l e ” t h a t s o m e F r e n c h p o l i t i c i a n s h a v e s u p p o r t e d a n d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e v i o l e n t p r o t e s t s o f t h e t e r r o r i s t P K K m e m b e r s a n d i t s s u p p o r t e r s

T h e P a r i s p r o t e s t s h a v e s h o w n t h a t t h e t e r r o r i s t o rg a n i z a t i o n t h a t y o u ( F r a n c e ) t r i e d t o s u p p o r t f o r y e a r s u n d e r t h e c o v e r o f s u p p o r t i n g K u r d i s h p e o p l e , s h o w e d w h a t t h e t e r r o r g r o u p c o u l d d o t o t h e h o s t c o u n t r i e s a t t h e s l i g h t e s t o p p o r t u n i t y ” L a s t F r i d a y, a f t e r a g u n m a n o p e n e d f i r e i n E n g h i e n S t r e e t k i l l i n g a t l e a s t t h r e e p e o p l e a n d w o u n d i n g t h r e e o t h e r s , s u p p o r t e r s o f t h e P K K t e r r o r g r o u p s o o n a m a s s e d i n t h e a r e a I n t h e e n s u i n g p r o t e s t s o n F r i d a y a n d S a t u r d a y, t h e y p e r p e t r a t e d a c t s o f v i o l e n c e a n d c l a s h e d w i t h t h e p o l i c e , w i t h 3 1 i n j u r e d , a l o n g w i t h o n e p r o t e s t e r P o l i c e p l a c e d 11 p e o p l e i n c u s t o d y

T h e P K K i s l i s t e d a s a t e r r o r i s t o rg a n i z a t i o n b y T ü r k i y e , t h e E U , a n d U S , a n d i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e d e a t h s o f 4 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , i n c l u d i n g w o m e n , c h i l d r e n , a n d i n f a n t s T h o u g h o ff i c i a l l y r e c o g n i z e d a s a t e r r o r g r o u p , l a s t w e e k ’s v i o l e n c e h i g h l i g h t e d h o w t h e P K K o p e n l y m a i n t a i n s a d a n g e r o u s f o o t h o l d i n E u r o p e

for implementing spirit of 20th CPC National Congress at New Year gathering

partments, and individuals from various ethnic groups and sectors of society in Beijing

The year 2023 is the starting year to fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which will set the tone for the whole picture and is decisive for the future, President Xi Jinping said at a New Year gathering on Friday held by the National Committee of the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), stressed in his speech at the gathering that officials must meet challenges with a fighting spirit, strive to achieve the goals and tasks for the next year, and lay a good foundation for realizing the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects

Senior leaders Li Keqiang Li Zhanshu Wang Yang, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Wang Qishan attended the gathering

They were joined by leading officials of China s non-Communist parties and the AllChina Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), personages with no party affiliation, officials of central Party and government de-

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the CMC, Xi extended New Year ’s greetings to all

Looking back at the year, Xi hailed 2022 as a year of milestone significance, saying that the successful convening of the 20th CPC National Congress drew up a blueprint for achieving comprehensive modernization the economy maintained positive growth over the year, with overall stability in employment, stable prices and considerable grain output, and optimized COVID-19 policies protected people s health and at the same time minimized its impacts on economic and social development

In 2022 China hosted the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, celebrated the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong s return to the motherland resolutely fought against external interference and the separatist activities of “Taiwan independence,” and continued to advance majorcountry diplomacy, which helped maintain the overall stability of the external environment, Xi summarized

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders watch a performance at a New Year gathering held by the CPPCC in Bei-

jing, China, December 30, 2022 /Xinhua

Chinese

jing, China, December 30, 2022 /Xinhua

Applauding the contributions by the CPPCC in the year, Xi said that the CPPCC has been adhering to the two major themes of unity and democracy: building consensus with and providing suggestions for the CPC

In 2022, the CPPCC held consultations on promoting common prosperity, and carried out democratic oversight on ecological and environmental protection along the Yangtze River, making new contributions to the development of the Party and the country, Xi said, adding the political handover in democratic parties and ACFIC this year has deepened the political handover and further consolidated the political and organizational foundation for multi-party cooperation

Xi called on the CPPCC to adhere to the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, further deepen consultation and communication, expansively express opinions and build consensus with the CPC in the next year which will pool wisdom and strength for the realization of the goals and tasks of the new era

To realize the dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation requires the

YAMPIL,

ISLAMABAD M A n A b r A r

leader to helm the party for three consecutive terms since its founding over 100 years ago The 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will begin its first session a day earlier on March 4 With Premier Li Keqiang s tenure

coming to end, the upcoming session is expected to bring about changes in China s government It is expected that Mr Li Qiang would replace Mr Li Keqiang as Premier Li Qiang who is the second highest-ranking member of the CPC Politbureau behind Mr Xi Jinping

BEIJING

President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders watch a performance at a New Year gathering held by the CPPCC in Bei-

concerted efforts of all Chinese people at home and abroad Xi said adding the country needs to pool hearts, resources and wisdom from the patriotic united front, which will form a strong synergy to jointly realize the Chinese Dream

Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the New

Year gathering He said the CPPCC will pay focus on the strategic plans laid out at the 20th CPC National Congress, effectively consult and discuss state affairs, build broad consensus, do solid work, and give full play to the CPPCC’s role as a special consultative body, striving to make new contributions to the development of the Party and the country

Xi

ANKARA Ag e n c e s

S O D H I ’ S b e S T I N vA I N A S PA k I S TA N S A lvA g e

D r Aw A g A I N S T N Z I N 1 S T T e S T

to fall for three

PAKISTAN staved off a fifth consecutive defeat at home with a hard-fought draw in the first Test in Karachi Friday despite careerbest bowling figures from New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi Sodhi grabbed 6-86 and threatened to give New Zealand victory in the first two sessions on the fifth and final day, but Pakistan fought on before declaring their second innings on 311-8

That gave New Zealand a tough target of 138 to win in 15 overs, and the chase ended in fading light on 61-1, with Tom Latham unbeaten on 35 and Devon Conway 18 Michael Bracewell was the only wicket

Sodhi was the star as he improved on his previous best of 4-60 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo four years ago

The 30-year-old, playing his first Test in four years, turned the match in New Zealand’s favour with three wickets in the second session to leave Pakistan on 249-7 at tea with 35 overs left in the match

But Saud Shakeel, who ended with 55 not out, and Mohammad Wasim (43) defied for 75 minutes and 111 balls during their 71run eighth wicket stand to deprive New Zealand of a win

Soon after tea, Sodhi trapped Wasim legbefore, but Mir Hamza (three not out) assisted Shakeel in a ninth-wicket unbroken stand of 34 runs in 50 minutes to further frustrate the visitors

Shakeel who hit seven boundaries and a six, built on after fighting knocks from Imam-ul-Haq (96) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (53) in the first two sessions

In the post-lunch session, Sodhi dismissed Sarfaraz, Agha Salman (six) and Haq in the space of 27 balls for the addition of just 21 runs

Haq and Sarfaraz had added a defiant 85 runs for the fifth wicket and raised hopes of salvaging a draw for the home team before Sodhi struck He had Sarfaraz caught behind bowled Salman, then got Haq stumped to leave Pakistan on 206-7

Haq, who survived lbw referrals off the bowler on 58 and 74, cracked 10 boundaries and a six in his sixth half-century, while Sarfaraz had seven hits to the rope So incensed was he by his dismissal, Haq smashed a chair

KP S por ts dept fails to use development budget

PESHAWAR A z z B u n e R

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had allocated Rs6 20 billion for the development of sports facilities in settled districts of which the directorate of sports has so far utilised Rs808 million

The finance department has released Rs2 9bn for the development projects of the provincial sports directorate However According to sources of sports department, most of the projects included in the annual development of the current financial year couldn’t be started because to non-supply of funds by the finance department

Moreover, officials said, purchase of goods from abroad for most of the development sports projects couldn t be made because of the poor financial conditions of the province, due to which some important projects have been constructed but sports facilities are incomplete

According to document of the provincial Finance Department, the

sports directorate has utilised Rs 1 million on the construction of sports grounds across the province, Rs13mn has been utilised on the 1000 sports facility project, Rs35 8mn has been spent on reconstruction of hockey stadium in Swat s

Nominees for Sobers Trophy for ICC Player of the Year 2022

The four

Babar Azam – Pakistan

2598 runs in 44 matches

The year that was 2022 was yet another year of Babar Azam making and breaking records Babar was the only player to breach the 2000-run mark in the calendar year across formats with his 2598 runs coming at an average of 54 12, which included eight hundreds and 17 fifties

The 2021 ICC Men s ODI Player of the Year continued to rule in the 50-over format, scoring 679 runs in nine matches It is a testament to his consistency that he registered scores of 50 or more in eight of those innings He continues to hold on to his top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Men s ODI Player Rankings and is once again in the running to win the ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Year 2022 Babar also enjoyed a tremendous year in Test cricket, despite the team results not going his way He accumulated 1184 runs in just nine matches and did the bulk of the heavy lifting for Pakistan in the longer format

It was also a memorable year for Babar as captain in the white-ball formats – Pakistan won all three ODI series they played, losing just one match out of nine In the T20I format he led Pakistan to their first T20 World Cup Final since 2009

Memorable performance

The chips are down, Pakistan are staring at defeat but one man stood between Australia and victory in the second Test in Karachi Pakistan were bowled out for 148 in the first innings, giving Australia a mammoth 408-run lead The visitors batted again and set them a target of 506 with close to six sessions remaining Pakistan got off to the worst possible start, losing two wickets with just 21 runs on board and with five sessions remaining In walked Babar Azam and thus began a gritty 10-hour marathon that almost took Pakistan from an inevitable defeat to almost pulling off an impossible win Ag e n c i e s

Grassi Ground Rs126 3mn has been spent on sports activities, Rs75mn on provision of missing sports facility in Swat, Rs108 3mn on Hockey turf in Malakand and Buner, Rs76 4mn on provision of sports equip-

ment in Peshawar sport Complex

Similarly, Rs 46 6mn has been spent on Kalam stadium project, Rs10mn were spent on Palosai Sports Complex project, Rs8 9mn on Union Council Playground project Rs 3 1 million has been spend the Hayatabad Sports Complex, Rs10 9 million in Talent Program Pakhtunkhwa project, Rs 17 8 million on the international standard indoor facility project in Buner, Rs 29 5 million on divisional level indoor facility project for women, Rs 10 1 million on upgradation of DI Khan and Mardan Sports Complex project Rs 35 99 million on Gradation Football Stadium Rs 10 5 million on Hayatabad Swimming Pool project, Rs 2 8 million on Sports Complex in Swat project Rs 58 8 million on DI Khan and Charsada Hockey Stadiums , Re42 1 million have been spent on the recommendation of Arbab Niaz Stadium

Most of the projects included in the development program of the current financial year have been delayed due to lack of funds

‘Football in four letters ’: Global media bows to ‘K ing’ Pele

ISLAMABAD

Ag e n c e s

His face appeared on televisions around the world and dominated the homepages of news outlets everywhere as global media bowed to the late, great Pele, the undisputed “King” of football

News organisations across the planet hailed the legendary Brazilian, who died on Thursday at the age of 82 and was widely considered the greatest footballer to ever play the game

To the Brazilian daily O Globo, Pele may have died, but he remained the “immortal king of football”

The Folha de S Paulo quoted the late Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade, who said: “The difficulty the extraordinary is not to score 1 000 goals like Pele – it’s to score one goal like Pele ”

Their obituary suggested that while Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pele s birth name may have passed on, “it isn’t true that Pele is dead”

In Argentina home of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, both also contenders for the title of greatest of all time the Clarin remembered Pele as “a supreme symbol of football s spectacle and a great among the greats”

The Argentine sport daily Ole wrote: “Beyond the rivalry that exists between Argentina and Brazil no one can doubt that Pele was one of the greatest footballers in history, for many the best, on top of Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

In Britain, The Times hailed him as “football’s first world superstar Pele popularised the description of football as ‘the beautiful game’ and no one played it more beautifully or with such joy than the man known as the King in his native Brazil The Times said in its obituary

The Guardian had a touching tribute from Jorge Valdano a team-mate of Maradona s when they lifted the 1986 World Cup trophy who watched Pele’s exploits in the 1970 World Cup on a TV bought specially for the then 14-year-old by his mother

“Pele is an idea of perfection for me,” he told the paper

“When television comes into the kitchen of your home, with Pele inside, that marks you for life

I cried with emotion with happiness because of

that Brazil team ”

The Sun, to the backdrop of three photos of Pele with Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and, rather incongruously, former England star Wayne Rooney, trumpeted “The Greatest of All Time He turned football into art”

For the Daily Mail Pele was a cut jewel sharpedged, glittering and flawless perfect in every dimension and stands alone as football’s greatest of all time ”

German tabloid Bild did not pull their punches declaring: “Pele was better than Messi, Maradona and (Cristiano) Ronaldo combined ”

In Mexico, the image of Pele celebrating his third world title win in 1970 at the country’s Estadio Azteca circulated widely with El Universal declaring Football in mourning!”

The main story on the homepage of Ecuador ’s El Universo was titled in part: Goodbye to Pele the supernatural footballer ”

In the far less football-mad United States, the New York Times called Pele the “global face of soccer” who “helped popularise the sport” stateside with his 19751977 stint with the New York Cosmos

In France, the sports daily L’Equipe devoted 22 pages to Pele

Aqeel, Shoaib cruise into semi-finals of Serena Hotels Tennis Tournament

ISLAMABAD

Top-ranked Aqeel Khan and Muhammad Shoaib cruised into the semi-finals of men s singles event of the 7th Serena Hotels National Ranking Tennis Tournament 2022 after beating their respective opponents in the quarter-finals here at PTF SDA Tennis Complex on Friday

Aqeel Khan outclassed Barkatullah 6-2,7-6(3), while Shoaib overpowered Heera Ashiq 6-4, 6-2

In another quarterfinal, Muhammad Abid toppled Mudassir Murtaza 6-1 3-6 6-4 Earlier Yousaf Khalil had moved to the semi-finals on Thursday after outshining Muzammil Murtaza 6-3,1-6,6-1 in the quarter-final Contests in other categories were also held on Friday

Results:-

Men’s Doubles Quarter-Finals: Mudassir Murtaza / M Abid bt Abdullah Adnan/ Imran Bhatti 6-0,6-4; Heera Ashiq / Yousaf Khalil bt Mahmood Khan/ Talha Waheed 6-4 6-3

Ladies Singles Quarter-Finals: Noor Malik bt Natalia Zaman 6-2, 6-7(3),6-3

Boys Singles 18 & Under Quarter-Finals: Sami Zeb Khan bt Uzair Khan 6-2,6-2; Hamid Israr bt Asad Zaman 6-0,7-5; Bilal Asim bt Rahim Veqar 6-2,6-2; Mahatir Muhammad bt Ahmed Nael Qureshi 4-6,7-6(4),6-0

Boys Singles 14 & Under Quarter-Finals: Amir Mazari bt Nabeel Ali Qayum 6-4 6-0; M Hamza Asim bt Sameer Zaman 6-4,6-3;Abdul Basit bt Haziq Asim 6-3,6-0

Afridi reveals reason behind adding Fakhar, Sohail to probables list for NZ ODIs

KARACHI

Pakistan s interim chief selector Shahid Afridi has been very active since taking up the role last week Recently, he added three young players, Minhas, Basit Ali and Mohammad Zeeshan to the Test squad so they could feel the environment of Test cricket Few days back, the selection committee announced 22 probables for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand Two more names, Haris Sohail and Fakhar Zaman have been added to the list due to their good form in the ongoing Pakistan Cup

“We have added Fakhar Zaman and Haris Sohail to the NZ probables list after they passed their fitness tests today The two are also playing in Pakistan Cup and doing well,” Afridi wrote Fakhar was not initially part of the list and there were questions about whether he was fit or being dropped Sharjeel Khan who last played an ODI in January 2017, was on the list Shan Masood, who played his last ODI against Australia in 2019, was also there Remember the original 16-member squad for the ODI series will be announced during the second Test

Probables: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohal, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Naseem Shah Qasim Akram Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Sharjeel Khan and Tayyab Tahir

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e p o R t

with his bat on the way to the dressing room Resuming on 77-2, Pakistan lost nightwatchman Nauman Ali early, trapped leg-before by spinner Bracewell Then skipper

Babar Azam who scored 161 in Pakistan’s first innings of 438 was out the same way to Sodhi for 14 The second Test starts at the same venue on Monday

nominees for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Player of the Year put up memorable performances in 2022 We take a look at their achievements

E n E R G y I M P o R t F R o M R u S S I A d I S C u S S E d I n v I R t u A L M E Et I n G

An online meeting between Russian Ministry of Energy and Minister of State for Petroleum along with other public and private stakeholders was held on Thursday, sources privy to the development informed Profit

The agenda of this online video meeting was the import of energy related products from Russia According to the sources the meeting discussed shipping insurance matters and financial arrangements for imports from Russia

All senior stakeholders in the energy sector from both the government and state owned enterprises participated in the meeting

The online video meeting also discussed the agenda of the Pakistan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) to be held in Pakistan on 19th and 20th January, 2023

Profit was also told by sources that the Russian Energy Minister is expected to be a part of the delegation expected to visit in January

An IGC is essentially a body made up of main and permanent secretaries from member states that is in

Federal gov t says not in position to hold LG polls today: Rana Sana

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Soon after the direction by Islamabad High Court (IHC) to conduct Local Government polls today (December 31)

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday said the federal government is not in a position to hold local government elections in the federal capital “We respect the court [Islamabad High Court], but holding the elections is not possible as the arrangements cannot be made in such a short period,” the federal minister told a private media channel

He added that as many as 1 000 polling stations needed security, election material is still not deployed at the stations and the polling staff will also be needed “This isn’t possible ” The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had earlier directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold local government elections in the capital on December 31 after it accepted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) petitions seeking to nullify ECP s decision to postpone the local polls “The federal government is directed to provide all the assistance to the Election Commission of Pakistan for conducting the local bodies elections as mandated by the Constitution,” Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir said in a one-page short order The minister also added that since the “ground realities” do not permit the government to ensure the polls take place, the centre was going to file an intra-court appeal against the order

“The order was issued in the evening after office hours How is it possible to make the arrangements for the [elections]? What can be a more strong reason than this Sanaullah said when asked about what his hopes were about the petition’s acceptance

charge of creating development programmes and action plans

On the condition of anonymity the source shared that Russia has already shown willingness to offer crude oil to Pakistan at a 30% discounted rate

If this is actually the case then Pakistan is getting a very sweet deal The price of Urals oil as of Tuesday stood at 54 42$/barrel according to oilprice com this would mean Pakistan would get a discount of 16$ per barrel, which is a lot depending upon the volume

As the Urals blend of Russia is currently trading below the price cap of 60$/barrel imposed by western nations, it is plausible to get a ship and the supporting financial and insurance services without too much difficulty

This said, the Urals blend is a heavier oil which means it has a higher density and is much more difficult to process if the refinery does not have the necessary machinery

It has been reported that during the virtual meeting Pakistani authorities have also highlighted this fact to their Russian counterparts

Informing them that domestic refineries are only able to process light crude oil which is generally more expensive since it’s easier to process

Therefore blending in heavy and light oil would increase the price per barrel potentially higher than the price cap imposed by western nations and their allies

Earlier in the month reports suggested that Russia had confirmed to the Pakistani delegation led by Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik about the availability of 100,000 barrels per day crude oil supply to Pakistan

A delegation from Moscow that is likely to visit Islamabad in January will iron out the finer details of the deal, including rates and mode of payment

During a press conference held earlier this month, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik also said that Russia had confirmed the supply of petroleum products at a “discounted rate”

The minister also expressed that fruitful discussions were held on pipeline projects in particular the delayed Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline

M i n i s t r y o f I n d u s t r i e s p r o p o s e s s u b s i d i s e d e - b i ke s c h e m e

In a move to reduce usage of costlier fuel and protection of environment, the ministry of Industries and Production has devised an Electric Bike Scheme under which the ministry has proposed subsided and bank financing plans for promotion of usage of the Two Wheelers (E-Bikes) in the country

According to documents available with this scribe, the ministry has devised the scheme to initially produce at least 100000 E-Bikes in 18 months For running the new bikes on roads, the ministry has proposed a subsidy of Rs 17 5 billion in three years to encourage the purchase of comparatively costlier bikes

As per the plan the government would bear down payment of Rs 90000 of an E-Bike with estimated cost of Rs 170000 whereas the purchaser will pay Rs 10000 as share of down payment making the total down payment to Rs 100000 The bank which will provide a commercial loan of Rs 70000, will charge interest of Kibor+2 or 19 percent which is estimated to be Rs 13300

Through the proposed scheme, a 24 monthly installment plan has also been given under which the customer will be paying Rs 4310 per month which includes the principal amount of Rs 2917, interest payment of Rs 1109 and insurance payment (2pc) of Rs 284

Under the plan the ministry expects production/sale of 15000 e-bikes during the ongoing fiscal year whereas 60000 and 100000 e-bikes are targeted to be produced in 2022-23 and 2024-25 re-

spectively making the total production to 175000 bikes in three years Through the subsidized program, the e-bikes would be provided to students with salaried parent, female students / employees (20% quota), transgender persons (1% quota), government employees, private sector salaried / self-employed individuals with nTn & Bank Account, Government / Armed Forces pensioners and Imam Masjid / Hafiz Quran / Muazzam duly qualified from institute recognized by Government of Pakistan (endorsed by M/o Religious Affairs)

For success of the program the ministry has suggested three subsidy models for the scheme including Cash Purchase Model, under which government will share Rs 100,000 through banks as processing agents and consumer would pay lump sum Rs 70 000 from own sources Under the Govt Subsidy Leasing Model, the Rs 100,000 aer met on sharing basis by government and consumer whereas Rs 70 000 would be provided by banks as loan with 50% Credit Guarantee by government Under the Govt Subsidy Leasing Model 2, 30% Down Payment of subsidy will be met by the government with 50% financing subsidy and 50% Credit Guarantee

For promoting the locally assembled E-Bikes and allied parts (Lithium-Ion, swappable, batteries), the ministry has proposed to make arrangements of charging at home or workplace using home/personal chargers government offices and Universities It has suggested that PSO may be given task to install EV chargers at select outlets in target city and special meters for commercial charging stations, metering as per solar tariff

Suraj Cotton Mills reduces production by 40pc due to economic downturn

Suraj Cotton Mills Limited (SURC) has decided to reduce its production by 40% due to a worldwide economic recession and a very challenging time for the textile industry in Pakistan The company made the announcement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, the last trading day on the exchange for the year 2022

“We would like to inform you that due to worldwide economic recession and low demand it is not feasible to continue with full production in our plants Our operational feasibility is further affected by the high cost of doing business Part of the curtailment of spinning operations is also due to BMR activities in line with our policy of adopting latest technologies Keeping in view these factors, the Company has decided to curtail production in all its facilities by upto 40% This is a temporary measure and we will keep reviewing the situation and inform you accordingly of any change We hope that the situation will improve in the first quarter of 2023 at which will enable us to restart ” The partial closure announcement comes after the textile industry is facing a myriad of challenges in recent months Textile companies and a number of other businesses have also announced shutdowns in recent weeks

IHC directs ECP to hold LG polls in Islamabad today

held on December 31 and ordered the election watchdog to hold elections in 101 union councils of the federal capital on its scheduled date Earlier today, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir had reserved the decision on the petition filed by the PTI against the ECP s decision to postpone the polls During the hearing of the case, the ECP had agreed to hold local body elections in seven to 10 days but held the provincial and federal governments responsible for not holding local body elections on time in Islamabad The electoral watchdog made the remark in its written response submitted to the IHC in a case pertaining to the postponement of LB elections in the capital

The electoral body maintained that it is serious about conducting the elections and suggested not changing the laws before the elections, and amending Article 140 (A) of the Constitution and Election Act 219 to fulfill the constitutional responsibility of conducting local elections

The ECP furthered that it had ordered the LG elections on time but the high court had declared the order null and void “Under section 219 (1) the local government shall conduct elections subject to the rules, however, when the preparations for the elections are completed, changes in the laws by the federal and provincial governments hinder the timely conduct of the elections the response added

ISLAMABAD

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local body elections in the federal capital today (Saturday) IHC Judge Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir on Friday nullified the ECP decision to postpone the local government polls scheduled to be

I M P O R T S O F E N E R G Y R E L AT E D P R O D U C T S F R O M R U S S I A B E CO M E M O R E

L I K E LY A S V I R T U A L M E E T I N G S A R E H E L D B E T W E E N T W O G O V T S