Elec tions of heads of newly- elec ted A JK Loc al Bodies on Mar 2

MIRpUR (AJK)

S ta f f R e p o R t

Elections to the heads of the newly-elected local bodies in Azad Jammu Kashmir – including Chairmen, Vice Chairmen Mayors and Deputy Mayors will be held on March 02, this year, Azad Jammu Kashmir Elections Commission said announcing the elections schedule on Tuesday

At the third leg of the local bodies elections in Azad Jammu Kashmir, the AJK Elections Commission announced the schedule of the elections to the heads of the civic bodies including Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, Mayors and Deputy Mayors to all the newly-elected local councils “In exercise of the powers conferred by rule 6 of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Method of

Elections for office of the Chairman Vice Chairman Mayor and Deputy Mayor Local Governments Rules –2022, the Azad Jammu Kashmir Election Commission Election Commission is pleased to hold and conduct the elections of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Mayor and Deputy Mayor in local councils of the Local government and calls upon the directly and indirectly elected members of the local councils to elected local leadership from amongst the directly elected members of the concerned local council as per the announced schedule of the election activities”, AJK Elections Commission sources told APP here on Tuesday According to the schedule nomination papers could be filed before the concerned Returning Officer before February 25, 2023 Scrutiny of the nomination papers by the concerned Returning Officers would be held the same day –

February 25 2023 during 12 00 noon to 01 00 p m

Returning Officer will make public the list of the validly nominated candidates on same day – February 25 2023 soon after completion of the scrutiny process

Last date for filing of appeals before the Appellate Tribunal against rejection of the nomination papers will be on February 25 2023 till 4 00 p m

Hearing and decisions of appeals by the Appellate Tribunal concerned will be held on February 27, 2023 till 03 00 p m The candidature could be withdrawn by the last date of February 28, 2023 till 02 00 p m

List of the contesting candidates will be made public the same date of February 28 2023 soon after withdrawal of the nomination papers

Polling will be held on March 02, 2023 from 10 00 a m to 02 00 p m

shaban crescent sighted, shab-e-Barat on March 7

A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for a third day, with thousands of goods vehicles stuck and businesses facing losses as officials from both sides try to broker a solution Taliban authorities on Sunday closed Torkham, the main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan

“The closure of the border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been causing losses to traders of the two countries There are long queues of heavy trucks stranded on both sides of the border,” said Zia Ul Haq Sarhadi, director of the PakistanAfghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry He said up to 6,000 trucks loaded with goods had been stuck on both sides since Sunday

The reason for the closure was not entirely clear though officials on both sides have said they were in discussions to resolve the issue

The government in Islamabad has not commented publicly on the matter, Reuters said A Pakistani official source said they had not been told the reason ahead of the closure

Sarhadi said Afghanistan relied on goods from Pakistan for much of its needs and many trucks were also destined for Central Asia using Afghanistan as a transit point

The traders and particularly those supplying fresh food items such as fruits and vegetables are facing losses as trucks are stranded on the way for the past three days he said

Some trucks, he further said, had been diverted to another, smaller border crossing, but traders were worried about the security of truck drivers travelling to that region

The development came after the Afghan authorities on Sunday suddenly closed the border with Pakistan at Torkham after Pakistani authorities asked the attendants of an Afghan patient to come with legal travel documents for entry into the country

A senior government official at the Torkham border said, “The Afghan border officials made it an issue saying Pakistani authorities should allow the patients and their attendants without visas or legal travel documents to enter Pakistan for treatment in Peshawar or elsewhere

The decision to strengthen security measures by mandating Afghan citizens to carry travel documents was made following the Peshawar police lines suicide attack A government official speaking to The News said, “Hopefully the border will be reopened by Tuesday (today) However till the filing of this report, the border remains closed

LAHoRE S ta f f R e p o R t

The rise in Federal Excise Duty (FED) on Cigarette and resultant price increase has reduced the sale of cigarette across Pakistan according to merchants and wholesalers, who deem it a significant step towards reducing tobacco consumption and enhancing public health Retail vendors and wholesale dealers in urban areas said the move showed that low prices were also a major role in tobacco sales and welcomed the government’s commitment to protecting its citizens from the dangers of smoking

“Though it is a business loss for me but this continues to campaign for tighter tobacco control regulations to further reduce smoking rates in Pakistan said Shafiq Ahmed a seller in Islamabad

On 14 February 2023, the government issued an SRO to increase FED The SRO claimed that taxes on locally made cigarettes have been updated, and the FED has doubled the price of cigarettes (16500/- per 1000 cigarettes if the initial price on the package exceeds 9000 per 1000 cigarettes) He went on to say that the government of Pakistan may now inflate the national budget by billions of rupees as a result of this endeavour

A wholesale merchant in Karachi agreed with him stating that they had seen a significant increase in tobacco demand and sales

Smoking is a serious problem in Pakistan, where millions of people are addicted to this terrible habit Smoking is a key cause of many diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other respiratory problems The World Health Organization

(WHO) estimates that smoking kills around 166,000 people in Pakistan each year This statistic is alarming, and it needs immediate action to halt the nation s tobacco pandemic

Raising the price of cigarettes, according to social activists, is a tried-and-true method of reducing tobacco usage Cigarettes are more expensive as a result of this technique, which may discourage people from smoking, particularly young people

The decision to hike cigarette pricing in Pakistan is an essential step towards promoting public health The government s initiative to raise taxes by about 150% is one of the largest in Pakistani history According to their representatives, the approval of SRO by the government in this regard aimed to increase excise tax o n cig ar ettes is a h ig h ly co mmen d ab le mo v e an d th e F ed er al B o a r d o f R e v e n u e ( F B R ) h a s t a k e n a h i s t o r i c s t e p t o p r o t e c t public health

The crescent of Shaban-ul-Moazam has been sighted and the Shab-e-Barat will fall on March 7 The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony in pursuance of the decision of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, announced that the first of Shaban, 1444 AH shall commence from February 22 The Committee Chairman Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad while announcing the crescent sighting of Shaban informed that the committee had received many a solid testimony of crescent sighting from various areas of the country Later on, he offered prayers for peace progress and prosperity of the country and liberation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Palestine and above all for the earthquake victims of Turkiye and Syria

Case put off till 23rd: Govt submits sealed record of Toshakhana in LHC

The federal government on Tuesday submitted sealed record of Toshakhana gifts in the Lahore High Court (LHC) in connection with a petition, seeking complete details of gifts received by the rulers and bureaucrats from foreign dignitaries since the creation of Pakistan Section Officer Binyamin presented the sealed record to Justice Asim Hafeez who was hearing a petition filed by one Munir Ahmad for complete details of Toshakhana gifts Deputy Attorney General Asad Bajwa submitted that the record was classified, adding that the court could unseal it, if it wanted He submitted that the federal cabinet would make a decision about making the record public in its next meeting

However, the court observed that it was not inclined to open the sealed record for now Subsequently, the court adjourned the case for further hearing till February 23 and summoned Toshakhana head along with an affidavit

In the last hearing the court directed the authorities concerned to submit the details of gifts taken from Toshakhana since 1947, by January 16 To which the federal government’s lawyer informed the court that the Toshakhana details cannot be provided for being classified

However, brushing the argument aside, the court directed the authorities concerned to submit the details of gifts taken from Toshakhana since 1947, by January 16

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Chairman Imran Khan is facing a scandal regarding the Toshakhana gifts for allegedly indulging in corrupt practices, which the former premier denies

PESHAWAR

R e u t e R s

A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for a third day with thousands of goods vehicles stuck and businesses facing losses as officials from both sides try to broker a solution

Taliban authorities on Sunday closed Torkham, the main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan

The closure of the border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been causing losses to traders of the two countries There are long queues of heavy trucks stranded on both sides of the border,” said Zia ul-Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry

He said up to 6,000 trucks loaded with goods had been stuck on both sides since Sunday

The reason for the closure was not entirely clear, though officials on both sides have said they were in discussions to resolve the issue A provincial Taliban official told Reuters on Monday Pakistan had not lived up to its commitments to allow transit, travellers and sick people seeking treatment to cross Pakistan has not commented publicly on the matter

An official source said they had not been told the reason ahead of the closure

Sarhadi said Afghanistan relied on goods from Pakistan for much of its needs and many trucks were also destined for Central Asia using Afghanistan as a transit point

“The traders and particularly those supplying fresh food items such as fruits, and vegetables are facing losses as trucks are stranded on the way for the past three days, he said

He added some trucks had been diverted to another, smaller border crossing but traders were worried about the

LAHORE s ta f f R e p o R t pA k I S TA n I Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran khan thanked the people and especially the lawyers who showed their support during his appearance at the Lahore High Court (LHC) khan posted a tweet expressing his gratitude “I want to thank all the people [and] especially the lawyers for coming out in huge numbers spontaneously and showing such passionate support yesterday,” he wrote

On Monday, khan was granted a protective bail from the high court in a case registered at the Sangjani police station in Islamabad

He informed the judge that he was unaware of the bail petition and had asked Barrister Azhar Siddique, his counsel, to let him appear in court khan proceeded to apologise for “wasting the court’s time” before withdrawing his bail plea The court then concluded the proceedings

naB summons Buzdar in wealth case

LAHORE s ta f f R e p o R t

The national Accountability Bureau (nAB) has summoned former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar once again to its Lahore office on February 22 The dirty money watchdog has asked that he bring along the relevant details and documents regarding his assets and income Buzdar had previously failed to appear before the agency and had taken interim pre-arrest bail from an accountability court till February 27 The court has since barred nAB from arresting him in the case of assets beyond his known means nAB had earlier approved the recommendation from nAB Lahore to launch an investigation against Buzdar

state land retrieved on punjab ombudsman’s order

security of truck drivers travelling to that region Residents had reported heavy gunfire on Monday morning near the Torkham border crossing, but the Taliban official had denied any clashes and said the situation was under control Disputes linked to the 2,600 kilometres (1 615 miles) border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades