Epaper_23-02-24 ISB

S C S ay S n o t t o t o l e r at e v i o l at i o n o f C o n S t i t u t i o n

g i s s u e s n ot i C e s to m a J o r P o l i t i C a l Pa r t i e s, e C P g C J P s ay s to d e t e r m i n e w h o h a s r e s P o n s i b i l i t y, a u t h o r i t y to a n n o u n C e P o l l s d at e

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f R e p o R t

the chief justice of Pakistan thursday made it c ear the supreme Court wil not tolerate violat on of the Constitut on and issued notices to all ma or political parties in suo moto hearing to determ ne who has the respons bi ity and authority to announce the date for elections to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces a nine-member arger bench of apex ud cial forum ed by Justice umar ata bandia commenced a suo motu hearing the bench presided over the case cons sts of just ces –ijazu ahsan syed mansoor a i shah munib akhtar, yahya afridi, mazahar ali akbar naqvi Jama Khan mandokha l muhammad ali mazhar and athar mina lah the court issued not ce to all ma or polit cal parties seeking the r po nts of v ew in the case and put off the suo motu hearing for elections to Punjab and KP assembl es till 11am on friday (today)

the court a so ser ved not ces to the e ect on Commission of Pakistan and the attorney general the hearing ensued President dr

arif a vi ’s announcement of apri 9 as the elect on date in both provinces, which he made uni ateral y after the e ection Commiss on of Pak stan (eCP) rejected h s request for consultat ons on the matter Justice bandia opened the hearing with a statement his court must exam ne three things and emphasized that time was running out for provincial elections b a r r i s t e r a Z a f a r t o o k t h e s t a n d a n d s o u g h t t o b r n g “ t h i n g s r e l a t e d to the president on record, to which t h e j u d g e r e s p o n d e d t h a t Pr e s i d e n t a l v h a d a n n o u n c e d t h e e l e c t i o n d a t e u n d e r s e c t o n 5 7 o f t h e e l e ct i o n s a c t 2 0 1 7 Z a f a r p l e a d e d t o h e a r t h e i r r e q u e s t b u t t h e c h i e f j u st i c e r e i t e r a t e d t h a t t h e c o u r t h a d t h r e e i s s u e s t o c o n s i d e r h e r e f e r r e d t o t h e la h o r e h g h C o u r t s ( l h C ) order of februar y 10, which d rected t h e e C P t o h o d p o l s i m m e d i a t e y a n d s a i d t h e c o u r t h a d s e v e r a f a ct o r s t o c o n s d e r at one po nt attorney general for Pak stan shehzad e ah requested t me from the court he sa d that ssuing notices to so many people would make it difficult to prepare for the next day ’s hearing the judge responded the court wou d restrict tself to essen-

tial issues and hold a deta led hearing on monday the chief just ce stated that a suo motu notice was taken due to several factors and that pro onged proceedings were under way n the high court whi e time was pass ng by the President has announced elect on under sect on 57 Ch ef Justice bandial sa d “ we have three ssues before us CJP said it has to be seen who has been authorized to announce the elect on date after dissolut on of assemb ies he further said we had feb 10 order of the high court and several other factors before us, the top judge added we want comp iance of the const tut on and cou d not to erate its v olat on at any cost, Just ce band al further said Justice Jama mandokhe and Justice athar m nallah ob ected over const tution of the bench i have reser vations over the suo moto no-

tice,” Justice mandokhel sa d “Justice mazahir al naqvi was the member of the bench in which the Chief elect on Commissioner was summoned,” he further sa d suo moto notice was taken on the note of Justice i azu ahsan and Justice mazah r naqv Just ce Jama said the CeC was summoned n the case, wh le he was not a party,” Justice mandokhel added then the CJP sa d that the suo moto notice was taken later, ear ier speakers petitions were filed the constitution g ves fixed t me for elections, which s com ng to an end,” Justice band al obser ved the high court s forum can be bypassed in case of emergency,” he sa d t was easy for the supreme court to f x two f ed petitions for hear ng section 57 related to the date of elections several new points have come before us which required interpretation ” he further said

SBP reser ves rise by $66m to $3.258b

g total liquid foreign reserves stand at $8.726b

KARACHI

R e u t e R s t h e f o r e i g n e x c h a n g e r e s e r v e s h e d b y t h e c e n t r a l b a n k r o s e b y $ 6 6 m o n t o $ 3 2 5 8 b i l l i o n i n t h e w e e k e n d i n g fe b 1 7 t h e s t a t e b a n k o f Pa k i s t a n ( s b P ) s a i d o n t h u r s d a y w h i l e t s t o t a l l i q u d f o r e i g n r e s e r v e s s t o o d a t $ 8 7 2 6 b i l l i o n Pa ki s t a n w h i c h s a $ 3 5 0 b i l l i o n e c o n o m y i s f a c i n g e c o n o m c t u r m o i l w t h a b a la n c e o f p a y m e n t c r i s i s a n d o n l y e n o u g h f o r e i g n e x c h a n g e r e s e r v e s t o c o v e r t h r e e w e e k s o f i m p o r t s i s l a ma b a d s e x p e c t i n g e x t e r n a l f i n a n c i n g i n f l o w s a f t e r a d e a w i t h t h e i n t e r n at i o n a l m o n e t a r y fu n d ( i m f ) s f i n a l i s e d s o m e t h i n g t h a t i s ke y t h i s m o n t h i f t h e i m f d e a l i s d o n e a n d a p p r o v e d b y i t s b o a r d t h a t w s s u e a $ 1 2 b i o n f u n d i n g, t h a t w i l l a l s o u n l o c k o t h e r b il a t e r a a n d m u l t a t e r a l i n f o w s C h n a a p p r o v e d t h e r e f n a n c n g o f $ 7 0 0 m i ll i o n o n we d n e s d a y, t h e f n a n c e m ni s t r y s a d t h e m o n e y h a d b e e n e x p e c t e d t o b e c r e d t e d t o t h e c e n t r a l b a n k ’ s r e s e r v e s t h s w e e k

PM for making Pakistan-US par tnership diverse, multidimensional

Prime minister shehbaz shar f on thursday highl ghting the significance of long-stand ng cooperation between Pakistan and the united states underscored the need to make this partnership diverse and mu tidimensional he underlined that parliamentar y exchanges between the two countries as vibrant democrac es, were vita to promoting understanding of each others ’ perspect ves at the politica level the pr me minister expressed these views wh le welcom ng a six-member us senate de egation from the democratic Party, which led by senate majority leader senator Chuck schumer ca led on him here other members of the delegation ncluded senators maria Cantwell amy K obuchar gar y Peters Catherine Cortez masto and Peter welch the prime m n ster h gh ghted that Pakistan and us celebrated 75 years of dip omatic relations ast year, and that th s diplomatic mi estone presented an ideal opportunity to chart future course

for Pak-us bilateral ties

Pointing to the unrealized potent al in the trade investment and technology realms he emphasized the importance of forging a more robust and mutually benef cial bi ateral economic partnership the prime min ster recognized the important role that the v brant Pakistani commun ty p ayed in ser ving as an mportant bridge between the two countries he thanked the us for ts support and solidar ty with the people of Pak stan dur ng the 2022 floods and its partic pation n the internationa Conference on Climate res lient Pakistan a number of issues of mutual interest and importance ncluding the s tuat on in afghanistan, and deter orating human rights situation and growing repression in the indian i legally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (iioJK) were also discussed during the meet ng the prime m nister urged the us Congress to play its due role n raising its vo ce for the rights of the Kashmir people and against the r sing wave of antmusl m extrem sm in ind a senator schumer thanking the Prime minister on behalf of the de egation af-

firmed the desire to further strengthen Pakistan-us b ateral ties in various dmensions through cont nued engagement and w der co-operation ‘austerity policy to be enforced strictly meanwhile Prime min ster shehbaz sharif sa d that the austerity policy he had announced a day earlier would be enforced strictly and no lax ty in this regard wou d be tolerated Chairing a meeting to review the imp ementation of the policy the prime m n ster sa d the histor c decisions ’ made to promote austerity and simp icty would have a far-reaching mpact that also got applause from the public he d rected the formation of a montoring committee to oversee the implementation of the decisions to be cha red by a cabinet member from a coal tion party the mon toring committee wou d comprise representation from a l the a lied part es other committee members would nc ude spec al ass stant to Pm Jahanzeb Khan, Pr ncipa secretar y to Pm and federal finance secretar y the prime m n ster said the austerity

measures would he p save nat onal resources; however, effective outcomes depended on the full enforcement of the po icy federa m nisters rana tanveer hussa n and tariq bash r Cheema advisor qamar Zaman Kaira state min ster hash m notezai, saPm Jahanzeb Khan

and relevant senior officers attended the meeting it is pertinent to mention here that Pm shehbaz sharif announced a number of austerity measures, as Pak stan was eyeing a staff-leve agreement w th the international monetar y fund (imf) this week

EDB assurEs policy approval for ElEctric

pr ofit report S h a h a b O m e r

th e engineering Development Board (eDB) Chief executive Officer (CeO) Raza Abbas Shah on Thursday said that a large number of Chinese investors were looking forward to start projects in the fields of eV bikes fans and LeD lights and waiting for approval of policies

Shah further informed that to promote eV bikes eDB had proposed to subsidize a certain number of eV bikes

We have also issued 23 licenses for eV bikes as it is a new technology Similarly a subsidy strategy has also been prepared to bring a certain number of bikes on the roads It will also develop related industries like lithium

batteries and the motor industry The eV Bikes

Policy is being submitted to the economic Coordination Committee,” CeO said

The C e O e D B m e t L C C I P r e s i d e n t

K a s h i f A n w a r a t L a h o r e C h a m b e r o f

C o m m e r c e a n d I n d u s t r y ( L C C I ) h e r e o n Thursday and discussed various industries

The CeO further informed that the government is going to present the policy of LeD lights by July 1, similarly, a policy for fans has been proposed and will be approved soon and will not be allowed to manufacture and install fans above 80 watts

T h e c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n a l s o o ff e r s a huge opportunity for the lighting and fan industry We will also share our draft solar p o l i c y w i t h L C C I t o i n c o r p o r a t e t h e i r suggestions We should take advantage of t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d i n c r e a s e e x p o r t s

‘imposition of proper t y tax aims at impoverishing iioJk people’

SriNAGAr

S ta f f r e p O r t

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir regional politicians have strongly denounced the imposition of Property Tax saying that the move is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s larger agenda to impoverish the people of the territory According to Kashmir Media Service, Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti talking to reporters in Srinagar said the real aim of the tax imposition is to make people of IIOJK so poor that they don’t demand anything This is part of a larger agenda of the Modi regime to bury people of the territory, she added The authorities on Tuesday issued a notification for imposition of property tax in the territory which will come into effect from April 01, 2023 Mehbooba Mufti said, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been a “disaster” for Jammu and Kashmir There are (natural calamities) earthquakes and floods Just like that we have new orders every day, be it regarding jobs, demolition drive or now the property tax she lamented how will the shopkeepers of Raghunath Bazaar in Jammu pay the tax when there is no business? In Srinagar and other towns of Kashmir three to four families live in one house They don’t have money to pay electricity bills and you are asking for property tax,” she maintained

Eight terrorists killed in operation after ‘foiled-ambush’ in kech

rAWALpiNDi

S ta f f r e p O r t

As many as eight terrorists were killed by the security forces in a follow-up operation launched after foiling an ambush on convoy of security forces in Kech District, Balochistan According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release on Thursday, the terrorists on the evening of Wednesday (Feb 22), attempted to ambush a convoy of security forces in Kech District The alert and combat-ready troops foiled the cowardly attempt without any loss of life and then immediately commenced a follow-up operation to hunt down the fleeing terrorists, using ground and aviation assets Resultantly, on Thursday morning a suspected hideout of the terrorists was identified in Mazaaband Range where a sanitisation operation was launched In the ensuing exchange of fire eight terrorists were killed with a large cache of arms and ammunition, including explosives, recovered The security forces of Pakistan will continue to thwart such attempts by inimical elements, on the behest of hostile intelligence agencies, to disrupt the hard-earned peace in the province ” the ISPR said

Last year there were some restrictions on foreign exchange but we managed to get relief for mobile and other industries The c u r r e n t a c c o u n t d e f i c i t p r o b l e m c a n b e o v e r c o m e b y i n c r e a s i n g f o r e i g n investment and remittances,” CeO added h o w e v e r, d u r i n g t h e m e e t i n g , L C C I P r e s i d e n t K a s h i f A n w a r s a i d t h a t a m o n g t h e e c o n o m i c c h a l l e n g e s t h e c o u n t r y i s currently facing, the most serious problem is the foreign exchange crisis due to which banks are reluctant to open LCs “ T h o u s a n d s o f o u r c o n t a i n e r s a r e stuck at the port due to which the business community is facing demurrage and other c h a rg e s A l s o , t h e e n t i r e s u p p l y c h a i n o f imports required by industries including m a n y r a w m a t e r i a l s , h a s b e e n a ff e c t e d Our industries have to import a lot of raw

m a t e r i a l s a n d n e c e s s a r y m a c h i n e r y o n which 100% cash margin has to be paid we want the government to give profit on this to the business community

Additional customs duty withholding

t a x , p e n d i n g r e f u n d s a n d m u l t i p l e a u d i t s a r e t h e p r o b l e m s t h a t h a v e m a d e i t impossible for the business community to continue their business Furthermore, we h a v e a s h a r p d e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e r u p e e , high energy costs fuel prices electricity a n d g a s r a t e s a l o n g w i t h a 1 7 p e r c e n t policy,” President LCCI said According to Kashif Anwar the main reason for the economic crisis is the lack o f f o c u s o n i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n a n d i m p o r t s u b s t i t u t i o n a s a r e s u l t o f w h i c h t h e import bill continued to increase “ O u r t r a d e d e f i c i t i n 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 w a s

o v e r $ 4 8 b i l l i o n w h i l e o u r t r a d e d e f i c i t during the first seven months of this fiscal y e a r ( J u l y 2 0 2 2 t o J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 ) h a s c r o s s e d $ 1 9 b i l l i o n T h e r e i s i m m e n s e p o t e n t i a l f o r l o c a l i z a t i o n i n t h e a u t o m o t i v e s e c t o r I f w e l o o k a t i m p o r t s f r o m t h e a u t o s e c t o r our imports of completely built units were $ 6 1 6 m i l l i o n i n 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 a s a g a i n s t $ 3 8 6 m i l l i o n i n 2 0 2 0 - 2 1 S i m i l a r l y c o m p l e t e k n o c k e d d o w n ( C K D ) i m p o r t s s t o o d a t $ 2 4 b i l l i o n i n 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 a s a g a i n s t $ 1 6 b i l l i o n i n 2 0 2 0 - 2 1 L o c a l i z a t i o n i s s o l a c k i n g i n o u r e n g i n e e r i n g s e c t o r t h a t w e d o n o t e v e n m a n u f a c t u r e t h r e e w h e e l e r l o a d e r r i c k s h a w e n g i n e s i n t h e c o u n t r y b u t i m p o r t t h e m f r o m C h i n a O e M S m u s t b e f o r c e d t o w o r k o n a d i l u t i o n p r o g r a m i n s t e a d o f i m p o r t i n g s o t h a t t h e i r e n g i n e p a r t s c a n b e m a d e i n l o c a l i n d u s t r i e s O u r m a c h i n e r y i m p o r t s a r e a l s o h i g h a t $ 1 0 9 b i l l i o n i n 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 We c a n s t a r t m a n u f a c t u r i n g t h e s e m a c h i n e s i n t h e c o u n t r y b y p r o m o t i n g l o c a l i z a t i o n w h i c h w i l l s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e d u c e o u r i m p o r t b i l l w h i c h i s i n d i s p e n s a b l e f o r o u r e c o n o m i c s t a b i l i t y, h e a d d e d

Re fe re n c e fi l e d i n S J C a g a i n s t J u s t i c e M a z a h a r N a q v i

iSLAMABAD S ta f f r e p O r t

An advocate of the Supreme Court has submitted an application to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) accusing the apex court judge Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi for amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, besides being guilty of misconduct

Advocate Mian Daud, while talking to media persons outside Supreme Court

building, said he had filed a reference against Justice Mazhar Ali Naqvi in judicial council he said asset details of Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi had been submitted through the reference The TLTP learnt that he said that Justice Naqvi had properties beyond his known sources of income A purported audio leak of Justice Naqvi is also taking rounds in media “We have requested the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate the matter,” Mian Daud said “If his act

falls under the misconduct, the SJC should take action against the judge he said

“Justice Mazhar Naqvi changed the statements of his assets thrice There are some assets of Justice Naqvi which have never been brought on record,” Mian Daud claimed “The judge has owned many properties with the help of his frontmen Two sons of Justice Mazhar Naqvi practicing law in Lahore high Court and with their help he is accumulating wealth,” he alleged

President signs finance bill into law to ‘unlock way ’ for stalled IMF tranche

iSLAMABAD

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday signed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, generally known as the mini-budget as the government rushed to fulfill the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions to unlock an economic bailout that the country needs to avoid the risk of default

The Prime Minister Secretariat sent the bill to the President Secretariat on Wednesday evening for assent two days after it was passed by the National Assembly “The president approved the bill in accordance with Article 75 of the Constitution, the media wing of the President house said in a statement issued on Thursday

Under Article 75 (1) the president has no power to reject or object to the finance bill, which is considered to be a money bill as per the Constitution

The article reads “When a Bill is presented to the President for assent, the President shall, within [ten] days,–(a) assent to the Bill; or (b) in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill return the Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with a message requesting that the Bill or any specified provision thereof be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered” With the implementation of all major prior actions, Pakistan is eyeing a staff-level agreement with the IMF this week which will also pave the way for muchawaited credit flows from other bilateral and multilateral lenders

‘Cour t arrest drive’: Police to keep PTI leaders in separate jails across Punjab

LAHore

S ta f f r e p O r t

The leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who volunteered their arrest in Lahore as part of the “Jail Bharo movement would be detained in various cities

Sources said PTI’s Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi had been sent to Attock, General Secretary Asad Umar and Murad Raas to DG Khan and Azam Swati had been sent to Rahim Yar Khan

Former home minister Omar Sarfraz Cheema will be detained at Bhakkar jail while Waleed Iqbal will be kept in Layyah jail Sources said 10 party workers would be kept with each leader in a jail

Meanwhile, the Punjab home Department has created space to keep 10 000 people in the jails if the

PTI workers and party leaders presented themselves for the arrest Sources said barracks had been cleared to accommodate the party leaders and workers Furthermore, police sources said the arrested people could be detained for one month and would not be allowed to meet anyone Imran Khan-led party on Wednesday kicked off its court arrest drive in Lahore against the violation of fundamental rights and worsening economic situation Police said around 90 people had courted their arrest while the PTI leaders claimed there were over 200 arrests The leaders and workers of the party in Peshawar region will present themselves for court arrest today (Thursday) as the movement entered its second day The court arrest drive will move to Multan on Feb 25, Gujranwala on Feb 26, Sargodha on Feb 27 and Sahiwal on Feb 28

“Front man Zahid Rafique is notorious in legal fraternity for earning money through his influence With an account, expenses incurred on educational activities of Justice Naqvi s daughter are paid,” he alleged Alleging that Justice Mazhar had been guilty of misconduct and amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, he requested the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate the allegations leveled against the judge

petition filed in lhc challenging size of federal cabinet

LAHore S ta f f r e p O r t T h e L a h o r e h i g h C o u r t ( L h C ) r e c e i v e d a c h a l l e n g e t o t h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e f e d e r a l c a b i n e t t h e l a rg e s t i n P a k i s t a n ’s p a r l i a m e n t a r y h i s t o r y, o n T h u r s d a y T h e p e t i t i o n , f i l e d b y B a r r i s t e r A z h a r S i d d i q , c l a i m e d t h e e v e r- e x p a n d i n g f e d e r a l c a b i n e t o f 8 5 m e m b e r s v i o l a t e d A r t i c l e 9 2 ( 1 ) o f t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n , w h i c h s p e c i f i e s t h a t t h e s i z e o f t h e c a b i n e t c a n n o t e x c e e d 4 2 S i d d i q a rg u e d t h e o v e r s i z e d c a b i n e t w a s a b u r d e n o n P a k i s t a n a n d p l e a d e d w i t h t h e c o u r t t o i s s u e a n i m m e d i a t e o r d e r t o r e d u c e i t s s i z e O n F e b r u a r y 8 , S h e h b a z S h a r i f a p p o i n t e d f i v e n e w s p e c i a l a s s i s t a n t s t o t h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r, i n c r e a s i n g t h e n u m b e r t o 4 0 a n d b r i n g i n g t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f t h e c a b i n e t t o 8 5 T h e f e d e r a l c a b i n e t d i v i s i o n i s s u e d a n o t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p o i n t m e n t s

ghulam Dogar reinstated as lahore ccpo

LAHore S ta f f r e p O r t

Ghulam Muhammad Dogar has been reinstated as Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) following the verdict of Supreme Court (SC) According to details the federal government withdrew the suspension order of former Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar after Supreme Court (SC) reinstated him It is pertinent to mention here that the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) suspended the order of former CCPO Lahore Ghulam Mehmood Dogar s transfer

G ovt to distribute 100,000 laptops among youth

iSLAMABAD S ta f f r e p O r t

P r i m e M i n i s t e r ( P M ) S h e h b a z S h a r i f o n T h u r s d a y a n n o u n c e d t h a t t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d distribute 100,000 laptops among top achiever youths across the country purely on meri

T h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r m a d e t h e s e r e m a r k s w h i l e addressing a ceremony for cheque distribution among t h e b e n e f i c i a r i e s o f t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r Yo u t h L o a n P r o g r a m m e PM Shehbaz Sharif said that country’s progress was linked to the success of the Youth Loan Program which besides supporting the unemployed youngsters also benefited the national economy

he said the loan scheme was the continuation of the PM Youth Loan scheme launched in 2013 by that time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and billions of rupees were disbursed among the entitled youth

The prime minister recalled that CM Loan Scheme was also launched in Punjab and 75,000 youths were also given vehicles on loan he said the recovery ratio of the scheme was around 99 percent which manifested the honesty of the country’s youngsters P M Shehbaz said that the 99% recovery ratio of the youth and Kissan loan schemes falsified the misconception about the risks involved in the individual loans by the banks

he said Pakistani youths never got their loans waived off – a problem that inflicted huge losses to the national

economy The prime minister congratulated the beneficiaries of the loan scheme and appreciated the services of SAMP Shiza Fatima Khawaja, banks and other partners for their efforts to make this program a success

he said considering their immense potential the government would never disappoint the youth and would scrape the maximum resources to extend them loan facilities The prime minister also announced that the federal government would distribute 100,000 laptops among top achiever youths across the country, purely on merit he said those who used to criticise the laptop scheme in the past should have witnessed that the very laptops helped the youth to earn sustenance, particularly during the COVID pandemic

i D E n n o m i n at E s f o r m E r m a s t E r c a r D c h i E f B a n g a t o h E a D W o r l D B a n k

uS President Joe Biden said Thursday that Washington is nominating former Mastercard Chief executive Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, after its current chief David Malpass announced plans to step down early The development lender has just started accepting candidate nominations in a process set to run until March 29, with the bank saying that women candidates would be “strongly” encouraged The president of the World Bank is typically

NEPRA delegation led by member Rafique Shaikh visits K-Elec tric

kArACHi p r

NePRA senior officials’ team led by Member (Technical), Rafique Ahmad Shaikh visited K-electric (Ke) head Office to review Ke’s performance and status of compliance with NePRA’s Act, Performance Standards (Distribution) Rules 2005, Distribution Code and other applicable regulations, devised by the regulatory authority Ke CeO, Moonis Alvi, accompanied by senior management apprised NePRA Authority about the power company’s status of initiatives and proactive measures being taken, pertaining to supply and demand over the summer months especially in the upcoming holy month of Ramadan Further to this, Ke management also briefed the Authority about the financial and operational challenges being faced and sought NePRA’s support on such matters

Ghandhara sees quar terly gains but half yearly profits shell of former self

CoNtiNueD froM BACk pAGe

on the Rs 17 98 million it saw previously On a YoY basis, the eTR represents a significant increase on the 31 4% incurred in Q2FY22 whilst total earnings represent a 79 98% decline from the Rs 110 3 million earnt over the same period last year

H F Y23 e a r n i n G s

On a hFY basis, the company saw its hFY23 sales dip to Rs 7 1 billion This represents a 12 23% YoY decline from the previous Rs 8 1 billion Cost of goods sold, however, fell by 14 76% YoY from Rs 7 1 billion to Rs 6 06 billion This in turn led to the hFY23 gross profit to rise to Rs 1 1 billion representing a 4 9% YoY increase The GPM also rose from 12 89% to 15 41% Profit from operations, similarly rose to Rs 668 million representing a 1 4 YoY increase The company’s finance cost, however, rose to Rs 587 million for a whopping 94 75% increase on the Rs 301 million it incurred in hFY22 Its earnings from Ghandhara Industries also recorded a 161 75% YoY decrease from the Rs 3 03 million it saw in hFY22 The company s eTR rose from 33 11% in hFY22 to 49 3% in hFY23 The company ended its half yearly report with a 83 39% YoY decline in its final earnings, as it recorded a measeley Rs 40 million in hFY23 against the Rs 241 million from hFY22

American, while the leader of the International Monetary Fund is customarily european

Banga 63 is Indian-American and currently serving as vice chairman at equity firm General Atlantic he was previously chief executive at Mastercard

Banga has critical experience mobilizing publicprivate resources to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change,” said Biden in a statement Last week current World Bank President Malpass who was nominated to the post by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump in 2019 said he would step down nearly a year early, ending a tenure that was clouded by questions over his climate stance his term

would originally have ended in 2024

Banga’s nomination comes amid a push for development lenders to revamp and address global problems like environmental issues more effectively

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier said that lenders core models where countries borrow to make specific investments addressing developmental constraints, is “insufficient to meet the moment ”

The United States is the World Bank s largest shareholder

r e e n t r a n s i t i o n

Speaking to reporters, a senior US administration official said: “At Mastercard and General Atlantic, Ajay

has made combating climate change and mobilizing private capital to help power the green transition a priority ”

“These are experiences and priorities that will guide and drive his work in the years ahead at the World Bank,” the official said

In a separate statement, Yellen said Thursday that she applauded Biden s decision

Banga “has the right leadership and management skills, experience living and working in emerging markets and financial expertise to lead the World Bank at a critical moment in its history,” Yellen said

She added that his record of forging partnerships b e t w e e n t h e p u b l i c s e c t o r p r i v a t e s e c t o r a n d n o np r o f i t s w i l l s e r v e h i m i n h e l p i n g t o “ m o b i l i z e t h e p r i v a t e c a p i t a l a n d p r e s s f o r t h e r e f o r m s n e e d e d t o meet our shared ambitions

Asked about the World Bank’s encouragement for women candidates, a US official told reporters that Banga who was born raised and spent an early part of his career in emerging market India had a “personal conviction and excellent track record” in promoting diversity in his work

SBP set to increase interest rates in off- c ycle review, say investors

pr ofit

r e u t e r S

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is set to raise interest rates as early as this week in an off-cycle review investors said, as the country faces pressure to mend its finances amid a $1 billion loan it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund

Market participants in a recent treasury bill auction are expecting at least a 200 basis points increase in the central bank s policy rate, which stands at 17 per cent The expected increase is based on the rates the government set in the auction to raise the funds

The government raised Rs258 billion in the auction on Wednesday The cut-off rates for the three-month, six-month, and 12-month tenors jumped 195 bps, 206

bps, and 184 bps higher than the previous auction

The cash-strapped country is undertaking key measures to secure IMF funding, including raising taxes, removing blanket subsidies, and artificial curbs on the exchange rate While the government expects a deal with IMF soon, media reports say that the agency expects the policy rate to be increased The next meeting of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled for March 16 Off-cycle rate reviews are not uncommon though Assistant Vice President of Research at Pak Kuwait Investment Company, Adnan Sheikh, said that a rate hike is imminent, and it could be as soon as Friday “The next policy meeting is too far Given the circumstances, it’s already being priced in,” Sheikh said

The SBP and the IMF did not immediately respond to requests for comment

head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, Fahad Rauf, said that the IMF has given a target to at least keep rates higher than core inflation Pakistan has two core inflation readings i e , Urban (15 4pc for Jan) and Rural (19 4pc) and no national core number is released If the SBP tries to bring rates above rural core inflation, it requires a rate hike of 200-300 bps, he said Mohammad Ayub Khuhro, a fund manager at a local fund, said that recent economic data on government finances suggest that it was running low on its cash balances held with the central bank This is why the government went ahead with picking up their desired targets despite a signalling effect it would send to the markets, Khuhro said

The government has effectively bypassed the central bank in order to fulfill IMF conditions by accepting a higher cut-off he added

Rs6b blended vir tual educ ation projec t hits a snag

CoNtiNueD froM BACk pAGe

As per details, the Blended education Corners (BeCs) have been set up a n d s t a r t e d c o u r s e s i n t h r e e u n i v e r s i t i e s i n c l u d i n g t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S w a t , U n i v e r s i t y o f B a l t i s t a n , a n d L a h o r e C o l l e g e f o r Wo m e n U n i v e r s i t y o f L a h o r e I n a d d i t i o n , u n d e r t h i s p r o j e c t , 3 5 D i s t r i c t h e a d q u a r t e r s ( D h Q s ) w i l l b e e s t a b l i s h e d a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y w h e r e a l l t h e t e a c h i n g p r o g r a m s o f t h e Virtual University will be offered under the blended m e t h o d o f t e a c h i n g S o f a r f o u r d i s t r i c t h e a d q u a r t e r s h a v e b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d i n I s l a m a b a d , Q u e t t a , M u l t a n a n d K a r a c h i A p a r t f r o m t h i s , t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f

CoNtiNueD froM BACk pAGe

In late December of last year, Faysal Bank completed its transition to a complete Islamic bank after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued FBL an Islamic Banking License The license made Faysal bank the second largest full-fledged Islamic Bank in Pakistan history of the Bank: Named after Mohammaed bin Faisal Al Saud, a Saudi Prince and businessman, FBL 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 Pakistan with 53 standalone branches Faysal Bank currently has 639 branches that have all been converted to Islamic branches, making FBL the second largest full-fledged Islamic Bank in the country

Shift to Islamic banking: On April 28th, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) of Pakistan announced a

Higher polic y rate on the c ards

froM BACk pAGe

CoNtiNueD

According to various news reports, the IMF has directly asked Pakistan to raise the central bank’s interest rate by 200 points

This raise will bring further slowdown in the economy, curbing the demand-side inflation however, an even higher policy rate further stalls the already slowed down business activity It also discourages more fiscal expenditures by the government as it makes access to cash difficult

The two edged nature is the reason why

Pakistan has held off on the policy rate increase until now however, since the cap on the exchange rate has been removed and the taxes have been increased through a “mini-budget” The inflation expectation is reported to be north of 30% for this quarter

This means yet another failure of the socalled inflation targeting monetary regime by the SBP So what does the SBP do?

The CeO of topline securities and a Stock Market analyst, Muhammad Sohail, told Profit that because of a higher expected inflation, the increase in the t-bill rate, is a

d i s t r i c t h e a d q u a r t e r s i n B a r k h a n a r e a o f G i l g i tB a l t i s t a n i s a l s o b e i n g i m p l e m e n t e d T h e m a i n o b j e c t i v e o f s e t t i n g u p t h e s e d i s t r i c t h e a d q u a r t e r s i s t o p r o v i d e a ff o r d a b l e u n i v e r s i t y l e v e l e d u c a t i o n o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n a r e a s w h e r e t h e r e i s e i t h e r n o u n i v e r s i t y o r t h e e x i s t i n g u n i v e r s i t y c a p a c i t y i s l o w For the promotion of technical education, useful c o u r s e s a r e b e i n g i n t r o d u c e d t h r o u g h a b l e n d e d teaching method in collaboration with the provincial Te c h n i c a l e d u c a t i o n a n d Vo c a t i o n a l Tr a i n i n g A u t h o r i t y ( T e V TA ) a n d N a t i o n a l Vo c a t i o n a l a n d Te c h n i c a l Tr a i n i n g C o m m i s s i o n ( N AV T T C ) U n d e r t h i s , 8 T e V TA c e n t e r s w i l l b e e s t a b l i s h e d i n e a c h province where technical courses will be introduced

i n m u t u a l c o n s u l t a t i o n b e t w e e n T e V TA a n d t h e v i r t u a l u n i v e r s i t y, t h r o u g h w h i c h s t u d e n t s w i l l b e a b l e t o a c q u i r e t e c h n i c a l s k i l l s a n d g a i n r e s p e c t a b l e e m p l o y m e n t A u n i v e r s i t y p r o f e s s o r r e m a r k e d , a b l e n d e d virtual project is a project of great importance which c a n p l a y a n i m p o r t a n t r o l e f o r t h e p r o m o t i o n o f t e c h n i c a l a n d n o n - t e c h n i c a l e d u c a t i o n a t u n i v e r s i t y l e v e l i n P a k i s t a n C u r r e n t l y t h e r e a r e a r o u n d 2 8 8 u n i v e r s i t i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y, w h i l e i t i s i n e v i t a b l e t o h a v e a t l e a s t 4 0 0 u n i v e r s i t i e s t o a c h i e v e t h e d e s i r e d educational goals Under this plan the rate of higher e d u c a t i o n c a n b e i n c r e a s e d t o 2 0 p e r c e n t f r o m l e s s t h a n 1 0 p e r c e n t a t p r e s e n t , w i t h o u t s e t t i n g u p a n y n e w u n i v e r s i t i e s ”

verdict in a long-pending case, declaring the prevailing interest-based banking system in the country as against the Shariah and directed the government to facilitate all loans under an interestfree 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

The banks which have appealed the FSC’s verdict include State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), United Bank Limited (UBL), Allied Bank Limited (ABL) and MCB Bank

In the inaugural SBP Governor ’s report released last year, Governor Jameel Ahmed noted the growth of the Islamic Banking industry in Pakistan “The

signal from the State Bank of a rate hike

It is important to note that, it is in fact the State Bank s prerogative to keep the cutoff in accordance with its monetary policy statement The State Bank could have further strapped the government of cash by cutting off the yield at its previous level As per the bid report, that cut off would have raised less than Rs 2 billion from the auction Contrarily, the market expected a higher rate and the SBP obliged with a higher rate The head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities Fahad Rauf, told Reuters that the IMF has

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”, read the report

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

given a target to at least keep rates higher than core inflation Pakistan has two core inflation readings i e , Urban (15 4pc for Jan) and Rural (19 4pc) and no national core number is released If the SBP tries to bring rates above rural core inflation, it requires a rate hike of 200-300 bps he said

H o w d o t- b i l l a u c t i o n s

w o r k?

T-bills are short-term government securities that are issued by the government of Pakistan and distributed in the primary and secondary markets by the SBP These highly liquid government securities have sovereign guarantees and a fixed rate of return which is referred to as a yield T-bills are a tool for raising short-term cash by

governments

Banks are allowed to hold this security in an Investor Portfolio of Securities (IPS) accounts for their customers Investors can buy these securities in a competitive auction in the secondary market, or a noncompetitive auction in the primary market

On the day of the auction, primary dealers (banks and brokerage houses) offer bids for T-bills with a certain yield This yield is determined by policy rates, market sentiment and future expectations A certain cut-off for yield is announced that renders all the bids below that rate as accepted The dealer then pays the SBP a discounted amount for the bill, which is returned in full at maturity factoring in the yield of the T-bills

Faysal Bank posts record profit of over Rs11b for FY22

o v e r n m e n t f i n a l ly d e c l a s s i f i e s t o s h a k h a n a r e c o r d s , b u t o n ly s i n c e 2 0 0 2

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

tHe Lahore High Court (LHC) was informed by the federal government that records of Toshakhana gifts dating back to 2002, not 1947 as originally sought were in the process of being “declassified” and would soon be made publicly available via a website

This announcement followed an initial reluctance by the government to disclose such records including those of gifts received by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif in his three terms between 1990 and 2017 with the details having only been submitted to the court on February 21 in response to a petition seeking the public release of records

Furthermore, the government clarified it was entirely at the court s discretion to unseal the documents The move to release these records represents a significant step towards

greater transparency and accountability within the government’s operations, it said

T h e c a s e c e n t r e s o n To s h a k h a n a a g o ve r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t w h i c h d u r i n g t h e M u g h a l e r a r e f e r r e d t o t h e t r e a s u r e h o u s e s k e p t b y t h e s u b c o n t i n e n t s p r i n c e l y r u l e r s t o s t o r e a n d d i s p l a y g i f t s l a v i s h e d o n t h e m

Government officials must declare all gifts to the Cabinet Division but are allowed to keep those below a certain value

More expensive items must go to Toshakhana under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division, but in some cases, the recipient can buy them back at around 50 percent of their value a discount Imran Khan raised from 20 percent while in prime minister ’s office (PMO)

The government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition has for months alleged Khan and his wife, Bushra Maneka received lavish gifts worth millions during trips abroad They included luxury

watches, jewellery, designer handbags and perfumes

During the hearing on Thursday after the additional attorney general informed Justice Asim Hafeez of the decision, the judge ordered that records predating 2002 be presented in court as well

The government lawyer clarified that while records of Toshakhana buyers were being declassified, the details of the countries who gave these gifts would not be disclosed Nonetheless Justice Hafeez instructed the government to bring forward the record of the gifts’ origins to the court in the next hearing

The petitioner s lawyer Azhar Siddiq urged the government to present the complete record in court, but Justice Hafeez reminded them that declassification only occurred in 2023, and it was unreasonable to expect a sudden change

As such the hearing was adjourned until March 13

Afghanistan reopens Torkham trade route

KABUL/PESHAWAR

t h e a S S o c at e d p R e S S Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers reopened a key border crossing with Pakistan Thursday allowing thousands of trucks carrying desperately needed food and other items to creep forward for the first time in days, officials said

The jam at the Torkham crossing between the two nations began to ease after Islamabad sent a high-level delegation to Kabul to discuss a range of issues, including the Taliban s closure of the border on Sunday Taliban-appointed officials in Afghanistan s Nangarhar province confirmed the reopening of the Torkham border The Afghan embassy in Pakistan also posted news of the reopening on Twitter

Thousands of vehicles, some carrying fresh produce like vegetables and fruit, began moving along the Khyber Pass in northwest Pakistan Thursday, said Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director at the P a k i s t a n - A f g h a n i s t a n joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry

south korean delegation calls on governor Punjab

LAHORE: A South Korean delegation led by former ambassador Dr Song Jong Hwan called on Governor Punjab, Muhammad Balighur Rehman and discussed measures enhancing bilateral relations and promoting cooperation in various sectors especially trade and tourism during a meeting at the Governor s House here on Thursday Honorary Investment Counselor of Pakistan to South Korea Mudassar Iqbal also accompanied the delegation Speaking on the occasion, Governor Muhammad Balighur Rehman said that Pakistan values its cordial relations with Korea He said that promoting bilateral relations with the world’s most successful economies and benefiting from their experiences is an important aspect of the government’s strategy Governor Punjab said the economic development of South Korea was an inspiration for many countries and Pakistan wants to achieve the goals of economic development by promoting economic and trade cooperation with Korea S ta f f R e p o R t

The latest development comes a day after Defense M i n i s t e r K h a w a j a M o h a m m a d A s i f m a d e a n u n a nnounced visit to Kabul where he met with senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for econ o m i c a ff a i r s T h e g r o u p d i s c u s s e d t h e c l o s u r e o f Torkham, which the Taliban said Sunday was shut because of immigration issues faced by sick Afghan people on the Pakistani side of the border according to officials on both sides

ASAd UMAr deMANdS ProdUctIoN of ArreSted PtI ActIvIStS Before coUrtS

AR R E S T E D leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Asad Umar

Thursday demanded the government and the police to produce the arrested PTI leaders and activists before the respective judges as per law

According to a report, the police have shifted former minister Asad Umar to Dera Ghazi Khan jail in a vehicle with prisoners

On reaching DG Khan, the workers wel-

comed him by throwing rose petals and chanting slogans in favour of him and the party

Former MPA Hanif Patafi and district president Malik Iqbal Saqib welcomed the PTI s arrested leader in DG Khan and held a conversation with him

Talking to party leaders and workers outside the jail, Asad Umar said the act of the government to send the arrested people of the PTI to different jails is an illegal act and such actions of the government are signs of cowardice as it is so worried and scared by the Jail Bharo movement of PTI Chairman

Pakistan strongly condemns Israeli forces raid in West Bank

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned the recent raid by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank resulting in the death of at least 11 Palestinians including a teenager and injuries to dozens “Such atrocious acts are a flagrant violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement issued here Government and the people of Pakistan extend their sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and best wishes for full and swift recovery of the injured in this brutal raid, the Spokesperson added She said that such excessive use of force by Israel would further aggravate the tense situation and undermine the prospect of peace in the region “Pakistan calls upon the international community to hold Israel accountable for its grave human rights violations against the Palestinians and take necessary action to prevent recurrence of such blatantly illegal acts in future ” “We reiterate our full support to the people of Palestine and call for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital,” the Spokesperson maintained

CPO O perations visits S halimar Police Station and Eagle S quad

Islamabad: The Capital Police Officer Operations Syed

Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari visited the Shalimar police station and eagle squad in compliance with the special directions of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, Dr Akbar Nasir

Khan During the visit, SSP Operations, SP Plan and Patrolling and other senior police officers were also present On the occasion CPO Operations reviewed the steps taken for the facilities of police personnel and public During the visit he also met with the staff of Shalimar police station, eagle squad and wireless staff and received a briefing on all administrative matters CPO Operations also checked the records and visited the different rooms and mess and issued directions to senior officers, stating that more steps should be taken to improve the quality of the mess "The quality of food at the mess should be improved in accordance with prescribed hygienic standards, and residential facilities for police officials should also be ensured " p R

ADB mission disc usses DRM Program with chairman FBR

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Mission headed by Mr Asad Aleem, Deputy Country Director, ADB, met Mr Asim Ahmad Chairman Federal Board of Revenue on Thursday at FBR Headquarters He was accompanied by Mr Yuji Miyaki, Public Management Specialist (Taxation) and Ms Farzana

Noshab Senior Economist of ADB Both sides discussed the progress on the Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) Program to support the resource mobilization initiatives of the Government for promoting an inclusive and evidence based institutional framework for tax policy, administration, digital transformation and automation The policy actions were thoroughly reviewed in the meeting It was agreed that the FBR was on track to achieve the targets of the Program and both sides will continue to work towards identifying further areas of cooperation p R

Imran Khan

He said the government is shifting them from one jail to other after every two hours without producing them before the judge And now they are moving them to Rajan Pur from DG Khan he added Asad Umar said all boys whose legal rights are being snatched should get their legal rights and should also be informed about the details of the registered case against them The PTI leader also said that these arrested boys must also be presented before the judge

ISLAMABAD p R

Taking notice of the complaints of the citizens, Chairman Capital Development Authority Captain Noor ul Amin Mengal has constituted a High Powered Facilitation Committee The committee will be headed by the Chairman CDA himself, while in the High Powered Facilitation Committee will be comprised upon Member Planning, Member Estate, Member Engineering, including Member Environment while Director General Law and Deputy Director General of concerned formations will be members this committee Deputy Director General (coordination) will be Secretary of the High Powered Facilitation Committee

PML-N’s Sabir Shah terms par t y’s saving the countr y narrative ‘wor thless’

According to the details, the High Powered F a c i l i t a t i o n C o

p p r o v a l s o f b u i l d i n g p l a n s Similarly, complaints related to illegal occupat i o n s , h o u s i n g s o c i e t i e s l a y o u t p l a n s w i l l a l s o be addressed

Similarly, the committee will also listen complaints of encroachment problems in different areas and natural streams of Islamabad In order to keep the environment of Islamabad green and more beautiful, the complaints related to plantations, illegal cutting of trees and environmental pollution will also be addressed by this committee The committee will also listen to the problems of the affectees of Islamabad on a priority basis

ABHI on boards Hilal Group, Domino’s Pakistan, Shalimar Foods to provide EWA to 2,000 employees

KArAcHI p R

ABHI a financial technology company has partnered with Hilal Group, a leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, to provide AbhiSalary an Earned Wage Access (EWA) product to Hilal s workforce

The move aims to reduce financial stress and improve productivity among Hilal's employees who can now access their earned salaries before payday in just 30 seconds

Hilal Group which exports its high-quality branded food products to over 20 countries and aims to generate Rs 20 billion by 2023, has also made AbhiSalary available as a financial wellness benefit to the employees of Hilal Foods, Hilal Care, Domino’s Pakistan, and Shalimar Foods

On the day of signing the partnership agreem e n t M r S a a d A l i K h a n G r o u p C F O o f H i l a l Group of Companies, stressed the importance of providing financial wellness benefits to employees by saying During this time it s important f o r c o m p a n i e s t o p r o v i d e a f i n a n c i a l w e l l n e s s benefit to their employees We’re proud to join h a n d s w i t h A B H I t o f i n a n c i a l l y e m p o w e r o u r workforce of over 2000 hard-working people and enable them to access their earned wages at any time of the month

Authorities fail to stop sales of tax- evading illegal cigarettes

Mohammad Zaidi, Director of Sales and Business Development at ABHI said, “We are proud to partner with Hilal Group and financially empower 2000 salaried individuals With AbhiSalary, they won’t need to wait for 30 days to access their salaries and will be able to make financial decisions with their own income ” pr

Authorities have failed to stop the sales of taxevaded illegal cigarettes, posing a serious threat to public health and the country’s economy

To protect public health and to minimize the budget deficit, the government has unprecedently increased the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cigarettes however illegal cigarettes are conveniently available at much lower prices than the tax-paying legal cigarette brands

Experts have expressed concerns over unlatched violations of tobacco control laws and the illegal sale of cigarettes in the country

A wide range of local brands can be found for as low as Rs 100 to Rs 150 per pack throughout the country, without any restrictions This raises serious questions on the Government's implementation efforts of tobacco control laws

A recent survey titled ‘Studying Tobacco

Users of Pakistan (STOP) conducted in five most

populous cities of Pakistan by The Initiative, found that nearly 90% of cigarettes consumed in rural areas of Pakistan are illegally manufactured cigarettes which not only lack graphic health warnings on their packs but also do not have retail prices printed on them

Similarly, there is no check on the sale of loose cigarettes and selling cigarettes to minors

More than 200 brands are sold illegally in the country without paying taxes The ground situation is making a mockery of the Government's health policies It is worth mentioning here that with 80 billion sticks sold every year, Pakistan has become the largest market for illegal cigarettes in 16 Asian countries Around half of the market consists of illegally sold cigarettes, violating tobacco control laws The cigarettes sold below the price set by the Government are leading to an increase in smoking trend Ease of availability of cheap illegal cigarettes is hindering efforts to keep cigarettes out of the public s reach

LAHOrE

S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and Senator Sabir Shah on Thursday openly ‘opposed’ the party s policies and termed the narrative of saving the country” ‘worthless ’ In an exclusive interview with ARY News, Sabir Shah called the government’s narrative of saving the country worthless There is no weightage in the narrative of no politics to save the country PML-N came and bailed out Imran Khan’s mismanagement and bad governance , he went on to say Shah was also unhappy over the lack of consultation within the PML-N “Current condition of our party is very bad which is a matter of concern, Shah was quoted as saying during the interview The former chief minister said that the people who were considered worthy of consultation are responsible for the current problems He blasted that few people for keeping PML-N leadership in dark PML-N leader said there must be someone who advised Shehbaz Sharif to take Imran Khan s filth on himself Shah said the coalition parties are not being affected by the current situation of the country, but PML-N is suffering the loss He further said that the conspirators know that PML-N will rise again in the difficult times and added that only Maryam Nawaz can lead the party in the future Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leader Captain (retired) Safdar said he is not seeing Maryam Nawaz as prime minister in near future The PML-N leader said the ‘vote ko izzat do’ narrative of the party was buried on the day when PML-N decided to vote to ensure an extension to the former COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa Safdar said he thinks whoever vote for Qamar Javed Bajwa s extension except for Pervaiz Rasheed, are ‘convicts ’ Earlier on Feb 9, PMLN Central Vice President Sardar Mehtab Abbasi criticized the party over its policies

of Gujranwala city ICMA through its Corporate Training, R&D facility and Advisory Boards will help GCCI members in getting the professional skills needed to better understand the modern ways of doing business and thus optimize the business development of leading businesses ICMA has all the resources to provide Corporate Training and Professional Certifications to members of GCCI

promote and facilitate the businesspeople

C DA c h i e f s e t s u p f a c i l i t at i o n c o m m i t te e to a d d re s s c o m p l a i n t s o f re s i d e n t s

ICMA & Gujranwala chamber sign MOU to deliver high-standard educ ation, professional training

Ta l k i n g t o t h e Ta l i b a n

Avery high-powered delegation went to Kabul, and the meetings it held were equally were equally high-powered Pakistan’s delegation, was headed by Defence Minister Khwaja Asif and included the DGICI, as well as the Foreign Secretary, the Special envoy on Afghanistan and the Charge d affaires in Kabul

It had meetings with the Afghan Interim Government, with the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Defence, Foreign and Interior Ministers As the Taliban regime lacks international recognition, the visit provided positive optics, especially as two issues dear to the international community were discussed, terrorism and border fencing

The Afghan side was reassuring and seemed to be firm that its soil would not be used for more of the 58 attacks Killing 70 people, which have been launched by the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan since its talks with Pakistan ended in November, leading it not to cancel its ceasefire with the Pakistan Army The TTP had got sanctuaries in Afghanistan under the Taliban, which allowed it to step up its activities

It is significant that the talks also touched on the Islamic State-Khorasan, (IS-K) which is known to have carried out attacks in Pakistan, apart from its daring attacks in Afghanistan, where it is the main challenger to the Taliban

The Pakistan government should realized that the visit might not have achieved anything tangible, because the Taliban government may be powerless to deliver anything, not because it is unable If Pakistan hopes to address the problem of heightened terrorism, it needs to do so on this side of the Durand Line, by better intelligence, and catching terrorists before they commit their crimes, thus foiling them The solution of the problem is to be sought in Pakistan, though it will be assisted if the Taliban start living up to their protestations however, as their government in Kabul has still not dealt successfully with the IS-K on their own territory, to expect any help from it, beyond a denial of safe havens to the TTP is perhaps too much Still if TTP operatives did not have Afghanistan to run back after striking targets here, it would an improvement in a situation over which ever thicker and ever darker clouds seems= to be gathering, above and beyond the dire economic situation, about which the Afghan ministers did not fail to remind the Pakistan delegation

Back to the courts

Have provincial polls replaced national polls as the PTI’s goal?

into some detail on the latter, but says nothing about the former Obviously any advice on the caretaker CM would be ultra vires the Constitution, but what about if the CM was to give an election date?

Th e getting a date for the Punjab Assembly elections seem to have replaced the getting a date for National Assembly elections as a goal for the PTI That shows that Imran Khan’s move of getting the Punjab Assembly dissolved does not seem to have worked Meanwhile, the KP Assembly, equally dissolved, and for the same reason seems to have escaped attention

Actually, the plea taken by Punjab Governor Balighud Din, that the Constitution only obliged him to give a date if he had dissolved the Assembly does not apply to KP Governor haji Ghulam Ali, who appeared only too willing to act on the CM’s advice to dissolve Governor Baligh is making a very fine distinction, saying that he had not dissolved the Assembly, which stood automatically dissolved after the advice was issued

The question then arises how did the Assembly dissolve One method, outlined in the Constitution, is for the Governor to dissolve which he can do on the advice of the Chief Minister, or if as a result of an Assembly session, the house is unable to elect a Chief Minister (and that would only happen if all parties abstain in the last one-to-one round of voting), In either event, he is constitutionally bound to give a date for the fresh election

T h e o t h e r w a y t h e h o u s e i s d i s s o l v e d i s i f i t comes to the end of its tenure exactly five years a f t e r i t f i r s t m e t a f t e r t h e l a s t g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n i t stands dissolved No politician is allowed to play a n y r o l e T h e C M a n d t h e o u t g o i n g O p p o s i t i o n Leader consult on the name of the caretaker CM and if they cannot agree, and nor does a bipartisan house committee, then the decision has to be taken b y t h e e l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f P a k i s t a n I n t h i s case, the eCP is supposed to give the date of the new election, which must be within 90 days of the dissolution

What if the Governor fails to give a date? It should be noticed that, as far as the dissolution is concerned, the Governor is as bound by the CM s advice as in any other action In fact, he is even more bound, for the Constitution specifies the consequence of the Governor not acting on the advice received In the case of other advice, there may be some going back and forth, and there may be an indeterminate time before it is resolved however, in the case of dissolution there is only one possible result, that the Assembly be dissolved, and a time for that advice to take effect, no matter what happens The provision that he can ask for reconsideration of advice does not seem to apply, as the time period for taking effect is much shorter Does the Constitution contemplate him obeying the CM’s advice? That vis more doubtful he has two things to do on receiving advice to dissolve, apart from the dissolution itself: set a date and appoint a caretaker government The Constitution goes

Perhaps there might be guidance to be got from Westminster, the model for parliamentary systems Pakistan is not a true Westminster system, for it is a federal system and the Assemblies concerned are provincial It was argued that the chief executive’s authority to advise a dissolution was as a delegate of the Assembly It might also be remembered that by advising dissolution, the CM is risking his political c a r e e r h i s j o h h i s v e r y s e a t i n a f u t u r e h o u s e C l e a r l y, n o o n e w i l l t a k e s u c h a d e c i s i o n l i g h t l y There has been some speculation about the justificat i o n f o r s u c h a d e c i s i o n b u t t h a t i s p e r h a p s m e a ni n g l e s s , a s t h e C M n e e d s give no reasons for his adv i c e I t c o u l d b e a rg u e d t h a t h e s h o u l d g i v e a d a t e in his advice letter but the C o n s t i t u t i o n i s q u i e t o n that point In Westminster, w h i l e P a r l i a m e n t i s n o rm a l l y a l l o w e d t o r u n t o n e a r f u l l t e r m , P a r l i a m e n t is usually dissolved a little e a r l i e r, s o a s t o a l l o w t h e P M t o s e t t h e d a t e h e w a n t s G o i n g b y t h i s , t h e CM should have the choice o f d a t e , n o t t h e G o v e r n o r, what with the National Assembly remaining intact

If Ch Pervez elahi was to give a date now, it might be covered under Article 224, which protects any otherwise valid action from being challenged if performed late That is also being mentioned as a possible justification for a delay in the provincial polls

i d e n t A l v i , b a u l k e d o f a m e e t i n g w i t h t h e e C P, h a s a n n o u n c e d a n e l e c t i o n d a t e A p r i l 9 P r e s i d e n t A l v i m a y r e g a r d h i m s e l f a s a p a r t y m a n , b u t t h e Lh C mig h t lik e to r ev is it th e U S S u p r eme C o u r t’s 1 8 0 3 d e c i s i o n i n M a r b i r y v s M a d i s o n T h e c a s e i s m o s t f a m o u s b e c a u s e t h e C o u r t s t r u c k d o w n c e r t a i n p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e J u d i c a t u r e A c t , t h u s o u s t i n g i t s o w n j u r i s d i c t i o n a s b e i n g u l t r a v i r e s t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n

At the moment, with the LHC refusing its subordinate judg es to the ECP, it has no Returning Officers, and there will be no one to issue or receive nomination papers even if April 9 is accepted. The ECP can appoint Punjab government officials, but when the PTI rejects the caretaker CM, will it accept his subordinates as ROs? This is just one of the many problems on the path to a free and fair election

Briefly, President John Adams hd lost the 1800 presidential election but had appointed a number of judges and justices of the peace before Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration however, not all could receive their appointments including William Marbury The new President told his Secretary of State not to issue any more appointments Marbury went to Court and if the Act been allowed to stand got his judgement however, the Court decided that the p a r t o f t h e J u d i c a t u r e A c t e n a b l i n g i t t o h e a r t h e case was ultra vires of the C o n s t i t u t i o n , a n d t o b e struck down Marbury lost the case The case is supposed to have established the power of courts to perform judicial review, and strike down any laws it deems unconstitutional however, the Supreme Court had another concern It knew that if it ordered the Secretary of State, James Madison to issue Marbury’s appointment letter, it would be disobeyed The Supreme Court wanted to issue an order that would be obeyed, and it did Both the LhC and the President should hope that the eCP has not learned the wrong lessons from its def i a n c e o f t h e I s l a m a b a d h i g h C o u r t s o r d e r f o r h o l d i n g I s l a m a b a d l o c a l elections, and the fact that n o t h i n g h a p p e n e d t o i t I f o n e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l b o d y g e t s i n t h e h a b i t o f d i so b e y i n g c o u r t o r d e r s , w i l l others be far behind? And i f o rg a n s o f s t a t e s t a r t i gnoring the courts, will individuals refrain?

Actually, it is worth remembering that pre-Independence India consisted of a number of provinces, with the central government coming later Indeed the office of Governor-General, later also the Viceroy, was given to a provincial Governor, the Governor of what was the Calcutta Presidency Dyarchic provincial governments were introduced, under native elected ministers, but the central government remained firmly the preserve of the Raj It was not until after the 1946 elections, when it was clear that India was heading for Independence and probably Partition that natives were allowed to take central ministries

A t h e s a m e t i m e , t h e L a h o r e h i g h C o u r t ’s o r d e r t o t h e e C P h a s s o f a r n o t b e e n o b e y e d P r e s -

Now that the matter has been taken to the courts, the initiative has once again passed out vof the hands of political forces Once again, politicians have left someone else to clean up the mess they created elections do seem to be the only way out but thyere are practical difficulties to be overcome

At the moment, with the LhC refusing its subordinate judges to the eCP it has no Returning Officers and there will be no one to issue or receive nomination papers even if April 9 is accepted The eCP can appoint Punjab government officials but when the PTI rejects the caretaker CM, will it accept his subordinates as ROs? This is just one of the many problems on the path to a free and fair election

The writer is a member of staff

Navigating the perils of terminating Indus Water Treat y

future of this Treaty remains in question, casting a shadow over the stability of the region and heightening the risk of escalation

Agriculture, the lifeblood of both economies, is heavily reliant on the waters of the Indus and its tributaries, with 42 6 percent of India’s workforce and 16 8 percent of its GDP tied to the sector, and 42 3 percent of Pakistan s workforce and 18 9 percent of its GDP similarly dependent hydropower projects and water storage facilities are also critical components of the overall economic and energy landscape of the region however recent developments such as suspension of talks regarding the Indus Waters treaty in 2016, abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution, statements from Indian lawmakers threatening Pakistani and Indian efforts to modify the treaty have put the future and viability of this crucial treaty at risk India s construction of the Kishenganga and Ratle dams on the Indus River has met with opposition from Pakistan and has become a source of contention, with the World Bank playing a limited role in mediating the conflict

set forth by the treaty

At a time when the demand for cooperation in water management has become even higher due to looming threats of climate change in the world generally and this region specifically, the uncertainty on the preservation of this vital treaty creates a serious risk, as any such move will have greater consequences such as for food security and climate change, as it has been observed that natural calamities are blind to borders Moreover Pak-

istan’s dependence on the Indus Waters Treaty, being the low riparian state, compels it to take the matter as a threat to its survival

To ensure the preservation of the Indus Waters Treaty and protect its water resources, Pakistan must take a proactive approach including diplomatic efforts to raise the issue with international organizations and seek support from allies and other countries in the region to pressurize India to respect the Treaty along with putting great efforts at legal fronts through international courts or tribunals if India violates the Treaty

Along with these measures investment in modern technologies and infrastructure to improve water management is also the need of the hour as a major share of water which Pakistan wastes could be preserved and can be used for irrigation, power generation or for storage purposes but due to ill management, poor infrastructure and lack of modern technologies and techniques, this water haunts the nation in form of floods every year and threats are exacerbated by the risk of violation or termination of Indus Waters Treaty as there will be no mechanism to control the flow of water coming from rivers

Th e Indus Waters Treaty, a seminal agreement signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, stands as a beacon of hope in an otherwise tumultuous relationship between these neighbouring nations Brokered by the World Bank, the treaty serves as the cornerstone for the equitable distribution of the Indus River and its tributaries, providing a clear framework for resolving disputes over the allocation of these precious water resources Despite the frequent conflicts that have arisen between these two nations, the Indus Waters Treaty has persevered, a testament to the power of cooperation and the vital importance of shared resource management however, as developments continue to evolve and tensions rise, the

The process by which both parties would solve their differences regarding the Indus Water Treaty has become a source of the conflict itself as Pakistan being optimistic regarding the arbitration court, is challenged by the Indian side, which proposed the resolution of the dispute by appointment of a neutral expert The concurrent mode of conflict resolution through an arbitration council and neutral experts also puts the treaty at risk as these parallel processes may result in two conflicting outcomes that could spell the end of the Indus WaterS Treaty

India’s recent request for modification to the Indus Waters Treaty has been met with scepticism in Pakistan There are concerns that India may use this opportunity to weaken the treaty or even withdraw from it, which would have a devastating impact on Pakistan as a lower riparian state relying heavily on the water distribution

Any unilateral decision or termination of this Treaty also poses a serious threat to strategic stability in South Asia as both nuclear rivals have a long history of wars and water is such a pivotal issue having the potential of becoming a nuclear flashpoint

It has become the responsibility of the international community and organizations to play their role in maintaining the check and balances over such issues so that any such issue should be resolved peacefully Thus it remains a delicate and complex issue deserving of continued attention and analysis Its survival is crucial to the peace and tranquility of the region, and it is incumbent upon both India and Pakistan to enhance trust and engage in constructive dialogue to ensure its longevity

The writer can be reached at aneesejaz7@gmail com

Th e Ta l i b a n m a d e a l l t h e r i g ht n o i s e s, b u t c a n t h e y d e l i ve r ?

It has become the responsibility of the international community and organizations to play their role in maintaining the check and balances over such issues so that any such issue should be resolved peacefully. Thus it remains a delicate and complex issue, deserving of continued attention and analysis. Its survival is crucial to the peace and tranquility of the region

Political freeloaders

him as a saviour and great reformer

ALT h O U G h most of our politicians

MNAs and MPAs are political freeloaders doing politics to build their own fortunes through corruption which is in-built in the archaic colonial system of governance, but none can be compared to the self-styled son of Rawalpindi Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed widely known as ‘Sheeda Tulli’ Whoever conferred this epithet on him was right on money to describe his real character he is uncouth, loud-mouth and devious

These traits surely helped him to build relations with politicians who needed somebody for the character assassination of their opponents

This he did first of all for Ch Zahoor elahi who used him against the PPP leadership in exchange for financial dole-outs Then he switched over to the PPP which also used him for similar purposes That was the time when he gained access to gate number four of GhQ which also needed a town-crier like him to drum up support for their unconstitutional pursuits That explains the reason why he has been a federal minister 16 times It also puts into perspective his voyage from rags to riches

If my memory serves me right I heard Ghulam Mustaf Khar giving him a shut-up call on the floor of the Majlise Shura and shaming him for having received money from him when he was Governor Punjab he was also snubbed by Moonis elahi when, as Interior Minister, he took a swipe at the PML(Q) leadership saying that he was standing with Imran Khan like a rock and was not like those people who had only five seats and were blackmailing Imran Khan for the Chief Ministership of Punjab Moonis elahi reminded him that during his student life he used to take money from the leaders of the same party he is the same Sheikh Rasheed whom Imran Khan insulted in a live TV programme with hamid Mir and at a public rally castigating his politics, remarking that he would not take him even as his peon

In the 1993 and 1997 general elections Sheikh Rasheed returned to the National Assembly on a PML(N) ticket, and during that time he never tired of showering praise on Nawaz Sharif as a great leader and his political mentor he paraded a live lion on Murree Road Rawalpindi during one of the election campaigns After becoming an ally of PTI in spite of the bitterness that existed between him and Imran Khan, he acts as more loyal than the king in portraying

In the USA and the UK, some political slurs are used to shame and denigrate politicians who are unprincipled, lack the heft to stand firm on their taken stand, change loyalties frequently or indulge in politics of self-aggrandizement A word that has been frequently used in the USA as a political slur is ‘Squish’ It is a term used by Republican conservatives to denigrate the perceived lack of backbone possessed by the Republican moderates This word surfaced during the time of Ronald Reagan Squish has also been used more broadly, to describe any liberal or conservative who avoids taking firm stands or doesn t stand for anything– a politician who will sell out, who lacks conviction, who cares more about popularity than principles Another definition of a Squish is someone who has difficulty in making up his mind and is too anxious to please, too eager to compromise and who can be easily rolled ‘Flap-doodler ’ is also a commonly used slur for a politician, a speaker of portentous but empty words best described as a demagogue

The term ‘Flip-Flopper ’ is used for a politician who is habitual of changing his or her opinion or taking position on a particular issue Pollywog’ denotes a politician who is considered untrustworthy because of his ever-shifting position on the issues at hand and whose track record corroborates the epithet Another political slur that is often used to denigrate a politician is ‘Rent-aQuote It is someone who might be relied upon by the media to provide a comment, especially one expressing a strong or contentious opinion either in any circumstances or when a particular issue is being discussed ‘Snollygoster ’ is used to describe a politician who is unprincipled and engages in politics of self-aggrandizement rather than serving national interests Another epithet given to a politician who discusses and debate issues but fails to act is Tire-kicker

In the UK a political slur which is quite often used to shame a political opponent is snowflake It generally implies a weak politician who is overly sensitive and incapable of dealing with any opinion that differs from his own; a person who is too easily offended, too in need of safe spaces and is too fragile It is also used to describe a politician who is self-centred and suffers from self-delusion

A cursory glance at our political history would reveal that the foregoing political slurs can safely be bestowed upon our politicians who have recklessly indulged in politics of self-aggrandizement; lacked the spine to stand up to the anti-democratic forces; have been even conniving with anti-democratic forces to destabilize democracy and democratic institutions for their personal gains; have been changing their political loyalties to swell their fortunes and have been selling their souls to remain in the corridors of power

The end result is that the country has suffered enormously due to their shenanigans and most of the challenges confronting the country in one way or the other are linked to the misdeeds of the politicians They have failed to learn from the setbacks the country has suffered They never tire of proclaiming their political credentials but continue to rally forces to destabilize the elected government of an opponent party and strengthen the hands of the forces inimical to democracy

The media as a representative of the society

It is amazing that a politician like Sheikh Rasheed on whom all the political slurs mentioned above apply and who has only one seat in Parliament which he earned cour tesy of another par ty, is engaged by almost all the TV channels for his outlandish comments and some channels even extend the cour tesy of hour-long exclusive interactions with him.

is supposed to defend and promote democracy which is also imperative for its own freedom, but regrettably a section of it is feverishly engaged in strengthening the anti-democratic forces in line with the polarization that mars our political landscape Instead of criticizing and discouraging state institutions from interfering in the domain of others and standing up to anti-democratic forces it is acting as their flagbearer It has no sense of proportion

It is amazing that a politician like Sheikh Rasheed on whom all the political slurs mentioned above apply and who has only one seat in Parliament which he earned courtesy of another party, is engaged by almost all the TV channels for his outlandish comments and some channels even extend the courtesy of hour-long exclusive interactions with him People are also amazed at his audacity to make tall claims about his political character and morals, knowing well that he is a politician who has adopted a myriad of hues during his political journey

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail com

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r, Pakistan Today, 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan Today e x c l u s i v e l y

BISP fraudsters

T h e fraudulent practices by Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) agents have been on the rise The government recently released the first quarterly tranche of Rs7 000 for the year 2023 and Benazir Taleemi Wazaif for the children of the poor however, there is no disbursement yet Under the BISP alone, about 7 7 million families stand to receive over Rs55 billion in the first tranche The beneficiaries women and transgender people are in most cases unaware about their fate in this regard Most beneficiaries do not know if their children’s instalment has been added to their BISP amount This makes it easy for the agents to deceive the beneficiaries

Recently, in Sehwan, many beneficiaries were defrauded by the agents concerned One such victim was my relative who was deprived of Rs17,000 The agent gave her only Rs7000, while keeping the rest himself Upon knowing, she raised concerns, but the agent was successful in reaching a compromise with the victim

This is just one of the many cases one gets to hear from the victims

The agents have swindled hundreds of beneficiaries in Sehwan alone And this continues to happen without anyone taking notice of the illegal activity Instead, the officials spend time making tall claims of transparency In addition to deceptive practices, the agents are also skilled in the art of deducting Rs1 500 per head as their commission

I sometimes wonder how a nuclear-armed country is so poor in technology that it has allowed even matriculate fraudsters to deceive the entire system Indeed these agents take advantage of the gullible victims who are poor and illiterate The bigger tragedy is that they carry on their act without any fear of getting caught

The BISP mechanism must be made transparent and fraud-free For this, the government needs to launch an online portal where the BISP amount can be checked, accessed and transferred to the bank/mobile wallets by the beneficiaries The simpler the system is the more fraudfree it gets Till that happens, the authorities concerned need to be vigilant and they must take punitive actions against deceptive elements within the system

IMTIAZ ESSA HALEPOTO JAMSHORO

Over valued currency

T h e finance minister is on record saying that as per his calculation, the actual value of rupee is below Rs200 to a US dollar but the market is rejecting his claim, for the current value of dollar has a massive gap in the interbank and open market rates

Importers have been facing difficulties in opening letters of credit (LCs) due to shortage of dollars in the banks and travellers who need dollars for their overseas journey are complaining about scarcity of dollars in the open market

I do not see any economic wisdom in keeping the rupee overvalued It appears that the government wants to keep the value of rupee higher than its actual market value for political reasons

I think that keeping the rupee higher than its actual value by imposing various curbs on imports and banks, etc , is damaging for country’s economy Overvaluation of rupee is hurting exporters because they are converting their dollars at overvalued rate and getting less local currency

Overvalued rupee also makes imports artificially cheaper than locally produced substitute products which means dampening investments and jobs in sectors that can produce locally as they have to compete with imported goods

Overvalued rupee is also discouraging foreign direct investments (FDI) because local assets, like land, building, etc , become costlier Overvalued rupee is discouraging home remittances through interbank or official banking channels because the premium being paid by non-banking channels is way more attractive An overseas worker is tempted to send home remittances by unofficial channels

Thus the overvalued rupee is shrinking supply of dollars in banks as well in the open market The government should accept market reality regarding the value of rupee which is losing ground because of a variety of reasons

In today’s technological advanced world, the governments cannot keep currency at their desired value because markets are more efficient than the governments The government should review its exchange rate policy and let market forces decide the matter This will be good for the country and its economy

Undue inter ventions

T R A N S F e R S and postings of government officials on account of political interference is a common practice in the country that all government departments especially police have to live with In case of refusal the official concerned is even slapped with corruption charges This is the harsh reality of life in Pakistan

To analyse the basic reason behind such a political mindset we need to look into our past The feudal mindset has its roots in our colonial past The British snatched land from the real land owners, and awarded it to those who were subservient and willing to provide their unconditional support to the British government

Besides, we adopted democracy as the system of governance from our colonial masters In reality political parties continue to seek the support of village headman, influenced land owners and industrialists for sustaining their vote bank This is what the colonisers used to do in order to keep the masses under control by controlling the headman

In return, the headman used to get rewarded with land and titles

Today, such people use politicians to intervene in the functioning of police and revenue departments to suppress the rights of the locals who are financially weak This chain of brutality is unbreakable as the bureaucracy has not mustered enough courage to say no to the politicians Unfortunately, in their own capacities, the bureaucracy has become a tool in the hands of the headman, refusing to provide confidence to all their honest officials

MAlIk MuhAMMAd AshrAf

H o W a C r o s s - b o r d e r lo v e s t o r y I l l u s t r at e s

t H e e x t e n t o f W H at s a p p s u r v e I l l a n C e I n I n d I a

H OW P R I VAT E I S YO U R C H AT?

Scr oll N ac h i k e t D e u s k a r

Wh at started as a remarkable tale of crossborder love ended up as a warning against the extent of mass surveillance in India

On Sunday, India deported a 19-year old Pakistani woman Iqra Jeewani Jeewani had eloped with an Indian man, and had been living in Bengaluru for four months however, she was given away by the Whatsapp calls she was making back home to her family in Pakistan Using this, Indian authorities were able to hone in on her the fact that Indian authorities were able to pinpoint and pick out a Whatsapp number from a city has led cybersecurity experts to infer that it is plausible that the metadata from the popular messaging platform is being used for mass surveillance While Whatsapp encrypts user communication, several instances have now shown that it still collects enough data about its users to allow governments to mount highly effective surveillance and thus put user privacy at risk

IN SURVEILLANCE CROSS HAIRS: Jeewani and Mulayam Singh Yadav, a 25-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, India, fell in love in 2019 while playing Ludo online, the Indian Express reported In 2022 deliriously in love and tired of living apart, Jeewani eloped and met Yadav in Nepal

From there, they crossed over into India and started living in Bengaluru where Yadav works as a security guard Jeewani hid her real identity and Yadav reportedly got her a fake aadhaar card under a different name however, their cross-border romance ran into trouble when Bengaluru police arrested Jeewani on January 23 for illegally entering India and forging her identity Yadav was arrested for helping her Jeewani was deported on February 19

What eventually led to Jeewani and Yadav getting caught was not her fake identity but the Whatsapp calls she was making to her parents in Pakistan

Jeewani’s Whatsapp calls back home caught the attention of central intelligence agencies, which passed on

the information to Bengaluru police for investigation, the Indian Express reported, citing an unidentified investigating officer the fact that calls to Pakistan were being made from the city raised an alarm with Bengaluru’s police at a time when the city was scheduled to host the Group of 20 meeting and the aero India defence exhibition the police inquired into the matter and reported back to the intelligence agencies that while there was no security threat they had identified an undocumented Pakistani living in India

WHATSAPP METADATA USED FOR SURVEIL-

LANCE? Jeewani getting caught based on her Whatsapp calls has led cybersecurity experts to infer that it is plausible that Whatsapp s metadata which is not encrypted, is being used for mass surveillance Encryption encodes messages on Whatsapp and makes it inaccessible to all parties other than the sender and the receiver of the message

While communication through Whatsapp is encrypted end-to-end the metadata is not Metadata refers to information about the user ’s activity and the user, such as when a call was made between two persons, the user s geographical location and her phone number Unlike the contents of a message, metadata can be read by Whatsapp

Rowenna Fielding founder and director of privacy consultancy Miss IG Geek, told Wired in 2021 that metadata is a valuable tool to analyse connections among users

When you look at metadata, it turns out a lot of the time you don’t even need message content, because patterns of activity tell you a lot about someone,” Fielding said

What Jeewani s deporting indicates is that Indian security agencies seem to be using this metadata from platforms such as Whatsapp for mass surveillance “the establishment has been building the CMS [Central Monitoring System] since the Mumbai attacks [of 2008],”

cyber security researcher Srinivas Kodali told Scroll “It gives the security establishment access to a lot of traffic

With [messaging platforms] Whatsapp and Signal they have been tracking peer-to-peer contact they don’t know what you are talking but that this talk is happening Kodali added they [agencies] are monitoring traffic continuously and getting alerts ”

Using metadata for surveillance is a technique other agencies across the world such as the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation also use, he pointed out

Similarly, anand Venkatanaryanan, the co-founder and cybersecurity lead of Delhi-based strategic think tank DeepStrat, wrote that Jeewani’s case shows that intelligence agencies can now not only undertake targeted monitoring of a given contact number but also conduct “generic” monitoring of Whatsapp using metadata For example, an alert would be triggered if the origin of a call is India and the destination is Pakistan anand tweeted on February 21 Kodali, however, said he was unsure if tracking was happening in a geographical area-specific manner being limited to Bengaluru due to its heightened threat perception or applies to the entire country anushka Jain, policy counsel at the Internet Freedom Foundation emphasised that while it seems this happened possibly because of metadata, due to lack of information, the Indian public is unaware of the mechanisms by which this data is shared between the Indian government and Whatsapp “Whatsapp collects and shares metadata with Meta, the parent company,” Jain told Scroll “But we do not know if there is ongoing data sharing with the law enforcement agencies We also do not know if there are standing instructions from authorities to flag any IndiaPakistan calls being made Jain added, We can only hypothesise about it because this surveillance process is not transparent ” the potential scale of this surveillance means that Indian citizens should be concerned about such data being shared and any kind of “excessive intru-

sion” into their privacy “Why should the government know about these things? Jain argued

METADATA WIDELY SHARED BY PLATFORMS:

Metadata is widely shared by platforms with law enforcement agencies globally experts have previously pointed out an article co-authored by anand in 2021 suggested that service providers including messaging applications such as Whatsapp, share metadata with intelligence agencies and law enforcement in India, and such data is adequate for investigations

In 2021, ProPublica, a United States-based nonprofit investigative journalism website had reported that Whatsapp s parent company had downplayed how much data it collects from its users, what it does with it and how much it shares with law enforcement authorities in the United States Some rivals such as Signal intentionally gather much less metadata to avoid incursions on its users’ privacy, and thus share far less with law enforcement ProPublica reported Whatsapp’s spokesperson had told ProPublica that the platform “responds to valid legal requests including orders that require us to provide on a real-time going forward basis who a specific person is messaging” however, it is unclear if Whatsapp in India sticks to this american template or goes beyond it General Michael hayden, the former head of the United States’ National Security agency, had confirmed in 2014 – though not directly referring to Whatsapp –that the United States government uses communication metadata for surveillance hayden also said that metadata tells authorities everything about any person it is targeting for surveillance, making the need to collect the actual content of the communication superfluous “We kill people based on metadata, hayden had said, adding that the practice is only used outside the United States

How Google ignores social media’s consequences for children

Ch I N E S E President Xi Jinping and his top officials have a choice to make this weekend It will show more clearly what kind of global economic role China intends to play: dealmaker, or sower of chaos?

at stake is whether China agrees to forgive a portion of loan repayments from the developing world as most other leading government creditors, including the United States and India, are ready to do the correct action both morally and financially is clear If China refuses to participate in debt reduction it shows plainly that Beijing is not willing to accept the economic and moral responsibilities that go with being a global economic leader all eyes will be on China as world financial leaders gather Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 finance meeting in India to discuss debt forgiveness at a moment of fiscal peril for many of the world s poorest nations Sixty percent of low-income countries are at or near distress, according to International Monetary Fund

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva

the crisis has already arrived in some Sri Lanka defaulted for the first time in its history last year and its economy is melting down Protesters ousted the president in July Zambia defaulted in 2020 and has yet to recover Last week Zambian President hakainde hichilema called the debt “suicidal” and a “black mamba kiss of death,” a reference to a deadly snakebite here’s some history In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, the United States and many European nations agreed to lower the valuation of loans they had provided to the poorest nations something that is known in finance as taking a haircut Since then many Group of 7 nations have been reluctant to provide large loans again, so african and southeast asian countries have increasingly turned to China and private lenders for funding China is now the world’s largest government creditor to developing nations

accounting for nearly 50 percent of these loans, up from 18 percent in 2010, according to the World Bank these Chinese loans were often at high interest rates It would have been a stretch for poor nations to repay them even in good times, and now it s impossible after a global pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine have decimated low-income economies where people are struggling to afford food the ideal scenario would be for all government and private-sector creditors to agree to significant debt reduction then international organizations such as the IMF and World Bank could step in to provide desperately needed low-cost loans and assistance

But nothing will happen without China, given how large a player it has become For example nearly a third of Zambian and Pakistani external debt and about 12 percent of Sri Lanka s external debt is owed to China, according to an analysis of World Bank data by the Center for Global Development China is demanding that the IMF and World Bank also take losses which would be highly unusual Normally those institutions are lenders of last resort that tend to give very low interest rates essentially taking a haircut at the front end the IMF and World Bank did take losses in the so-called heavily indebted poor countries initiative 25 years ago, but the United States and other G-7 nations provided funding to make those institutions whole again If a similar scenario played out now, many Western nations would be helping subsidize repayments to China the reality is that China made some predatory loans and now, in a surprise to almost no one, many of the 150 nations China lent to can t repay at the current terms So far China has mostly offered to suspend payments for a few years that’s woefully inadequate Nor is China in need of the money given that it is sitting on more than $3 trillion in reserves China has been using developing nations as pawns in its bid for influence against the United States a strategy that critics call “debt-trap diplomacy ” In claiming to aid the world s poor China is exploiting them But now, the bill is coming due, and the question is who is going to have to pay it

IN legal disputes as in life, sometimes what isn’t said reveals more than what is Consider the briefs filed with the Supreme Court in defense of a law granting Google and other tech companies limited immunity from lawsuits Gonzalez vs Google, slated for oral argument before the Supreme Court on tuesday, concerns Section 230 of the Communications Decency act, a law enacted in 1996 to regulate the then-new internet Child advocacy groups that filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case note that social media platforms are knowingly hurting children by delivering dangerous content in an addictive manner tellingly, none of the scores of briefs filed on the side of the tech companies address those harms

One of Congress primary purposes in enacting Section 230 was to provide as some senators put it, “much-needed protection for children, not just from explicit content but also from abuse Ironically the platforms are now arguing that Congress actually intended to offer them immunity for business decisions that they know will hurt children the Gonzalez case was brought by the family of an american murdered by ISIS in the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks the family alleges that as a foreseeable consequence of efforts to keep as many eyes on Google’s

Youtube as possible, terrorist recruitment videos are delivered to people who are likely to be interested in terrorism In a similar case to be argued Wednesday, twitter vs taamneh the court will weigh whether the platforms’ alleged failure to take “meaningful steps to remove terrorist content violates federal anti-terrorism law the repercussions of social media’s rise go well beyond increased access to terrorist content During the years Instagram exploded from a million to a billion users, the United States saw an astonishing 146% spike in firearm suicides among children ages 10 to 14 the number of suicides overall for young people rose an unprecedented 57% although the correlation between the platforms’ growth and the youth mental illness crisis does not prove causation, Facebook’s leaked internal research noted that 6% of teen american Instagram users “trace their desire to kill themselves” to the platform

Researchers and clinicians have likewise repeatedly documented widespread social media-related mental health and physical harms to children Last Monday the U S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that teen girls are suffering from record levels of sadness and suicide risk which some experts attribute partly to the rise of social media and on tuesday, a U S Senate committee heard gut-wrenching stories about the dangers of, as one grieving parent described it, the “unchecked power of the social media industry Social media platforms make money by selling advertising More time spent on a platform means more eyes on its ads, which means it can charge more for those ads Plus, the more time a user spends on the platform, the more data the platform develops on the user, which it can in turn use to keep the user on the platform longer humans aren t personally sorting who sees what is on these platforms Rather, humans give artificial intelligence technologies the instruction to maximize what platforms call “user engagement ” aI does this at fantastic speeds by testing what recommendations work best across billions of users then it delivers content based on not just what a child says she wants but also

what is statistically most likely to keep children like her glued to the screen too often the answer is whatever exploits her fears and anxieties this means that with disturbing frequency, depressed teens are offered suicide tips, body image-anxious girls get content promoting eating disorders and drug-curious youths get opportunities to buy pills laced with lethal fentanyl Moreover, platforms use neuroscientifically tailored gimmicks such as auto-scrolling, constant reminders to return to the platform and dopamine-firing likes that can be addictive to children

Often, children who earnestly want to turn off the platform can’t; their brains just aren’t old enough to resist addictions to the same degree as adults’ to maintain growth every quarter, platforms have to find ways to attract and keep more users longer If platforms are allowed to continue profiting from technology they know will harm great numbers of children without fear of financial consequences, they will continue to perfect their techniques and more children will be hurt the child suicide and mental health crisis we are experiencing now will get worse with no end in sight

It doesn’t have to be this way the Google search engine’s method of prioritizing content for viewers designed to be based on websites’ expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, shows there are ways of deciding who sees what that are far less risky to children and everyone else the court’s decision won’t end the debate over Section 230, but it could begin to restore the law to the original purpose of protecting young people But it should not be a matter of debate that it should be illegal to knowingly weaponize children’s vulnerabilities against them and if we can t agree on that, anyone who believes the unprecedented harm children are enduring is the price society has to pay for freedom on the internet should at least acknowledge that harm

Ed Howard is senior counsel at the Children s Advocacy Institute of the University of San Diego School of Law

“METADATA” REFERS TO INFORMATION ABOUT THE USER’S ACTIVIT Y AND THE USER, SUCH AS WHEN A CALL WAS MADE BET WEEN T WO PERSONS, THE USER’S GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND HER PHONE NUMBER. UNLIKE THE CONTENTS OF A MESSAGE, METADATA CAN BE READ BY WHATSAPP

corporate corner

NOT-BY- PROFIT EnErgy rEquirEmEnts can bE fulfillEd by thar coal

Islamabad

N e w S d e S k

TikTok hosts first-ever digital safety focused event in Pakistan as part of Safety Ambassadors Programme to create awareness about digital safety in the country The panelists discussed various aspects around digital safety including misinformation, harassment and cyber bullying, online scams while

NTDC paces up efforts for transmission lines protection against theft, sabotage

laHORE: National Transmission and Despatch company has intensified its efforts for the protection of transmission lines passing through the remote areas of Sindh In this regard, regular patrolling is being carried out by NTDc security staff with support of local community and assistance from Law enforcement Agencies Surveillance/ patrolling is being carried out by the security and technical staff of NTDc in coordination with Sindh Police, law enforcement agencies and local notables As a result incidents of theft on the transmission lines have been reduced and miscreants involved in these criminal activities has been apprehended and are under investigation NTDc is also mulling the option to employ people from the local communities of Sindh through its corporate Social Responsibility Managing Director NTDc, engr Dr Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan has commended the efforts of the Security Directorate and Transmission Line patrolling teams of NTDc in this regard pr

ACC A Pakistan Leadership Conversation 2023 concludes

l a H O R E: The 2023 edition of AccA Pakistan Leadership conversation (PLc) concluded with its finale session in Lahore featuring country’s top business and thought leaders who were engaged in future-focused conversations with an aim to develop forward-thinking, actionable strategies and policies to drive innovation, sustainability and resilience

Themed ‘Shaping the future in uncertain times’ the conference was divided in three sessions held in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore with contributions from over 50 conversation Leaders representing key regulators, top corporates, development organisations and influential think tanks Session’s Guest of Honour, Dr Amjad Saqib, Founder and ceo, Akhuwat Foundation, emphasised on the importance of financial inclusion and development of a society based on the Muakhat system to support microentrepreneurs and ensure inclusive growth pr

dURInG a stakeholder consultation session on Wednesday, speakers highlighted the importance of converting Thar coal into both petrochemical products and natural gas The session, organized by the Thar Coal Energy Board (TCEB) aimed to explore ways to utilize Thar coal reserves to address Pakistan's energy problems and boost industrial growth Representatives from various industries including textile ce-

ment, power, and mining, such as Shanghai Electric, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company, and Sino Sindh Resources Ltd attended the session as did prominent energy and economic experts like Akhtar Ali, Kaiser Bengali, and Pervez Tahir

In his address to the stakeholders Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh emphasized that the province had a cost-effective and long-term solution to Pakistan s energy challenges He pledged that the provincial government would work diligently to improve the country s energy security and was currently involved in multiple projects to sup-

Islamabad

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During a conference on "Social remittances and social change", former State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Dr Ishrat Husain emphasized that relocating to other countries offers Pakistani migrants an opportunity to acquire new skills that can be used to serve their future and the country He stated that research in any field in Pakistan should focus on poverty alleviation and human development

Husain also pointed out that Pakistani migrants can acquire technical skills as well as efficiencyenhancing practices, principles, and values from host countries

These social remittances can contribute to in-

creasing productivity in the local market and even be exported to other migration destinations Various scholars from around the world spoke at the conference highlighting the role of Pakistani migrants in the country's economy Dr Peggy Levitt from Wellesley College discussed cultural globalization and the role of technological advancement She reflected that for migrants over time, there was a growing disjuncture between how they perceived their home country and how it may have actually evolved Dr Philippe Fargues, Founding Director of the Migration Policy Centre argued that international migration and reduction in fertility were inseparable parts of social change and human development He suggested exploring the implications of social re-

port the macroeconomic stability of the nation

The minister also stressed that Thar coal deposits and other natural resources in the province were the best resources to meet Pakistan's energy needs and reduce the country s dependence on foreign fuel imports which would help alleviate the current economic crisis Additionally, he pointed out that Thar coal reserves already provide around 2,600 megawatts of electricity to the national Grid making them an affordable energy source

To read the full article visit www dawn com

Migration presents an oppor tunity to acquire new skills

mittances for bringing down Pakistan's fertility rate which is currently 3 6

Dr Anne White from University College London School highlighted the potential for migrants exchange of ideas to transform the ways migration takes place Dr Bilesha Weeraratne from the Institute of Policy Studies Sri Lanka and Froilan Malit Jr from the University of Glasgow underlined the role of social media and technology in the transfer of social remittances to home countries Malit discussed the case of the Filipino diaspora in Gulf countries, which used digital technology to impact the domestic electoral outcome and political preferences in their home country

To read the full article visit www tribune com pk

SBP chief confirms March 16 MPC meeting amid off- c ycle review rumors

Islamabad

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The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced that its next monetary policy committee meeting is scheduled for March 16, amid speculation that an off-cycle review to raise the key interest rate may be announced The SBP cited persistent inflationary pressure for the hike in interest rates at its previous MPC meeting in January, with inflation having increased further since then

The market is already pricing in a hike, with short-term government paper interest rates rising to 19 95% in Wednesday s auction The KSE-100 Index has also fallen as investors factor in the po-

tential hike

Pakistan is currently implementing measures to revive its IMF bailout programme which could lead to further pressure on inflation as energy tariffs rise and the rupee weakens Last year, an emergency meeting was held in April outside of the SBP-issued advance calendar, where the MPC decided to raise the policy rate by 250 basis points The SBP's decision on whether to hold or raise the interest rate at the next meeting on March 16 will be closely watched by investors and economists

The SBP s decision on interest rates has farreaching consequences for Pakistan s economy A high-interest rate helps to control inflation but can also slow down economic growth by making bor-

Faysal Bank posts 67pc growth in profit

pr Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) achieved the landmark of Rs 1 trillion in Balance Sheet footings with a record Profit Before Tax of Rs 22 4 billion 67% higher than the last year The Board of Directors of FBL, in their meeting held on February 23 2023 approved the financial statements of the Bank for the year ended December 31, 2022 and announced final cash dividend of Re 1 per share i e 10% bringing the total cash dividend for the year to Rs 7 per share or 70%

The Bank has successfully completed the largest conversion of a Conventional Bank into an Islamic Bank in history This is a testimony to the steadfast vision of its Board the devotion of its management, the perseverance of its staff and support of customers This massive Islamic conversion is unprecedented not just in Pakistan but all around the world and has been recognized by Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) as the largest in the world FBL achieved the landmark of Rs 1 0 trillion mark in balance sheet footings on the back of strong deposit mobilization and borrowings

FrieslandC ampina, Engro Eximp FZE par tner for dair y expor ts

pr

FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan (FCEPL) and Engro Eximp FZE (EEF) signed a Franchise Agreement to enhance dairy exports from Pakistan

In line with FrieslandCampina’s global purpose of nourishing by nature, this partnership will enable FCEPL to expand its global footprint Together, FCEPL and EEF will serve the Pakistani diaspora and

markets which are milk-deficient as well as uplift the dairy farmer community of Pakistan Imran Husain, CFO and strategic supply chain director FCEPL, said: This partnership will unlock a new chapter for FCEPL and our farmers Growing our export base will help further our purpose of providing nutrition and improving livelihoods of our farmers while bringing in foreign currency earnings for Pakistan, which is essential in the current economic situation

Govt paying full attention to educ ation promotion: Rana Tanveer

Islamabad p r

Government is paying full attention to education of children in Pakistan and wishes to start pre-one classes in schools to provide a strong educational foundation for children, said Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) Rana Tanveer Hussain at the groundbreaking ceremony of Center of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) yesterday(Thursday) The Minister said that the establishment of the ECD center is a commendable initiative of Allama Iqbal Open University and congratulated the university administration

on this achievement This center is being established with the collaboration of Rupani Foundation

It is pertinent to mention here that two-day International Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD) held at Allama Iqbal Open University on 22, 23 February Speakers and scholars discussed various challenges faced in the implementation of early childhood education programs and gave suggestions to overcome them The objective of the conference was to create awareness about the importance of early childhood development The conference concluded with recommendations to promote the mission of ECD further

rowing more expensive This is a delicate balancing act for the SBP, as it seeks to control inflation while also encouraging economic activity Pakistan has faced high inflation rates in recent months due to a combination of factors, including supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19, higher commodity prices, and energy tariffs A rise in interest rates could help to cool inflation, but it could also have a negative impact on businesses and consumers who are already struggling due to the pandemic Therefore, the SBP's decision is crucial for Pakistan's economic recovery, and it will be closely watched by stakeholders across the country

To read the full story visit www brecorder com

EBM puts on an impressive show at Gulfood 2023

english Biscuit Manufacturers (eBM) participated in the Gulfood exhibition 2023, with an impressive pavilion that caught the eye of foreign visitors and buyers alike, leaving them with the desire to learn more about the company s brands and their plans to expand into international markets This year, eBM launched its creams portfolio in the Middle east, comprising of its two top brands RIo and Sandwich, which were a roaring success eBM’s dedication to keep investing in R&D to introduce innovative products to the liking of its consumers is in line with the company s mission to nourish lives exhibitions like Gulfood are held in high regard by eBM as such platforms help the company grow manifold in the international market Speaking on the occasion, the Managing Director and ceo of eBM, Dr Zeelaf Munir, said: “We are thrilled to be here once again and are grateful for the opportunity provided to us by Gulfood to showcase Pakistan’s capability when it comes to producing baked goods pr

Mian Shoukat Masud, ceo Fazal Software Technology Park, receiving 100 ceo Book from German Ambassador pr

10 Foreign 24 February 2023_Layout 1 2/23/2023 11:50 PM Page 1

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Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, after meeting Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, on Tuesday Wang and Lavrov had in-depth discussions on the Ukraine issue Wang emphasized that the more complicated the situation is the more we cannot give up efforts for peace It is hoped that all parties will overcome difficulties, continue to create conditions for dialogue and negotiation, and find effective ways of political settlement

US seeks custody of peru ex-president toledo for extradition

battlefields make at least one side change their mind

CHINA’S PLAN fOR PEACE: During Wang’s meeting with Putin, the two sides exchanged views on the Ukrainian issue Wang said that China appreciates Russia s reaffirmation of willingness to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation

China will, as always, uphold an objective and fair stance and play a constructive role in politically resolving the crisis according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday Apart from meeting with Putin in Moscow, Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the

No matter how the international situation changes, China is willing to maintain the sound development momentum on the new model of major-country relationship with Russia, Wang told Lavrov

Experts said Wang s meetings with the top leader and senior officials of Russia show that Moscow values highly its strategic ties with China and is also treating China’s idea on the Ukraine issue seriously, and this is proof of China’s unique influence for mediation purposes

Los ANGeLes

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For truckers transporting cement from Adani’s factories in a hilly north Indian state, a U S short-seller ’s critical research report on the giant conglomerate was a godsend they say helped them save their livelihoods

For weeks, around 7,000 truck owners and drivers in India’s Himachal Pradesh resorted to protest rallies against Adani s Dec 15 decision to shut two cement plants over a dispute on freight rates Adani argued the plants were “unviable at the trucking rates it wanted to slash by around half

On Monday, the Gautam Adani-led group said it had amicably resolved the issue with a 10-12% reduction in rates

Truckers rejoiced, with a union leader in a street address labelling it as a victory after late-night talks with Adani he settlement comes four weeks after U S -based Hindenburg Research accused Adani of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens, allegations the group called baseless

The Jan 24 report triggered a $140 billion rout in group’s stocks, sparked regulatory investigations and saw the billionaire Adani slip to 26 on the Forbes global rich list, from third

While the truckers’ settlement will have only a small impact on the overall Adani empire it was a big win for the drivers and owners in a state were most people live on around $7 a day

The report “played a crucial role in our battle against India’s biggest business group, helped mobilize truckers and gain political support ” said Ram Krishan Sharma, one of the lead negotiators for protesting truckers

Adani negotiators had refused to budge for weeks So Hindenburg’s report, some truckers believe, was godsent ust a day before it was published many truckers visited a small, revered Hindu temple in Darlaghat which overlooks one of Adani s cement plants and offered a traditional semolina sweet offering to a deity as they sought to resolve the dispute

Bantu Shukla, a protest leader, showed Reuters a photo and video of truckers that day offering prayers inside the temple Some stood with folded hands, while a person rang a temple bell in a typical Hindu worship ritual

‘AMICABLE RESOLUTION’: Dani Group did not answer Reuters questions on whether the Hindenburg report s fallout contributed to its decision in Himachal Adani Cements in a statement said it

China boosts defense cooperation with UAE as US influence wanes in Middle East

News Desk

was “grateful” to all stakeholders including the unions, the local state chief minister and other departments adding the “amicable resolution” was in interest of everyone including the state

A source familiar with Adani’s negotiation said the group had been under pressure following what it thinks was a “negative campaign” by Adani’s opponents after the Hindenburg report, and the settlement to reopen plants is a relief

Himachal is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s staunch rival, the Congress party After the Hindenburg report, Congress has renewed its claims that Modi for years has unduly favoured Adani Both Adani and India’s government deny that The source added the move will also help Adani signal it can resolve commercial matters in states ruled by Modi s rivals

Without citing Hindenburg, the Himachal chief minister ’s office on Monday said we have been successful in resolving the issues” to end the 67-day dispute WHATSAPP CHATS, PRAYERS AT TEMPLE: Dani became India’s second largest cement manufacturer when it acquired ACC (ACC NS) and Ambuja Cements (ABUJ NS) in a $10 5 billion deal with Swiss giant Holcim (HOLN S) last year In December it shut plants in the

villages of Gagal and Darlaghat in Himachal, saying truckers were charging too much

The Adani group wanted freight rates to be lowered to around 6 rupees ($0 0725) per tonne per km from around 11 rupees Many truckers told Reuters they struggled to make their loan repayments as their incomes shrank after the shutdowns

As a stalemate worsened, truckers formed WhatsApp groups to coordinate efforts, vent frustration and later share Hindenburg s impact on Adani companies and stock prices to further drum up support One such WhatsApp group chat of around 1,000 truckers, reviewed by Reuters showed sharing of a local reporter ’s video discussing the sharp fall in Adani’s shares and his alleged close ties to Modi

Although they accepted a small cut in freight rates when Adani agreed to pay 9 3-10 58 rupees per km per tonne truckers felt they saved their jobs, and prayers at the Hindu temple were organised again this week

“We felt our deity had accepted our p r a y e r s w h e n w e s a w t h e f a l l i n t h e s h a r e p r i c e s o f A d a n i c o m p a n i e s p r o t e s t l e a d e r S h u k l a s a i d “ T h e H i ndenburg report was a gift that saved our businesses

A s chatbots boom, Nvidia sales outlook beats Wall S treet expec tations

Pr

ofit R e u t e R s

AI is one of the few areas where tech companies are still spending even as the sector slashes jobs Microsoft and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL O), for example are both laying off thousands of employees but are also locked in a race to imbue their search engines with chatbot technology – despite the fact that doing so is likely to add billions of dollars to their operating costs

Analysts believe that Nvidia, more than any

other company, is best positioned to benefit from such increased costs as it dominates roughly 80% of the market for graphics processing units, or GPUs, used to speed up AI work

On a conference call with investors Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang announced a new service in which Nvidia will directly offer its cloud computing service for companies to rent all of its technologies to develop their own “generative” AI services that can create text, images and other forms of data

AI is still “not deployed in enterprises broadly but we believe that by hosting everything in the cloud, from the infrastructure through the operating system software all the way through pretrained models, we can accelerate the adoption of generative AI in enterprises, Huang said

The company forecast current-quarter revenue of $6 50 billion, plus or minus 2% Analysts on average expect $6 33 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv data Revenue in the quarter ended Jan 29 was $6 05 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $6 01 billion

The launch of generative AI models and the AI arms race taking place should drive accelerated

adoption of the company s new H100 products said Logan Purk, an analyst with Edward Jones Nvidia’s outlook also helped boost the share prices of competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD O), whose stocks were up 3% after Nvidia’s results The Santa Clara, California, company got its start in the graphics chip business for PCs by helping video games look more realistic While its revenue beat Wall Street expectations, Nvidia s sales were still down overall year-on-year as the company weathers a downturn in the PC market But growth has remained brisk in the market for data center chips Analysts at Bank of America Global research believe the boom in so-called generative AI like chatbot and image creation services could add $14 billion more to Nvidia s revenue by 2027 Nvidia’s revenue from the data center business was $3 62 billion for the fourth quarter, slightly below analyst estimates of $3 84 billion Gaming chip sales were $1 83 billion beating analyst estimates of $1 52 billion, according to Refinitiv data A d j u s t e d p r o f i t w a s 8 8 c e n t s p e r s h a r e f o r t h e f o u r t h q u a r t e r b e a t i n g a n a l y s t e s t i m a t e s o f 8 1 c e n t s

GUrba Z’S FirEworkS PowEr iSL amabaD UNiTED To ThraSh PEShawar Z aLmi

KARACHI

s tA F F R e P o R t

Right-handed opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck a quickfire half-century and bolstered Islamabad United to thrash Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets in the 12th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight

Set to chase a mere 157, the United comfortably steered to a six-wicket victory with 31 balls to spare at the back of a scintillating half-century by Gurbaz

Earlier, the United openers Gurbaz provided his side with a flying start despite his partner Colin Munro perishing cheaply for just nine

The right-handed charged on the Zalmi bowlers as he brought up his half-century in just 24 deliveries before falling in the ninth

Pakistan Veteran Football League begins

over after scoring a quickfire 61

Gurbaz faced a mere 31 balls on his way to 61 hitting seven boundaries and four sixes Following his dismissal, Rassie van der Dussen stitched brief yet crucial partnerships with Shadab Khan (3) and Asif Ali before departing in the 13th over when his side needed just 17 in 42 deliveries

He scored 42 off just 29 deliveries and hit six boundaries Following his dismissal, Asif then put on an unbeaten match-winning partnership with Azam Khan (9*) and propelled his side to a dominating six-wicket victory Asif remained unbeaten on 29 He faced just 13 deliveries and smashed four boundaries including three sixes

For Zalmi, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal and James Neesham could pick up a wicket

Put into bat first, the Zalmi could raise

156/8 in 20 overs despite a gritty 75-run knock by their skipper Babar Azam and a brisk knock of 41 by Mohammad Haris The opening pair of Zalmi gave the side a flying start against the United as they added 76 runs within seven overs before Shadab provided a much-needed breakthrough by removing Haris on the final delivery Haris scored €41 runs off just 20 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and a six Young batting sensation Saim Ayub fell victim to Mubasir Khan in the next over for just three before Hasan Ali struck twice in the 10th over to push Zalmi to the backfoot as the side slipped to 88/4 in 10 overs Zalmi could not recover from the collapse and kept losing wickets at an alarming rate which halted their march towards a big total

Australia’s Warner and Agar heading back to India for ODI series

The second All-Pakistan Veteran Football League kicked off here at Tahmas Khan Football Stadium on Thursday DG Sports Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa Khalid Khan was the chief guest on this occasion Director Operations Azizullah, DSO Peshawar Gul Rukh Patron in Chief Hussain Ahmed, DSO Chitral Ameer Zaman and other guests participated in large numbers Eight football teams from Pakistan are participating in the league The matches are being played on the basis of the single league basis The tournament will continue till February 26 Peshawar Club and Veteran Football Club Kohat played an interesting match wherein a large number of spectators enjoyed the thrilling matches In the first half, both teams scored one goal each, while in the second half, Kohat scored on a penalty Peshawar on the other hands scored two quick goals in the second half and marched into victory against the strong Kohat team With this victory Peshawar team managed to get two points During the match, former captain of Pakistan team Arshad Khan scored one goal Former Pakistan team player Adil scored two goals while Siraj scored one goal Naveed scored the only goal from the Kohat Veteran team in the first half Hussain Ahmed appreciated the cooperation of Deputy Commissioner, Lower Chitral, Muhammad Ali Khan for organizing the league and expressed the hope that he would continue to support such activities in the future

Untroubled Swiatek into Dubai semi-finals

DUBAI

Ag e n c e s

World number one Iga Swiatek swept past Liudmila Samsonova for the loss of just one game in the last 16 of the Dubai WTA tournament on Wednesday, earning praise from fellow threetime major winner Andy Murray The 21-yearold Pole was then handed a walkover into the semi-finals when scheduled quarter-final opponent Karolina Pliskova pulled out with an injury

On Wednesday, Swiatek triumphed 6-1, 6-0 over Samsonova to follow her opening 6-1, 6-1 win over Leylah Fernandez Swiatek has dropped only eight games in her last six matches, a stretch which saw her lift the Doha title last weekend She is different tweeted men s former world number one Murray in appreciation

Reigning French and US Open champion Swiatek was to have faced former Dubai finalist Pliskova in Thursday’s quarter-finals but the Czech said a virus would force her withdrawal

After playing the finals here a few years ago and doing very well this year, it’s very disappointing for me,” tweeted Pliskova “But after struggling with a virus and cramps for a couple hours right after my match, I’m not able to continue ” Pliskova had booked her last-eight spot with a 7-5 6-7 (6/8) 6-2 victory over Ukraine s

Anhelina Kalinina Australian Open champion

Aryna Sabalenka made it 13 wins in 13 matches in 2023 by dethroning defending champion Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-1, 6-1

SYDNEY R e u t e R s

David Warner and Ashton Agar were included in Australia’s squad for next month’s one-day international series in India on Thursday despite being sent home from the test tour this week

Recently injured all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell were also included in the squad for the three-match series, which starts in Mumbai on March 17 and continues with matches in Vizag and Chennai

Opener Warner was concussed and suffered an elbow fracture when batting in the second test, while Agar was sent home to play domestic cricket after being nudged down the pecking order of spinners by Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann

Pat Cummins, who also flew home from India after the drubbing in Delhi because of a family illness, will captain the team in a series that will help Australia prepare for the World Cup in India later

this year

All-rounder Cameron Green and left-armpaceman Mitchell Starc were also included in the squad in anticipation of their recovery from the broken fingers which prevented them from playing in the first two tests

Paceman Josh Hazlewood was left out to allow him to recover from an Achilles injury that also prevented him from playing any part in the test series

“It would be great for Josh to be part of this series but we have taken a conser-

Guardiola plots European progress

LEIPZIG

Ag e n c i e s

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola joked he could throw caution to the wind to finish off Leipzig in the Champions League by fielding “nine strikers”

City were held to a 1-1 draw in Germany on Wednesday in the first leg of their last 16 tie with Riyad Mahrez’s opener cancelled out by a header from Josko Gvardiol

I didn t want to come here and lose 4-3 It will have to be more open in Manchester,” said Guardiola who coached Bayern Munich to Bundesliga titles in each of his three years in Germany and said City could not compete” with the speed of German teams

“We don’t have the team to compete with them with a lot of transitions they are better than us and they are faster than us, except Kyle (Walker) and Erling (Haaland)

The pace they have, we don t have it

Guardiola added: “Maybe in the second leg I will be crazy and decide to play with nine strikers But I’ve coached in this country and I analysed Leipzig and I needed this type of control ”

The City manager gathered his team together on the pitch for an impromptu motivational session after the final whistle in an attempt to lift their spirits

“They had their heads down, I told them ‘Why are your heads down, put your heads up, the Spanish manager told the post-match press conference

“It was a really good game the game you played If people don t like it, it doesn t matter, you played the game the way it should be played ”

The City manager said the Champions League used to be quite easy , but is now such a demanding competition” “All of the teams in all of the leagues are

really strong ”

Leipzig manager Marco Rose revealed how his half-time talk which started quietly and ended up a little bit louder”, pushed his players to stop “playing City’s game ” “I told them ‘what are you doing, coming into a game like this and standing deep – that wasn t the plan ”

Rose said he was confident ahead of the second leg in Manchester on March 14 but admitted to go to City, we’d rather have a 3-0 advantage to feel better ”

“We can take plenty out of the game so that we can not play another first half like we did today gvardiol ‘will sTay a leipzig player’: RB Leipzig manager Marco Rose said sought-after centre-back Josko Gvardiol is our player and will stay our player” Gvardiol headed in Leipzig’s second-half equaliser and also kept City star Erling Haaland in check on an unhappy evening for the Norway forward

In his second season in Leipzig since moving from Dynamo Zagreb, Gvardiol’s form for Leipzig, as well as his performances at the World Cup for Croatia, has reportedly made him a target of several European clubs Gvardiol was recently quoted in the German media saying I might be out the door after Christopher (Nkunku)” in reference to the French striker ’s reported deal with Chelsea Rose, however, shot down speculation the defender could be off to the Premier League saying “the headlines don’t seem to be bothering him” “He’s a RB Leipzig player, I think he ll stay a player for RB Leipzig “In the story, he said that about Christopher, but he laughed – of course, in the newspaper, you don t see the laugh “He said he likes it here and he feels comfortable here As a trainer you want to work with the best players

vative view ahead of a very important winter in England of which he will be an integral part,” said chief selector George Bailey Jhye Richardson will bolster the fast-bowling stocks after recovering from a hamstring injury Marsh, who is recovering from an ankle injury is expected to play two domestic matches for Western Australia before heading to India, while Maxwell has already made his return from a broken leg with Victoria’s state team “With the World Cup just over seven months away, these matches in India are an important step in our preparation,” said chief selector George Bailey Glenn, Mitchell and Jhye are all important players in what we think the squad might look like come October ” Squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

England unchanged for second New Zealand Test after ‘per fect game’

WELLINGTON

A F P

England named an unchanged team for the second and final Test against New Zealand in Wellington starting Friday, after captain Ben Stokes said they had played the perfect game to go 1-0 up in the series The tourists dominated the first Test in Mount Maunganui to win by 267 runs with 40-year-old fast bowler James Anderson claiming seven wickets The haul has seen him return to the top of the Test bowling world rankings for the sixth time in his career and the first time since 2018, deposing Australia captain Pat Cummins Stokes was not surprised Anderson had returned to the pinnacle after claiming match figures of 7-54 at the Bay Oval, forming part of a potent pace trio with Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson I don t think he ll be that fussed by it to be honest He’ll just keep doing his thing,” Stokes said on Thursday “I think, and a lot of guys in the dressing room do that Jimmy has been certainly one of the best in the world for a long, long time “He’s someone I know I can throw the ball to when I need a wicket, so having someone like him along with Broady and Robbo is a real treat to be able to captain at the moment ”

Stokes said consideration had been given to resting one or more of his front-line seamers for the Basin Reserve contest but all three informed him on Thursday they felt fresh and ready to go

‘Tough sessions’: He hinted the trio may have been motivated by the grass-laden nature of the pitch, which appears to hold the promise of sideways movement It is a fine line between picking your strongest 11 but then also making sure your bowlers are a hundred percent ready,” Stokes said

EU institUtions ban tiktok on work dEvicEs

tHE TikTok logo is pictured outside the company s U S head office in Culver City, California,

U S September 15 2020

REUTERS/Mike Blake The main EU governing institutions on Thursday banned their staff from installing TikTok on devices used for work amid concerns over data protection, in a move that provoked an angry response from the company

TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has faced increasing Western scrutiny in recent months over fears about how much access Beijing has to user data

The ban affects staff at the European Commission and European Council, which represents member states, but the European Parliament has not yet taken a similar deci-

sion

The new rules mean staff cannot use the video-sharing app on work devices and personal devices, such as phones, that have official EU email and communication apps installed The Commission said its employees must remove the app as soon as possible and should do so by March 15

EU spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova said the corporate management board of the Commission, the EU s executive arm, had made the decision for security reasons

“The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission, she said European Council spokesman Barend Leyts told AFP it “will be uninstalling the application on corporate devices and requesting staff to uninstall it from personal mobile devices that have access to corporate services”

A spokesperson for TikTok said we believe this suspension is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions”

‘DisappointED’: EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton pointed to the cybersecurity risks he said had informed the Commission s decision

“As an institution the European Commission has, from the beginning of the mandate, a very strong focus on cybersecurity, protecting our colleagues and of course everyone who is working here in the Commission, Breton told reporters

In November TikTok admitted some staff in China can access the data of European users The company however denies that the Chinese government has any control or access

TikTok on Thursday stressed it protects the data of its 125 million monthly users in the European Union and was taking steps to strengthen data security It later said it had

requested a meeting with the Commission

“to set the record straight”

“We’re continuing to enhance our approach to data security, including by establishing three data centres in Europe to store user data locally; further reducing employee access to data; and minimising data flows outside of Europe ” the firm said

The United States last year banned the app from federal government devices, and some US lawmakers are trying to prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States

Last month, the Dutch government reportedly advised public officials to steer clear of the app over similar concerns

The European Parliament on Thursday said it was monitoring and assessing all possible data breaches related to the app” and would consider the Commission’s evaluation before making recommendations tough linE on tEch: TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew was in Brussels

Rs6b blended vir tual educ ation projec t hits a snag

ISLAMABAD

G h u l a M a b b a S

While the virtual/distance learning system has been a successful experiment in attempts to increase the accessibility of education in remote and far-flung areas of the country, the Rs 6 billion project of virtual education hits a snag for the non-release of funds

With the world transitioning to virtual education following the Covid-19 pandemic, the government in Pakistan had also initiated a project “Blended Virtual Education Project for Knowledge Economy” in 2020, at the cost of Rs 6 billion The project, which was won by the Virtual University of Pakistan, has successfully launched its virtual learning courses in several of remote universities in Southern Punjab, Balochistan Sindh Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit Baltistan

However, according to the details available with this scribe the non-release of project fund by the relevant au-

thorities is severely impacting the implementation and execution of this project, which aims to counter the lack of higher education institutions, improve enrollment in tertiary education, and meet the shortage of skilled human resources and inadequate physical infrastructure in the conventional mode of education

The documents reveal that out of the total Rs 6 billion, only Rs 98 million has been released so far While Rs 2 billion were required to execute the project following its expansion across the country, only Rs 250 million have been allocated in the ongoing fiscal year As per insiders the allocated amount is not even sufficient to execute the main project This amount was only meeting the salaries of staff recruited under this project “None release or any cut in the approved fund would ultimately fail the important project ” said an official familiar with the project

According to details, the PC-1 of the project prepared by the Ministry of In-

Faysal Bank posts record profit of over Rs11b for FY22

period last year In spite of a super tax on the bank’s earnings, FBL still posted a record profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 11 4 billion compared to Rs 8 3 billion last year The bank s Earnings per share (EPS) increased to Rs 7 54 per share as opposed to Rs 5 50 per share last year To the delight of its shareholders, the bank also announced a Rs 1 per share dividend for the last quarter of the year This brought the total dividend for the year to Rs 6 per share In the PSX on Thursday, FBL s share price closed at Rs 23 01, down 4 8% during the day The volume traded was 5,177,873 shares, the seventh highest during the day s trading session C o n t i n u e d o n pa g e 03

formation Technology & Telecommunication, approved on April 14, 2021 was to be executed by Virtual University of Pakistan (VUP) in collaboration with other Partner Universities, especially from far-flung areas of Pakistan Under the project, the VUP is to provide various facilities to partner universities which include furnished computer labs, including 30 computers, networking, servers, multimedia, printers, UPS, and a 20 KVA generator Furthermore the university would also provide Learning Management System (LMS), and or access to VU LMS to support partner universities, faculty training for online teaching and student training via trained faculty, and many others

A f t e r e x e c u t i o n o f t h e p r o j e c t , a g r e e m e n t s h a v e b e e n s i g n e d w i t h p a r t n e r u n i v e r s i t i e s i n c l u d i n g t h e Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdar Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water & Marine S c i e n c e s a t L a s b e l a , S a r d a r B a h a d u r Khan Women University University of

Gwadar at Gwadar University of Loralai, University of Turbat at Balochist a n , K a r a k o r a m I n t e r n a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y a t G i l g i t , U n i v e r s i t y o f Baltistan at Skardu, Shaheed Benazir B h u t t o U n i v e r s i t y a t S h e r i n g a l , D i r Upper, the University of Agriculture at Dera Ismail Khan, University of Swat, Ghazi University at Dera Ghazi Khan, Lahore College for Women University, Mian Nawaz Sharif University of Agric u l t u r e a t M u l t a n , U n i v e r s i t y o f N a r o w a l , U n i v e r s i t y o f S u f i s m a n d

Modern Sciences (USMS) at Bhit Shah a n d N a t i o n a l S k i l l s U n i v e r s i t y a t I s -

lamabad

According to the documents the project covers many aspects and fulfills needs of universities across the entire country Under the project over 180 skills based courses were being developed which will enable youth to not only do their own business but also go abroad as skilled workers

last month for talks with EU officials during which they warned the Chinese-owned platform to ensure the safety of European users data

The company has promised to further reduce employee access to data TikTok also promised last year to hold US users data in the United States to allay Washington’s concerns The European Union has taken a tough line on technology companies passing two major laws to make sure social media platforms adhere to the bloc’s rules on digital issues

The Digital Services Act (DSA) forces social media platforms, online marketplaces and search engines to react more quickly to remove content deemed in breach of EU regulations T h e o t h e r, t h e D i g i t a l M a r k e t s A c t ( D M A ) p r o h i b i t s a n t i - c o m p e t i t i v e b ehaviour by the so-called “gatekeepers” of t h e i n t e r n e t

Ghandhara sees quar terly gains but half yearly profits shell of former self

LAHORE da n i ya l a h M a d

The Ghandhara Tyre & Rubber Company released its earnings for Q2FY23 on February 23 on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) The company was able to record a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of Rs 4 1 million in its final earnings for a total quarterly earning of Rs 22 million Their half yearly earnings clocked in at Rs 40 million for a year-on-year (YoY) decline of 84% from the Rs 241 million they recorded in HFY22

SAR GODHA S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday blamed the “cabal of five” for the country’s current woes while firing a fresh salvo at Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan

Addressing a workers’ convention in Sargodha the PML-N chief organiser said Imran Khan kept saying his government was toppled through a conspiracy but the real conspiracy was hatched against the PML-N supremo and former premier Nawaz Sharif Maryam Nawaz alleged that the group of five” includes sitting and former Supreme Court judges and the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed She while addressing the convention asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif not to worry about the remnants of Faiz Hammed and held them accountable She also termed Lahore CCPO Ghulam

Muhammad Dogar an ‘associate’ of Imran Khan The PML-N leader further said that the “cabal of five” created political instability, which triggered economic crisis leading to sky rocketing inflation in the country She further lambasted the former premier for appointing Punjab s biggest dacoit Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as his party’s central president

Referring to PTI’s ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’, Maryam said the party chairman was asking his workers to court arrests while “he himself is hiding in a mouse hole” “Leaders led from the front like Nawaz Sharif Jails for workers and bails for himself ” she remarked The PML-N senior vice president claimed that policemen kept asking the party workers to turn themselves in, but they instead fled from the spot Now they are moving court for the release of their leader,” she added She also asked party supporters to promote the PML-N supremo s message and told them to prepare for elections, which not only have to be contested, but won also

Imran calls on judiciar y to resist pressure from ‘Sharif-Zardari mafia’

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

Former prime minister and Chairman

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran

Khan on Thursday accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of unleashing a smear campaign against judges in an attempt to delay the polls at any cost, calling upon the judiciary to ensure that the Constitution is upheld and pave the way for elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Addressing his supporters and work-

ers via video link from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Imran reminded the judiciary that the Constitution is clear about holding elections within 90 days, following the dissolution of the assembly

He urged the judiciary to resist pressure from both establishment and “Sharif and Zardari mafia”

This is a defining moment in the country’s history Either the neutrals pressurise judiciary or these two mafia families Sharif and Zardari he said

His statement came shortly after PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz accused

a “cabal of five” of being behind the ongoing political and economic crises in Pakistan The group allegedly includes sitting and former Supreme Court judges and the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General (retd)

Faiz Hameed In his address, Imran accused the PML-N of having a history of attacking and buying the loyalties of judges He also alleged that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was controlling the caretaker setup in Punjab According to Imran, the only way to

lift the country out of its current crisis is to hold elections He also criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and caretakers, claiming that they were taking orders from PML-N leaders and were against the PTI Imran also hailed his party’s “Jail Bharo Tehreek” (fill prison movement) and said that it shows that the PTI workers are not afraid of jails He lamented that those who voluntarily presented themselves for arrests are being treated like criminals and being moved to different prisons in Punjab

Q2FY23 Earnings: On a quarterly basis, Ghandhara saw a 24 19% increase in its sales revenue and a 30 49% increase in its cost of goods sold This amounted to a final gross profit of Rs 538 million This represents a 5 04% QoQ decline from the Rs 566 million the company saw in Q1FY23 Its gross profit however compares better on a YoY basis with the company recording a 12 79% increase over the Rs 503 million it recorded in Q2CY22 The company’s gross profit margin (GPM) of 13 55% fared similarly It was lower than the 17 72% it recorded in Q1FY23, but higher than the 12 79% it recorded in Q2FY22 Other notable changes include the 50 44% QoQ increase in the company s other income The company’s Rs 30 million however pales in comparison to the Rs 42 million it recorded last year over the same period The company s cost of finance also worsened by 5 25% QoQ and by a whopping 92 11% YoY Its profit/loss from associated companies rose to Rs 373,000 This is a 116 62% QoQ improvement on the Rs 2 244 million loss it incurred previously The profit, however, is a 82 62% YoY decline from the Rs 2 146 million in profit it recorded in Q2FY22

Higher policy rate on the cards

ISLAMABAD

S h a h n awa z a l i

The State Bank of Pakistan was able to raise a total of Rs 257 74 billion through T-Bill auctions, which happened on the 22nd of February The target of collection for the said auction was supposed to be around Rs 300 billion More importantly, the yield cut off for these T-bills happened to be close to 19 9%, which was 2 9% higher than the policy rate, and almost 2% higher than the previous yield cut offs The policy rate stands at 17% as of the 23rd of February Market implications hence, suggests that the effective rate is now above 19% and the State Bank might just announce a hike in a couple of days

So why is there an increase in the interest rate? Why is there a need for such an increase and who will be affected by this decision?

Why do we need a higher rate?

A general understanding is that the IMF wants Pakistan to keep a higher policy rate

‘C abal of five’ created politic al instability, triggered economic crisis, says M ar yam