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