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Pakistan delivers tough message to afghan taliban over ‘cross-border attacks’

g taliBan told pakistan would have no other choice But to target ttp hideouts inside afghanistan if they failed to take action

g pakistani officials showed proof of how ttp planned and carried out recent attacks in Bannu and peshawar from afghanistan

KABUL

A n A d o l u Ag e n c y

Pakistan has warned the interim ta ban administration that if terror sts nvolved n cross-border attacks in the countr y are not el minated islamabad would take action against them within afghanistan an offic a said a high-level delegation led by defense m nister khawaja muhammad asif delivered this message to afghanistan s acting deputy prime min ster mullah abdul ghan Baradar during h s daylong visit to kabu this week as f was accompan ed by lt gen nadeem ahmed anjum, the head of the inter-ser vices intelligence (isi) agency, and other senior officials from the defense and foreign ministries our delegation delivered a ver y loud and clear message to afghan taliban leadersh p to stop afghanistan-

based militants of the tehreek-i-tal ban pakistan (ttp) from launching any spring offensive inside pakistan and eliminate them from afghan soil,” a senior security official told anadolu agency on condt on of anonym ty as he was not authorised to speak to the media “ in case of fai ure to stop the ttp from cross-border attacks and does not take any action to eliminate them or expel them from their h deouts then pak stan has no other choice except to target their hideouts in border areas nside afghan stan said the official who c aimed to be well aware of the meeting ’s deta ls in response the official claimed that Baradar denied the presence of ttp a conglomerate of several militant groups in pak stan that islamabad believed were currently inside afghanistan later the meeting was also o ned by act ng afghan inter or minister sirajuddin haqqani and acting defense min ster mul ah mohammad yaqoob where

yaqoob took the matter of the drone attack carried out by the us last year in kabul, according to the official source i n a u g u s t o f l a s t y e a r u s pr e s i d e n t j o e B i d e n a n n o u n c e d t h a t h s f o r c e s had killed al-Qaeda ch ef ayman al-Zaw a h i r i i n a d r o n e s t r i ke w h i c h t h e ta li b a n i n t e r i m a d m n i s t r a t i o n r e f u s e d t o accept openly the afghan officials alleged that the us launched the attack while using pak stani a rspace, but islamabad rejected the c a m saying the us was never allowed to use its airspace against afghanistan tal ban officials also insisted that the ttp has no presence in afghan stan, with all of its leadership hav ng re ocated to pak stan follow ng the taliban s takeover of kabul in august 2021 we showed them proof of how ttp planned and carried out recent attacks in Bannu and peshawar from afghanistan and warned them that any further attack would result in a tough response from pakistan ” the security offic a said h e w a s r e f e r r i n g t o t h e B a n n u c o u n t e r-t e r r o r i s m f a c t y, w h i c h w a s t a ke n o v e r b y t t p m t a n t s f o r t h r e e d a y s i n d e c e m b e r a s t y e a r k i l l i n g a t least two secur ty personnel before the pakistan army killed al of the terrorists in an operation over 100 people, mostly police officers, were also kil ed in a suicide bomb ng at a mosque inside a police compound in northwestern peshawar late last month when asked about the expected pak stani response n the event of an attack the official said we have no other opt on but to target m litants hideouts in border areas nside afghanistan ”

Staff level agreement with IMF still awaited

pr ofit report

s h A h n AwA z A l i

despite the conclusion of the m ssion s phys cal visit two weeks ago, there is still a stal in the s gning

Trade through Torkham border resumes

PESHAWAR: the normal trade and movement of people between pakistan and afghanistan fully resumed on saturday after the two sides reopened a key border crossing that was shut near y a week ago by kabul s taliban rulers stranding people and thousands of trucks carr ying food and essential tems the afghan embassy in islamabad announced the reopening of the torkham border on saturday on twitter officials from pakistan and a ta iban-appo nted administrator in afghanistan’s nangarhar province also conf rmed the border cross ng s open to passengers and trade the announcement sparked a wave of joy among those who had been waiting for the reopening of the nternationa trade route since sunday, when afghanistan s taliban rulers closed the crossing the taliban had claimed islamabad was not abiding by an agreement with kabul to allow sick afghan patients and their caretakers to cross nto pakistan without travel documents for medical care last monday, afghan tal ban forces and pakistan’s border guards exchanged fire wounding a pakistan army soldier since then offic a s from the two s des were n talks to resolve the issue amid demands from people on both sides to mmediately reopen the crossing T h e A s s o c AT e d P r e s s

the previous week-on-week reading of 2 9% was the h ghest s nce october 27, when the change in spi was 4 1 % as per official data the headl ne inflation calculated through the consumer price index (cpi) was recorded at 27 6% n januar y and is expected to be significantly higher during the ongoing month after the new taxes introduced in the mini budget, nflation figures are expected to go north of 30% in the monthly statistics as of now pakistan awa ts the imf tranche as funds from the ch nese development fund worth 700 bill on were realized on februar y 25 according to a tweet by f nance minister ishaq dar

PA K I S TA N B R E A K FA S T AT W E F S u m m I T 2 0 2 3 I N D AV O S

JA N u A Ry 18, 2023: For the 20th time at DAVOS Pathfinder Group, this time in partnership with uBank hosted the traditional PAKISTAN BREAKFAST at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Summit 2023

The Chief Guest, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change Ms Sherry Rehman highlighted the havoc played on the people of Pakistan because of climate change, its effect on our financial landscape and the deteriorating regional situation because of the security challenges in and around Afghanistan

WEF’s Managing Director Mirek Dušek emphasized WEF s commitment to helping Pakistan showcase its achievements and deliver positive impact for its people by having brought together for many years leaders from business government, international organization and civil society t o p r o m o t e P a k i s t a n s p o t e n t i a l Mentioning WEF’s EDISON ALLIANCE a s a g l o b a l m o v e m e n t a c c e l e r a t i n g collaboration between the ICT community and other critical sectors of the economy

H e co n g r atu lated P ath f in d er f o r w o r k in g w i t h o v e r 3 5 0 o rg a n i z a t i o n s o f t h e A l l i a n c e f r o m t h e p u b l i c a n d p r i v a t e sectors committed to improving the lives of 1 billion people with better solutions for

21 truck relief convoy from Pakistan reaches malat ya

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

A 21-truck convoy carrying 275-ton relief assistance goods from Pakistan arrived at Malatya, one of the worst hit cities of Turkiye by the earthquake Saturday afternoon The truck convoy carrying mainly winterized tents, blankets and other essential relief goods departed from Pakistan on February 11 and reached Turkiye via Iran The convoy was received by Deputy Mayor Malatya Hakan Ezgi, Ambassador Fazli Corman of Turkish MOFA, Pakistan Embassy Deputy Ambassador, Abbas Sarwar Qureshi Commander Mehmet Bhaktiyar and officials from AFAD and local administration under the directions of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif an air bridge was established immediately between Islamabad and Ankara on February 6 to transport rescue teams and deliver essential relief goods

As of now 20 flights have brought relief assistance goods to Turkiye A ship carrying earthquake relief goods is also scheduled to leave Pakistan for Turkiye soon Speaking on the occasion Abbas Sarwar Qureshi stated that Pakistan and Turkiye have a glorious history of supporting each other under all circumstances As per the wishes of the Prime Minister and the people of Pakistan relief assistance shall keep coming from Pakistan to brotherly Turkiye till complete recovery and rehabilitation he added

NAB taps deput y chairman

Zahir Shah as acting boss

LAHoRe

a h m a d S a a d

Zahir Shah, deputy chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has been appointed as the acting head of the dirty money watchdog following the resignation of Aftab Sultan on Tuesday According to a notification issued by the bureau on Friday, Shah assumed the position from February 22 in accordance with the proviso to Section 6-B(V) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 Shah previously served as the director general of operations of the bureau and was later appointed as its deputy chairman in October 2021 Having served with the agency for nearly 20 years, he brings a wealth of experience to his new role His appointment comes in the wake of Sultan’s sudden resignation who stepped down, after serving as the head of the agency for only seven months reportedly after refusing to comply with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government which had allegedly asked him to build cases against former prime minister Imran Khan Sultan a former director-general of the Intelligence Bureau, was appointed to the post in July of last year for a nonextendable period” of three years but came at odds with certain quarters of the state apparatus which prompted his departure According to Geo News, Sultan was asked to perform certain [tasks] which were not acceptable to me”, following which he tendered his resignation to the prime minister Journalist Mubashir

Zaidi said the former policeman resigned primarily because he refused to build a case against the chairman of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party

This is not Shah s first stint as acting chairman as he previously held the position for a month in June 2022, prior to the appointment of Sultan

(1) Financial Inclusion, (2) Education & (3) Health He said that Virtual Remittance Gateway (VRG)’s “Asaan Mobile Account” (AMA) Scheme, the World Bank financial inclusion Initiative regulated by both State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was shortlisted by WEF s EDISON ALLIANCE for being No 3 in the world for financial inclusion and thus one of the Lighthouse Countries (only 2 at the moment)

M r R o s s P e r o t J r, C h a i r m a n P e r o t

C o m p a n i e s u S A a n d f o r m e r C h a i r m a n E a s t w e s t I n s t i t u t e ( E W I ) c a l l e d f o r strengthening the uS Pakistan relationship p o s i t i v e l y t o d e t e r t h e d i s c r i m i n a t o r y

p o l i c i e s o f t h e p r e s e n t n o n - i n c l u s i v e Afghan regime with its inherent potential for increasing terrorism in the region and the world He said that while military ties

w e r e i m p o r t a n t , t h e e m p h a s i s s h o u l d b e primarily economic for the future S p e a k i n g a t t h e e v e n t M r K a b e e r N a q v i P r e s i d e n t & C E O u B a n k c o m m e n t e d a b o u t t h e p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h Pathfinder Group and said, “As a mission d r i v e n b a n k w i t h f i n a n c i a l i n c l u s i o n f o r citizens across all societal segments as our objective, we are glad to have entered into this collaboration with Pathfinder Group This gives us an opportunity to expand our d i g i t a l o u t r e a c h a n d b r i n g t h e u n b a n k e d population into the financial ecosystem in

C hairman NEPRA refuses to reconsider fixed power charges for industr y

pR ofIt RepoRt S h a h a b o m e R

Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Tausif

H Farooqui will not reconsider the imposition of the Maximum Demand Indicator (MDI) fixed electricity charge on the business community, he told representatives of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday

The MDI is a fixed charge on industrialists that they have to pay even if they are not using electricity and Farooqui said it was important in order to cover costs of producing power and making it available to industries

During a session with Farooqui in Lahore on Saturday, LCCI President Kashif Anwar requested the NEPRA Chairman to play his role in rolling back the MDI charge He drew the chairman s attention towards the issue saying that, a few months back, NEPRA had imposed MDI charges on all

industrial and commercial consumers under which they were charged 50% of their sanctioned load

“The electricity bill has to be paid without using the units If they use electricity more than 50% of their allotted load, then they will pay the bill according to the units used instead of MDI charges Anwar said He said the decision is affecting the business community whose industrial units are closed or whose work is done on a seasonal basis He said this matter had also been taken up with the CEO of Lahore Electric Supply Company who has assured all possible support to the business community in this regard

The chairman however explained that power sector dues, which include import costs, are to be met by charging according to allocations He added that the cost of production is already very high because the country depends on imported fuels and the devaluation of currency has worsened matters

“Seasonal businesses can disconnect their electricity connections and reconnect when they need electricity but the cold storages are not a seasonal business, and they work throughout the year and meet the needs of vegetables, fruits and perishable items of the country,” Farooqui said Chairman NEPRA said that at the rate at which Discos were charging MDI charges, they were paying 10% more to Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee (CPPA-G) “This is a very low price that they are charging,” he said We are having a hearing next week on MDI By joining it, the business community can let us know about their concerns If businessmen are using more than 50% electricity, they are not charged any MDI If one has a high sanctioned load while usage is low then it needs a rethink,” Farooqui stressed He said that it had been decided that the rate of net metering will remain at Rs 19 90 and will not be less than that

M an claims he was forced to acc use Usman D ar of corruption

LAHoRe N p

Former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has brought a citizen before the media who was allegedly abducted and tortured to give false statements against usman Dar, ARy News reported on Saturday

Imran Khan addressed the media via video link today along with PTI leader usman Dar and a citizen who had been allegedly abducted and tortured

“I want to tell the nation about what is happening in the country Attempts are being made to turn Pakistan into a Banana republic No one is caring about the law and the constitution but the law is in hands of the powerful people,” he added

The PTI chief said that people are being forced to give false statements after the ouster of the PTI government “Attempts were made to file fake

cases, corruption cases and run audiotapes to blackmail us ” he said He said that the affected citizen namely Javed Ali will tell his story by himself He added that usman Dar had facilitated Javed Ali to get a watchman’s position – a Grade 4 government job J a v e d A l i s a i d t h a t h e w o r k s a s a w a t c h m a n i n t h e e d u c a t i o n d e p a r t m e n t a n d h e w a s s u m m o n e d v i a a t e l e p h o n e c a l l “Four policemen c a m e i n a n d s h i f t e d m e t o a n u n k n o w n l o c a t i o n a f t e r c o v e r i n g m y f a c e w i t h a c l o t h S o m e unidentified men had also come there ”

S ix PTI Pindi leaders shif ted to S hahpur Jail from Adiala

umar Senator Azam Khan Swati and Omar Sarfaraz

Six leaders of the 47 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and leaders, including six former MNAs and MPAs who had been surrendered to police and were taken to Adiala Jail Friday, were shifted to Shahpur Jail in Sargodha on Saturday The PTI leaders and workers in Rawalpindi surrendered to police on the third day of the party’s ‘Jail Bharo’ movement, which party Chairman Imran Khan had announced in reaction to arrests of party leaders in fake cases All the leaders were shifted to Shahpur jail in a prison van late Friday night

The PTI leaders who were shifted to Shahpur included: Sadaqat Abbasi, Zulfi Bukhari, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, Latasab Satti, Ijaz Khan Jazi and others After Lahore and Peshawar the campaign reached Rawalpindi on the third of ‘Jail Baro Tehreek’ on Friday The movement was kicked off on Wednesday from Lahore where core leadership from Punjab, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad

Cheema gave court arrests The ‘court arrest’ drive was launched in protest over “violations of the fundamental rights abuse of the Constitution “unprecedented inflation” and “economic meltdown” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan lauded PTI s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) leadership for a massive turnout in ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ The former prime minister Imran Khan in his tweet congratulated the KP PTI parliamentarians for leading the Jail Bharo Tehreek’ from the front He wrote, “Today was a massive turnout led by PTI’s KP leadership for the Jail Bharo Tehreek Congratulations to our KP PTI parliamentarians for leading from the front and to our workers for their janoon (passion) and commitment ” Earlier, Imran Khan had said there were two main reasons for the campaign that aimed at achieving ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ [real freedom] “One, it is a peaceful, non-violent protest against the attack on our constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights,” he wrote while highlighting that illegal corruption cases and FIRs were being registered against the PTI leaders

an efficient manner”

C h a i r m a n P a t h f i n d e r G r o u p , Z a r r a r Sehgal shared his views on the importance of this Digital Inclusive Finance and how t h e d i g i t a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n f o r F i n a n c i a l I n c l u s i o n w i l l b e b e n e f i t e d t h r o u g h t h e A M A S c h e m e T h a n k i n g t h e W E F t h r o u g h M i r e k D u š e k f o r t h e E D I S O N A L L I A N C E ’s c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f P a k i s t a n as a possible Lighthouse Country, he said t h i s w i l l a t t r a c t m o r e i n v e s t m e n t i n t o Pakistan specially in Fintech and Banking industry He said it is a proud moment for P a k i s t a n f o r V R G t o h a v e P a k i s t a n m e n t i o n e d a s N o 3 i n t h e w o r l d i n f i n a n c i a l i n c l u s i o n i n t h e E D I S O N

He added that NEPRA has issued licenses for 65,000 MW power supply while the total requirement was 23,000 MW across the country

“We currently have an installed capacity of 43,000 MW A total of 65% of electricity generation is done on imported fuels We don’t have dollars The rupee has devalued due to which coal has also become expensive Due to depreciation, our cost has increased eight times and overall input cost has increased by 16% How is it possible that despite the 16% increase in input cost, we do not increase the tariff?

Farooqui said

Anwar also pointed out that rumors were circulating that the proposal to reduce the rate of net metering was under consideration

“On the one hand, we are worried about reducing our import bill Our fuel import bill is $23 billion In such a situation, we have to shift to renewable energy but they are reducing the rates of net metering If such a decision is taken, there will be a lot of discouragement from the government in promoting the use of renewable energy, especially solar energy,” he said

He also requested NEPRA chairman to remove the confusion about the net metering rate

C TD busts seven T TP-militants from Lahore, other cities

LAHoRe

The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department on Saturday claimed to have captured seven terrorists, said to be affiliated with outlawed TTP from Lahore and other cities of the province A spokesperson for the CTD told media on Saturday that the CTD launched an operation following credible information about the presence of terrorists and managed to arrest seven terrorists from Lahore and other cities He said that the captured terrorists belonged to the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan He said the militants were identified as: Ahmad ullah usama Nazeer Hammad Abdul Rehman and Aman ullah He informed the CTD also recovered material used in making suicide jackets, explosives and arms from the possession of the militants The spokesperson revealed that the terrorists had planned targeting sensitive installations and other areas He informed the CTD has arrested 80 suspects during 423 combing operations conducted this week across Punjab

PTI Karachi MNAs move SHC against acceptance of resignations

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi MNAs on

Saturday moved Sindh High Court (SHC) against the acceptance of their resignations by National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf In the petition, they maintained that after the LHC verdict the speaker could not issue any notification regarding acceptance of their resign a t i o n s T h e p e t i t i o n e r s f u r t h e r p r a y e d c o u r t t o s u sp e n d t h e E C P n o t i f i c a t i o n s a s c a s e i s a l r e a d y p e n d i n g i n t h e L a h o r e H i g h C o u r t ( L H C ) A t o t a l o f 1 2 3 P T I M N A s h a d r e s i g n e d e n m a s s e o n A p r i l 11 l a s t y e a r a f t e r t h e s u c c e s s o f n o - c o n f i d e n c e m o t i o n a g a i n s t t h e i r p a r t y c h a i r m a n a n d t h e n p r i m e m i n i s t e r I m r a n K h a n P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a f ( P T I ) o n T h u r s d a y a pp r o a c h e d 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 ( E C P ) s e e k i n g p o s t p o n e m e n t o f M a r c h 1 6 b y - p o l l s t o n i n e K a r a c h i N a t i o n a l A s s e m b l y ( N A ) c o n s t i t u e n c i e s T h e f o r m e r P T I K a r a c h i M N A s w r o t e a l e t t e r t o t h e e l e ct i o n w a t c h d o g t o p o s t p o n e b y - p o l l s t o n i n e K a r a c h i c o n s t i t u e n c i e s i n l i g h t o f t h e L H C v e r d i c t o n P T I M N A s r e s i g n a t i o n s T h e b y - e l e c t i o n s o n N A s e a t s w i l l b e h e l d o n M a r c h 1 6

P u N J A B g O V T V O W S T O I m P L E m E N T P m ’ S A u S T E R I T y P O L I c y

cA R E TA K E R Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi presided over the 7th provincial cabinet meeting at CM Office on Saturday which decided to implement austerity policy measures adopted by the federal government

The Punjab Cabinet lauded the austerity policy of the Prime Minister and sought a comprehensive plan to adopt austerity measures at every level

The Austerity Committee will put forth

practicable recommendations with regard to saving government resources and adopting austerity measures

Caretaker CM and Caretaker Provincial Ministers will set an example regarding austerity and saving Caretaker CM Mohsin

Naqvi underscored that everyone would have to play his active role to adopt austerity at the government level in view of dire economic conditions

It was decided during the cabinet meeting that the officers of Punjab government would donate their one to three days salary to help the earthquake affectees

of Turkiye and Syria Officers of grade 22 will donate their three days salary, officers of grade 21 and 20 will donate their two days salary and officers of grade 19 and 18 will donate their one day salary in the Prime Minister s Relief Fund

It was proposed during the meeting to fix minimum rupees 3900 per maund wheat support price Approval was granted during the meeting to constitute Foreign Funds Project Committee in order to ensure expeditious completion of foreign funds projects Approval was accorded during the meeting to give on lease government land on

Af ter L ahore, C AA to begin audit of K arachi airpor t from Monday

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

Safety and Quality Management System (SQMS) Directorate of the Civil Aviation Authority will undertake audit of the Karachi s Jinnah International Airport Feb 2 7 ( M o n d a y ) f o l l o w i n g c o m p l e t i o n t h e L a h o r e a i rport’s audit

According to officials, the CAA, during the audit, w i l l e x a m i n e i n t e r n a t i o n a l a v i a t i o n s t a n d a r d s a t Karachi Airport The airport’s runway, terminal building, airside and other sections will be examined during t h e a u d i t t h e o ff i c i a l s a d d e d T h e C A A S a f e t y a n d Quality Management System (SQMS) Directorate has a l r e a d y c o m p l e t e d a u d i t o f t h e I s l a m a b a d , L a h o r e , Quetta and Peshawar airports The directorate during t h e p r o c e s s o f a u d i t r e v i e w s a n d e x a m i n e s i n t e r n ational aviation standards Internal audit of the airports across Pakistan is mandatory under International Civil Aviation Organization rules

T h e C

The ANS Division in coordination with SQMS Directorate carries out all required functions to identify hazards in the system and to mitigate the identified risks in order to maintain the target level of safety Any significant safety-related change to the ATS system or a new procedure is only implemented after a safety assessment has demonstrated that an acceptable level of safety will be met Pakistan CAA has also established mechanism for post-implementation monitoring to verify that the defined level of safety continues to be met Besides the regulatory requirement to implement SMS, ANS Division in line with the CAA organizational policy is looking forward for implementation of a quality management system based on international standard ISO 9001-2008

Teen k ills father, injures mother over forbidding from TikTok

SWAt

S

A youth allegedly gunned down his father and injured his mother critically on Saturday after the parents forbad him from using TikTok The incident occurred in Ghambeer area of Jandool Tehsil in Dir Lower District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the police officials confirmed

According to Bakht Jamal Khan, Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Jandool circle, deceased Sher Baz Khan was upset with TikTok use and unethical activities of his son 16-year-old Husnain Khan and he used to forbid his son from indulging in these activities

Angry with his parents over chiding him time and again, Husnain fired gunshots on his father and mother, killing Sher Baz on the spot while the woman sustained critical wounds

“The accused has been arrested while the body of the deceased and the injured has been shifted to Temargara hospital the police officer informed adding that deceased Sher Baz Khan was a taxi driver and he

Pakistan delivers tough message to Afghan Taliban over ‘cross-border attacks’

ContInueD fRoM pAGe 01

used to stay out of the house for many days due to his long-distance travel with customers ”

The Mayar Police have registered a case on the complaint of Sher Khan, the brother of the victim, and have arrested the accused Husnain Khan along with the pistol It is to be noted that 16-year-old Husnain is the eldest among his four siblings – two younger sisters and one brother He had given up on education in 7th grade and was TikTok enthusiast

Lahore atop list of most polluted cities, Karachi sixth in world

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

“We have delivered this message to them,” he added Tensions between the two neighbours rose after the Taliban removed border fencing at some points along the crossing resulting in an increase in TTP terrorist attacks inside Pakistan in recent months Previously, Pakistan was believed to have some influence over the Afghan Taliban and their return to power was seen as a major strategic victory for Islamabad However, relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months Baradar was one of the top commanders who had reportedly spent years in the captivity of Pakistani forces before being released to lead the Taliban delegation in the landmark Doha talks in 2020 which cleared the way for the re-capture of Afghanistan The Afghan Information Ministry in a statement later said the two sides discussed bilateral relations trade economic cooperation, and security matters” during the meeting Baradar urged Islamabad to facilitate all Afghan travelers at the Torkham and Chaman borders as well as to provide special facilities for patients in need of emergency treatment

He also called for the release of Afghan nationals incarcerated in Pakistani jails mainly for illegally entering Pakistan Kabul wanted to strengthen trade and economic ties with Islamabad, he said, stressing the importance of fraternal relations between the two neighbours He insisted that trade and economic issues should not be separated from politics and security

Lahore ranked a t o p t h e l i s t o f t h e m o s t p o l l u t e d c i t i e s i n t h e w o r l d w i t h p o r t c i t y

K a r a c h i o n s i x t h p o s i t i o n i n t h e n e w r a n k i n g o n S a t u r d a y A c c o r d i n g t o t h e A i r Q u a l i t y I n d e x ( A Q I ) , L a h o r e i s t h e f i r s t a n d K a r a c h i t h e s i x t h m o s t p o l l u t e d c i t y i n t h e w o r l d T h e a m o u n t o f p o l l u t e d d u s t i n t h e a t m o s p h e r e o f L a h o r e h a s b e e n r e c o r d e d a t 3 2 0 p a r t i c u l a t e m e t e r s T h e a i r i n L a h o r e a n d K a r a c h i h a s b e e n d e c l a r e d e x t r e m e l y h a z a r d o u s t o t h e h e a l t h o f t h e c i t i z e n s T h e a m o u n t o f p o l l u t e d a i r i n K a r a c h i i s r e c o r d e d a t 1 6 9 p a r t i c u l a t e m e t e r s I t i s p e r t i n e n t h e r e t o m e n t i o n t h a t 1 5 1 t o 2 0 0 d e g r e e s o f p o l l u t i o n i s h a r m f u l t o h e a l t h P o l l u t i o n f r o m 2 0 1 t o

3 0 0 d e g r e e s i s e x t r e m e l y h a r m f u l t o h e a l t h

A r a t i n g g r e a t e r t h a n 3 0 1 i n d i c a t e s h a z a r d o u s c o n t a m i n a t i o n t h e A Q I s a i d O n J a n u a r y 1 8 , K a r a c h i h a d s t o o d f i r s t i n t h e l i s t o f t h e m o s t p o l l u t e d c i t i e s i n t h e w o r l d , w h i l e L a h o r e h a d b e e n d e c l a r e d t h e s e c o n d m o s t p o l l u t e d c i t y i n t h e w o r l d T h e c i t i e s w e r e d e c l a r e d f i r s t a n d s e c o n d a s p e r t h e r e p o r t o f t h e A i r Q u a l i t y I n d e x

the basis of single source and the land being given on lease can only be utilised for agricultural purposes Approval was granted for supplementary grant worth rupees 400 million for the police martyred package during the meeting

Approval was accorded to make an agreement with the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Trust for the regional blood centres of Multan Bahawalpur and Faisalabad It was decided during the meeting to establish a new emergency block with the cooperation of Friends Of Allied Hospital at Allied Hospital Faisalabad

The proceeding for the construction of n

chair of Caretaker

Mohsin Naqvi during the meeting Approval was granted to rename Tourism Department as Tourism,

during the meeting

Provincial Caretaker Ministers, Chief Secretary Inspector General of Police Secretaries and concerned officials attended the meeting Provincial Caretaker Ministers SM Tanvir and Doctor Jamal Nasir attended the meeting via video link

ECP rejec ts request to defer NA-193

Rajanpur by-polls

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday turned down the Punjab interim government’s request for delaying by-election in the NA-193 Rajanpur scheduled for Sunday (today) In a statement, the ECP stated that a control room has been established at the ECP secretariat to monitor the election The control room will be

home depart-

ment had approached the ECP with a request to postpone Rajanpur by-poll, citing security reasons

T h e P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a f ( P T I ) h a d n o m inated Mohsin Leghari for contesting by-polls on Rajanpur ’s NA-193 after the PTI chief Imran withdrew his nomination papers on account of fears of disqualification in the Tyrian White case

The seat fell vacant due to the death of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Jaffar Khan Leghari

He died on December 31, 2022, in Lahore after a prolonged illness

AgAinst 38.42pc, weekly infl Ation jumps to 41.54pc

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

tH E weekly inflation, measured by Sensitive price Indicator (SPI), witnessed an increase of 2 78 per cent to jump to 41 54pc on a year-on-year basis for the week ended on Feb 23, rising from 38 42pc in the previous week

A c c o r d i n g t o P a k i s t a n B u r e a u o f S t a t i c s ( P B S ) , i n t h e p r e v i o u s w e e k ,

t h e i n f l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d b y 2 8 9 p c t o reach 38 42pc, for the first time the inflation crossed 40pc mark in over five m o n t h s O f t h e 5 1 i t e m s t r a c k e d , t h e prices of 33 items increased, six items d e c r e a s e d w h e r e a s t h o s e o f 1 2 i t e m s remained stable

During the week under review, the items whose prices increased the most compared to the same week a year ago were onions 372pc, cigarettes

The upward trend of inflation continues as Islamabad was taking measures to get the $1 1 billion IMF tranche under the Extended Fund Facility

marriyum congratulates journalist on election as puj president

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

The federal government had also approved ‘mini-budget’, imposing additional Rs170 billion taxes to boost revenue generation in line with the preconditions of the IMF Sources have revealed that the stafflevel agreement between the fund and the government is expected next week

Earlier this week Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned that inflation would further trigger after the approval of the IMF programme

Three vic tims of Barkhan tragedy buried in Q uetta

QUETTA

s ta f f r e p o r t

Three murder victims a woman and her two sons found in Barkhan city of Balochistan were buried near Eastern Bypass in Quetta on Saturday

According to reports, the family had been illegally detained in a private jail for the last four years by communications minister Abdul Rehman Khetran inside his residence in Barkhan He is also accused of ordering their killing

The dead bodies were taken from Fayyaz Sumbal Square to Police Lines, then to Khan Muhammad

Marri, where family members including Marri’s wife and children paid their last respects before burial at QDA Graveyard P a t r i a r c h , K h a n M u h a m m a d M a r r i , h i m s e l f w a s p r e s e n t a t t h e b u r i a l , a l o n g w i t h a h e a v y p o l i c e c o nt i n g e n t

Hundreds of Marri tribesmen, who had been protesting in Quetta s Red Zone for the past five days with the three bodies, called off their sit-in on Friday evening after the victims were reunited with him at the camp and authorities agreed to their demands

The family had spent years in captivity and were not allowed to see the coffins

Jahangir Marri, the general secretary of the Marri Ittehad Pakistan, announced the end of the protest, saying that the government had accepted their demands which included registering an FIR after recording the statements of the victim family members who were detained and recovered by security forces

The family were taken into protective custody and will be produced before a magistrate for recording their statements about their captivity

Khan Marri expressed his gratitude to the Marri tribesmen and other communities who supported him during the protest, leading to the recovery of his family and acceptance of their demands

pti-backed ishtiaq Ahmad elected lHcBA president

Chaudhry Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan of the Professional Group led by PTI Vice President Hamid Khan Advocate on Saturday was elected president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) in the annual elections of the bar here

According to the results announced, Ishtiaq secured 7293 votes by defeating Muhammad Lehrasib Khan Gondal of the Independent Group, also known as Asma Jehangir Group, who got 3372 votes Vice president’s slot was won by Rabbiya Bajwa, who secured 3590 votes whereas her opponents Mian Sardar Ali Gehlan, Chaudhry Waris Ali Saroya, Iftikhar Ali Bhatti, Abdul Rauf Bhatti, and Chaudhry Ahmad Khan Gondal got 2721 1353 1470 1118 and 425 votes respectively Sabahat Rizvi was elected as secretary by securing 4310 votes whereas her opponents Mian Muhammad Irfan and Qadir Bukhsh Chahal secured 3745 and 2672 votes respectively While Muhammad Shah Rukh Shahbaz Warriach was elected Finance Secretary by getting 7109 votes whereas his opponents Amir Sohail Bosal and Adil Naeem Sheikh got 2442 and 1073 votes respectively

Rude, lax cops to face strict depar tmental action: igp islamabad

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

Following the directions of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan, strict departmental action will be taken against officials showing laxity and misbehaving with citizens According to police public relations officer, the IGP Islamabad said a complaint was received against constables Shajar Abbas and Azhar Hussain of Eagle Squad for misbehaving with the general public and misusing authority in jurisdictions of Shalimar Police

Following the IGP Islamabad directives, CPO/ DIG (Operations) Syed Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari took notice of the complaint and conducted a transparent inquiry in which the Constables were found guilty and subsequently a case was registered against them

The CPO /DIG Operations of Islamabad, Syed Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari, said that the department would continue a zero tolerance policy on corruption and strict departmental action will be taken against such officers and officials who bring disrepute to the department The officials performing their duties with hard work and good performance will be awarded and encouraged in every possible way the protection of life and property of citizens is among the top priorities of Islamabad Capital Police, he added

The minister for information and broadcasting extended her congratulations to columnist Farrukh Shehbaz Warraich on his election as the central president of the Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) unopposed on Saturday

In a statement, Marriyum Aurangzeb expressed the belief that Warraich s unopposed election was a reflection of the confidence the journalist community has in him, the Associated Press of Pakistan said She further expressed her hope that Warraich and the newly-elected office bearers of the body would meet the expectations of the journalist community Additionally, she pledged her full cooperation and support to the union in its efforts to improve the media industry and the welfare of journalists

13 people killed as bus hits van on multan sukkur motor way

MULTAN s ta f f r e p o r t

A speeding passenger bus rammed into a van on a motorway on the Multan-Sukkur (M5) motorway late on Friday killing 13 people and injuring several others, a police spokesman said The accident happened in Rahim Yar Khan, a district in Punjab according to Mohammad Awais a district police spokesman

T w o d e A d , 3 I n j u R e d A S P I l l A R o f u n d e R

C o n S T R u C T I o n B H A R A K A H u f ly o v e R C Av e S I n

TW O l a b o u r e r s d e a d a n d t h r e e o t h e r s s u st a i n e d m u l t i p l e i n j u r i e s w h e n a p i l l a r o f a n u n d e r- c o n s t r u c t i o n f l y o v e r o n B h a r a K a h u

bypass project collapsed on Saturday, the Islamabad police said

According to a tweet by the police, two injured labourers were taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where one of them succumbed to injuries while three other labourers were shifted to Polyclinic Hospital where one of them breathed his last

The police said senior officials of the police and ad-

ministration including Islamabad Inspector General (IG) Dr Akbar Nasir and Chief Commissioner Noorul

Amin Mengal rushed to the scene after the incident

In a separate tweet, it said a committee, which will be headed by Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, has been constituted to review all aspects related to the incident”

N o o r u l A m i n M e n g a l , c h a i r m a n o f t h e C a p i t a l D e v e l o p m e n t A u t h o r i t y ( C D A ) , s a i d t h a t a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p r e l i m i n a r y i n v e s t i g a t i o n , “ t w o t o t h r e e h u g e t r o l l e y s ( t r u c k s ) h a d p a s s e d b y t h e b r i d g e b e t w e e n 23 a m a n d h a d h i t i t

He added that both “safety and traffic protocols” had been violated and a committee had been formed to find

out “who was responsible so they could take legal action against them” The CDA official said further details will be revealed once the committee finds them out

Talking about the Bhara Kahu bypass project, he termed it a “very complicated project” as it was a “challenge to close the one-link that leads to the northern areas

Saying that the project had entered a “critical stage”, Mengal said heavy traffic needed to be shut down Mentioning construction work still left, he said the administration would have to enforce stricter rules and “the citizens would also have to bear difficulties” for while

Earlier in the day, the police had tweeted alerting citizens of the incident and advising them to avoid the flyover so that rescue activities were not hindered

Business Advisory Committee of Senate discusses austerity measures

iSLamabad

A P P

A special session of the Business Advisory Committee of the Senate was convened by Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani on Saturday at the Parliament House to review and discuss austerity measures in wake of current financial situation of the country

At the outset , Chairman Senate observed that hard decisions have to be taken to overcome challenges on the economic front, said a press release issued here

He also sought recommendations from parliamentary heads of various political parties in the Senate and called for putting weight behind the

government decisions to strictly implement the austerity plan in the best interest of the country

The committee was also briefed about the steps taken for the celebration of the golden jubilee of the senate

He said that all out steps have been taken to celebrate it in a simple way

He informed that previous events and special sessions at four provincial assemblies were also planned and foreign dignitaries of friendly countries were extended invitations, however, keeping in view the current situation, all these measures have been reviewed

The whole event will now take place in Islamabad and regrets would be extended to counterparts abroad

He said that the Senate Secretariat is also working on a proposal to reduce

CS Balochistan reviews uplift schemes in Gwadar

Quetta A P P

Chief Secretary Balochistan Abdul Aziz Aqeeli visited Gwadar on Saturday and inspected various development projects in the city under Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) Chief Secretary during his visit reviewed the sewage treatment plant water storage tank and pipeline project under construction in different parts of the city launched to solve the sewage and water problems in the city Director General GDA Mujibur Rehman Qambrani while briefing the CS said that GDA is supplying 3 million gallons of water on a daily basis from Shadi Cover and Sod Dam to Airport Water Station “3 5 million gallon storage underground water tanks are under construction at three different places in the city, which be completed soon, he said adding that water supply to the surrounding population has started on a trial basis from the two million gallon storage tanks under construction at Central Park On this occasion, Chief Secretary directed to ensure the timely completion of all public projects

Rana Asif Saeed elected as President HCBA Multan

MULTAN: Rana Asif Saeed won the slot of President in High Court Bar Association s (Multan) elections here on Saturday According to unofficial results, he bagged 3230 votes while his opponents Sajjad Haider Matela and Riaz ul Hassan Gillani secured 1997 and 900 votes respectively Similarly, general secretaryship was won by Haseeb Qadir He secured 3475 votes However his rival candidates Anees Mehdi got 1520 and Ishtiaq Gujjar 659 votes A P P

the fuel limit for chairpersons of committees Besides no additional honorarium will be extended to employees of the senate during the current financial year he said There was also a proposal to impose a ban on foreign visits for three months The chairman senate observed that all these steps will help reduce the burden on the national exchequer

He said that Senate special session has already been summoned on 15, 16 and 17 March 2023 This will provide an ample chance to the senators to highlight the historical significance of the upper house, the Chairman Senate observed He further informed that former members of the senate have also been invited

Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq

Dar brushed aside the rumours about Pakistan's default He said there are economic hardships and efficient steps have been taken to overcome them He however said that it is a collective responsibility and the whole nation has to contribute There is a need to avoid unnecessary expenditures He said that his team is working day and night and soon will be able to rid the country out of the economic mess

The chairman senate while expressing satisfaction on the steps taken by Ishaq Dar and his team expressed his well wishes for him He expressed the hope that the country will soon overcome the challenge He called for national support to the austerity drive

He agreed with the views of the Finance Minister

Meta heats up Big Tech’s AI arms race with new language model

Continued from baCk page

It described its 65-billion-parameter LLaMA model as competitive” with Google’s Chinchilla70B and PaLM-540B, which are even larger than the model that Google used to show off its Bard chat-powered search

A Meta spokeswoman attributed the performance to a larger quantity of “cleaner” data and “architectural improvements in the model that enhanced training stability

Meta in May last year released large language model OPT175B, also aimed at researchers, which formed the basis of a new iteration of its chatbot BlenderBot

It later introduced a model called Galactica, which could write scientific articles and solve math problems, but quickly pulled down the demo after it generated authoritative-sounding false responses

MMBl extends unlimited oPd consultation for customers in collaboration with Sehat Kahani

A van driver and a policeman were martyred and another two injured in a remote-controlled blast in Khuzdar district of Balochistan on Saturday, according to a police official

Initially the police said that terrorists carried out the “magnetic bomb attack” on the security squad of Khuzdar Superintendent of Police (SP) Fahad Khan Khoso Confirming the incident Khuzdar Police Station House Officer (SHO) Muhammad Jan Sasoli informed the media that security squad of SP Fahad Khan Khoso was targeted near Jhalawan Complex in the “remote-controlled blast” He said one policeman died on the spot while another succumbed to injuries at the District Headquarters Hospital, Khuzdar where the injured were moved for medical treatment SP Khuzdar s squad was patrolling in the area when the blast occurred,” SHO Sasoli said,

adding that additional police contingents reached the blast site and cordoned off the area

A search operation is currently underway

the SHO added

C M B i z e N j o o r d e r s ‘ f o o L p r o o f s e C U r i T y ’ o f A r e A : Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo condemned the incident and extended condolences to the families of those martyred and injured

“Such cowardly acts cannot demoralise our security forces,” he said “The people of Balochistan are standing side by side with the security forces” Bizenjo added that the menace of terrorism will be defeated He also prayed for the injured policemen and issued instructions that the best medical facilities be provided to them

“Steps should be taken for foolproof security of the area, he ordered Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove also condemned the blast and instructed the district administration to provide medical treatment to the injured

Federal govt to transform 130 schools into smar t schools

giLgit

A P P

Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan Muhiudeen Wani said the federal government will transform 130 schools (primary middle and higher Secondary levels) into smart schools through the installation of IT equipment and imparting required training for the selected teachers of the valley

In an official statement, he said that in March, 2023 requisite smart technology would be installed in 130 schools of Gilgit-Baltistan so that they may be ready for the new sessions in April

sought the support of the federal government in this regard

2023

He said as part of the package 'tech fellows' would be hired for 3 months (April - June 2023)

These tech fellows will impart in person smart training in April, 2023 and will facilitate the full transformation of selected schools into smart schools

He added that by the end June, 2023, these 130 schools of Gilgit-Baltistan will be fully equipped and functional imparting blended learning These initiatives will be the precursor for the information technology revolution in GilgitBaltistan

iSLamabad

P R

Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sehat Kahani, a leading telemedicine platform to provide affordable and accessible Outpatient Department (OPD) consultation services to its existing and potential customers Through this partnership, MMBL customers will have access to a dedicated telehealth helpline round-the-clock from the comfort of their homes MMBL is part of the VEON group, a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services across seven countries As part of its digital operator strategy, VEON is transforming people’s lives by creating opportunities for increased digital inclusion and by driving economic growth across countries that are home to more than 8% of the world’s population Under this partnership, MMBL’s customers will be able to access Sehat Kahani s services, including virtual consultations with qualified doctors and healthcare professionals prescription delivery, and health advice This alliance strives to offer an innovative solution to the healthcare challenges faced by low-income individuals and families many of whom have limited access to quality medical services In addition, a special medical helpline has also been created for those beneficiaries who do not own a smartphone or are unable to use the application Speaking at the signing ceremony Ghazanfar Azzam, President and CEO MMBL said, MMBL understands that access to quality healthcare services is an essential need

Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir

(AJK) Sardar Tanveer Ilyas and Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar discussed important financial matters related to AJK and the pace of public welfare schemes and projects

They discussed this in a called-on meeting here on Saturday

Prime Minister AJK apprised the finance minister of the initiatives of AJK government to enhance its revenue generation and

The meeting also discussed the ongoing and future development projects in AJK Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar welcomed Sardar Tanveer Ilyas and expressed the federal government s commitment to the development and progress of AJK

He further added that the welfare and development of the people of Kashmir were among the top priorities of the government and no stone would be left unturned for its development He offered the full assistance of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to the

AJK government in its quest to increase its own receipts Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar highlighted the economic outlook of the country and said that despite the challenging situation, the government was determined to set the economy on stability and growth trajectory p e o p L e s h o U L d A L s o TA k e A U sT e r i T y M e A s U r e s: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday rejected the rumours regarding Pakistan’s default and advised citizens to adopt austerity measures due to the economic crisis

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani chaired

a special meeting of the Business Advisory Committee which was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other lawmakers

Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan is going through an economic crisis, however, there is no risk of default He urged that by effective government policies, the economic crisis will end soon Sadiq Sanjrani said that a special session of the Senate is summoned from March 15 to 17 which will also be attended by the former senators He added that all participants will be given an opportunity to present their points of view

A large number of members of the com-

mittee attended the meeting via video link which included Deputy chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, Senator Faisal Sabzwari, Saleem Mandviwalla, Senator Yousaf Raza Gillani Besides, Senators Shahadat Awan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Secretary Senate Qasim Samad Khan and Senior officers of the Senate attended the meeting

It is pertinent to mention here that PM Shehbaz Sharif announced a number of austerity measures and directed the ministers to enforce them strictly and no laxity in this regard would be tolerated

K P M , I s h a q D a r d i s c u s s p u b l i c we l f a re s c h e m e s

Two c o p s m a r t y re d i n K h u zd a r

‘re m o te c o n t ro l b l a s t ’ : p o l i c e

J a i l B h a r o Te h r i k

THE PTI’s Jail Bharo has virtually collapsed already Indeed, it does not seem to have been a matter of sustainability, with a strong start followed by a weak follow-through It seemed blighted on Wednesday, when it failed to attract more than a handful of volunteers for arrest, with the police taking to the megaphones to ask volunteers to come forward, but finding few takers

The succeedng days have not been marked by any event that could be described as a turnround Instead, PTI supporters are keeping away in droves It was almost as if PTI chief Imran Khan was reducing things to hilarity Karl marx once said that History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce ” mr Khan seems to have taken his repetition of the Quit India movement of 1942 straight to farce He seems to have badly underestimated the work, both motivational and organizational, that must be put in to make such a tactic succeed He also failed to realize that one of the factors leading to success is personal example

That, it seems, he was not willing to set The Tehrik may delay his arrest, because the government may find it useful to leave him alone, and to show how afraid he seems to be of being arrested another problem with the Tehrik is its lack of a clear objective It is almost as if mr Khan announced it on a whim, after his two Long marches and dissolution of two provincial assemblies had failed to get him the elections he had asked for

It may thus be unfair to mock those PTI leaders who were arrested on Wednesday, but who attempted to get bail on Thursday only to find that their detentions under 3 mPO meant they would have to stay behind bars for some months Trying to implement a sudden decision by their leader, they do not know why they are in jail If they do get bail, how will the Tehrik succeed? after all, presumably the idea is to make the jail system, and thus the entire justice system, collapse by overwhelming it with prisoners The way the PTI has started, and the way it is going about it, it does not seem that it will work The PTI’s problem is that the government and the establishment have apparently lost the fear they had of it

Pulling Out of Election Imbroglio

the Chief Election Commissioner to meet the head of the State, when summoned for consultation; and the President unilaterally fixing a date for general elections of the two dissolved assemblies, without any consultation, as required by law and Constitution no wonder, the decision stands rejected by the government The result is stalemate

The situation would not have arisen, if the governors of the Punjab and KP were not guilty of deliberately committing violation of the clear and categorical command of the Constitution article 51

(3) stipulates that whenever a provincial assembly gets dissolved by the advice of the Chief minister, the governor shall, (a) appoint a date, not later than ninety days from the date of dissolution for a holding general election to the assembly; and (b) appoint a care-taker Cabinet Thus, no sooner were the assemblies dissolved than both the governors hurried to set up caretaker setups

eral election of the national assembly or a Provincial assembly

In the current scenario, quite obviously, the President has no independent role and authority to fix a date for holding elections for provincial assemblies, hence his present notification is an abuse and excess of authority The rash manner, it is done, exposes him to the criticism of playing a partisan role to favour his parent political party the PTI

He needs to be reminded though that according to article 41 of the Constitution, as Head of the State, he “shall represent the unity of the Republic” and is expected to be neutral He is equally obliged to stand by the Constitution and not allow his personal interest to influence his official conduct or official decisions

WHEREaS the law and Constitution prescribe in a clear, categorical and straightforward manner the time span as well as method and procedure for holding general Elections to Parliament and provincial legislatures, the bickering between the PTI and PDm proves a stumbling block

Such bickering serves a profound objective for each: the former is hell-bent on jumping into the electoral arena at any cost to get back on the saddle The latter, however, foreseeing a doomsday scenario in the electoral process, owing to flop performance in governance is out to block any such attempt It fears the resumption of the dreadful process of accountability again, as promised by the PTI leader Courtesy friendly Parliament they managed to make kosher billions of rupees of the proceeds of corruption by changing the naB Ordinance and wish to continue to enjoy such immunity

The result is deliberate efforts being made to evade the electoral battlefield Consequently, small minions in the shape of governors are being employed to forestall any such eventuality The casualty, regrettably, is the law and the Constitution, state institutions and the system of good governance none is conscious of the damage inflicted on the economy, on the brink of collapse; the galloping inflation, breaking the back of the middle and lower classes; rise in militancy and terrorism, maladministration and deterioration of the law-and-order situation

Pakistan is not cursed to be in a state of constant crises and turmoil or destined to suffer periodic bouts of political instability The character and conduct of politicians though made it so! The State institutions and their functionaries equally contribute to developing such scenarios through their actions and inactions an example is the current crisis: the refusal of

In the given scenario, perhaps the superior courts are well-placed to come to the rescue of the democratic system and functioning of constitutional machinery in the country. Cases to this effect are pending in the High Courts and need to be promptly decided to end the electoral imbroglio, created by vested interests to serve their narrow political ends or objectives

Having partly complied with the same provision, they are now dragging their feet on fulfilling the remaining part, namely, fixing the election date Being appointed by the Pm and remaining in office during his pleasure they are obliging him, contrary to their oath of office, requiring them to honestly and faithfully perform their functions to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution Thus there is no ambiguity or confusion in the law or Constitution Frankly both of them are playing with wordings of the Constitution and deliberately attempting to violate nay, subvert the Constitution The Pm too cannot escape the charge of conspiring, aiding and abetting the charge as regards the role of the President in fixing a date for election, let it be stated that that Section 57 (1) of the Election act 2017 makes it abundantly clear that, “The President shall announce a date or dates of the general elections after consultation with the [Election] Commission” Only thereafter, the Commission can issue notification of the election programme/schedule The Constitution (article218) obligates the Commission to make necessary arrangements to ensure that election is conducted “honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against” There is no clause in the law or Constitution, obliging the Election Commission to fix or announce the dates of gen-

US Exceptionalism in Mass Shootings

Agunman killed three students and critically injured five others on at michigan State university's main campus, before he was found dead hours later, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot Investigators had no information about the motive and the university was not aware of any threats made to the campus before the bloodshed

Then there were the two Iowa teens who shot dead their Spanish teacher in a grade dispute most reecently, a shooer outside a Philadelphia kindergarten shot a other and four pupils amid an unrelenting surge of gun massacres, many have wondered why the uSa, the world s leading country in mass shootings over the last century is more prone to mass shootings than any other gun violence, though, is prevalent in many parts of the world, for instance in most parts of Latin america But in the uSa no form of violence is seen as more uniquely american than public mass shootings by lone-wolf gunmen according to gun Violence archive 39 mass shootings have already taken place across the country in just the first three weeks of 2023 Last year the country witnessed around 647 cases of mass shootings with the consequence of more than 44,000 death tolls due to gun violence overall

Like its political establishment american public discourse has long firmly been divided over what causes this epidemic The critics of this national sickness focus their fire on the second amendment of the uS constitution and the nefarious political influence of the national Rifles association (nRa) But here it comes down to the question: will a mere constitutional amendment and the neutralization of special interest groups like the nRa

lead to the solution to the endemic prevalence of lonewolf mass shootings? The answer is: not likely as the problem is deeply rooted in the uSa’s culture itself: the culture of rugged individualism built on its deep-seated historical myth according to the national Bureau of Economic Research, rugged individualism is defined as “the combination of individualism and anti-statism a prominent feature of american culture with deep roots in the country’s history of frontier settlement ” While individualism, as noted may be conducive to innovation and resource mobilization, it can also undermine collective action, with potentially adverse social consequences During the early days of the covid-19 pandemic it was seen how the uSa’s ruggedly individualistic mindset, fomented by its frontier culture, hampered the state responses to the pandemic with many americans having defied mandatory mask-wearing and vaccination programmes

Likewise, the gun is a great emblem and lethal offspring of american individualism The nation has long valorized masculine heroes– violent frontiersmen or Hollywoodized american archetype “White Loners”–who impose their will on the community s enemies with violence added to that deep-seated historical ideal and cultural sickness are the deteriorating trend in kinship traditions and ever-declining rational mobility”– a condition that helps establish bonds of support beyond immediate families on the basis of socially engaging emotions such as empathy warmth, trust, affection, and so on

Self-serving politicians and gun advocates often ridiculously propose giving more arms into the hands of “the good guys” to thwart “the bad guys with guns ” The americans’ dire wishes for gun possession, however, stem less from their sense of personal or communal security rather more from an egocentric individualistic cultural reasoning that lacks the prioritization of collective

communal safety The unshakeable emotional and individualistic values americans attach to guns frequently override concerns about the nation's collective health and safety

The exercise of unfettered individualism is also seen in many parts of the Western world, like in Europe; but nowhere in the world is this so infested by historical myth and pathological strains as in the uSa– what the prominent criminologist adam Lankford called “the uniquely american quality ” and where the uSa is stunningly divergent from the rest of the world is the confluence of individualistic culture and the easiest access to guns In no other part of the world gun access and rugged individualistic culture interact in the same way

although many European countries share the same cultural forces that produce aggrieved social outcasts, those countries erect formidable hurdles in the way of purchasing guns legally that are quite unheard of in the uSa: longer waiting periods, higher insurance costs, full-blown psychiatric evaluations, gun safety courses, among others as a result, the country has more weapons than people: one in three adults possesses at least one firearm, and almost one in two adults resides in a home with a firearm

But the prevalence of guns alone does not account for uS exceptionalism in mass shootings For example, like the uSa much of Latin america is saturated with firearms but, despite high rates of gun violence, mass shootings there by a lone wolf gunman are exceedingly rare and experts pointed to the cultural difference as a powerful factor playing out in creating a huge disparity in the number of mass shooting cases between the two regions

In the uSa, ever-increasing personal and economic struggles combined with the inherent state structural tension and identity crisis continue to produce aggrieved social outcasts On top of this, the ever-exacerbating political climate plagued by partisan divide, racial toxicity, and xenophobic bigotry has also been influencing socially and politically aggrieved outcasts, due to the ab-

He is oathbound to “do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will” Furthermore article 48 (1) provides that “For exercise of his functions, the President shall act on and in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or the Prime minister” He is thus bound to follow such advice whether he likes it or otherwise He enjoys few discretionary powers, which are clearly specified Thus he is required to abide by and strictly follow the constitutional scheme of things and desist from taking a step or making a decision, which tantamount to constituting a breach or infringement of the Constitution Failing to do so may lend him in political turmoil, and illegal or unconstitutional actions may attract the charge of subverting the Constitution In the given scenario, perhaps the superior courts are well-placed to come to the rescue of the democratic system and functioning of constitutional machinery in the country Cases to this effect are pending in the High Courts and need to be promptly decided to end the electoral imbroglio, created by vested interests to serve their narrow political ends or objectives

The timely intervention of the Supreme Court in the sad saga of rejection of the no confidence motion against the former Pm Imran Khan and abrupt dissolution of the national assembly by the President on his advice, was well received by the legal and intellectual fraternities, and indeed bewildered citizens, in ending the crisis and saving the political system from another derangement The country, already in dire straits, can ill-afford to let go of the current stalemate

(The author served as Registrar, Supreme Court and Secretary, Law & Justice Commission of Pak-

In the USA, ever-increasing personal and economic struggles combined with the inherent state structural tension and identity crisis continue to produce aggrieved social outcasts On top of this, the ever-exacerbating political climate plagued by partisan divide, racial toxicity, and xenophobic bigotry has also been influencing socially and politically aggrieved outcasts, due to the absence of alternative social redressing mechanisms, to seek recourse by resorting to mass violence Here, rugged individualism works in creating the very roots of virile fantasy to violence, a toxic political milieu in fueling grievances, and finally easy access to guns in triggering off those grievances in the form of mass shooting

sence of alternative social redressing mechanisms, to seek recourse by resorting to mass violence Here, rugged individualism works in creating the very roots of virile fantasy to violence, a toxic political milieu in fueling grievances, and finally easy access to guns in triggering off those grievances in the form of mass shooting

The writer is a freelance columnist

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

Pakistan Railways should do better

PaKISTan Railways (PR) is a vital mode of transportation that connects provinces and contributes to the economic development of the country Despite its importance, PR has faced numerous challenges over the last three decades due to poor management and lack of professional expertise

The organisation has a large workforce of about 500 engineers recruited through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), and about 100 officers inducted through the Central Superior Services (CSS) The organisation also hires professionals on senior management positions from time to time to bring improvement to its working

In 2022-23, the railway division allocated Rs45 billion, and another Rs32 6 billion were allocated through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) However, from april to October 2022, the PR recorded a loss of almost Rs35 billion When PSDP inflows and the loss due to accidents are included, the PR is losing almost Rs100 billion annually

This significant loss raises a crucial question about the role of more than 600 officers inducted through a competitive process It is a matter of great concern, as the loss incurred by the PR is higher than the annual budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC)

Best Possible Quagmire

the circus, but in a rather clumsy manner

WITH the incumbent governors not giving any definite dates for the provincial elections in Punjab and KPK in the follow up of the PTI inspired dissolutions of 2018 elected assemblies, the ECP has taken the federal government line and the President of Pakistan; the nominee of the last government at the centre, calling for the election It can be termed the best possible quagmire scenario any system of government might ask for

There are divisions within the two brothers in a political party the gHQ that always takes credit for maintaining law and order is shy to lend support for the expected elections asked for by the situation Practically that sort of running of the government in day to day as well as macro-affairs point towards, what any political science student would term that; it is next to impossible to run the federation’ That sentence has been frequently used in many a dissolution of government orders when artcle 58 (2b) was enforced via the 1973 amended Constitution during much of the 1990s

However, as things stand, Pakistan is all but a physical existence, where the tiers of governance have failed miserably; be it management of the economy, political deadlocks or even the maintenance of the law and order situation Within months the strikes on two major provinces police installations is reflective of the administrative disarray that seems to have held the whole country hostage

To begin with, the question of economy is directly linked to the return of normalcy in the polity and society With political temperatures showing no signs of going down, the gamechanging investment decisions are being put on hold The economic managers, instead of imagining the need to restore the investor confidence, are geared towards borrowing more to ‘pretend’ that the show is still running The result of that fractured approach is that the ImF is increasingly holding the economy hostage The results; an already high-cost economy is being gradually transformed into an economy which can only qualify as a sitting duck in a free-trade WTObased world trade regime!

Looking at the developments taking place for the last one year it has been literally a cat and mouse game between the established order via PDm and the PTI, which fell from the grace of that very established order The early few months until autumn gave a semblance of a massive political change, which might have the potential to undo the state structure Pakistan inherited from the British in 1947 The tone of the former Pm was to offer something like the Pakistani version of the Russian or Iranian revolutions However as the dust settled, especially in the run-up of the selection of the new army chief it transpired that there was no revolution on the anvil, but it was the matter of who was able to survive under the existing circumstances and rules of business

How much the face-off with reality wore away the support base of the former Prime minister is open to question and cannot be verified in a media infested with either party’s spokesmen posing as ‘senior sahafis’ However, if for

the common Pakistani, the routine political maneuvering should have been kept at a low temperature level what has happened is that the whole political drama is being conducted as a somewhat high-voltage thriller, with apparent complete support from the powers that be The result has been a complete breakdown of any unifying influence in the society Rather the society is more polarized than one can safely imagine

Talking of the quagmire; early, the stance taken by the President speaks of a political worker first then the symbol of federation Similarly a party-worker stance taken by the Congress-nominated president Dr Fakhreddin ahmed during the 1975 Emergency in India might not cost him his post but his political career for all times to come Likewise the unexplainable delay in the constitutional electoral process by the federation; this time the symbols of federation in the federating units called governors are representing the PDm and are not serious in setting the dates of the expected elections as things stand; two different set of symbols of federation; the President representing the PTI and the governors representing the PDm coalition at the centre are leading the country towards a quagmire of sorts The original chaos generated due to either side failing to talk to each other; and secondly, a subjective implementation of the Constitution by both the PDm governors and the PTI President Pakistan, as the result of the political crisis which is in place for the last ten months, is actually depicting the picture of what can be said as ‘federation is ceasing to work efficiently’ If one includes the Tarin-Taimoor Jhagra episode over the ImF talks then one can only lament at the political state of affairs, where a federating unit is least sympathetic to the centre for issues involving national interest

The judiciary; which is expected to be dragged into the deadlock for its valued opinion, will be hard pressed to make a judgement, in a manner that the federation is back on the track Here it is pertinent to note that the developing situation is reminiscent of June/July 1993, when judgements and counter-stays finally forced the then disinterested establishment to intervene and put the federation in order Coincidentally at that point of time the economy was again in shambles and the intervention was made a good use by the ImF too

It remains to be seen if any section of the established order is looking at the things from that angle too Consequently, much of the dust will settle as things worsen The intervention might be under duress, not for the love of the nationstate but for the interests of the players

Finally, the intervention of the public That has been a big question since the last time in 1968 during the ayub era; the common person came out on the street, to a lesser degree against Bhutto in 1977 and to a varying degree in support of the lawyers’ movement in 2007 in march onwards The PTI seems to have pinned its hopes on the Jail Bharo Tehrik in a desperate bid to take people out on the street, in a society, which to date is divided and fragmented on various counts

Towards that end, the stakes the internal establishment have on the country, and those of the international establishment, might not allow the developments to linger on endlessly. A sort of corrective action like the one adopted in 1993, when the stakes were not that high, might be needed now with a few amendments; courtesy the new realities. It remains to be seen, when the bell tolls for setting into motion the awaited ‘corrective action’

The million Dollar question at this moment is what is the way out? The change of mood of the establishment, the proactive stance of the judiciary or the public at large taking the things into their own hands

The first scenario does not seems viable; on the single count that after the much-trumpeted presser of the chief intelligence officer, the establishment made its stance very clear Its refusal to lend support for the electoral process has been the second indicator that it is trying to get out of

It will be a near miracle, if the last option is taken, of people taking the situation into their own hands irrespective of the political divide The adjustment spirit among the common person for the inflationary pressures puts a damper on such a miraculous eventuality a single-party courtarrest campaign might not generate the necessary steam to upend the system an acrossthe-board anger at the system might yield results, which still seems out of question

Towards that end, the stakes the internal establishment have on the country and those of the international establishment, might not allow the developments to linger on endlessly a sort of corrective action like the one adopted in 1993 when the stakes were not that high, might be needed now with a few amendments; courtesy the new realities It remains to be seen when the bell tolls for setting into motion the awaited ‘corrective action’

Several factors contribute to the large deficit faced by the organisation However, this is primarily due to lack of professionalism among management personnel employed in pay scales 17-22 Their incompetence has greatly impacted the daily operations and has resulted in a decline in its services and reputation These personnel have repeatedly failed to take advantage of the available opportunities to improve the system and continue instead to cling to outdated methods The current system protects officers from wrongdoing, but fails to address the root cause of the PR decline The internal inquiry system also punishes lower-level employees while protecting decision-makers discouraging the latter from changing their approach

The officers spend most of their time on clerical tasks, preventing them from exploring opportunities to improve the system The current system also hinders the introduction of digitalisation and automation, which could address a number of issues

There are several areas where PR can improve its operations with its existing human resources, including digitalising inventory management, developing demand-driven timetables, improving track and rolling stock maintenance and utilising statistical data produced by the relevant branch a digitalised inventory management system would allow for complete spatiotemporal analysis, leading towards well-optimised usage of resources and reducing inventory misuse and theft

The train timetabling needs improvement, as the current system is not optimised and mostly depends on the expertise of the clerical staff The maintenance and inspection of track and rolling stock infrastructure require a modern approach, incorporating computer tools and optimised maintenance plans

The PR statistics branch is responsible for collecting, compiling and analysing data related to the organisation s operations and performance Despite its importance, the branch has been hindered by its outdated paperbased record system, making it difficult to gather accurate and timely data, identify trends and patterns and make data-driven decisions

The PR has abolished its research and development department and lacks a forum to discuss and address research-related issues The department relies on the services of influential retired officers who have failed to bring positive change through their contractor-driven approach

To address these challenges, the PR decision-makers should adopt best practices in line with their counterparts around the world who have successfully digitalised their systems and embraced a research culture For instance, some railways have established partnerships with universities and research institutes to use their expertise in order to address the challenges in the industry PR can also consider inviting renowned engineering institutes to discuss the challenges and assign dissertation topics to students with the aim of bringing forth recommendations for improvement The railways is not only a means of transportation, it also connects the provinces, provides a platform for people from different provinces to work together and symbolise harmony To improve its efficiency and effectiveness PR should embrace a culture of innovation and research This will trans- form it into a modern, efficient and sustain- able organisation that serves the people

MUHAMMAD USAMA ALABAMA, USA

Safe Cit y project

THE authorities running the Safe City project in Islamabad need to be congratulated for effectively and efficiently monitoring the traffic in Islamabad and issuing e-challans to the violators I did not realise that such technology and knowhow were available locally

Recently, while I was moving on Faisal avenue towards Blue area, my speed was captured on the CCTV cameras of the Safe City project Lo and behold, within minutes I was sent an e-challan on my cellphone with complete details of the vehicle, the nature and the place of violation along with my name address and snapshot of the car

I thought this could only happen in the united States where I had seen it while on a visit some time ago The national Database and Registration authority (nadra) also needs to be commended for facilitating and providing the necessary infrastructure/data and software to Islamabad traffic police KHALED ISLAMABAD

Promote ruralisation

uRBanISaTIOn and growing population in urban centres seems to be a global phenomenon But countries around the world have been dealing with this issue through innovative ideas and incentives Japan for instance has offered families living in Tokyo one million yen, approximately Rs2 million, per child to move out of the capital to other towns, preferably villages according to Japanese officials this scheme will be introduced in april in areas with declining birth rates and rise in the number of aging population In order to receive the said benefits, the families must match the criteria to move out from the greater Tokyo area to the mountainous area within the city’s boundaries about 1,300 municipalities have already joined the scheme The officials are expecting that the programme will help the country reduce the pressure on public services in Tokyo which has a population of 35 million The government is hoping that around 10,000 people will make the move from Tokyo to rural areas by 2027 Such programmes, plans and, indeed, government initiatives surely need to be replicated by countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to overcome traffic issues, and to make cities like Karachi, mumbai and Dhaka both functional and pollution-free SHAHID SAMAND MAHAR THARPARKAR

How US intelligence AgencieS Hid tHeir moSt SHAmefUl experimentS

EXCERPTED FROM THE DECLASSIFICATION ENGINE: WHAT HISTORY REVEALS ABOUT AMERICA’S TOP SECRETS BY MATTHEW CONNELLY

THE PANEL CONCLUDED THERE WAS “NO SCIENTIFIC WARRANT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA” SUCH AS “REMOTE-VIEWING” SENSING THE LOCATION OR APPEARANCE OF THINGS THROUGH SHEER MENTAL EFFORT OR PSYCHOKINESIS

ACCORDING TO A CIA VETERAN, VICTOR MARCHETTI, THIS ACHIEVEMENT WAS PART OF A PROGRAM TO DETERMINE WHETHER CATS COULD BE TURNED INTO SURVEILLANCE DEVICES: A LOT OF MONEY WAS SPENT. THEY SLIT THE CAT OPEN, PUT BATTERIES IN HIM, WIRED HIM UP . THE TAIL WAS USED AS AN ANTENNA

itive results

Although proponents of secret science like to focus on examples in which it has benefited society insiders from the very beginning of the Cold War worried that the best minds would not be drawn to work that they could not even talk about Secrecy protected those involved from embarrassment or criminal prosecution, but it also made it much harder to vet experimental protocols, validate the results or replicate them in follow-up research one research manager at a Department of Energy weapons lab would later admit, Far more progress is actually evidenced in the unclassified fields of research than the classified ones ” the physicist Robert McCrory, whose own lab received millions in funding in partnership with lawrence livermore Sandia and los Alamos National laboratories, was even more blunt: “Some of the work is so poor that if it were declassified, it would be laughed off the face of the Earth

We can only guess what, specifically, McCrory had in mind when he said this there are all too many possibilities Collectively they lend credence to the oft-stated concern that secret programs became a refuge for second- and third-rate minds the wizards of langley, for instance considered it a remarkable scientific achievement” when they managed to prove that cats could be “trained to move short distances ” According to a CIA veteran Victor Marchetti this achievement was part of a program to determine whether cats could be turned into surveillance devices: A lot of money was spent they slit the cat open put batteries in him wired him up the tail was used as an antenna they made a monstrosity they tested him and tested him they found he would walk off the job when he got hungry so they put another wire in to override that Finally they’re ready they took it out to a park and pointed it at a park bench and said, “listen to those two guys Don t listen to anything else not the birds, no dog or cat just those two guys!” they put him out of the van, and a taxi comes and runs him over there they were sitting in the van with all those dials and the cat was dead!

the CIA nevertheless commended the “energy and imagination of the team, and considered them potential “models for scientific pioneers ”

Secrecy protected those involved from embarrassment or criminal prosecution, but it also made it much harder to vet experimental protocols

It could be argued that a sprawling research program purposely designed to push the envelope will, over several decades, inevitably produce some strange and lowquality research But in some cases it is possible to make a side-by-side comparison of uS government research with research commissioned by another country that had fewer resources but the same goal

For instance, during World War II, American and British forces both used dogs to detect mines It was delicate, dangerous work, and the dogs sometimes proved unreliable Both governments therefore mounted research projects in the early 1950s to evaluate and improve dogs’ ability to locate mines the British just wanted the facts and sought out a “trained scientist ” they selected Solly Zuckerman an anatomist expert in animal behavior he designed the experiment to eliminate the possibility that human handlers

were unconsciously influencing the dogs performance this required systematically isolating the specific biochemical and physiological factors that might explain success or failure since either could prove important when mines were odorless Zuckerman had a strong personal motivation he had seen the devastating impact of blast injuries when he conducted wartime physiological research with the survivors his larger agenda was to develop more rigorous experimental methods in animal research Zuckerman found no solid evidence that dogs could be relied on to detect buried mines the u S Army, on the other hand, hired a “parapsychologist named J B Rhine It is not clear why all the army records were later destroyed though his training was in botany, Rhine had become famous for his experiments never replicated in extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis For Rhine, the study was an opportunity to prove that ESP really existed; he had already gathered a collection of amazing stories of animal ESP Rhine once again convinced himself that dogs possessed special powers Army officials found in follow-up work that the results were random and another study proved to be a complete failure, marked by a “rather conspicuous refusal of the dogs to alert But Rhine used the army money to seed new research and found new customers the office of Naval Research funded a decade of work on ESP in homing pigeons In other studies, one of Rhine’s colleagues tried to influence a cat telepathically to select one dish of food over another But here, too, even Rhine admitted that the results were not spectacular ” Alas the cats proved “elusive ” the uS government would spend several decades on the larger program of mind-control research And Rhine was a paragon of scientific rigor compared with some of the other researchers on the government payroll, who espoused theories of extraterrestrial and ghostly visitations to explain ESP and were hired by the uS Army to consult on psychedelic mushrooms

the CIA’s Project MKultra involved a whole series of experiments on unwitting subjects using a range of different drugs in order to manipulate them into saying and doing things against their will It was given carte blanche to operate without the normal Agency accounting controls or need for written contracts once again, researchers rapidly escalated their trials with little understanding of the effects In the first round of an experiment conducted at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, one of the patients, harold Blauer, was given 0 4 mg of methylenedioxyphenyl-isopropylamine a drug similar to ecstasy the next dose was sixteen times stronger, and Blauer was dead in thirty minutes

When the family took legal action government lawyers threatened witnesses with prosecution under the Espionage Act Decades later, CIA Director Stansfield turner admitted that some unwitting testing took place,” but testified to Congress that the subjects were “criminal sexual psychopaths confined at a State hospital In fact Blauer was a tennis pro who voluntarily sought treatment for depression after a divorce

the CIA also experimented on its own personnel In one case the head of MKultra a chemist named Sidney gottlieb, dosed the attendees of a joint Agency-army retreat with lSD one of the unwitting subjects, an army biochemist named Frank olson, was traumatized by the experience until then, olson had been an outgoing and devoted family man Afterward, he sank into depression, overcome with feelings of shame, and would not return home he told his army supervisor that he wanted to quit or be fired

gottlieb was likely alarmed upon being warned about this situation MKultra had been approved by the CIA director himself, Allen Dulles, who called the program ultra-sensitive But gottlieb reportedly had not obtained prior authorization before drugging olson and the others As an internal Agency report later noted, participants in this work well understood that their methods were “professionally unethical” and legally dubious and would provoke “serious adverse reaction” from the public if ever revealed gottlieb therefore had a powerful motivation to make certain olson told no one about what the CIA had done to him

gottlieb and his deputy decided to take olson to see a New York doctor the man had no psychiatric training but did have a top-secret CIA security clearance and experience with lSD the doctor plied olson with bourbon and sedatives and took him to see a performance by a

magician, whom gottlieb was interested in hiring to help dose more unwitting targets olson’s public behavior became increasingly erratic and he said that the Agency was “out to get him ” the doctor said he would take olson to a sanitarium to be treated by CIA psychiatrists But that night olson fell from the tenth floor of the Statler hotel in Manhattan gottlieb’s deputy was sharing the room with him, and claimed to have been asleep when it happened his story was that olson had just crashed right through the window, without opening it first, or even raising the shade We may never know what happened in that hotel room But at the time, the CIA was training its assassins to first ply their victims with drugs or alcohol, and advised the most efficient accident in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface ”

the CIA was clearly prepared to kill innocent American citizens Six weeks after the Agency covered up what happened to olson, a CIA mind-control team went on its first foreign assignment the mission was to slip artichoke likely lSD into the drink of another unwitting subject and induce him to attempt an assassination of a prominent politician or American official the artichoke team was primed for action, proudly noting that they “were ready when called upon for support, even though the operation did not materialize ”

Most of the MKultra records were later destroyed, so we cannot know what other missions might have aimed to achieve But CIA mind-control research went on for more than a decade, involved some eighty different institutions, and would eventually cost approximately ten million dollars about a hundred million in today’s dollars A whole new mind-control program started up in 1972, this time led by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) the goal of this new program was “to determine whether anomalous mental phenomena (i e extrasensory perception and psychokinesis) existed and the degree to which such phenomena might be applicable to problems of national interest like MKultra, it went on for many years, and cost many millions of dollars how many exactly is still difficult to determine But a single California contractor, SRI International, would eventually receive $11 3 million (or about thirty-six million in today’s dollars)

Even escape artists and magicians saw that the government was being rooked, and patiently explained to officials how timeworn tools of their trade could easily trick someone into believing in ESP So, too, did the scientists at DARPA, who concluded that the Israeli illusionist uri geller the DIA’s star pupil was a “charlatan ” they thought it was “ridiculous” that geller had fooled the uS government into using taxpayer dollars to see whether he could bend spoons with his brain they pointed to a host of problems with the ESP and psychokinesis experiments, above all the fact that the people paid to conduct them had a financial incentive to produce pos-

In 1985, the army commissioned a blue-ribbon panel from the National Research Council to evaluate the program the panel concluded there was “no scientific warrant for the existence of parapsychological phenomena” such as remote-viewing sensing the location or appearance of things through sheer mental effort or psychokinesis

Nevertheless, over the following decade the army conducted between fifty and a hundred more such experiments In 1995, another review of the remote-viewing program was commissioned, this time by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) once again the reviewers found that, because of flaws in the research designs, there was no clear evidence demonstrating the existence of the paranormal

But the AIR report found something even more damning After some twenty-five years of experiments, the reviewers concluded In no case had the information provided ever been used to guide intelligence operations ” Even if some people really do have ESP that cannot be explained by science the point of the program was not to use government resources to explore the twilight Zone It was to support actual missions that would safeguard national security Yet despite all the time and money spent not to mention the human costs the government’s venture into the paranormal proved useless for any legitimate intelligence purposes

Why, then, did the intelligence community and the Pentagon go to extremes in pursuing such embarrassing research ? For the same reason why they felt they had license to control the weather and alter the upper atmosphere: because, under the cloak of secrecy, their hubris and magical thinking ran wild Moreover controlling people’s minds was a prize that was just too tempting to resist And although the government may have given up on telekinetic spoons it did not give up on that larger goal

During the first decade of the “global War on terror the CIA pursued mind control through more direct methods i e , “enhanced interrogation ” the program employed psychological abuse stress positions and waterboarding not just to make people talk, but also to discover scientifically rigorous and reproducible methods for compelling subjects to submit to the will of interrogators and lose all sense of personal agency Just like MKultra, the enhanced-interrogation program was conducted as a series of “experiments ” here is how the CIA s office of Medical Services in a top- secret 2004 document, described the protocol for recording the application of “treatments” to “subjects”: In order to best inform future medical judgments and recommendations, it is important that every application of the waterboard be thoroughly documented: how long each application (and the entire procedure) lasted, how much water was used in the process (realizing that much splashes off), how exactly the water was applied, if a seal was achieved, if the naso- or oropharynx was filled, what sort of volume was expelled, how long was the break between applications and how the subject looked between each treatment the CIA hired a retired air-force psychologist named James Mitchell to enact these methods Mitchell, too, saw himself as a scientist As an informed source recounted to the journalist Jane Mayer, after Mitchell took over a case he told the FBI agents that an interrogation “was like an experiment, when you apply electric shocks to a caged dog, after a while, he s so diminished, he can t resist ” When the agents argued that the subject of this experiment was a human being and not a dog, Mitchell retorted, “Science is science ”

Waterboarding, “diapering,” and stress positions ultimately proved no more effective than ESP or psychokinesis, as the CIA’s own internal reviews concluded Many of the victims had already provided valuable intelligence to their interrogators before they were tortured and once the waterboarding began, many offered false information in order to make it stop But the waterboarding did not stop until Mitchell s company was paid eighty-one million dollars

Matthew Connelly is a professor of international and global history at Columbia University and the principal investigator at History Lab, an NSF-funded project to apply data science to the problem of preserving the public record and accelerating its release He received his B A from Columbia and his Ph D from Yale His previous publications include A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria s Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era, and Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population

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CH i N A ’s position paper on political settlement of Ukraine crisis represents “an important contribution,” a United Nations (UN) spokesman said on Friday

China on Friday released a paper stating its position on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis saying dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solutions Expounding on China’s positions and propositions, the paper set out a path for promoting a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis and responded to the common concerns of the international community

“i think the plan put forward by the Chinese government is an important contribution,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a regular press briefing

“i think the call on the need to avoid the use of nuclear weapons is particularly important,” he added

Developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa of the Global South will support China’s peaceful proposal for a political solution to the Ukraine-Russia conflict according to reports

Since the outbreak of the UkraineRussia conflict, China has been stressing the need to end the conflict through dialogue and negotiation, noted a Spanish online newspaper, adding that China wants to strengthen its role as a pacifist state amid Western militarism

C h i n a t o p l ay r e s p o n s i b l e ,

C o n s t r u C t i v e r o l e : China is ready to continue to play a responsible and constructive role in resolving the Ukraine crisis a Chinese envoy said on Friday

Addressing a high-level Security Council briefing on Ukraine, Dai Bing, charge d’affaires of China’s permanent mission to the UN, said that “we have always taken an objective and impartial stance based on the merits of the issue ”

Dai stressed that when handling and solving international disputes universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, must be upheld

“Some country, while stressing sover-

China’s top legislature concludes standing committee session

The Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) concluded its 39th session in Beijing on Friday At the closing meeting, lawmakers adopted a decision to remove Tang Yijun from the post of minister of justice and appoint He Rong to the position President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order to promulgate the decision Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the closing meeting Lawmakers voted to adopt a decision on adjusting the application of some provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law for the military during wartime Members of the 13th NPC Standing Committee adopted the committee’s work report The Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee proposed entrusting Li to deliver the work report to the first session of the 14th NPC on behalf of the committee Lawmakers approved a report reviewing the qualifications of the 14th NPC deputies and confirmed the validity of 2,977 deputies to the 14th NPC They also passed a report on the qualifications of some 13th NPC deputies There are currently 2,918 deputies to the 13th NPC At the meeting other bills of appointments or removals were approved

Other documents adopted included a draft agenda of the first session of the 14th NPC, a draft name list of the presidium and secretary-general, and a name list of people invited to sit in on the session as non-voting participants Addressing the closing meeting, Li said that the 13th NPC Standing Committee has focused on the central task of the Party and the country fulfilled its duties and responsibilities

eignty and territorial integrity on the Ukraine issue, is blatantly interfering in other countries’ internal affairs and undermining their sovereignty and territorial integrity Dai said This reveals its double standard at full display The international community is clear-eyed about this ” He underscored the need to pursue common security to facilitate a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, saying security is not an exclusive right enjoyed only by some countries The security of one country should not be pursued at the expense of others Strengthening or even expanding military blocs will only undermine regional security and will never bring about peace, he said

To realize lasting peace and stability in Europe cold war mentality and bloc confrontation must be abandoned, and the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and addressed properly, so as to build a balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture, said Dai

Highlighting diplomatic negotiations as the only right way to solve the Ukraine crisis, he said “conflicts have no winners” and called on the international community to promote peace talks with the highest sense of urgency and work to create enabling factors and platforms for the resumption of negotiation

Bringing parties to the conflict back to the negotiating table is not going to be easy, but it is the first step toward a political solution, he said We call on Russia and Ukraine to resume negotiations without any preconditions,” the envoy said “Ukraine is not an arena for fights between major countries No one should seek to benefit from the conflict at the cost of the Ukrainian people

Dai emphasized that it is imperative to never cross the red line of nuclear security under any circumstances

Nuclear weapons must never be used, and nuclear war must never be fought

Faced with the risk that the Ukraine crisis could lead to an escalation of the conflict, major countries bear special and important responsibilities to maintain communication and coordination and to do everything they can to prevent a nuclear crisis he said

ankara begins to rebuild for 1.5m left homeless by earthquakes as death toll crosses 50,000

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Turkiye has begun work to rebuild homes following this month’s devastating earthquakes, a government official said on Friday, as the combined death toll in Turkiye and Syria surpassed 50,000

More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the Feb 6 earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in Turkiye and neighbouring Syria

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced the death toll in Turkiye due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night

With Syria’s latest announced a death toll of 5,914, the combined death toll in the two countries rose to above 50 000

Facing an election within months, President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild homes within a year although experts have said the authorities should put safety before speed Some buildings that were meant to withstand tremors crumbled in the latest earthquakes

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The EU agreed to a new round of sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine on Friday, the one-year anniversary of the crisis the bloc s Swedish presidency announced

The package the 10th the EU has imposed since Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion contains, it said targeted restricted measures against individuals and entities supporting the war, spreading propaganda or delivering drones used by Russia in the war”

Final approval of the sanctions was expected early Saturday if no EU country raises a last-ditch objection

The details on the listed individuals and entities will then be published in the European Union’s official gazette

One EU diplomat told AFP that 120 individuals and entities, and three more Russian banks, were listed

The EU’s measures echoed sanctions announced earlier Friday by the United States and by Britain, and came in the wake of a G7 statement that warned of penalties for any country abetting Russia in its war

Another EU diplomat said the agreement on sanctions held “no compromise” to a proposal put forward to member states by the European Commission

That proposed package promised to cut off industrial goods worth 11 billion euros ($12 billion) to Russia and target drone producers in iran whose unmanned aircraft containing warheads Moscow has been using to attack Ukrainian targets

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had said the goods put under sanctions for Russia would include electronics and machine parts that can be used in Russian

drones, missiles, helicopters and other weapons systems

She had said that seven iranian entities providing dual-use products to Russia were also included in the commission sanctions proposal

The EU has already imposed nine waves of unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, hitting key Russian exports like oil in a bid to cut Russian President Vladimir Putin s war chest

Several EU diplomats had told AFP that complaints from Poland had slowed down agreement on the latest sanctions because Warsaw had viewed them as insufficient

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Friday, as he visited Kyiv before the EU sanctions agreement was announced, that the proposals from Brussels were “too soft, too weak”

Biden says he does not ‘anticipate’ C hina providing weapons to Russia

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US President Joe Biden said he does not anticipate a major initiative from China to provide weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine His comments come days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS that China was considering providing lethal support” to Moscow ranging “from ammunition to the weapons themselves” which Beijing denied in a wide-ranging television interview with ABC News covering his bid for reelection and the war in Ukraine that aired Friday evening, Biden appeared to backtrack

on Blinken s comments

“i don’t anticipate we haven’t seen it yet but i don’t anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to Russia,” he said

Biden explained that in a conversation he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping last summer, he made clear what the consequences of providing weapons to Russia would be

“Without any government prodding, 600 American corporations left Russia from McDonald s to Exxon across the board he said he told Xi

“And i said, ‘if you are engaged in the same kind of brutality, of supporting the brutality that is going on, you may face the same consequences '

When pressed on whether China would be “crossing a line” if Beijing were to provide weapons to Russia, Biden said the United States “would respond ”

“it would be the same line everyone else would have crossed in other words, we would impose severe sanctions on anyone who has done it ”

Ukraine s allies have sought to use sanctions and trade bans to choke off Russia’s ability to acquire more weapons or produce them domestically using imported components

On Friday, the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations said any country abetting Moscow by providing “material support” in its war would face severe costs

“For several projects, tenders and contracts have been done The process is moving very fast the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding there would be no compromise on safety Authorities say tents have been dispatched for the many who are homeless, but people have reported trouble accessing them

“i have eight children We are living in a tent

There is water on top (of the tent) and the ground is damp We are asking for more tents and they don’t give them to us,” Melek, 67, who was waiting in a line to collect aid outside a high school in the town of Hassa

The school was being used as an aid distribution centre by a group of volunteers called interrail Turkiye One volunteer, Sumeyye Karabocek, said the shortage of tents remained the biggest problem Erdogan’s government has endured a wave of criticism over both its response to the devastation and what many Turks say were years of non-enforcement of construction quality control The Turkish government’s initial plan now is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15 billion he said US bank JPMorgan had estimated rebuilding houses and infrastructure will cost $25bn

The UNDP said it estimated that the destruction has left 1 5 million people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed it said it had requested $113 5m from the $1bn in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week adding that it would focus this money on clearing away mountains of rubble

The UNDP estimates that the disaster had produced between 116m and 210m tons of rubble, compared with 13m tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkiye in 1999

h i n a ’ s p o s i t i o n pa p e r o n U k r a i n e

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HBL PSL 8: L aHore, rawaLPiNdi MatCHeS to go aHead aS SCHedULed

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tH E Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight matches were on coarse to be held in Lahore and Rawalpindi as per schedule, as the deadlock between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the interim Punjab government was expected to end today

Minister of Health from the interim government, Dr Javed Akram, had confirmed to Express News that the PSL matches will not be shifted from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Karachi

The interim Punjab government had demanded PKR500 million from PCB to conduct the matches in Lahore and Rawalpindi

The board has already paid PKR50 million to Punjab government for expenses on food

The provincial government were now demanding the remaining PKR450 million for lighting and security purposes In order to save these expenses, the board is now considering shifting the Punjab-leg of PSL 8 to Karachi

According to sources, the interim Government of Punjab has decided to be flexible on lights, security and other expenses They have decided to borne fifty percent of the bill

Man Utd, Newcastle bid to end trophy droughts in League Cup final

LONDON

Manchester United will aim to end their six-year trophy drought when Erik ten Hag s resurgent side face Newcastle in Sunday’s League Cup final, while the Magpies’ Saudi-funded revolution could produce the club’s first major prize since 1969

As underachieving members of English football’s aristocracy in recent years, United hope the showpiece at Wembley can serve as a long-awaited rebirth However, revelling in their role as nouveau riche irritants to the Premier League s established powers, Newcastle believe the final can serve as concrete proof they are now a force to be reckoned with United haven’t won a major trophy since the 2017 Europa League, a prize they claimed just weeks after beating Southampton in their most recent League Cup final appearance

As if their longest trophy drought for 40 years wasn’t bad enough United also suffered the indignity of watching bitter rivals Manchester City surpass them as England’s preeminent football force

United who last won the title in 2013 finished a dismal sixth in the Premier League last term

But after a decade in the wilderness, they have been revived by Ten Hag since his arrival from Ajax last year Crucially, Ten Hag’s handling of Cristiano Ronaldo showed he would not be intimidated by player power, bringing an end to the Portugal star ’s second spell at United

He first arrived and the training sessions we had he demands ‘you do it or you’re out’ You don’t play,” United midfielder Bruno Fernandes said “Everyone was a little bit like ‘If a big player doesn’t do what he wants will he pull him apart or not?’ And he did that many times he did it with Cristiano with Jadon (Sancho), with Marcus (Rashford) ”

There is no more tangible sign of Ten Hag’s impact than the blistering form of revitalised United forward Rashford, who is battling to be fit for Wembley after suffering an injury in Thursday’s Europa League win against Barcelona Ten Hag has tried to temper expectations in his first season but he knows victory this weekend would be a meaningful moment for a club climbing out of the doldrums “It’s a great opportunity to get the silverware

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James Anderson validated his elevation to the top spot in the world Test bowling rankings with a lethal opening spell as England took full control of the second Test against New Zealand on Saturday

Veteran seamer Anderson snared 3-37, sending the Black Caps crashing to 138-7 when rain forced an early end to day two in Wellington after England declared their first innings at 435-8

Spinner Jack Leach also took three scalps leaving New Zealand staring at a 297-run deficit with three days remaining

Red-hot England are on course for a sweep of the two-match series, having won the first Test by 267 runs at Mount Maunganui with the same mix of aggressive bat-

payment, which is PKR 250 million

While they have asked PCB to borne the remaining PKR 250 million

However PCB is still not ready to pay any amount for security, lights, and other expenses handed over by the government

During the meeting between the aforementioned parties on Friday as well, PCB had flatly refused to pay the bills of PKR450 million

PCB has sent the message to interim government that Lahore will host two games after which the league can shift to Karachi The board is hoping the patron-inchief of the board and Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharift, to intervene in the matter Matches in Lahore will start from February 26, while Rawalpindi will host the PSL matches from March 1

‘Become human first ’: Ramiz slams Akhtar over Babar comment

Former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja has slammed Shoaib Akhtar ’s recent comments on Babar Azam, Kamran Akmal and Shaheen Afridi

Akhtar had recently criticized Babar s communication skills and said that he wants the Pakistan captain to become as big a brand as Indian superstar batsman Virat Kohli

The former pacer also mocked Akmal’s pronunciation of the word ‘screen’ on a live TV program

While speaking on a local TV channel, Raja said that the Akhtar should refrain from giving unnecessary and over the top statements regarding other former and current cricketers

“Shoaib Akhtar is a delusional superstar He also had an issue recently with Kamran Akmal He wants everyone to become a brand, but it is more important to become a human first First become a human

and then a brand,” Raja said

“Our former players degrade our cricket brand by giving delusional statements You will never see that happening in our neighbouring country You will never see Sunil Gavaskar criticizing Rahul Dravid It only happens in Pakistan, where former players don’t let others do their job professionally,” he

HBL PSL 8: a zam Khan defends Babar a zam’s batting approach

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added

When asked about Akhtar ’s aspirations about becoming chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Raja advised Akhtar to complete his graduation first

“He needs to get a graduate degree first in order to become eligible for chairmanship of PCB,” he concluded

Misbah impressed by three young cricketers in HBL PSL 8

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Former PCB chairman, Ramiz Raja has slammed Shoaib Akhtar ’s recent comments on Babar Azam, Kamran Akmal and Shaheen Afridi

Akhtar had recently criticized Babar ’s communication skills and said that he wants the Pakistan captain to become as big a brand as In-

ting and potent new-ball bowling

Joe Root was unbeaten on 153 when captain Ben Stokes made his assertive declaration, leaving the tourists half an hour to attack the Black Caps top order before lunch

Anderson answered the call, removing Devon Conway (0) and Kane Williamson (4) to have the hosts languishing at 12-2

The exacting paceman removed Will Young (2) after the break to underscore why he d been reinstated to No 1 in the ICC player rankings released this week – the oldest player to hold the perch, at 40

All three batsmen feathered edges to gloveman Ben Foakes, extending the number of Test victims caught by a wicketkeeper off Anderson to 188 – 36 more than any other bowler

Left-handers Tom Latham (35) and Henry Nicholls (30) launched a rearguard

dian superstar batsman, Virat Kohli

The former pacer also mocked Akmal’s pronunciation of the word ‘screen’ on a live TV program

While speaking on a local TV channel, Raja said that the Akhtar should refrain from giving unnecessary and over the top statements regarding other former and current cricketers

“Shoaib Akhtar is a delusional

superstar He also had an issue recently with Kamran Akmal He wants everyone to become a brand, but it is more important to become a human first First become a human and then a brand,” Raja said

Our former players degrade our cricket brand by giving delusional statements You will never see that happening in our neighbouring country

but both fell when attempting to reversesweep Leach (3-45), offering catches to fielders around the bat

First-Test centurion Tom Blundell head reached 25 not out before play was called off at 5 45 pm (0445 GMT), and his free-wheeling captain Tim Southee was unbeaten on 23 in an innings featuring two sixes

About 25 overs were lost to the late rain, mirroring the premature finish to day one when the clouds opened However England still have ample time to push for a seventh straight Test win and consign New Zealand to an eighth successive winless Test

Earlier, England lost five wickets and racked up a further 120 runs in an entertaining opening session after resuming at 315-3

Islamabad United batsman Azam Khan has defended Peshawar Zalmi skipper, Babar Azam’s approach in the match between the two sides on Thursday in HBL PSL 8 Zalmi had suffered a batting collapse against United after the end of the powerplay, with Hasan Ali taking three crucial wickets to dent their chances of posting a formidable total Babar had raced to his half-century in just 33 balls, but his next 25 deliveries could only yield 25 runs

However on Friday, Azam played a blazing knock of 97 runs from 42 balls against Quetta Gladiators With United reeling at 43-3 Azam came onto bat and finished his innings at an astonishing strike rate of 230 95

When asked about the difference in his approach to that of Zalmi’s skipper, the 24-year-old explained why Babar had to be a little more careful, while being stranded at one end

“Opening is a different position, middle order is different Middle order has lesser balls to play with Either you’ll be 40 for 4 in the powerplay, or you’ll be 120 for 3 and you’ll have to finish things off,” said Azam in a post-match presser “It is a very tricky number, people normally see averages in this regard but the main thing is strike rate If you look at the top power hitters in the world, their averages don’t matter T20 is all about impact Babar bhai is right that if your team is six down then at the end you have to carry your team I think criticizing a world-class player is unfair, my mindset is different when I play

‘FAKe News’: GovT rejecTs rePorTs oF sAL Ary, PeNsIoN susPeNsIoN

ISLAMABAD

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TH e Ministry of Finance on Saturday rejected the reports claiming that the federal government issued instructions to stop payment of pay and pensions saying all such rumours are completely false

The clarification comes after a local english daily reported that the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) was directed by the finance ministry to stop clearing all the bill of the “federal ministries/divisions and attached departments till further orders

even the clearance of salary bills has also been stopped, the report added

This is completely false as no such instructions have been given by the Finance Division, which is the concerned federal ministry,” a press release issued by the finance division said

The statement further said that AGPR has confirmed that pay and pension have already been processed and will be paid on time Further other payments are being processed as per routine

There are certain rumours doing rounds that the government had instructed to stop such payments,” it added Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also termed the reports as ‘fake news,’ saying

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Meta Platforms Inc (MeTA O) said on Friday it was releasing to researchers a new large language model, the core software of a new artificial intelligence system, heating up an AI arms race as Big Tech companies rush to integrate the technology into their products and impress investors The public battle to dominate the AI technology space kicked off late last year with the launch of Microsoft-backed OpenAI s ChatGPT and prompted tech heavyweights from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL O) to China’s Baidu Inc (9888 HK), to trumpet their own offerings Meta’s LLaMA, short for Large Language Model Meta AI, will be available under non-commercial license to researchers and entities affiliated with government, civil society, and academia, it said in a blog

Large language models mine vast amounts of text in order to summarize information and generate content They can answer questions, for instance, with sentences that can read as though written by humans

The model which Meta said requires far less computing power than previous offerings, is trained on 20 languages with a focus on those with Latin and Cyrillic alphabets “Meta’s announcement today appears to be a step in testing their generative AI capabilities so they can implement them into their products in the future,” said Gil Luria, senior software analyst at D A Davidson

“Generative AI is a new application of AI that Meta has less experience with, but is clearly important for the future of their business ”

AI has emerged as a bright spot for investments in the tech industry, whose slowing growth has prompted widespread layoffs and a cutback on experimental bets

Meta said LLaMA could outperform competitors that examine more parameters, or variables that the algorithm takes into account Specifically, it said a version of LLaMA with 13 billion parameters can outperform GPT-3 a recent predecessor to the model on which ChatGPT is built

that spreading the same caused harm to the national economic interests

Kindly refrain from circulating such reports/news without verifying same from the concerned ministry,” he added The development comes as confusion surrounding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement with Pakistan on Wednesday failed to break impasse with the global lender on a new contentious issue of permanently imposing a Rs3 82 per unit debt surcharge to recover Rs284 billion more from electricity consumers Against the government’s decision to impose the new surcharge for eight months (March-October 2023), the IMF has asked the government to keep the levy as a per-

manent fixture in electricity bills until the government settles the Rs800 billion circular debt parked in a company T h e s o u r c e s s a i d t h a t t h e f i n a n c e minister urged the IMF to announce the staff-level agreement since the country h ad met mo r e th an 9 0 % o f th e co n d itions But the IMF termed Rs3 82 per unit debt surcharge as “critical” for the resolution of the power sector circular d e b t w h i c h w i l l s t i l l c l i m b t o R s 2 4 trillion despite massive increase in the p o w e r t a r i ff s The 10-day IMF stafflevel visit ended on February 9 and despite taking two more weeks both sides have yet to end their differences on major policy matters

Boeing temporaril y halts 787 deliveries

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B o e i n g C o h a s t e m p o r a r i l y h a l t e d deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner jets as the US plane maker conducts additional analysis on a fuselage comp o n e n t , t h e F e d e r a l Av i a t i o n A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ( FA A ) s a i d o n Thursday

Deliveries will not resume until t h e FA A i s s a t i s f i e d t h a t t h e i s s u e has been addressed, the agency said “The FAA is working with Boei n g t o d e t e r m i n e a n y a c t i o n s t h a t might be required for recently delivered airplanes,” the agency said Boeing said in reviewing certific a t i o n r e c o r d s i t “ d i s c o v e r e d a n analysis error by our supplier related t o t h e 7 8 7 f o r w a r d p r e s s u r e b u l khead We notified the FAA and have p a u s e d 7 8 7 d e l i v e r i e s w h i l e w e c o m p l e t e t h e r e q u i r e d a n a l y s i s a n d documentation ”

Spirit AeroSystems, which supplies the forward pressure bulkhead f o r t h e 7 8 7 j e t s s a i d i t w a s a w a r e that Boeing has halted deliveries

“ B a s e d o n t h e i n f o r m a t i o n w e currently have and our interactions with Boeing to date, we believe it is t o o e a r l y t o a s s e r t t h e r e w a s a n ‘analysis error ’ by Spirit,” the company said in a statement B o e i n g s a i d i t d i s c o v e r e d t h e error within the past week

“There is no immediate safety or f l i g h t c o n c e r n f o r t h e i n - s e r v i c e f l e e t , ” B o e i n g s a i d “ W h i l e n e a rterm deliveries will be impacted, at t h i s t i m e w e d o n o t a n t i c i p a t e a change to our production and delivery outlook for the year

T h e Wa l l S t r e e t J o u r n a l e a r l i e r

reported that Boeing has not handed over a Dreamliner since Jan 26 from t h e p r o d u c t i o n l i n e o r f r o m t h e dozens stored awaiting delivery because of a documentation issue

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Group of 20 (G20) nations have some disagreements over restructuring debt for distressed economies, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday, adding that banning private cryptocurrencies should be an option India’s G20 presidency comes as its South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are seeking urgent IMF funds due to an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war

China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, urged the group of big economies on Friday to conduct a fair objective and in-depth analysis of the causes of global debt issues as clamour grows for lenders to take a large haircut, or accept losses, on loans

On debt restructuring while there are still some disagreements, we now have the global sovereign debt roundtable with consideration of all public and private creditors,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters after chairing the roundtable with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman “We just finished a session in which it was clear that there is a commitment to bridge differences for the benefit of countries

U S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there were no “deliverables” from the meeting, which was mostly organizational Further discussions of the panel, which includes major bilateral creditors including China India and the G7 countries, several debtor countries, are planned around the time of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in April

“We certainly had that agreement that this is a useful forum,” Yellen told Reuters in an interview “We look forward to participating in it ”

CRYPTO RESTRICTIONS

Apart from restructuring debt, regulating cryptocurrencies is another priority area for India, which Georgieva agreed with

We have to differentiate between central bank digital currencies that are backed by the state and stable coins, and crypto assets that are privately issued, Georgieva said

“There has to be very strong push for regulation if regulation fails, if you’re slow to do it, then we should not take off the table banning those assets, because they may create financial stability risk ” Yellen said she had not suggested the outright banning of crypto activities, but it was critical to put in place a strong regulatory framework ”

‘Petrified’ PML-N attacking judges to run away from polls: Imran Khan

LAHORE

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday criticized Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz s attack on Supreme Court (SC) judges saying that the purpose behind this narrative is to shifting focus and “run away from elections”

The former prime minister took to Twitter where he lashed out at the PML-N chief organizer stating that by “attacking the SC they [Pakistan Democratic Movement – PDM] are damaging the federation and ensuring law of jungle prevails in Pakistan”

In a separate tweet the PTI chief continued his tirade against the PDM and said that the coalition parties are “petrified of elections” “PDM leadership seen challenging us to dissolve KP & Punjab assemblies if we want elections! Now, when confronted, they are petrified of elections knowing they will be decimated,” said the former prime minister He added that the ruling government is “maligning the SC judges and are ready to violate the Constitution to avoid elections”

The remarks by the PTI chairman come just days after Maryam fired a broadside against Imran Khan LtGen (retd) Faiz Hameed besides four serving and former judges of the Supreme Court in an address to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers’ convention The chief organiser and senior vice president of the PML-N trained all guns at the PTI chairman, saying that Imran was thrown into the garbage bin but the judges were picking him up

It is pertinent to note that the statements by the leaders of the political parties come as Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday stepped in and took suo motu notice of the delay in holding polls in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as the election process remains virtually paralysed by tensions between the stakeholders who disagree on the electoral law

Meta heats up Big Tech’s AI arms race with new language model

IMF flags debt restructuring hurdles, says banning cr ypto should be an option