Epaper_23-02-27 LHR

Sanaullah plays down PTI’s ‘Jail Bharo’ movement

PM sets up committee to implement austerity measures

Dominant Australia crowned Women’s T20 World Cup for sixth time

D i f f e r e n t l aw s f o r ‘ c

founder of the 1973 Const tution, for wh ch we are proud of This Constitut on of 1973 g ves ever y citizen to protect and guarantee the r rights

He further said that if Pakistan s a federal countr y th s Constitution gives us a federal system Pak stan s an Islamic countr y then our Constitution is an Is amic constitution, and Pakistan s a countr y of democracy then our constitution s a democratic constitution

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a n , s a c r e D c o w s ’ w o n ’ t w o r k : B i l awa l

g S Ay S A M E N D M E N T

KARACHI s ta f f r e p o r t

cHAIRMAN Pak stan People s Party and foreign

M nister Bilawal Bhutto

Zardari on Sunday said d fferent laws for the common man and sacred cows will not work as it could not be acceptab e that “ if there is a Prime Minister from Larkana then hang h m and if the Prime M nister s from Zaman Park the courts

wil wait for the whole day to offer him bail “ we will introduce an amendment to br ng the judges under the pur view of NAB accountabil ty as a dua system cannot run n the countr y Bilawal declared while addressing a seminar organized by PPP Karachi Division in connection with the Golden Jub lee of the 1973 Const tution of Pakistan, the PPP Chairman said that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto s the

Bilawal said that since the Constitution of Pakistan was passed, constant attacks were mounted aga nst it because some forces don t tolerate the rights to the people It ’s defacng at the hands of dictators General Zia and General Musharraf is still felt by the nation However there was a period from 2008 to 2013, when it appeared as if the whole society had become mature I remember, the day when the 18th Amendment was approved the Dai y Dawn had made the headline that the Politicians of Pakistan finally became mature,” he added

Five killed, 13 injured in Barkhan IED explosion

A dead y explosion rocked the Rakhni market in Barkhan city of Balochistan on Sunday morning kill ng at least five peop e and njuring 13 others, according to police and health officials Dr Abdul Hameed district hea th officer (DHO) of Barkhan, conf rmed the death toll, saying the wounded had been transported to Rakhni Hospital for treatment “ One of the injured has died during treatment

The number of dead has increased to f ve while 13 are injured The condit on of eight injured is critical and they have been shifted to Dera Ghazi Khan for medical ass stance he said

Accord ng to Barkhan Deputy Commissioner Abdul ah Khoso the b ast occurred when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on a motorcyc e, exploded Khoso said the police have arr ved at the site and cordoned it off “ Teams have begun col ecting evidence from the site,” he added Unverified v deos circulating on social media show bloodied vict ms being carried away by volunteers as onlookers gather at the site of the explosion The aftermath of the blast has eft mangled motorcycles and charred vegetables strewn across the road

No group has c a med responsibility for the attack at th s time

PTI thrashes PML-N, PPP with big margin in Rajanpur by-polls

RAJANPUR/LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) cand date Mohsin Leghari clinched NA-193 Ra anpur byelection by securing 90 392 votes against PML-N cand date Emaar Owais Leghari who obtained 55 218 whereas PPP s Akhtar Gorchani remained third with 20074 votes, according to unoff cia results Tehreek Labaik Pakistan’s (TLP) Mahmood Ahmad also managed to obtain 3 961 votes

as per the unofficial results PTI s Mohsin Leghari emerged v ctor ous after results of all 237 polling stations were received whereas turnout remained high around 47 15 percent in the by-polls There were a total of 379,204 registered voters n the const tuency includ ng the women There were 11 candidates in the run for the by-e ections and the whole process remained largely peaceful amid tight security The NA-193 fell vacant due

to the demise of PTI ’s MNA Sardar Muhammad Jaffar Khan Leghari and Leghar tr be elder who passed away at the age of 83 at a private health faci ity in Lahore on Dec 31, 2022

Earlier, the polling for byelections in the NA-193 const tuency of the Nat ona Assembly n Rajanpur ended at 5:00 pm Sunday the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said amidst concerns over security by the Punjab caretaker government

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Cholera threatens over 1 billion people in 43 Countries, inCluding pakistan: Who

UNITED NATIONS

aGLOBAL surge of cholera cases has put one billion people in 43 countries including Pakistan at risk, the World Health Organization (WHO), a Genevabased UN agency has warned

Three countries, this week alone, have reported outbreaks, WHO cholera team leader Philippe Barboza told reporters at a press conference on Friday, according to a UN press release issued in New York on Sunday

For the first time, WHO is asking donors for help to fight the outbreaks, he said

Right now 22 countries across the world are fighting outbreaks of the acute diarrhoeal infection caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water Cholera cases climbed in 2022, following years of falling numbers of cases, and the trend is expected to continue into this year he said

He said cases have been reported in five of the six regions where WHO operates The latest WHO global overview published in early February showed the situation has further deteriorated since 2022

Poverty, disasters, conflict and climate change consequences continue to be driving factors alongside a lack of access to safe water and sanitation, Dr Barboza said

“An unprecedented situation requires an unprecedented response,” he said, drawing attention to the limited availability of vaccines medicines and testing kits

Only 37 million doses are available in 2023, he said More doses are expected to be available by next year

As a result of the current global surge, WHO is, for the first time ever, appealing to donors to support a $25 million fund to help to address cholera outbreaks and save lives, he said

Prevention is key he said noting that nearly half of the world lacks access to safely managed sanitation

Ctp issued traffic plan for hbl psl cricket matches in pindi

RAWALPINDI

S ta f f R e p o R t

City Traffic Police (CTP) Rawalpindi issued a comprehensive traffic plan for the convenience of citizens regarding the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket matches being started from 01 March to 12 at Double Road Cricket Stadium The CTP has made special arrangements to keep the traffic flowing on alternative routes during matches

On the occasion, Chief Traffic Officer Rawalpindi Taimur Khan said more than 347 traffic police officers and jawans will perform special duties during the HBL PSL, including seven DSPs, 27 inspectors, 206 traffic wardens and 107 traffic assistants

During the movement of cricket teams, additional personnel have been deployed by making special arrangements to keep traffic flowing on alternate routes For the convenience of cricket fans, parking facilities have been provided at three places including Civil Aviation Ground Shaheen Chowk, Shahbaz Sharif Park near Shaheen Chowk and Graduate Degree College Satellite Town

Besides the shuttle service has been provided to access the stadium from the parking area Murree Road will be completely closed from Faizabad to Double Road

During this time the traffic coming from Islamabad will be diverted from Faizabad to Expressway Traffic moving towards Islamabad will be able to enter Islamabad by using 6th Road Said Pur Road while traffic coming from Ghousia Chowk will be diverted to Farooq Azam Road, Kurri Road During the cricket match both sides of Stadium Road from 9th Avenue Chowk to Double Road will be completely closed for traffic Meanwhile, the traffic coming from Islamabad 9th Avenue will be able to enter Rawalpindi through Faizabad Expressway and IJP Road through Pandora Chongi, Katarian, Carriage Factory, Pirwadhai Mor, Chak Madad while the traffic going from Rawalpindi to Double Road 9th Avenue Islamabad will be able to enter Rawalpindi through Murree Road The CTO said during the match awareness banners regarding alternative routes and parking will be displayed on the main highways of Rawalpindi for the convenience of the citizens and to keep the traffic flowing on alternative routes so that the citizens remain updated

Through the official social media pages of traffic police and radio station 88 6 the citizens will also be provided with moment-to-moment information about the diversion points and traffic situation, he added

Jail Bharo, but on bail City NoteS

I’m just a little confused It was Imran Khan who announced a Jail Bharo Tehreek And then set such an inspiring example by going to the Lahore High Court for pre-arrest bail

He didn t take up the judge s offer to let him into the court even if he was carried in on a stretcher, and walked into court, and stood there to get bailed

The Jail Bharo Tehreek got underway after the police had to call for prisoners over the megaphone Apparently that call was meant by the sound of PTI supporters

Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are internationally recognized human rights,” he said “Making these rights a reality will also end cholera

An exponential rise in the number of cholera cases in Africa includes an outbreak in Mozambique, which is also grappling with severe storms brought on by cyclone Freddy The first case of cholera in the current outbreak was reported to the Ministry of Health and WHO from Lago district in Niassa province in September

As of 19 February Mozambique reported a cumulative total of 5,237 suspected cases and 37 deaths All six cholera-affected provinces are flood-prone areas, and WHO anticipates that more will be affected as the rainy season continues

Considering the frequency of crossborder movement and the history of cross-border spread of cholera during this outbreak WHO considers the risk of further disease spread as very high at national and regional levels

An estimated 26 000 cases and 660 deaths have been reported as of 29 January 2023 in 10 African countries facing outbreaks since the beginning of the year WHO said In 2022, nearly 80,000 cases and 1,863 deaths were recorded from 15 affected countries

Neighbouring Malawi is facing the deadliest cholera outbreak in two decades, and cases are being reported in other countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, WHO reported

CM Naqvi reviews arrangements for S pring Festival in L ahore, Faisalabad

Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Raza Naqvi chaired a meeting at his office on Sunday to review Spring Festival arrangements

A detailed briefing about the arrangements and programmes in Lahore and Faisalabad was given to the chief minister It was proposed to hold Spring Festival celebrations in Lahore from 5th to 12th March and in Faisalabad from 4th to 12th March The Spring Festival celebrations would comprise sports culture tourism music, bird and pet show as well as fireworks Marathon race and cycling competitions will also be held in Lahore and Faisalabad

Children, women, differently-abled persons and athletes will participate in the marathon race competition Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sahir Ali Bagha and other famous singers will present a musical show Mehfil-eSama will also be held in Lahore and Faisalabad

The Spring Festival celebrations will be held in the

Iqbal Stadium of Faisalabad and University of Agriculture Players of Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will participate in the sports events at GC University Faisalabad A floral and Chinioti furniture exhibition will also be held Special celebrations in connection with International Women’s Day will be held and women Mushaira will also be held Horse dance, camel dance, cow, buffalo milk giving competitions will be held and a heavy bike show will also be held in Faisalabad A laser light and sound show under the auspices of Walled City Authority will be held in Lahore Charming cultural floats will be put on display at the carnival in Faisalabad Canals will be decorated in Lahore, Faisalabad and lighting will also be made More than 7,000 students will participate in the special torchlight march at Government College University Lahore Food festivals will also be held in the Spring Festival Caretaker CM Mohsin Naqvi directed that maximum participation of citizens should be ensured in the Spring Festival celebrations Caretaker Provincial Minister Bilal Afzal, chief secretary, additional chief

The UN health agency said challenges i n c l u d e c l i m a t e c h a n g e , w h i c h h a s l e d t o d r o u g h t o r f l o o d i n g i n p a r t s o f A f r i c a , r e s u l t i n g i n i n c r e a s e d p o p u l a t i o n displacement and reduced access to clean water

Worldwide people in Pakistan India Haiti, the Philippines and Syria, among others, are also affected by outbreaks

Cholera remains a global threat to public health, WHO said In 2017, affected countries, donors, and partners of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control launched a renewed global cholera control strategy, Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030 the press release said It aims at reducing cholera deaths by 90 per cent over the next decade

While the number of cases had been declining, WHO said it remains concerned about the current surge Researchers estimate that every year there are between 1 3 and 4 million cases and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths worldwide due to the infection

secretary, secretaries of Information & Culture, Higher Education, Local Government, Livestock, Sports, Commissioner Lahore division Commissioner Faisalabad division, Deputy Commissioner Lahore, DG Local Government, DGPR and officials concerned attended the meeting Caretaker Provincial Minister Ibrahim Murad and Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad attended the meeting via video-link

Blast condemned: Meanwhile Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Raza Naqvi strongly condemned a blast at Rakhni Bazaar area of Barkhan and expressed his deep sense of sorrow over the loss of human lives

He expressed his heartfelt sympathy and condolences with the heirs of the deceased He prayed for an early recovery of the injured

The chief minister said that the Punjab government equally shared grief with the heirs of the deceased

PML-N is ever-ready for elec tions, says Atta Tarar

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Atta

Tarar said on Sunday that the PML-N was not afraid of the elections and the party was fully prepared to take part in the polls anytime

“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has been affecting the moral standards of the youth and PTI is using this as a tactics , SAPM Attaullah Tarar alleged while addressing a press conference at Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Secretariat in Model

Town here on Sunday

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM)

Attaullah Tarar said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was protecting the people around him who had been accused of corruption, and cases had been registered against them

He said that a man, who had admitted to give bribe to a PTI leader for getting employment on forged

slinking off home, muttering that they had to see a man about a dog

Those who have been arrested are faced with a dilemma: should they get bail or not?

If they are given bail, then they will not be filling the jail which is the name of the Tehrik It’s no longer funny It’s becoming painful to see the PTI embarrass itself Ch

Nelson Fawad Chaudhry has stayed away from the fray, probably because his role model, Nelson Mandela, never sponsored a Jail Bharo Tehreek

One effect of the Tehreek, which should have the PTI worried, is that some of its most loyal supporters are now beginning to question Imran’s wisdom Those who were impressed not just by Imran’s choice of Usman Buzdar as

documents, was sitting next Imran Khan during his press conference on Saturday The PTI leader, who had allegedly received the bribe money was also sitting there

Punjab CM, but also by the scintillating brilliance of his conversations with Imran Khan on quantum physics time travel and related topics; those people have suddenly noticed that Imran can make mistakes

It is going to be a short step from accepting that he can make mistakes, to accepting that he could sell off presents (all under the malign influence of his wife of course) It is not the same thing, now that Ch Parvaiz Elahi has joined the PTI Ch Parvaiz apparently brought with him a Supreme Court judge in tow I won’t mention the name of the judge, because doing so could get me up on a contempt charge Judges and jail don’t seem to bother the good people of the USA, where there are a lot of guns out there In Iowa, for example, a few teens shot their Spanish teacher dead because vof a dispute over a grade We didn t have that approach when I was at

Atta Tarar said that Imran Khan had also defended Farah Gogi, who was allegedly involved in mega corruption during the PTI government in Punjab

Tarar said the PTI chief was using delaying tactics in Toshakhana, Tyrian White and foreign funding cases against him, and openly protecting people around him who were facing corruption charges He said that the PML-N believed in supremacy of law and upholding of the Constitution He said that the PTI leadership should face charges in the courts as nobody was above the law

He said the PML-N leadership always presented themselves for accountability whereas Nawaz Sharif was disqualified for just having an aqama

Replying to a question, he said that the PML-N was ever ready to go into elections as party Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz was already running a public campaign; however, the party had submitted a written application for formation of a full court of the Supreme Court to hear suo motu proceedings regarding delay in Punjab and KP elections

school It’s too late now, but I did have teachers who deserved to die

Someone who didn t deserve to die were the people whose bodies were recovered in Barkhan, a family of Marris, who had been kidnapped by Sardar Abdur Rehman Khetran who said the bbodies had been planted, that it was a conspiracy to deprive him of the Sardari of the Khetrans One of the bodies that of a woman, turned out not to be the mother, who was recovered alive The dead woman had been shot in the head twice after being criminally assaulted, has still not been identified Sardar Khetran has been arrested, even though he s a provincial minister

Those who have been killed in the Gaza Strip also didn’t deserve to die, after the Israelis launched what has become an annual attack Does it work? Or does it just satisfy the domestic audience, and show that Netanyahu is a strong leader who should be

kept in office, no matter his faults?

The NAB Chairman has also resigned I don t think it is in protest against the Barkhan incident It’s because he was being asked to do something he didn’t want to The word is out that the askers were from a particular institution one which has become used to controlling the government, even though it isn’t

The Barkhan incident creates a new dimension in the disappeared persons issue, which is plaguing Balochistan in particular, because instead of just terrorists (or just potential ones), politically active Baloch have also been made to disappear Now it seems that the Sardars will also have to be watched Forced disappearance was a state prerogative, but what will stop someone who thinks he is the state?

Sardar Khetran is supposed to have a private jail Imran has not specified what place private jails have in his Tehreek

n at

i o n a l i m m u n i z at i o n s t r at e g y t o b e p r e pa r e d F o r 1 0 0 p C r e s u lt s , s ay s pat e l

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

FE D E R A L M i n i s t e r f o r N a t i o n a l

Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Abdul Qadir Patel on S u n d a y s a i d t h a t e ff e c t i v e m e a s u r e s w e r e b e i n g a d o p t e d t o make further improvements in the national immunization program

Addressing the annual meeting of the

F e d e r a l D i r e c t o r a t e o f I m m u n i z a t i o n , w h i c h w a s a t t e n d e d b y t h e c o o r d i n a t o r s f r o m a l l p r o v i n c e s a n d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m i n t e r n a t i o n a l o rg a n i z a t i o n s , Q a d i r

Patel said that a collaborative strategy was b e i n g f o r m u l a t e d t o e n s u r e 1 0 0 p e r c e n t results, by reaching everyone during every immunization drive in the country

He said that it was the responsibility of the state to provide basic health facilities to its citizens and added that the government

was working on a comprehensive plan for the complete eradication of various diseases from the country

For the purpose, he said, all available resources would be utilized, and urged the provinces to ensure 100 percent coverage of immunization to protect children

He said that while there was no cure, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from various diseases Each time a child is vaccinated, their protection

against the virus is increased ”

He said that repeated immunizations had protected millions of children allowing almost many countries in the world to become free from various diseases

The only way to protect our children is to vaccinate them, especially under the age of five It is critically important that parents and caregivers particularly in highrisk areas, ensure that their child is vaccinated”, Patel said

PTI thrashes PML-N, PPP with big margin in R ajanpur by-polls

CONTINUED fROM PAgE 01

The seat fell vacant after the demise of Jaffar Khan Leghari a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, in December

The election features a total of 11 candidates, with a highly competitive race expected between Mohsin Leghari of PTI and Ammar Leghari former minister Awais Leghari’s son, of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) The opposition party and its supporters have raised concerns about threats of violence and voter intimidation at polling stations during the vote PTI initially nominated its chairman Imran Khan as a candidate for the election However, the former prime minister withdrew his candidacy earlier this month, apparently in an

saudi embassy

attempt to avoid potential disqualification in a court case

Political analysts noted that Khan’s withdrawal from the race could have a significant impact on the turnout

The election commission said there are 379,204 registered voters in the constituency, with male voters numbering 206 497 and female voters totaling 172,709 237 polling stations have been established in the constituency, with over 200 Rangers personnel serving as a quick response force

Just two days before the vote was scheduled to be held the interim government of Punjab requested that the commission postpone the byelection citing security concerns In a letter to the home department, the commissioner of the Dera Ghazi Khan division outlined the concerns and requested the ECP to delay the

elections

However, the tribunal declined the request saying that all arrangements for the by-election had already been made, and the presence of the deputy commissioner Punjab Police Army and Rangers would ensure that any untoward situations would be responded to promptly mismanaGement: PTI leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari who also belongs to the city, claimed “state machinery has been used non-stop to harass and intimidate [the] PTI candidate [and] supporters ” “Today, insha’Allah the people will come out and defeat these mafias [and] their handlers,” she vowed, referring to the military Meanwhile Ammar alleged that presiding officers misbehaved with

Five killed, 13 injured in barkhan ied explosion

CONTINUED fROM PAgE 01

voters and that the district administration failed to provide support He accused the administration of endorsing unethical practices instead of preventing them, calling on the tribunal to take notice of the incidents

Separately, Mohsin released a video message on the party s Twitter account claiming a marked difference in the enthusiasm and energy between the PTI camp and those of other parties He asserted that attempts to manipulate voters had been made since the announcement of the polls, and accused both the federal and provincial governments of pressuring local officials

Leghari added that despite intimidation tactics, PTI supporters remained resolute in their support for the party and would make Imran Khan the winner

condemnations: Both President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed their condolences and grief over the loss of life in the blast According to separate press releases from the President s Secretariat and Prime Minister ’s Office (PMO) both leaders prayed for the high ranks of the deceased and the speedy recovery of the wounded

In response to the incident Sharif requested a report from the chief minister and police chief of Balochistan He also emphasised that those who harm innocent people will face severe consequences and directed the provision of the best medical treatment to the injured

The incident comes amidst a recent spate of violence in KP and bordering areas with Afghanistan Since talks with the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November 2022, the militant group has intensified its attacks while insurgents in Balochistan have also increased their violent activities and formed a nexus with it

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has condemned the blast and directed the authorities to take all possible steps to arrest the culprits He has also summoned a report on the incident from the police

Those who shed the blood of innocent people are enemies of humanity,” the minister said “Terrorists are creating uncertainty to achieve their evil goals But we won t allow anti-state elements to succeed he stated, promising that the government would adopt an effective counter-terrorism strategy

announces

shor t video competition on pak-saudi relations

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Saudi Embassy has announced a short video competition on ‘Pak-Saudi Relations’ for talented youth across the country According to the Saudi embassy s official Twitter account it is organizing this healthy competition to mark the 70th anniversary of Pakistan’s first-ever state-level visit to Saudi Arabia made by President Ghulam Muhammad in March 1953 and his meeting with King Abdulaziz As per conditions to participate in the competition, the contestant’s age must not be more than 30 years; the video s duration must be two minutes focusing on the central theme of Pak-Saudi Relations, and it could be either in Arabic, Urdu or English language The last date for video submission is March 10, and it could be emailed to mediaattacheksa@gmail com or on WhatsApp number +923253111014 The first prize holder would be awarded $2,000, the second $1,500, the third $1,000 and the fourth to tenth $500

APHC-A JK urges UN, other HR bodies to take notice of detainees ’ plight in Indian jails

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Kashmir and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter has urged the United Nations and other international human rights organizati o n s t o t a k e n o t i c e o f t h e p l i g h t o f i l l e g a l l y d e t a i n e d H u r r i y a t l e a d e r s a n d a c t i v i s t s , l a n g u i s h i n g i n j a i l s o f I n d i a a n d t h e o c c u p i e d t e r r i t o r y

A P H C - A J K C o n v e n e r M e h m o o d A h m a d S a g h a r i n a s t a t e m e n t i s s u e d i n I s l a m a b a d l a m e n t e d t h a t i l l e g a l l y d e t a i n e d H u r r i y a t l e a d e r s a n d a c t i v i s t s w e r e b e i n g d e p r i v e d o f m e d i c a l f a c i l i t i e s a n d a d e q u a t e f o o d b e s i d e s a c c e s s to lawyers He said due to non-

p r o v i s i o n o f m e d i c a l f a c i l i t i e s d u r i n g w i n t e r, K a s h m i r i d e t a i n e e s b e c o m e s i c k H e s a i d m a n y K a s h m i r i p o l i t i c a l d e t a i n e e s a r e s u ff e r i n g f r o m v a r i o u s d i s o r d e r s a n d r e m i n d e d t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s S e c r e t a r y G e n e r a l t h a t t h e l o n g - p e n d i n g K a s h m i r i s r i g h t t o s e l fd e t e r m i n a t i o n h a s b e e n

f o rg o t t e n a n d t h e M o d i r e g i m e i s t r e a t i n g t h e p e o p l e o f K a s h m i r, e s p e c i a l l y t h e M u s l i m s , l i k e s l a v e s Mehmood Ahmad Saghar said Kashmiri Muslims have no value in the eyes of Indian rulers and India has given no importance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Convention and even the UN Human Rights Commission’s 2018 and 2019 reports on Jammu and Kashmir H e f u r t h e r s a i d t h e I n d i a n g o v e r n m e n t i s b e n t o n c h a n g i n g t h e M u s l i m m a j o r i t y s tatu s o f th e o ccu p ied ter r ito r y i n t o a m i n o r i t y a n d u rg e d t h e U N t o s e n d a t e a m t o I I O J K t o a s s e s s t h e s u ff e r i n g s o f t h e oppressed people and plight of K a s h m i r i d e t a i n e e s

Bizenjo also directed officials to provide the best medical care to injured people and prayed for the high ranks of the deceased

Also condemning the incident Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah called the terrorists “enemies of peace and development in Balochistan” and said they would “never succeed in their wicked aims

He prayed for the deceased’s high ranks and for their families’ well-being

Earlier on Saturday a police van driver and a policeman were martyred and another two injured in a “remotecontrolled blast” in Khuzdar district of Balochistan

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

D ifferent laws for ‘common man, sacred cows ’ won’t work: Bilawal

CONTINUED fROM PAgE 01

The PPP Chairman said that the tenure from 2008 to 2013 was a period of hope, as before that there was a lot of polarization in the country During this period the political parties came to the conclusion that as long as we continue to fight, the Constitution and democracy will always be in danger and the country will not progress He further said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had forgotten the political victimisations of her then-opponents and pledged that we would work on Charter of Democracy (CoD)

He said that on the basis of this harmony after coming to the government, we did not send the PML -N or other opponents to jail and when the PML -N government came they too followed the same tradition

Calling the progress made as a result of harmony among the political parties after the CoD, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said

that we focused on the people of Pakistan

we passed the 18th Amendment, Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) was initiated Northern Areas made Gilgit –Baltistan and NWFP Province was renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Foreign Minister said that the space for undemocratic forces was very less due to such political harmony, but then selected was launched only to break the political harmony Propaganda was unleashed so that the non -democratic forces could find more and more space through a proxy prime minister, who does not take any interest in the problems of the nation not takes any interest in the Parliament democracy and even the economy but only benefits himself and his family

He pointed that the day he was able to remove the selected prime minister, was April 10, 2023 when our unanimous Constitution was passed in 1973

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the puppet was brought to power because it was not just a conspiracy against the system, but a conspiracy against the Constitution under the narrative that everything has gone to the provinces The problem of these people is not in fact the 18th amendment but the Constitution of 1973, which they didn’t accept since the very first day and don’t believe even today

He said that Imran Khan has ruined every institution Politics has been polarised to such an extent that we cannot talk to each other He has divided the judiciary and the media in the same way If you open one channel you see one Pakistan and there is another Pakistan on another channel Imran Khan has divided us so much that the establishment has also been divided We are seeing that he is gone, but that thinking is there Nobody knows how long the effects of this damage will continue in the country

The PPP Chairman said that if the judicial institution will fight among themselves, how it will give justice to the people? It is difficult for a judge to talk to another judge If there are two different truths on the two channels, then whom to believe We are going through a political constitutional and economic crisis

“If we continue to fight each other, the common man will continue to suffer,” he said The most important problem of the common man is the economy, inflation, hunger, poverty and unemployment “If we continue to fight each other the terrorists will continue to benefit,” he added Bilawal said that if there were such conditions in any other country then everyone would say that they should leave the fight and solve the problems He emphasized that the solution to many problems facing Pakistan is in the Constitution “We are still waiting today for hearing a reference about the judicial murder

of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but we do not get any response ’ But if the prime minister of Zaman Park suffers leg pain, the court waits for a week and even if the petition has a fake signature, he is granted bail H e s a i d t h a t t h e d u a l s y s t e m w i l l n o t r u n a n d w e w i l l n o t t o l e r a t e i t I t m a y n o t a c c e p t a b l e t h a t i f S h a h e e d M o h t t a r m a B e n a z i r B h u t t o i s i n p o w e r, t h e n a s i n g l e n e w s p a p e r s e d i t o r i a l i s e n o u g h t o o v e r t h r o w h e r g o v e r n m e n t , b u t w h i l e s a v i n g I m r a n K h a n ’s g o v e r n m e n t t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n i s r e - w r i t t e n T h e P P P C h a i r m a n s a i d t h a t a n o t h e r l a w i s b e i n g f l o a t e d t h a t i f a n y o n e s p e a k s a g a i n s t t h e a r m y o r t h e j u d i c i a r y h e w i l l b e p u n i s h e d H o w l o n g w i l l w e c o n t i n u e t o p a s s t h e s a c r e d c o w l a w s ?

PPP s position on NAB has always been clear that it was created for political engineering He questioned whether the judges do not know what NAB rules look like

Boosting mangoes, other exports to Us discUssed dUring Washington talks: Qamar

WASHINGTON

s ta f f r e p o r t

pa k i s ta n and the United states had comprehensive talks on a range of key issues, including enhancing the export of Pakistani mangoes and dates to the Us and more market access for Pakistani textiles, Commerce Minister syed naveed Qamar has said

Other matters discussed included boosting Us investments in Pakistan s agriculture sector, especially in the development of hybrid, climate-resilient seeds as well as supporting Pakistani it and tech industry, he told reporters saturday at the end of his three-day visit to Washington during which he also co-

chaired the meeting of PakistanUs trade and investment Framework agreement (tiFa) Ministerial Council the minister said that significant progress has been made in some of the critical areas while further headway was expected during the course of the discussion that would follow He said the tiFa meeting, held after a gap of eight years, reflected an understanding and commitment of the two countries to pursue a broad-based agenda and make mutually beneficial trade and investment ties an important pillar of the relationship

naveed Qamar said that the two sides have agreed to have regular follow-up engagements during the current year to ensure progress on all issues to achieve

tangible results it was also agreed to convene the next tiFa Council Ministerial meeting in islamabad in early 2024

Expressing satisfaction over the ongoing and forthcoming high-level dialogues in various sectors including energy, climate change etc , the minister said that Pakistan was now being seen as United states; sovereign trading partner the United states is an important country for us and we want our relations to further grow in all possible areas he said talking about the economic challenges being faced by the country, the minister said that the tough decisions taken by Pakistan to revive the iMF programme, have started showing results “in anticipation of revival of the programme, the reserves had started in-

ramazan moon likely to be sighted on march 22: pmd

creasing and the rupee-dollar parity was witnessing stability”; he said the minister expressed the hope that with the formal approval of revival of the programme by the iMF Board, the reserves would increase with inflows from friendly countries and international banks He, however, stated that the revival of the programme alone was not a panacea for all ills

“We need structural reforms Our processes need to be changed

Responding to a question, the minister said that the revival of the dialogue would significantly boost the confidence of the business community and would help in providing them with a conducive environment marked by economic stability

Traders hail allowing expor t trucks via Ghulam K han, K harlachi trade routes

PESHAWAR

a z z B u n e r i traders community welcomed the government’s decision, allowing export trucks through Ghulam khan and kharlachi trade routes along with torkham border, calling it a major step to speed up the process of export and boost up economic and trade activities in the region

Muhammad ishaq, president of sarhad Chamber of Commerce and industry and Ziaul Haq sarhadi Director and Coordinator Pak-afghan Joint Chambers of Commerce and industry (PaJCCi) while talking to a group of reporters here on sunday said apart from the torkham border, the allowing export trucks by Ghulam

khan and kharlachi trade routes will not only expedite process of export but it would also create job opportunities and open new era of prosperity and development in the whole region they told the media that permission has been granted to export trucks through Ghulam khan and kharlachi border points following the directions of Chief Collector Customs khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad saleem they added the officials concerned have given a complete assurance for provision of all facilities for promotion of cross-border and transit trade they said the decision of the government and customs department was widely appreciated by the business community Muhammad ishaq and Ziaul Haq

sarhadi said that the export process was adversely affected owing to the situation that was created at torkham border in the past five days t h e y, h o w e v e r, s a i d t h a t t h e p r o c e s s o f e x p o r t s has now been completely restored via the torkham trade route which is highly laudable While keeping in view of the difficulty of traders, Leaders of the business community said Chief Collector Customs kP Muhammad saleem has allowed apart from the torkham border, export trucks laden with sugar, other Pakistani manufactured essential food commodities along with other goods had been allowed through Ghulam khan and kharlachi trade routes to afghanistan and onward to Central asian countries

A zma warns PTI leaders against use of abusive language

LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t P a k i s t a n M u s l i m L e a g u e - n a w a z ( P M Ln) leader azma Bukhari s a i d o n s u n d a y i t h a d become a culture of the P a k i s t a n te h r e e k - einsaf (Pti) and its leade r s t o m i s b e h a v e a n d u s e a b u s i v e l a n g u a g e a g a i n s t t h e i r p o l i t i c a l competitors addressing the media at Model town here, she said that the Pti leaders had cross all

limits of indecency and their female leadership were continually using abusive language and low-standard quotes for senior leadership of PLM-n which could not be tolerated azma said that former provincial health minister Yasmin Rashid was trying to pretend as Dr Firdous asiq awan or shahbaz Gill through her language adding that the PML-n had always given respect to Yasmin Rashid being a senior

political activist s h e s a i d t h a t i r r e gu l a r i t i e s a n d m a l a f i d e p r a c t i c e s w e r e f o u n d i n c o r o n a f u n d s d u r i n g t h e P t i g o v e r n m e n t t e n u r e b u t n o w f o r m e r h e a l t h m i n i s t e r Ya s m i n R a s h i d w a s a c c u s i n g o t h e r s o f c o r r u p t i o n a n d d i s h o n e s t y

ISLAMABAD: the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that there is possibility of the sighting of Ramazan 1444 aH moon on 22 March this year the new moon of Ramazan, 1,444 aH, will born on the crossing conjunction point at 22-23 Pst on 21-03-2023 according to astronomical parameters, there is a chance of sighting the new moon of Ramazan 1444 aH on the evening of March 22 2023 i e on the 29th of shaban, 1444 aH the PMD has said that according to climate records, the weather is expected to be fair or partly cloudy in most parts of the country on the evening of March 22 in case the holy month begins in line with the PMD’s forecast, the first Ramazan will be on March 23, thursday Ramazan-ul-Mubarak, the month of fasting is the ninth month of the islamic lunar calendar During the fast, Muslims must abstain from eating, drinking, gossip and cursing, and are encouraged to focus on meditative acts like prayer reading the holy Quran and charity s ta f f r e p o r t

man allegedly kills wife, three kids

LODHRAN: a man allegedly killed his wife and another three kids in Gulshan-e-Madinah Colony area here sunday according to police sources, local people informed the police about a particular smell being emitted from a house DsP ishaaq sial along with his team raided and arrested the alleged accused identified as saghir abbas, who allegedly involved in killing his wife Ruqiyya, children – Ghaus Fatimi, anas and Fawad the family was recently settled in Lodhran few months ago the accused was, reportedly, fond of magic s ta f f r e p o r t

PAL chief terms Amjad Islam Amjad a hallmark of contemporar y Urdu poetr y

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of Pakistan academy of Letters (PaL), Dr Muhammad Yousuf khushk lauded the valuable contribution of noted Urdu poet, dramatist, critic columnist and fiction writer amjad islam amjad and said that the vacuum created by his death could never be filled sharing his views on amjad’s work, he said the great literary icon was a hallmark of contemporary Urdu poetry and due to his death, Urdu literature has lost an important romantic poet and fiction writer He said amjad islam amjad highlighted social, economic and political issues through his dramas and columns and his literary contributions s ta f f r e p o r t

Punjab’S altruiStS Strengthen natiOnal unit y thrOugh welfare actS: Punjab gOvernOr

KARACHI/LAHORE

S tA f f R e p o R t

tHE concerned philanthropists and donors of Punjab by generously donating for providing quality schooling to children from the deprived communities in Sindh are playing an important role in strengthening the cause of national unity

Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman stated while speaking at a fundraiser organized to collect donations from Lahore’s business community for the schooling of 10,000 students from the deprived areas of Sindh

The Punjab Governor said on the occasion that the government always required the support of noble charities for the provision of quality healthcare services and education to the children of destitute communities in faraway and underprivileged areas in the country

He said that genuine charities were able to serve the downtrodden people only after receiving unwavering philanthropic support from noble donors from the business community The Governor held out the assurance that the government would fully support the charitable work by non-governmental organizations to enroll the out-of-school children in the country as the state alone didn t have the resources to fulfill this fundamental obligation as per the constitution

He suggested that the government education authorities should work in close coordination with the concerned NGOs to ensure quality schooling for every child in the deprived parts of the country

Speaking as the guest of honour, Caretaker Punjab Industries Minister SM Tanveer said that the philanthropists and business community in Punjab have always acted as a patron for generously donating to lessening the miseries of the downtrodden

communities in Sindh Tanveer said that like his late father, noted industrialist SM Muneer, the cause to educate children from the deprived areas of the country was very close to his heart as he

would do his best to support this noble charitable drive

APTMA Patron-in-chief Dr Gohar

Ejaz, said that the presence of a large number of leading businessmen and industrialists at the fundraiser especially those from the textile industry showed well that they stood fully committed to the cause of enrolling every out-of-school child in the country

He said the concerned industrialists irrespective of the prevailing economic crisis and a slowdown in business activities would continue with their philanthropic activities for the uplift of the deprived communities

He said that unwavering philanthropy was the only noble way for the industrialists to pay back to the country that enabled them to earn name and fame in the business sector D r E j a z s a i d t h e c o n c e r n e d c o m m un i t y o f b u s i n e s s m e n a n d i n d u s t r i a l i s t s i n L a h o r e w a s a l w a y s a v a i l a b l e t o h o s t m o r e such events to support the drive to educate

Pak delegation leaves for Istanbul to par ticipate in Eurasia Summit

Under the auspices of the Association of Private Sector Universities Pakistan (APSUP), a 34-member delegation from Pakistan representing 20 universities and organizations here on Sunday left for Istanbul to attend Eurasian Higher Education Summit (EURI) in Istanbul

The first ever Pakistani Pavilion would be established at Eurasia Sum-

mit, wherein six leading universities would set up booths and representatives of other Pakistani universities would brief about the various academic programs and explore opportunities of collaboration student and faculty exchange and joint academic projects

Awais Raoof President APSUP Punjab

The University of Lahore Superior University, University of Faisala b a d , U n i v e r s i t y o f S i a l k o t , University of Management and Techn o l o g y a n d I n s t i t u t e o f B u s i n e s s

Indus University, Univeristy of South Asia, Brains Institute, SBB Dewan University Institute of Southern Punjab, ISAT, Gift University would also be part of the delegation

s t u d e n t s f r o m l e s s e r p r i v i l e g e d a r e a s o f t h e S i n d h

CEO of non-profit Green Cresent Trust (GCT), Zahid Saeed, said that his non-profit had established 160 charitable schools having an enrollment of over 30 000 children from needy families in Sindh

He said the support his non-profit had received from concerned businessmen in Lahore made him optimistic about enrolling hundreds of thousands of out-of-school children in Sindh under a joint effort by the government and concerned charities

He said the GCT was well on track to increase the number of its charitable schools in Sindh to 250 with an enrollment of a total of 100,000 students from deprived areas till 2025

He expressed his gratitude to the business community of Lahore for generously donating to the charitable drive of his nonprofit in the education sector

Obesit y can raise risk of death by more than 90pc: Study

ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e p o R t

Management would set up booths at Pakistani Pavilion

The Pakistani delegation would be headed by Prof Dr Ch Abdul Rehman Chairman APSUP, Prof Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhry Coordinator General COMSTECH and

In addition to leadership of APSUP, the Chairmen Board of Governors Rectors Vice Chancellors and representatives of Iqra University,

Pakistani truck convoy carr ying aid for quake vic tims reaches Turkiye

A truck convoy from Pakistan carrying aid for quake victims arrived in Turkiye on Saturday, the Pakistani embassy said “A 21-truck convoy carrying 275tonne relief assistance goods from Pakistan arrived at Malatya, one of worst hit cities by earthquake, this afternoon,” said the embassy in a statement, adding the trucks are mainly carrying winter tents, blankets and other essential relief goods

The embassy said that an air bridge was established between the two countries when the twin earthquakes hit southern Turkiye on Feb 6

“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,” it added

The convoy was received by Mataya s deputy mayor Hakan Ezgi and Pakistan’s Deputy Ambassador Abbas Sarwar Qureshi and other officials Pakistan and Turkiye have a glorious history of supporting each other under all circumstances As per the wishes of the Prime Minister and people of Pakistan, relief assistance shall keep coming from Pak-

istan to brotherly Turkiye till complete recovery and rehabilitation, said Qureshi

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week said his country will dispatch 100,000 winter tents to Turkiye

The EURI is an annual largest international higher education event in Eurasia, providing a great networking and academic partnership opportunities for higher education institutions and other stakeholders in the international higher education sector coming from all around the world

by the end of this month

According to the latest official figures, over 44,218 people were killed in the powerful earthquakes in southern Turkiye

Chinese hybrid wheat demonstration fields cover about 3,000-5,000 hectares in Pakistan

Excess weight or obesity is more deadly than previously believed According to a new study it boosts risk of death by anywhere from 22 per cent to 91 per cent The findings, published in the journal Population Studies, counter prevailing wisdom that excess weight boosts mortality risk only in extreme cases The study showed that groups with higher body mass index (BMI) have higher mortality rates contrary to numerous studies that show that heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes (which are often associated with being overweight) elevate mortality risk “The conventional wisdom is that elevated BMI generally does not raise mortality risk until you get to very high levels and that there are actually some survival benefits to being overweight,” said author Ryan Masters, Associate Professor of sociology at University of Colorado Boulder, US He noted that BMI, which doctors and scientists often use as a health measure, is based on weight and height only and doesn’t account for differences in body composition or how long a person has been overweight “It’s a reflection of stature at a point in time That s it, said Masters, noting that “it isn’t fully capturing all of the nuances and different sizes and shapes the body comes in ” To see what happened when those nuances were considered Masters looked at data from 17,784 people, including 4,468 deaths He discovered that a full 20 per cent of the sample characterised as healthy weight had been in the overweight or obese category in the decade prior When set apart, this group had a substantially worse health profile than those in the category whose weight had been stable, Medical Daily reported Collectively, the findings confirm that studies have been significantly affected” by BMI-related bias According to most studies, the “overweight” category (BMI 25-30) surprisingly has the lowest mortality risk Those in the “obese” category (30-35) have little or no increased risk over the so-called “healthy” category (18 5-25) And both the underweight (less than 18 5) and extremely obese (35 and higher) are at increased risk of death However, Masters found those with low BMI (18 522 5) have the lowest mortality risk Contrary to previous research, the study also found no significant mortality risk increases for the underweight category Masters said he hopes the research will alert scientists to be “extremely cautious” when making conclusions based on BMI BEIJING

Chinese team’s hybrid wheat demonstration fields in Pakistan have been maintained at about 3 000-5 000 hectares

“From Peshawar and Islamabad in the north, Lahore in the center to Karachi in the south our hybrid wheat has performed well in all the major producing regions”, said Prof Zhao Changping, Chief Scientist of Hybrid Wheat Research Institute Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences in an interview with China Economic Net (CEN)

What s more gratifying is that through the cooperation of scientists from both sides, we discovered that using the Pakistani wheat varieties as distant parent to cross with Chinese wheat, the varieties produced are more dominant

In addition, hybridization of spring wheat in the southern wheat region and winter wheat in the northern wheat region can also produce dominant hybrids

The report stated The World Food Day highlights the need for global efforts to ensure food security in various countries of the world last year Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted, expressing his concerns over the impending food shortage in the wake of floods In 2022 devastating floods in Pakistan have destroyed standing crops on millions of hectares

Undoubtedly wheat a staple food has also been hit hard About 80 percent of farmers in Pakistan are engaged in wheat production, and the total area of wheat cultivation occupies as much as 40 percent of the total agricultural land in Pakistan

The importance of wheat production in Pakistan cannot be overstated

In addition to natural disasters such as floods and high temperatures, a series of challenges such as high seed and fertilizer prices also make Pakistan’s “wheat revolution increasingly urgent Over the years, a group of Chinese wheat experts working diligently and quietly here

Hybrid wheat is considered to be the first choice to solve the food crisis in the international agricultural science community,”

When it comes to China-Pakistan hybrid wheat cooperation, the selection and breeding of hybrid wheat varieties suitable for the local environment requires the cooperation of both parties

Therefore, we have established test sta-

tions in Peshawar Lahore and Yuanmou in Yunnan Province, which is very similar to Pakistan’s local climate,” Prof Zhao said

It is learned that so far the Chinese team’s hybrid wheat demonstration fields in Pakistan have been maintained at about 3 000-5 000 hectares

“From Peshawar and Islamabad in the north, Lahore in the center to Karachi in the

south our hybrid wheat has performed well in all the major producing regions”, emphasized Zhao “What’s more gratifying is that through the cooperation of scientists from both sides we discovered that using the Pakistani wheat varieties as distant parent to cross with Chinese wheat the varieties produced are more dominant In addition, hybridization of spring wheat in the southern wheat region and winter wheat in the northern wheat region can also produce dominant hybrids ”

“The emergence of new varieties has given us momentum as we solve the two main problems, yield and disease resistance,” added Prof Zhang Shengquan, Deputy Director of the Hybrid Wheat Research Institute of BAAFS, “In 2019, after nearly ten years of cooperation, the selected hybrid wheat combinations, such as the new variety BH1683, have increased by more than 20 percent in Pakistan for three consecutive years, and can be widely used in the wheat regions in central and northern Pakistan, including Lahore and Peshawar

P S L p a y m e n t s

IT would be easy to interpret the Punjab government’s demand for the Pakistan Cricket Board to pick up the tab for the extra expenditure on security on Pakistan Super League as a kind of police shakedown, of the Punjab government doing at an institutional level what individual police officers are said to do when confronted with a traffic violation, and ask for a backhand payment It is true that the PSL needs to be provided security especially after the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009 made teams refuse to come to Pakistan, which had to play all its home matches in Dubai Initially, even the PSL had to be played in the UAe initially because of the security threat It was a particularly key point because at this point, the PSL was the only way Pakistani audiences could see international stars live, in the form of foreign players playing for various PSL franchises The role of those PSL players should not be forgotten in bringing back international cricket to Pakistan

While it is undeniable that the PSL needs to be provided security, it is also undeniable that that security imposes extra expense on the police, which is the agency providing that security While security is a public good, it is perhaps unfair to expect the Punjab Police to shoulder the burden from its own resources especially when the activity it is supposed to be protecting is a money-making operation It is also unrealistic to expect the present Punjab government, which is a caretaker administration which does want to take any step which would leave it open to criminal prosecution later on

The PCB might like to contemplate the PSL being held without security cover, or even the necessary beefing up of the traffic police That alone would make it an unholy mess, and makes it necessary for personnel to be brought in from all over the province It would not be able to hold the event in Pakistan at all While a settlement has been reached, a rational basis needs to be worked out so that the PCB will know in advance what it will have to pay for PSL security, so that not only can it tell the franchises, but also work out the profitability of what is after all a commercial activity

Analysts say Pakistan could still avert a default Brad Setser, an economic policy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, said the country must negotiate a serious reprofiling of its payments Most of Pakistan’s external debt of around $100 billion is from multilateral and bilateral sources, including the Paris Club a mostly Western group of lenders, the IMF and China, which holds about $30 billion Only $8 billion of total debt is eurobonds ’ –

Excerpt from a February 23 2023 Bloomberg published article Pakistan faces the abyss again Debate rages on who should pay ’

UN L I K e a number of developed countries, including the USA, developing countries, like Pakistan, could neither provide anywhere near the needed level of stimulus–as a counter-cyclical policy, and to what extent it was practiced as an exception to the otherwise negotiated IMF programme, produced significant positive consequences in terms of economic and inclusive growth, something which the IMF itself acknowledged in one of its country reports and barring the political instability and consequences of war in Ukraine, current account and subsidy initiatives, especially on the fuel and energy side also remained reasonably manageable as per reportedly announced government policy of PTI– during the pandemic-causing recession nor do they find themselves with enough fiscal space to make needed non-austerity spending to move towards resilient and green economies

Lack of domestic resource mobilization a high level of imported inflation– especially in terms of food and energy costs in the wake of the supply chain crisis which got even more accentuated due to the war in Ukraine– and high debt repayment needs have contributed significantly to such a squeeze

Moreover inefficiency in making current expenditures, and lack of institutional reforms of public sector enterprises sucking-in bailout expenditures eat away fiscal space It needs to be clarified here that belt-tightening, cutting wasteful expenditure, or reducing inefficient expenditure is not austerity in the sense of economics literature by which it means cutting down development expenditure

Also, lack of provision of debt relief/moratorium under an overall meaningful debt restructuring mechanism in place on one hand as a combined effort by bilaterals, multilaterals, and private creditors, and inadequate provision of special drawing rights (SDRs) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) added to the debt distress of developing countries, and contributed to the narrowing of fiscal space available to them

In addition, lack of provision of climate finance has made it all the more difficult for developing countries some of them including Pakistan being highly climate change vulnerable as well, to make the needed investments to move towards a green economy

But, despite all these efforts, the major problems have persisted even after 75 years of independence The situation has remained the same or in some cases, it has even become worse Pakistan has been facing governance, economic education health ethnic and religious problems since its inception In some domains, the situation has become worse but the root cause remains the same

Why is that so? It is either because people are not selecting the right leadership to govern the country or the leadership does not deliver when in power

The people have not been able to select the best leadership that would have solved the problems of the country by taking effective steps The leadership did not or could not deliver whatever the circumstances may have been

The fault lies here And to move forward in the right direction one of these elements has to take the first step

We live in a country where both important constituent elements of the state, people, and the government, comprehend the problems the country is facing and provide their solutions as well The country is currently facing severe economic problems, from the depletion of foreign exchange reserves to the decline in the value of the Pakistani Rupee; the multiple challenges to the economy and their solutions are at the fingertips of government officials, political leaders, and the people who are educated and interested in state affairs It is not limited to educated people only, even apolitical people also have something to offer in this regard

Similarly all other matters of sheer importance like educational problems, ethnic and religious differences, flaws in democracy, and governance crises are deliberated on and talked about by the people political leaders and government representatives They identify the problems and give remedies

Which will come good first? It is somewhat similar to the debate, which came first? The chicken or the egg? However, this question needs an answer, and that too without any delay

What will happen first? The people will select the best leaders who will deliver when in government or any selected leadership in power will come good and deal with all these problems and take the country forward What is the way forward? How can the situation become better?

It has to be a gradual process It cannot happen overnight The founder of Pakistan envisioned a democratic state and democracy as the form of government in the country Democracy is a culture It has to be developed Once developed, it has the potential to take the country forward

For that purpose democracy needs to prevail in the country in whatever capacity it can Let society and the people gather the momentum for a change through the work of thinkers writers intellectuals academics and media The power of knowledge and reasoning has to be

On top of that a number of countries in IMF programmes, like Pakistan, have been asked under IMF programmes to produce a primary surplus that is even after making interest payments bringing expenditures below the level of revenues, has meant that countries need to make a significant cut to their development expenditures Sure countries could and should increase tax base, and make it progressive in terms of taxation

Yet, expecting these difficult political challenges in developing countries with decades of perpetuating elite capture to get dismantled in the face of quick demands of pandemic, high debt burden, and fast-unfolding climate change crisis is a virtually over-optimistic demand by multilaterals like IMF

This is particularly misplaced optimism, given a weak spirit of multilateralism being brought to the table, whereby a much easier option of greater financial support – allocation of SDRs for instance – and larger debt relief could lead to a much-needed increased fiscal space So, rather than expecting of developing countries to unshackle decades old grip of elite capture quickly or else practice austerity it is much better to support them financially and allow them to take the non-austerity, counter-cyclical policy route whereby the world as a whole reduces poverty and inequality on one hand, and gets more prepared to face the existential threat of climate change crisis, and current and likely future pandemics

Here, it also needs to be indicated that the neoliberal mindset of multilaterals like IMF, for instance, in the shape of mainly tackling inflation mainly through policy rate, needs to be revisited given the significant supply-side determined nature of inflation calls for a more modest monetary tightening approach being practiced in both developed and developing countries; where in the case of the latter, inflation is at least equally a fiscal phenomenon ever in routine times when there is no such global supply shock as is being faced in the wake of the pandemic, and accentuated by the war in Ukraine

Over-board monetary tightening has caused two major problems, while it has added to inflationary pressures through higher cost push inflation in the case of developed countries, leading to strengthening of wageinflation spiral, something that also gained strengthen from over-board stimulus provided during the pandemic, in the case of developing countries it has led to firstly, significant capital flight from developing countries, which not only put pressure on domestic currency and strengthened the imported inflationary channel, but also increased both external and domestic debt repayment levels; once again putting pressure on balance of payments, and added to imported inflationary channel

Moreover, wrong policy of central banks in developing countries of following the trend of interest rate hikes in developed countries, to retard capital flight –that is attracting highly volatile foreign portfolio investment, or hot money – added to cost of capital domestically and in turn contributed to the cost-push channel of inflation, and weaker and less inclusive economic growth; since only the already established businesses could afford the rising cost of capital

the guiding force

The political leaders when in government will never work for people unless they are answerable to people The best leaders cannot come from a vacuum or the existing rulers cannot change overnight

The status quo is not likely to create competent leadership or politically empowered people But, to make sure the track remains straight and clear democracy should prevail in the country Only then can one expect a change in the future The evolving history of modern democratic states offers examples

However, the working of democracy should be strengthened in the country The first step in this regard is the acceptance of the supremacy of the Constitution And, the working of every organ of the state within the constitutional limit everyone should let the system work But unfortunately, the system is being made to collapse from all sides No revolution or overhauling of the system is needed What is needed most is continuity The continuity of the system with the power of knowledge and reasoning as the guiding force for the people will bring change

And for that purpose society and the people need to evolve gradually under the guidance of knowledge imparted by intellectuals, academics, writers, media, and educational institutions

No one needs to be a revolutionary or a game changer No political leader or party should portray itself as the ultimate saviour No government should consider itself the ultimate government for the survival of the country And people should ignore any such temptation All should let democracy work according to the Constitution and be a part of the process B u t , u n f o r t u n a t e l y, t h e c o m p l e x h i s t o r y o f P a kistan especially the last year has only halted the worki n g o f d e m o c r a c y a n d h i n d e r e d t h e d e m o c r a t i c

Having said, the cost of capital has risen so much that even large-scale manufacturing, including the main exports industry in the shape of textiles, has also taken a big production dip Rising level of unemployment, in addition to rising level of inflation, even as austerity policies are being practiced – with economic growth rate, which was at around 6 percent during the closing months of last fiscal year, is now being estimated to just being in the positive, to around 2 percent!

Clearly, the IMF prescription, lack of SDR support, in addition to overall little debt relief being provided along with government’s virtually non-existent home growth, counter-cyclical, innovative policy, with greater progressive taxation, has meant the clouds of greater civil unrest and debt default are only getting thicker Ironically, having said, given a lack of reform policy response has only made it all the more important to keep the IMF programme alive as an important source to avoid default, it strongly appears, at least for the short-term horizon

Debt restructuring indeed will also play an important role, where in the absence of a well-functioning framework in place currently, which meaningfully allows all the creditors – bilaterals especially China multilaterals, and private creditors - to come together in a significantly effective way to help out developing countries in debt distress it makes a lot of sense that Pakistan should start a restructuring process with China, to which it reportedly owes around one-third of its external debt

At the same time both higher cost push inflation and cost of capital meant retarding the rate of economic growth, and with it lessening the domestic resource mobilization In IMF programme countries this has meant therefore, that no sustainable economic growth or debt repayment capacity gets built-up, in return for financial support brought through the programme Instead it just creates breathing space in terms of buying time for negotiating another IMF programme On the other hand, pursuing austerity and procyclical policies also does not allow moving towards a much-needed resilient, inclusive, green, sustainable economies

The fact that developing countries have weak democracies in general, with weak capacities and willingness, and even intention by the elites – who otherwise have the political and economic power to strongly influence policy – to allow reform that increases tax base, for instance, significantly contributes to prolonging the misery of putting the economy on the lines indicated above Having said, the fast-unfolding of existential threat in the shape of climate change crisis is quickly narrowing the window and will not allow either domestic elites to continue to pursue extractive political- and economic institutional design, or domestic policymakers and multilateral institutions to practice neoliberal, austerity, and procyclical policy

On the contrary, a non-neoliberal, non-austerity, counter-cyclical policy, on one hand, and a meaningful spirit of multilateralism on the other is needed, and in an urgent way to have a reasonable chance of effectively dealing with climate change crisis, and reduce high level of inequality; where the latter in addition to increasing negative economic consequences for the vast majorities of people globally, is also increasing political radicalization, and xenophobia, and overall, is weakening democracies

evolution in the country

Since the event of the vote of no-confidence last March, political polarization, and tussling have resulted in unconstitutional decisions and undemocratic practices time and again The increased resentment in people towards the system as a result of flawed politics has derailed the democratic evolution further

How long it will take to reach the ideal situation is not known But, it is a continuity that will lead to that stage In search of instant revolutions and transformations, the system should not be compromised The rise of populist leaders, democratic dictatorships, fascist regimes and authoritarian rules in the world is all because of the need for instant change The democratic evolution will buy its time but will give results So for that purpose we should let democracy prevail at least

The rising inflation and economic instability in the country will further hurt the working of democracy in the country by inviting public wrath against the system

The people are so agitated and crushed that they want instant results This means less use of reasoning and more use of impulses in selecting the leaders Given the circumstances, a change is not likely to take place immediately However, the continuity of democracy in the country will bring change in the future

For that purpose, the government representative, political leaders, and state institutions should at least take steps that don t hurt the state of democracy in the country Sanity needs to prevail And their actions should be progressive, not retrogressive

L e t t h e p e o p l e h a v e f a i t h i n t h e s y s t e m a n d b e ready for a change Knowledge and reasoning should guide them instead of impulses Let Impulses not overwhelm rationality in them They should prefer longterm benefits over short-term advantages In this way, they will be able to select the best leaders who will deliver when in power

People, politicians, state institutions, and the government all should remember that no one is above the state and they only exist because of Pakistan so every action they take should be beneficial to Pakistan

The writer is freelance columnist

While security is a public good, it should be remembered that the PSL makes money

D e a l i n g w i t h d e b t d i s t r e s s t h e n o n - a u s t e r i t y, c o u n t e r - c y c l i c a l w a y

The

combined

debt distress acute

Never before have members of elite institutions faced such criticism

cause it has limited hopes of winning them

Moreover, it would be disastrous for PDM if courts direct the election Commission of Pakistan to hold elections for provincial assemblies of KPK and Punjab PDM circles fear that JUI would be a loser in KPK and PML(N) would be in Punjab Ordering provincial elections in current circumstances would be a “masterstroke” of the cabal of five against the PDM and I believe the PDM realizes the situation

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

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

Unplanned influx

A N O T H e R wave of internal migration seems to be in the offing Karachi is already teeming with migrants hailing from different parts of the country who come to the city in search of livelihood Unfortunately, the physical and institutional infrastructure of the city does not have the capacity anymore to put up with mass influx

The process of migration surged after the floods last year and we witnessed people in large numbers relocating to the city With climate change a reality and the summer just a few months away the city might experience a similar pattern The floods were massive and the loss was heavy There can be no doubt about that The official response to the disaster has been negligible and efforts to restore rebuild and rehabilitate have not been noticeable in the areas that were affected

The burden of the incompetence of the relevant authorities has to be borne by Karachi and its residents The local administration is already struggling to keep the city functional and safe Unplanned influx of people only makes matters worse The city may well collapse if the trend continues in the future

The phenomenon of climate change is not going anywhere and migration from rural to urban areas is becoming a trend The government must take preemptive measures to discourage this trend which could jolt the foundation of urban centres in the country and change demography for which the government seems unprepared

FARHAN AHMED KARACHI

A bad influence

W e watch these days a politician handcuffed and smoking a cigar on television channels while in police custody He is under arrest for the last few days for remarks against a former president, accusing him of hatching a murder plot to eliminate an opposition leader

He is a senior politician but I am surprised to watch him smoking cigars in public outside courts when he is brought there for hearing What lesson is a cigar-smoking senior politician giving to the young generation? Certainly not a good one because smoking is bad for health and a senior politician like him must not smoke publicly

Moreover, smoking in public harms the image of a public leader I suggest all politicians should stop smoking cigars at least in public for their own good and for the good of the young generation

EJAZ AHMAD MAGOON DOHA, QATAR

George eliot was an english novelist, poet, and journalist of the Victorian era She is known for the strong lines she used to write in her novels

One of her famous set of lines includes her historic comments about the braveness of humans for losing instead of winning a war She says: Any coward can fight a battle when he s sure of winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he’s sure of losing”

Ithink Maryam Nawaz gets inspiration

from famous philosophers, writers, and politicians like eliot who had a firm belief that sometimes losing is actually winning

Maryam’s latest advice to her uncle, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is not to care about his government which according to her is a “leftover” of the previous PTI-led government, and to hold people accountable who are responsible for what Pakistan had been going through in last five years, resulting now a devastated economy and turbulent political weather

She had given names of the “cabal of five” and according to her understanding, they are behind the current political and economic crises Pakistan is facing Her direct attack on the cabal of five can end her political career if she gets punishment for contempt of court like former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani had Three out of five persons she accused of undermining the democratic process in the country are enjoying their retirements and the history of Pakistan testified that nobody would ever try them for anything wrong they had allegedly done when they were in service

The late General Musharraf was a fugitive and got a death sentence from a special court in Pakistan but he was laid to rest in Karachi with full national honours and guard of honour The Parliament he suspended offered prayers for his departed soul This is what Pakistan is and we have to accept the realities Moreover, history confirms that the brave are hanged and cowards are awarded then why does Maryam Nawaz want to be brave? I have no answer

Political circles are of the view that the PDM is not enjoying the government since April 2022 and the only role it has is to face the wrath of the people because of skyrocketing price hikes and a melting economy The PDM would not contest by-elections that would be held in March be-

The PDM leadership believes that before it is thrown under the truck, the masterstroke it can play is to take off its all guards and build a strong narrative that is needed desperately The risk is high to accuse two retired and two sitting judges so Maryam Nawaz is acting as a suicide bomber, but she is not alone Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Defence Minist e r K h A s i f a l s o a c c u s e d j u d g e s o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t o f b e i n g b i a s s e d a g a i n s t t h e r u l i n g P M L ( N ) a n d d e m a n d e d t h a t b o t h s h o u l d r e c u s e t h e m s e l v e s f r o m t h e c a s e s against party leaders A n a u d i o l e a k i n w h i c h a S u p r m e C o u r t j u d g e i s a l l e g e d l y t a l k i n g w i t h f o r m e r C h i e f M i n i s t e r C h P e r v a i z elahi needs a forensic t e s t b e c a u s e I c a n n o t a c c e p t a j u d g e o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t c o u l d b e s o r e c k l e s s t h a t h e i s n o t o n l y h i d i n g a w a n t e d p e r s o n a t h i s r e s i d e n c e b u t a l s o c o n f i r m i n g h i s a c t o n a t e l e p h o n e ; i n f o r mi n g C h P e r v a i z e l l a h i that Muhammad Khan was at his (the judge) residence

We had an audio leak of Mr Justice Abdul Qayyum Malik in the past, but he tendered his resignation after the Supreme Court termed his conduct ‘biassed’ while deciding an appeal of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto against her conviction in a corruption case We will see what action the Supreme Court would take for the forensics of this audio leak and consequent actions against those who fabricate this audio or against former CM Punjab if the audio is not fake and fabricated

Grumbling expats

enough to understand that the powerful are beyond any accountability in Pakistan

Today, even a banana seller is talking that elites are real owners of Pakistan while the common citizen is a slave who works to provide taxes for elites to enjoy lavish livings in public sector offices and residences I strongly believe that all powerful institutions are collaborating with each other and safeguarding each other by following the dual principles that they are too big to fail and too big to jail so they are neither ready to accept their failures nor ready to face any consequences for whatever transgression they are committing or have already committed against the public and the country

The public is openly asking what the motherland is providing to the public. Is the public enjoying equal respect, rights, and living standards that an officer of the bureaucracy, militar y, judiciar y, and members of parliament are enjoying?

I am of the view that Pakistan has entered into a phase where abuse of power is no more tolerable for the public, and although the public cannot limit abuse of power, at least it is now expressing the view that Pakistan is a model of modern slavery in which the public is a tool to collect and provide taxes to the State, and elite institutions are there to enjoy the hard-earned money of the public

Irrespective of the credibility of this audio, it has provided an opportunity for the PDM leadership to raise their fingers against the judiciary and expose the division in the higher judiciary

One by one; important institutions in Pakistan are facing situations they had never thought of before Just imagine, former and sitting members of powerful institutions are facing accusations but their institutions are still shy to take any action against those who are accusing them without reason, or taking action against former or sitting members if they were really involved in misconduct People irrespective of the political divide are openly blaming powerful institutions for protecting their sitting or former employees even if they are involved in illegal activities, and the burial of former military dictator Musharraf with a guard of honour is

This realization cannot be handled by selling the idea of “protection of motherland” or by telling people that the public has some duties towards the state Now the public is openly asking what the motherland is providing to the public Is the public enjoying equal respect, rights, and living standards that an officer of the bureaucracy military judiciary and members of parliament are enjoying?

Vladimir Lenin in his book The State and Revolution writes that the capitalist State has the inherent nature to work as a tool for class oppression and that it ensures the social control of the ruling class He says that even in a democratic capitalist republic, the ruling class never relinquishes political power, maintaining it “behind-the-scenes Can we decipher behind-thescenes” operators?

The writer is an international award winning journalist who has been in the field since 1988 and appears in national and international media as analyst and political scientist

I F you watch vlogs, you must be aware of the ‘new world’ emerging out there Recently I noticed something in one of the vlogs by a couple in Canada This family has migrated from Pakistan The husband fell sick and had to be hospitalised Now, instead of praising the Canadians or talking about the disease both the husband and wife veered off into how bad Pakistan and its healthcare happen to be

I am not saying that Pakistani health- care is great, but I hate to hear about it being bad from people who do not even live here Why degrade Pakistan while you are living abroad? You do not live here; period In another vlog, they made fun of how ‘desis’ happen to be

Never have I seen an Indian or a Sri Lankan degrading their country like we do in the name of ‘truth’ and ‘honour ’ It simply did not occur to the smart couple that if someone should be blamed, it should be the corporate entities who might have been at fault

As a nation, why are we always the ones washing our dirty linen in public at the first opportunity? People do not prefer Gulf countries due to their healthcare systems; do you hear them cry? Why should one drag Pakistan into everything? We get it; you did not like it and left Good for you Now leave us

It is this very mindset that works behind our news headlines every day Why bad? Why always bad? The more I check Twitter, the less I want to be a Pakistani There are people in Afghanistan, Iran and Sierra Leone with more pride than us I am not saying we should not be critical, or live in a utopian society but we should be careful whenever we talk about our country Nobody likes to call themselves ugly We are naïve to criticise everything in our country at international forums and on social media

There is a dire need to break this cycle and search and post something positive, and it must start from home As for the expatriates, who never miss an opportunity of finding faults, please get a life

SAMAN HAMID PESHAWAR

Let histor y be the judge

T H e news of the passing away of Gen Pervez Musharraf was received in Pakistan with grief by a vast but silent majority Back in 1999 when he had taken over the seat of power in a bloodless military coup, the expression of sentiments was much more widespread He did a lot in his capacity as the chief executive, focussing on turning loss-making state organisations into profit-earning ones Helped by the renewed American interest in the region in the wake of the infamous 9/11 incident he steered the country out of troubled waters

Always keeping ‘Pakistan first’, he opted for reconciliation in national politics which resulted in free and fair general elections It was easy for him to get the results of his choice to ensure a vote of confidence, but he followed the due path and resigned as army chief when he was pressed hard by the elected represen-tatives Belonging to a highly educated and cultured family, the general was disgraced in front of the media by the fraternity of lawyers When prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan was martyred nobody demanded justice When the government of Khwaja Nazimuddin was dismissed by the governor-general, the action was validated by the judiciary No murmurs were heard when Ayub Khan abrogated the Constitution twice The same happened in the case of Ziaul Haq But Musharraf was charged with high treason later in life

The period of Musharraf ’s rule was one of the most difficult and challenging ones, but he steered Pakistan tactfully ashore We will better leave it for the future historians to sit in judgment over the gains made and losses suffered during that period of our national life

AQIL

‘Too big to fail’ and ‘too big to jail’

in D I A’S tax crackdown on the BBC, weeks after it aired a documentary critical of Prime Minister narendra Modi, has made news around the world

But foreign correspondents based in the country say this is not the first act of hostility by the Modi government

Privately, since 2019, they allege they have been facing visa uncertainty, denial of travel permits, even deportation threats prompting them to conduct internal surveys to capture the extent of the harassment

These surveys, which Scroll has seen, paint a picture of growing intimidation which many respondents attributed to their critical reporting of the government They said the government wanted to suppress coverage of the persecution of religious minorities in India and regions such as Kashmir and Assam

Many left anonymous comments in the surveys stating that they had been “summoned” by officials and ministers and shown “files” and “spreadsheets” detailing their negative coverage A journalist working for a european news organisation recounted an instance of the Indian embassy in their home country emailing the publication, asking it not to cover Muslim persecution (Scroll has reviewed this email sent by a senior Indian diplomat to the news organisation in 2020 Identifying details are being withheld on request )

The Foreign Correspondents Club in Delhi has shared the findings of these surveys with the Ministry of external Affairs, officials on the board of the club said The discussions are ongoing one of them said requesting anonymity “The ministry has told us they will be taking up the issues with the relevant authorities ”

Scroll has sought a response from the ministry to the allegations made by the foreign journalists in the surveys The ministry is yet to respond

RESTRICTING ACCESS: The surveys were conducted by journalists based in Delhi, who are members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, among foreign correspondents all over the country The first survey was carried out among 40 journalists in January 2020, in the aftermath of major upheavals in Indian Occupied Kashmir and Assam

In August 2019, the Indian government revoked the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir As foreign journalists prepared to travel to report on the impact of the move, they were told by the external affairs ministry that they had to seek prior permission to travel anywhere in

T H E Y S A I D T H E G O V E R N M E N T WA N T E D TO S U P P R E S S CO V E R AG E O F T H E P E R S E C U T I O N O F R E L I G I O U S M I N O R I T I E S I N I N D I A A N D

R E G I O N S S U C H A S K A S H M I R A N D A S S A M

Indian Occupied Kashmir, including the capital, Srinagar

Until then, only parts of Jammu and Kashmir were included in the government’s list of restricted and protected areas for which foreign journalists require travel permits from the home ministry even the partial restriction on travel to J&K had gone largely unenforced, barring a brief period in 1990, according to journalists who have been in the country for decades

The noose, however, had started tightening since 2016 In May that year, the external affairs ministry sent an email to foreign correspondents reiterating that travel permits were required for visiting nagaland Sikkim Andaman and nicobar Islands, and parts of Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Indian Occupied Kashmir Two years later it sent another reminder on similar lines

But in August 2019, it extended the restrictions to the whole of Jammu and Kashmir which has resulted in a near-total ban on foreign reporting from the former state that is now directly governed by new Delhi no foreign correspondent has since independently gone on a reporting trip to the Kashmir valley

Around the same time, Assam was updating its national Register of Citizens – a highly contentious exercise that critics said targeted religious and linguistic minorities Although Assam was not officially on the list of places that foreign correspondents required a permit to visit, a foreign journalist was allegedly put back on a plane by state authorities in September 2019

The January 2020 survey attempted to capture the extent of this clampdown Of the 30 foreign journalists who had applied for travel permits in 2019 – most to report from Kashmir and Assam – 21 never heard back

One of the respondents stated: “Applied in late 2018 for permit [sic] to Kashmir, and got it Reported there in Jan/Feb 2019 Applied for Kashmir permit again in Aug 2019, but never got a reply MeA said ‘application under review ’ Checked back every few weeks/months, and no response Applied in Dec 2019 for Assam and was told the process now takes 10 weeks, and that I must show airline & hotel bookings that far in advance have not yet re-applied with that info mostly out of frustration

According to the latest guidelines of the external affairs ministry shared with foreign correspondents, restricted and protected places now include all eight north

eastern states, the whole of Indian Occupied Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman and nicobar Island, Lakshadweep, and “international border areas” in himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan The new document also puts in writing the time the home ministry would take for processing these permits: “8-10 weeks”

WEAPONISING VISA EXTENSIONS? A second survey was conducted in April 2021 – 41 journalists participated in it It was wider in scope Apart from travel permits, it delved into matters of visas and “working conditions , since the Modi government had by then started weaponising the extension of visas journalists who carried out the survey explained

In some cases, the extension given to foreign correspondents perceived to be critical of the administration could be as little as six months (in some cases, even three), said respondents Scroll spoke to Five journalists who participated in the survey said their visas were extended only for six months or less when they last applied

A journalist who participated in the survey that year wrote “I was summoned to the Indian high commission in [redacted] when applying for my visa and told my stories were too anti-government This after the ministry of home affairs wrote a letter to my editor following a story I wrote on Tablighi Jamaat to complain”

Another journalist wrote, When I applied for my visa extension abroad the Consulate requested me to write positive stories on [narendra] Modi’s success ”

Several journalists wrote about being summoned by officials for their coverage of Kashmir In this survey too, journalists expressed frustration about not getting reporting permits to report from the protected areas like Kashmir and the north east in time That year 96% of those who applied did not get the permit

Wrote a journalist: “I applied to do some time-sensitive reporting in Assam on the pandemic and was assured I would receive a permit within ten days That did not happen First I was asked to resubmit the application with revised dates for my trip three weeks later than originally planned I did so, then received no answer for more than a month After inquiring again, I was asked to resubmit the application for a second time but told it would take up to four weeks to process It’s impossible to do timely journalism – or indeed any journalism – in areas restricted by the government under the current system

The results of both the 2020 and 2021 surveys were separately shared with the external affairs ministry soon after their conclusion, members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club said

ANOTHER SURVEY, MORE CONCERNS: A third survey was conducted in February, 2022 The number of participants in this survey was significantly lower: 21 foreign correspondents Those conducting the survey attributed the drop in participation to the lack of any tangible improvements in the working conditions of the foreign press despite the previous two surveys being shared with the government

In terms of broader patterns, the recent survey mirrors the previous two rounds not a single participant who applied for a special reporting permit in 2021 had received it “I am not applying anymore as the clearance is never given said a journalist The level and extent of intimidation, however, seems to have risen A journalist claimed to have been “followed, interrogated”, and their interviewee threatened while covering a story on the persecution of Christians in Karnataka

Another journalist alleged “physical threats from the Indian authorities even as a third correspondent said they had been “threatened with deportation twice” Visa extensions, according to the survey, remain a tool to penalise unflattering coverage A foreign correspondent claimed they had “received two times a six-month visa in the last three years as a warning” “I was summoned to the MeA who criticised my work, they said Said another journalist: “I feel like it has been used as a tool to punish me when the Indian authorities do not like stories I write I was given a two-month visa, which stopped me from renting property or leaving the country to visit sick and ailing family members I have worked here for over three years and never had a visa for longer than six months ”

‘VICIOUS CYCLE’ Scroll spoke to several journalists who participated in these surveys Apart from these concerns they lamented the government’s lack of willingness to engage with them in good faith and being constantly accused of having an agenda

“We have been reaching out to them ” said a european journalist “We may have a certain perspective, but that doesn t mean we are right or we won t correct it, but for that we need to talk ”

One of the respondents in the survey made a similar point even though we are diligent in going to the relevant ministry and the Prime Minister ’s office for comment, people rarely respond and when they do it is to deliberately prevent any real interaction between the media and the government ” the journalist said “hence the government feels its views are not properly represented – it is a vicious circle

Wh e n use of the internet became widespread, downloading products for free was considered one of its main advantages The record and movie industries shuddered at the rise of napster and Torrent file-sharing As the internet became more established, more companies emerged offering free services, such as social media apps and search engines They could afford not to charge because they had hundreds of millions of users from whom they extracted invaluable data to feed so-called targeted advertising And they were showered with investment from venture capital funds eager to join the party

But that model seems to have had its day Twitter was the first to challenge it Its new owner South African tycoon elon Musk, snapped up the platform for $44 billion with the idea that it had to start making money Twitter Blue the social network’s paid service had an erratic start, but has since gathered momentum now Meta CeO Mark Zuckerberg has decided to do the same with his two big social networks Facebook and Instagram We started rolling out Meta Verified, a subscription service

that allows you to verify your account with an official ID, get a blue badge, additional protection against impersonation and direct access to customer service,” he said over the weekend on his corporate blog The price: $11 99 (€11 3) per month Twitter costs $8 (€7 5)

Is this the beginning of the end of free products on the internet? not necessarily but it does suggest that those remaining will be fewer and of poorer quality “What is happening now is normal, it had to come sooner or later,” says Rodrigo Miranda general director of the Business and Technology School for the Digital era (ISDI) “Massive technology business models with very small margins per user are based on first volume and second on monetizing it,” he explains This is the basis of freemium models – a combo of free and premium – in which 95% of users access the service for free while the paying 5% is targeted for expansion Or 100% free platforms, as many social networks have been until now, when they are suddenly starting to charge for their services

If that leap hasn’t happened before, it’s because capital was flowing “In recent years, there was so much money in the market that many have lived off massive rounds of financing,” says José Carlos Cortizo, head of marketing at the digital strategy consultancy Product hackers Ultimately, you lived on what they gave you to do crazy things Digital businesses were growing so fast that you didn’t have to think about other formulas ”

The other key that explains why social networks such as Twitter and Instagram have decided to charge for their services is that people are willing to pay “Users are already used to these platforms solving their day-to-day problems, so the barrier to spending money on these services is relatively low,” adds Miranda

The internet has matured enough to make it viable, and increasingly common to monetize projects of all kinds,” says Cortizo Social media are not the only ones to have jumped on the bandwagon ChatGPT, OpenAI s conversational tool that has put the spotlight on generative artificial intelligence thanks to its free beta version, has also announced the launch of a subscription model that allows access to an improved version Will we end up seeing paid search engines? This cannot be ruled out, especially if the race – currently between Microsoft and Google – to integrate intelligent chatbots continues

ADJUSTMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY COMPA-

NIES: The big tech companies have started 2023 the same way they ended 2022: by laying off employees Staff cuts have been in the tens of thousands after the five giants – Alphabet Amazon Apple Meta and Microsoft – doubled their workforce in the three previous years The surge in consumption of digital products, fueled in large part by the pandemic encouraged a simultaneous surge of optimism in Silicon Valley that proved unjustified Their profits have contracted, and the re-

sponse has been to scale back on staff

Curiously, this trend in cutbacks was also started by elon Musk who made more than half of Twitter ’s workforce redundant shortly after his takeover So, this extraordinarily wealthy businessman who has become famous for his Tesla electric cars and space rockets was the one who triggered the rash of redundancies in tech while launching the subscription model in a social media company known for its lack of profits For the time being, only Meta has followed suit in this respect, perhaps as a way to compensate for the so far unsuccessful investment in the metaverse and a drop in advertising

But, in fact, paying to use a social network is nothing new LinkedIn has been offering that option for some time and it is doing well “OnlyFans too If you want qualified, segmented content, and if you’re keen to get rid of trolls and people you d rather avoid, subscription models are the way to go ” Miranda says Demanding money for a service that has been offered for free for years is, at the very least, bold As is offering less security to anyone who doesn t pay which is what happens now on Twitter “You have to try to encourage subscriptions by offering something better in return, rather than making what you already had worse says the ISDI director If other social media companies decide to charge users too and if other services that have been free until now cease to be so, we will witness the unfolding of an unprecedented scenario The entire internet will compete for profit share – to be part of the monthly expenses of users who already pay to read the newspaper, listen to music and watch TV series Will they also have to pay to show off their holiday snaps?

M o d i i s t r y i n g t o s i l e n c e t h e

f o r e i g n p r e s s . h e r e ’ s h o W

PM

unveils BOP Freelancer Segment , Credit Card at PMyB&alS Event

LAHORE: Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif has launched the BOP Freelancer Segment and Credit Card at a ceremony for cheque distribution among the beneficiaries of the Prime Minister s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme (PMYB&ALS) The event was part of on-going ‘Week of Youth’ celebrations Mr Zafar Masud (President and CEO – BOP) and other senior officials of BOP were also present at the occasion The Bank of Punjab (BOP) one of the leading financial institutions of Pakistan, through this proposition, aims to improve financial access of freelancer community by addressing their transactional lending and payment related needs Additionally, this initiative will also enhance the country’s potential of attracting foreign exchange Addressing the ceremony Mr Zafar Masud (President and CEO –BOP) said, “There are around 3 million freelancers in Pakistan Freelancers contributed $400m out of the total information and communication technologies export remittances of $2 616 billion recorded by the country during FY 2022, while their potential is worth billions of dollars Through our freelancer segment & credit card initiative we aim to unlock this potential and help the economy Freelancers and IT professionals can open Freelancer Digital Accounts in both PKR and USD which can help bring foreign remittances through official channels and can support enhanced credit and debit limits of up to USD 5,000 per month & USD 30,000 per annum In addition IT professionals and companies are now allowed to retain 35% of their export proceeds in such special foreign currency accounts, in an aim to bring and retain foreign exchange earnings Furthermore freelancers can get BOP PSEB co-branded Debit & Credit cards These cards give access to exciting tech-related discounts at our alliance partners and boast features customized for this segment, such as better transaction limits We’re thankful to our partners MasterCard and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) for their tireless efforts in making this possible p R

EdiSOn alliance announces vrg as Pakistani par tner

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND: The EDISOn Alliance is the World Economic Forum (WEF) global initiative focused on improving digital inclusion and supporting underserved communities worldwide Partners which have made commitments to improve digital inclusion across health, finance, education, and career development include American Tower, Apollo Hospitals AstraZeneca Axiata Bahrain Bangladesh BBVA Microfinance Foundation, Bharti Enterprises, #BlackTechFutures Research Institute, Crescent Enterprises, Darsel, Dell Technologies Digital Opportunity Trust Digital Skills Foundation Ericsson, Fondation Jeunesse numérique, Giga, Global66, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei, Indonesia, Inmarsat, Kredivo Mamotest Mastercard Maternity Foundation The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, MTn, nITI Aayog, nokia, Qualcomm, Singapore, Southern Communities Initiative (SCI), Tony Elumelu Foundation, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Verizon, Western Union, Women in Tech (https://www edisonalliance org/get-involved) These partners are committed to work towards improving digital inclusion and supporting underserved communities worldwide WEF s EDISOn Alliance, through its “1 Billion Lives Challenge”, will provide full access to its network for support and resources, actively spotlighting new financing mechanisms to accelerate their goals The newest EDISOn Alliance partner is Pakistan’s Virtual Remittance Gateway (VRG) Using the USSD technology by introducing, World Bank s financial inclusion initiative focusing also on women's financial inclusion the Asaan Mobile Account (AMA) Scheme, regulated by both State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) (financial institutions) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) (telcom companies) Impacting 7 3 million lives in Pakistan in just 14 months, 41% of accounts have been opened by women in contrast to 18% of normal Bank Accounts VRG is committed to improving the lives of 30 million people in Pakistan by 2025 Providing digital financial services focusing on mobile wallets and low-cost e-payments using USSD technology VRG’s aim is to provide affordable and accessible solutions to underserved communities in Pakistan with digital banking services, micro-credit, and micro-insurance available to the population unbanked 80% of the in Pakistan p R

Sindh CM SayS lEgiSl aTivE, ExECuTivE wEakEnEd dEliBEraTEly

KARACHI

S

SInDH Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the protection of the Constitution of 1973 was not the responsibility of any citizen or a person in uniform, but it lay on the shoulders of the Legislature, Judiciary, and executive

“We have to restore the constitution of 1973 in its original form as was written This he said while speaking at a seminar organized to celebrate the 1973 Constitution at the Auditorium of Sindh Assembly Mr Shah said that the Constitution of 1973 was passed unanimously by the national Assembly It is our responsibility as citizens to abide by the constitution He added that there were three most important and glaring words in the constitution – “preserve protect and defend” for which we, the Executive, the legislature, and the judiciary took oath while taking over our respective positions

The CM said that the members of the legislative assemblies/houses

chief ministers, ministers, and the judiciary took an oath to protect the constitution, preserve it, and defend it “This is the constitution that strengthens the three pillars – the legislation the judiciary, and the executive,” he said, adding, “how these institutions have been weakening I would discuss in my speech,” he said Mr Shah said that when the 1973 construction had fixed three qualifications for becoming a member of the assembly, they included that he/she should be national of the country with

a minimum age of 25 years age (30 years for a member of the Senate) and should have a solid state of mind He added that the constitution had also fixed some parameters for disqualification for being a member of the assembly such as dual nationality, unsolid state of mind defaulter and in government service

Mr Shah said that when Gen Zia came into power he increased the parameters of qualifications for a member of the assembly from three to seven just to weaken the legislature now it

to €1 2 billion, said a press release issued here

Italian exports to Pakistan were around € 800 million in the same period Pakistan has a surplus with Italy, he added He said Pakistan remains an attractive market for Italian manufacturers and businessmen Sheheryar Khan said the ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrerese fully supported both countries in enhancing trade and increasing investments

The Pakistani and Italian companies are collaborating to strengthen the economical partnerships between countries

is not my voter but someone else who decides if I am honest, abide by Islamic ideology, and so on, he lamented

The CM said that in place of four parameters of disquisition 16 have been inserted in the constitution and then the judiciary understood how the legislative and executive could be weakened further

Originally under the 1973 Constitution once the Returning Officer declared the nomination papers of any candidate valid they could not be challenged or there was no provision of appeal but General Zia introduce Appellate Tribunals this is how the legislature was weakened, and “today were are weak because the sword of disqualification keeps hanging over the head of the legislature for his entire tenure of five years, he deplored

The Chief Minister talking about the Executive said it has been weakened He added that under Article 248 the Executive, the PM, federal ministers, CM, and provincial ministers had immunity before any court of law but now we all, me and almost all my cabinet members were appearing in the court in different cases

The bilateral trade volume between Italy and Pakistan has grown exponentially to €2 billion last year said the Honorary Investment Consular to Milan Italy, Muhammad Sheheryar Khan said on Sunday, similarly Pakistani exports exceed imports in Italy

Talking to Chairman UK-Pakistan Business Council and Pakistan Furniture Council Mian Kashif Ashfaq, Muhammad Sheheryar said although global trade shrank during the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s exports to Italy in 2022 grew

Talking about Italian products, he said Italian companies produced high-quality goods which were being appreciated across the world

In Pakistan, only good quality matters as traders and businessmen do not compromise on quality

The economic partnership between both countries has created an environment to explore the talent of youth in Pakistan,” he added Mian Kashif Ashfaq said the Italian embassy in Pakistan granted more than 1500 visas to Pakistani business people and families who visited Italy to explore business opportunities at the same time

Vaccinators’ shor tage hits children vaccination campaign

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

The children immunization programme is facing s e v e r e m a n p o w e r c r i s i s a s t h e r e a r e 9 8 0 v a c a n t p o s i t i o n s o f v a c c i n a t o r s a c r o s s t h e p r o v i n c e i ncluding Lahore

As per details the children immunization drive is badly affecting since 202 seats of vaccinators out of 546 are vacant in Lahore

British Council announces STEM scholarships for 2023-24

ISLAMABAD

The government has failed to induct vaccinators on the vacant seats for a long time

It merits mentioning here that the decision to r e c r u i t v a c c i n a t o r s w a s m a d e l a s t y e a r b u t i t proved to be a mere verbiage because it could not be implemented I t i s b e c o m i n g e x c e e d i n g l y d i ff i c u l t t o a c h i e v e t h e g o a l s o f E x p a n d e d P r o g r a m m e o n Immunization (EPI) programme owing to shortage of vaccinators

Chinese company gifts shoes worth Rs38m for flood-hit Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

A Chinese company has gifted sports shoes worth Rs38 million as goodwill gesture to mitigate the sufferings of flood affectees in Pakistan

The unprecedented floods caused by climate changeinduced rains in the country submerged nearly one-third of Pakistan in 2022 affecting some 33 million people and washing away hundreds of thousands of animals, houses bridges schools hospitals and other infrastructures The record-breaking rain and floods claimed 1,700 lives and displaced over 7 9 million people last year

According to China Leather Industry Association the company launched an initiative named “Put on Chinese Shoes Rebuild new Home in January

The company, one of the leading sports brand companies in China, took action to express its care for the flood-affected people in Pakistan

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin Ul Haque has expressed his sincere thanks to the company for its generous help to the flood-stricken groups in Pakistan

He said the donation made him felt once again the warmth of the Chinese people towards the Pakistani people

According to a World Bank report published on October 28 2022 the floods inflicted over $30 billion losses across Pakistan

The assessment estimates total damages to exceed $14 9 billion, and total economic losses to reach about $15 2 billion Estimated needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a resilient way are at least $16 3 billion ” read the report

PAkISTAN cLINcHES OVER $10b fLOOD AID

PLEDgES: In January 2023, Pakistan secured $10 7 billion in flood pledges, well over a targetted $8 billion as it scrambles to mobilise funds to rehabilitate the devastated 33 million population and repair damages worth billions

The cash-strapped nation clinched the pledges at the one-day International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in Geneva after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched an $8 billion flood aid appeal, aimed at helping the country overcome the devastation caused due to the cataclysmic floods

The British Council Pakistan has announced the third cohort of Scholarships for Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) for women Over 100 scholarships are available to women STEM scholars from Asia and the Americas to pursue a master ’s degree in the United Kingdom, out of which 48 scholarships are reserved for women STEM scholars from Pakistan and other South Asian countries, awarded on a merit basis with no country-specific cap The scholarships will help enhance careers in STEM for the selected women scholars and enable them to promote research and innovation in their home country through their exposure to the expertise in the UK s renowned STEM fields, said a news release Partnering with 21 universities across the UK, the scholarship scheme will provide scholars with a fully-funded master ’s degree or an Early Academic Fellowship at a UK university, including covering tuition fees stipend travel costs visa health coverage fees, special support for mothers and English language support The scholarships will also provide the scholars with a long-lasting platform to connect with the UK through active engagement in the alumni network and inspire the next generation of women in STEM In the last cohort 115 scholars were selected globally which included 15 women scholars from Pakistan Country Director, British Council Pakistan, Amir Ramzan said, The UK has a world-renowned higher education sector that is truly international These scholarships will enable talented women to take up a life-changing opportunity to develop their careers in their chosen STEM fields, and then to harness the experience to make a greater impact for good when they return home

“Last year ’s scholars from Pakistan studied exciting and diverse areas including Digital Health Systems, Data and Decision Analytics, Virtual and Augmented Reality and Environmental Sustainability I would highly encourage talented women from across Pakistan to apply for this scholarship at the earliest The scholarship is also open to women with dependents to apply, with extra support The deadline for application differs according to the university but is between March and May 2023 Students are encouraged to check individual university deadlines They can visit www britishcouncil org/study-workabroad/in-uk/scholarship-women-stem for more details about the eligibility criteria for the scholarship, or other information including a full list of participating UK universities available courses and university-specific deadlines

Italy, Pakistan trade volume grown exponentially to €2b last year: Sheher yar

C h i n a l et h a l a i d t o R U s s i a w o U l d

C o M e at R e a l C o s

WASHINGTON

Ag e n c e s

Ch I n A has not moved toward providing lethal aid that would help Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and the United States has made clear behind closed doors that such a move would have serious consequences White house national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday

“Beijing will have to make its own decisions about how it proceeds, whether it provides military assistance, but if it goes down that road, it will come at real costs to China,” Sullivan said in an interview with Cnn’s “State of the Union” program China has not moved forward in providing that aid, but neither has Beijing taken that option off the table, Sullivan said in a separate interview on ABC s “This Week” program US officials have warned their Chinese counterparts behind closed doors

t s , U s s ay s

weighed in regarding China on Sunday

Jordan hosting israeli Palestinian talks to avert escalation in violence

AMMAN

Ag e n c i e s

about what those costs might be Sullivan said, but he would not elaborate on those private discussions

The United States and its nATO allies have been scrambling to warn China

Macron to visit China after Beijing’s Ukraine peace plan

PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would visit China in April and urged Beijing to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine China has sought to position itself as a neutral party on the conflict, even as it has maintained close ties with Russia and helped scuttle a joint statement condemning the war at a G20 gathering in India

It published a 12-point position paper on Friday that called for urgent peace talks and a “political settlement” to end the conflict Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday also expressed hopes to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, calling it “important for world security”

Macron said he would visit China in “early April” and urged Beijing to help put pressure on Russia to end the war “The fact that China is engaging in peace efforts is a good thing,” Macron said on the sidelines of an agricultural show in Paris, in reference to the position paper Peace was only possible if “Russian aggression was halted troops withdrawn and the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and its people was respected”, he added Earlier on Saturday, the Chinese foreign ministry said Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko would pay a state visit from February 28 to March 2 at Xi’s invitation

A long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko allowed his country to be used as a launchpad for Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western ally on February 24 last year

Kyiv has expressed concerns that Belarus could again support Moscow in its war effort, with the countries announcing the creation of a joint regional force last October Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik that Beijing was willing to work with Minsk to deepen mutual political trust during a phone conversation on Friday, China’s ministry said in a statement

China would also continue to support Belarus in maintaining national stability and oppose attempts by external forces to interfere in its internal affairs or impose “illegal” unilateral sanctions on Minsk, Qin told Aleinik D i p l o m at i c r i f t s e x p o s e D: The diplomatic rift between Beijing Moscow and the West was exposed on Saturday as G20 finance ministers failed to adopt a joint statement on the global economy after China sought to water down references to the Ukraine war

M

against such a move in recent days making public comments on their belief that China is considering providing lethal equipment to Russia CIA Director William Burns also

“We’re confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don t see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment,” Burns told the CBS program “Face the nation ” Republican Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the house of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said on This Week that the US intelligence shows drones are among the lethal weapons China has considered sending to Russia US President Joe Biden visited Kyiv and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last Monday promising new military aid for Ukraine worth $500 million Last week marked the first anniversary of Russia s invasion The United States has been by far the largest supplier of military assistance to help Ukraine repel betterequipped Russian forces Ukraine expects a major new Russian offensive soon

S u i c i d e s b y D a l i t , Ad i v a s i s t u d e n t s wo r r y i n g : C J I

NEW DELHI

Ag e n c e s noting that most students who die by suicide hail from Dalit and Adivasi communities, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said judges could not shy away from social realities

DY Chandrachud, delivering the convocation address at The national Academy of Legal Studies and Research (nALSAR), referred to the suicide by a Dalit student at the IIT Bombay saying such incidents involving victims from marginalised communities were becoming common Darshan Solanki, a first-year student hailing from Gujarat allegedly died by suicide on February 12 at the IIT, Bombay

“Judges cannot shy away from social realities and instances of judicial dialogue are common across the globe When the black lives matter movement emerged after the murder of George Floyd all nine judges of the US Supreme Court released a joint statement to the ju-

diciary on the degradation and devaluation of black lives the CJI said

Expressing concern over instances of suicides by students, the CJI wondered where our institutions were going wrong that students were forced to take their own lives

“Only recently I read about the suicide by a Dalit student at the IIT, Bombay It reminded me about the suicide by an Adivasi student at national Law University in Odisha last year My heart goes out to the f a m i l y m e m b e r s o f t h e s e s t u d e n t s h o w e v e r I a l s o have been wondering where our institutions are going wrong, that students are forced to give up their precious life the CJI said

he said the first step towards ending the same would be to stop allotment of hostel rooms based on marks secured in entrance exams “It can start with ending allotment of hostels on the basis of entrance marks, which leads to caste-based segregation he said I think the issue of discrimination is directly linked to the lack of empathy in educational institutions,” the CJI said

US secretar y of state says ‘profoundly saddened’ by earthquakes in Türkiye

ANKARA

Ag e n c e s

The US secretary of state on Sunday said that he is “profoundly saddened” by the devastation of last week s earthquakes in Türkiye

“Profoundly saddened to see firsthand the devastation of the earthquakes in Türkiye The United States remains committed to doing everything we can to help with rescue, relief, and recovery efforts,” Antony Blinken, who visited the earthquake-hit region along with

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Twitter

As part of his two-day visit to Türkiye which was hit by twin earthquakes earlier this month, Blinken arrived at the Incirlik Air Base in Adana on Sunday where he was welcomed by the Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu, for his part, said on Twitter: “Before our official meeting tomorrow, examined earthquake areas with Blinken, who is on solidarity visit to Türkiye ” On board a helicopter the duo examined the earthquake-stricken region

Jordan will host a meeting on Sunday between top Israeli and Palestinian security and political officials in hopes of halting a recent surge in violence that has stoked fears of wider escalation ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, officials said

They said the one-day meeting in the Red Sea port of Aqaba will bring top Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs together for the first time in many years, along with representatives of key regional parties US President Joe Biden s adviser on the Middle East, Brett McGurk, will also attend

The discussions are part of Jordan s stepped-up diplomatic engagement with Washington and regional partner Egypt to restore calm in Israel and the Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank and rebuild trust between the two sides, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity The meeting is aimed at giving Palestinians hope for a political future, a senior Jordanian official told Reuters If its objectives are achieved, “it will be reflected on the ground with decreased tensions,” he said The meeting offers a chance to halt a surge in Israeli-Palestinian clashes in recent months that has sparked Arab anger and international concern about a slide back to a wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict “Such a meeting has not happened in years It s a major achievement to get them together,” said the Jordanian official, who also requested anonymity In previous years, clashes have erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians around Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque at the height of Ramadan that coincided with Judaism’s Passover and Christian Easter

Jerusalem is holy to all three faiths Jordan is the custodian of al Aqsa a major mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City At least 62 Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians, have been martyred this year the Palestinian health ministry said Ten Israelis and a Ukrainian tourist died in alleged Palestinian attacks in the same period, according to Israel’s foreign ministry

Several Palestinian factions within mainstream Fatah to hamas and Islamic Jehad called on the Palestinian Authority to pull out of the meeting, saying it was a US-led plot against Palestinian aspirations You should announce your retreat from participating in this suspicious meeting and confront the occupation by all available means,” Basim naeem, a senior official of the Islamist hamas group that controls Gaza, said in a statement

A statement by the Palestinian Authority said its delegation will call on Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and move towards a peace deal that endorses a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as its capital

Blinken also announced Washington’s plan for an additional $100 million to provide lifesaving aid in Türkiye and Syria through the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration the humanitarian bureau of the State Department, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) “The US will continue to stand with the Turkish and Syrian people, he said

In response to the deadly twin quakes, the US has responded with $185 million in humanitarian assistance to date, Blinken said

Earlier this month, Jordan’s King Abdullah met Biden and held talks with McGurk in which the United States a staunch ally of Israel, Egypt and Jordan warned of the threats to regional security and lobbied for a resumption of stalled US-sponsored talks on Palestinian statehood

In addition to averting violence it is hoped Sunday’s meeting will halt unilateral measures by Israel, the Jordanian official said That “could eventually lead to further political engagement Jordan has been concerned about stepped-up Jewish settlement building, and has accused Israel of trying to change the status quo in Jerusalem’s holy sites Israel denies the allegation R i g h t - w i n g I s r a e l i P r i m e M i n i s t e r B e n j a m i n n e t a n y a h u ’s r e t u r n t o p o w e r h a s d e e p e n e d A r a b w o r r i e s o v e r p o l i c i e s t h a t i n c l u d e a c c e l e r a t e d J e w i s h s e t t l e m e n t - b u i l d i n g a n d t o u g h e r s e c u r i t y o ff e n s i v e s i n P a l e s t i n i a n t e r r i t o r i e s i n t h e We s t B a n k

any of Türkiye’s historic al monuments stand strong af ter ear thquakes

ANKARA Ag e n c i e s

While many invaluable artifacts, such as those in the prominent Zeugma Mosaic Museum, were left largely untouched in two recent earthquakes, Turkish authorities have declared that restoration and repair work would soon begin for those that took damage in the tremors

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism

Mehmet nuri Ersoy declared that the restoration of historical and cultural sites in nearby hatay province that were damaged by the massive tremors would begin next month he also noted that the ministry s General Directorate of Cultural heritage and Museums has introduced an emergency disaster prevention plan

Teams responded immediately to work on damaged parts of museums and ruins

across 11 province hit hard by the two backto-back quakes on Feb 6, and conducted large-scale damage assessment work of the cultural treasures

In Gaziantep, one of those 11 provinces, the historical Roman-era columns still stand in the ruins of the city of Zeugma Its famed ancient mosaics have preserved their unique texture despite the earthquakes while the museum’s favorite exhibits, the 1 6-metertall statue of the Roman god Mars and the Gypsy Girl mosaic were unscathed

Despite being damaged, the historical Governor ’s Office building of hatay province, which was built 95 years ago and served as a presidential mansion before the province joined Türkiye in 1939 did not collapse It was evacuated after the earthquakes, which had destroyed its roof and clock

The urban center of Kahramanmaras where the both earthquakes were centered,

suffered widespread destruction due to the strong tremors, with many buildings collapsing in the centuries-old city

Some major arteries to the heart of the city, home to many historical sites, have been closed off by the rubble of buildings that collapsed in the quakes, which claimed thousands of lives across southern Türkiye

As debris is removed however residents have regained road access to the Grand Bazaar, dating back half a millennium, which itself was nearly unscathed by the earthquakes In fact, some businesses have started reopening their doors to help people feel like “life will return to normal ” not so fortunate, half of the minaret of the 15th-century Maras Grand Mosque which marks the center of the city, was lost in the disaster, with the falling debris causing some damage near the entrance of the historical mosque

Int l Red Cross head visits Türkiye s quake zone –Türkiye on Sunday hosted the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and

Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) who was visiting earthquake-hit areas in the country to examine the humanitarian assistance activities carried out by the Turkish Red Crescent

HBL PSL 8: FAkHAr, SHAFique’S HeroicS Power

qAL AndArS to Secure tHird victory AGAinSt Z ALmi

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

FA K H A R Zaman and Abdullah

Shafique struck blistering half-centuries to power Lahore Qalandars to post the third-highest Pakistan Super League (PSL) total before Shaheen Shah Afridi’s five-wicket haul propelled the defending champions to a 40-run victory over Peshawar Zalmi

Set to chase a mammoth 242, Zalmi fell 40 runs short of pulling the astounding victory despite blistering half-centuries from Saim Ayub and Tom Kohler-Cadmore

Qalandars’ skipper dented Zalmi’s march in pursuit of the biggest total of the ongoing season as he castled Zalmi s key batters Mohammad Haris (0) and Babar Azam (7) in his successive first two overs

Following the slump, young batting sensation Saim Ayub and Tom Kohler-Cadmore kept the game alive with their magnificent

third-wicket partnership as they added 91 runs off just 44 deliveries

Kohler-Cadmore was on song amid his brilliant knock as he struck boundaries at will on his way to a brisk 55 off 23 deliveries before Haris Rauf struck in the 11th over to provide a much-needed breakthrough to the Qalandars The right-handed batter remained the top-scorer for Zalmi

Saim looked to carry on his domination over the Qalandars bowlers after Kohler-Cadmore’s dismissal as he soon brought up his second PSL 8 half-century but fell victim to Rashid

Khan soon after amassing the milestone

He scored 51 off 34 balls, laced up with seven boundaries and two sixes

Following his dismissal Zalmi began to lose wickets at regular intervals which consequently resulted in the visitors being restricted to 201/9 after brief cameos from

B h a n u k a R a j a p a k s a ( 2 4 ) a n d R o v m a n

Powell (20)

Shaheen led the bowling attack for his

Shahid Afridi advises Gladiators to remove Sarfaraz from captaincy

KARACHI S

Former Quetta Gladiators player Shahid Afridi has revealed that he advised his former franchise owner, Nadeem Omar, to remove Sarfaraz Ahmed from captaincy While speaking on a local TV channel, the former all-rounder said that wicketkeeper-batsman will do well as a batsman if he does not have the burden of leading the side “I had a chat with Nadeem Omar before the season as well, that they should play Sarfaraz only as a player so there is less pressure on him and he can enjoy his game,” Afridi said Afridi also criticised the management of Quetta Gladiators for not picking the right combination of players in the draft for PSL 8

Quetta Gladiators haven t done their homework well this season Plus, they are constantly chopping and changing their line-up,” he said

On what basis have they included Umar Akmal in the team? Was his fitness up to the mark? These things show if the team was serious enough when they were picking the squad, he concluded Gladiators are currently languishing at the bottom of the points table, having lost four of their first five games of this season

PARIS a f p

Just like in the World Cup final Paris SaintGermain teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe go up against one another for The Best FIFA Men s Player prize for 2022 on Monday, with Ballon d’Or Karim

Benzema the other contender

The ceremony takes place in Paris, and Messi appears as the favourite to add another individual gong to his collection after leading Argentina to glory over Mbappe’s France in that epic encounter in Qatar

Messi has won the Ballon d Or seven times and claimed the FIFA award -– inaugurated in 2016 following FIFA’s split with Ballon d’Or organisers France Football –once in 2019

Messi has made the

In the last two years

side with 5/40 while Zaman Khan followed with 2/28 Haris and Rashid, on the other hand, picked one wicket apiece

Opting to bat first, the Qalandars piled a mammoth 241/3 in their quota of 20 overs at the back of scintillating knocks by Fakhar and Abdullah

Earlier, the home side had a scratchy start as Wahab Riaz castled young opener Tahir Baig (5) to draw the first breakthrough for the Zalmi

Following an early setback, Fakhar and Abdullah settled things down as they took the Qalandars to 36/1 in the powerplay before launching a ruthless counterattack on the Zalmi bowlers

The duo turned things around for the home side with belligerent hitting with Abdullah leading the charge of the stand The right-handed batter smashed five boundaries and as many sixes amid his magnificent knock before Wahab struck again in the 13th over for Zalmi

Karachi Kings thrash Multan Sultans by 66 runs

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

Karachi Kings won the crucial match Multan Sultans by 66 runs as the Sultans were unable to chase the 168-run target set for them in the 14th match of the eighth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) played at National Stadium

Karachi on Sunday

Put to bat first Kings posted a competitive target of 168 runs before bowling out Sultans for 101 runs in 16 3 overs, thanks to a halfcentury from Tayyab Tahir and an exceptional display of spin bowling

from Tabraiz Shamsi, Shoaib Malik, and Imad Wasim I n r e p l y t o t h e t a rg e t S u lt a n s ’ b a t t e r s c o u l d n ’t f i n d t h e m o m e n t u m a s K i n g s ’ s p i n b o w li n g s h o n e a n d d i d n ’t l e t t h e i r o pp o n e n t s s e t t l e Opener Shan Masood departed after scoring 25 runs in 16 balls with the help of four boundaries The batter fell to Akif Javed after an inside edge Meanwhile, Rilee Rossouw was cleaned up by a beauty from spinner Shoaib Malik The lefthander could only score seven runs in six balls

Ahmed Baig emerges victorious in 9th JA Zaman open Golf 2023

The next batter to fall was David Miller, who was sent back by his compatriot Tabraiz Shamsi after scoring seven runs

Veteran all-rounder Malik struck again in his third over as he sent Sultans’ skipper Mohammad Rizwan (29) back to the pavilion

The wicketkeeper-batter tried to play a sweep shot to the leg side, but the ball hit the edge and the rest was done by debutant Tayyab Tahir, who took a sensational catch

It was spinners’ day among Kings as Shamsi delivered again for his side, bowling out Khushdil Shah (4) with a brilliant delivery

L atham, Conway lead New Zealand fightback to frustrate England

WELLINGTON

a f p

New Zealand are contemplating the possibility of a rare Test win after following on, having dug in with the bat on Sunday to set up an absorbing last two days of the second Test against England

The Black Caps unearthed some much-needed tenacity to reach 2023 in their second innings at stumps

podium as Robert Lewandowski has won the title, but the 35-year-old’s career-crowning

World Cup triumph was the defining moment of 2022

The winner is decided by a jury comprised of the coach and captain of every men’s national team and one journalist from each country, but fans can also vote

Mbappe became the first player to score a World Cup final hat-trick since Geoff Hurst in 1966 as he dragged France to a 3-3 draw after extra time –- despite two goals by Messi before they eventually succumbed in a shoot-out

Mbappe, who turned 24 just after the final, was the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, one more than Messi, who claimed the Golden Ball for best player

He was also comfortably PSG s most important player in the year leading up to the

on day three in Wellington, closing within 24 runs of the tourists Their gritty response after being asked to follow on was founded on half-centuries by openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway Kane Williamson was a patient 25 not out at the close, needing just four more runs to surpass Ross Taylor as New Zealand’s greatest Test run-scorer

The former skipper will resume on Monday alongside Henry

Nicholls (18 not out) with New Zealand harbouring slim hopes of squaring the two-match series on a Basin Reserve pitch starting to offer turn and variable bounce

Only England (twice) and India have achieved the feat of winning a Test after following on Latham says his team have the belief they can topple the tourists if they can carry momentum into day four

World Cup, despite being joined there by Messi he was Ligue 1’s leading scorer and France s player of the year

However, their World Cup achievements overshadow everything else “Because Messi won the World Cup he has the biggest chance of winning, that’s a fact,” admitted Ruud Gullit, himself a former Ballon d Or winner Dutchman Gullit was speaking in his role as a member of the Laureus Academy, which recently included Mbappe and Messi among the nominees for their own awards “But I have so much respect for Mbappe For me he is on the same level What he did in the final, to take that responsibility was unbelievable,” he added P u t e l l a s u P f o r w o m e n ’ s g o n g: Benzema’s chances of winning another individual honour were hit after he missed the World Cup due to injury

The final round in the JA Zaman Memorial Open Golf Championship here on Sunday became a match play contest as the youth prevailed over experience, and young Ahmed Baig won the title at the Lahore Gymkhana course

It was a keenly contested match between Ahmad who stands recognised as the hope of national golf, and the experienced Matloob Ahmed of Lahore Garrison, who is the number two ranked golf player of the country That Ahmed carried the day in the end at the conclusion of the Championship was due to his effective golf playing genius and remarkable application of golfing skills His shot making was classy and in particular absolutely distinctive was his control over the concluding nine holes of play His senior adversary lost the race on the par -3 ,ninth hole which he double bogeyed and from thereon Ahmed controlled the run of play Early in the morning when the final round started Matloob Ahmed was placed at a score of 209 ,one stroke ahead of Ahmed As the competition progressed ,Ahmed gained advantage through superb play At the end of first nine holes Ahmed gained a one stroke advantage over Matloob The fighting battle continued till Ahmed managed two consecutive birdies on holes 14 and 15 and the margin in favor of this triumphant one became a reality and he ended up winning the title and the championship

The top ten professionals in this championship are ;Ahmed Baig (Royal Palm )278;Matloob Ahmed (Lahore Garrison)280;Shabbir Iqbal (Islamabad)282;Waheed Baloch (Karachi)284;Muhammed Munir (Rawalpindi)285;Shahid Javed Khan(Gymkhana)287;Muhammed Alam

Exiled from the French team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sex tape involving

a former teammate, Benzema’s Ballon d’Or win last October had completed his own career redemption

S A n A u l l A h P l Ay S d o w n P T I ’ S

J A I l B h A r o ’ m o v E m E n T

IN T E R I O R Minister Rana

Sanaullah on Sunday claimed that PTI s Jail Bharo movement had totally flopped and even the party’s leaders and workers were trying to disassociate themselves from the drive saying between 100 to 150 people had been arrested until now and subsequently jailed for 30 days “as par their wish ”

Sanaullah alleged that Imran was spreading instability in the country and called the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement a “big walk of shame”

The government will first send Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers – who voluntarily offered arrests to far-off prisons before sending them to prisons in Lahore or Rawalpindi”, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said while speaking at a press conference in Islamabad here on Sunday

The minister claimed said that “eighty percent of the arrested ones are asking to be released,” revealing that all participants of the PTI s drive had been taken into custody for 30 days

Sanaullah alleged that Imran was “spreading instability in the country” and called the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement a “big walk of shame

It is to be noted that the PTI has launched “Jail Bharo” movement a drive that seeks to mark a protest against the government’s policies and to put pres-

sure on the ruling coalition to announce elections “You wished to go to jail, so you have been sent there he said mockingly, “we are having you visit jails so that you can acquaint yourselves with the conditions there”

It may be noted that several petitions have been filed at the Lahore High Court (LHC), expressing fears that the arrested PTI leaders and workers may be falsely accused of involvement in unlawful activities to cause them “maximum harm”, adding that they have been transported to some unknown place to torture them

Without referring to the matter that remains subjudice, Sanaullah said “we will first fill jails in far-off areas and afterward fill the jails of Lahore and

Rawalpindi”

“We hold the judiciary in utmost respect and regard he added as he stressed that “weakening” the judiciary would be synonymous with “increasing the difficulties of the country”

However, the interior minister simultaneously stressed that bench-fixing allegations must be probed, hinting at a series of controversial audio leaks attributed to former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi

Sanaullah urged the apex court to take suo motu notice over the alleged close ties that Elahi maintains with a Supreme Court judge

Turning his attention towards former premier Imran Khan, he said that “he is a

Gov t to discuss tea, rice bar ter trade with Kenya

ISLAMABAD

S h a h z a d pa R ac h a

trouble-maker, and never once did something for the betterment of the country

He noted that first Imran was bringing a sea of people to tread on the capital, then he said he was going to fill the jails but now the people know him for what he is”

Earlier, the Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Jail Bharo movement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had totally flopped and even the PTI leaders and workers were trying to disassociate themselves from the drive

Talking to the media at the residence of local PML-N leader Kashif Nawaz Randhawa, he said that politics of PTI was full of blunders He said that Imran Khan did not take any single laudable step during his political career and wasted the time of people

“Imran Khan claimed to organize million march followed by another gimmicks which all proved in vain” he said and added ultimate objective of Imran was to create political and economic instability in the country

About attack on Imran Khan, he said that investigation revealed that it was not an organized attack and the attacker was alone To another question, he said that various surveys revealed that PML-N was leading political party of Punjab

About issuance of party tickets he said that parliamentary board of the party would decide to award tickets to the candidates

Earlier Rana Sanaullah condoled with Kashif Nawaz Randhawa over the demise of his mother

PM sets up committee to implement austerity measures

The federal government has constituted a monitoring committee to oversee the implementation of the austerity measures unveiled by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with the aim to cut the government’s expenses

The highlight of the government’s austerity measures is the withdrawal of salaries and perks of the prime minister, minister’s special assistants and advisers, along with a 15% cut in the expenses of all government departments

The committee, announced on Sunday in a press statement from the prime minister ’s office, includes Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain, Information Minister Syed Ameenul Haque, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarrar, Food Security Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema PM s advisor on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira and Minister of State for Power Division Hashim Notezai

The committee will review the implementation of the decisions taken during the federal cabinet meeting of February 22 it said

The principal accounting officer of each ministry, division, and department will submit recommendations before the committee by February 27 on the implementation of these decisions

On Wednesday, PM Shehbaz announced a broad range of measures aiming to tighten the government’s belt but warned people to brace for more price hikes due

CAPE

TOWN,

SOUTH AFRICA

Australia are Women s T20 World Cup champions once again after they denied South Africa in front of a packed crowd at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday

Beth Mooney top-scored with 74* as the world’s top-ranked team posted 156/6, and a brilliant bowling display saw South Africa stifled in their chase, with the Proteas falling 20 runs short of their target

Their victory means Australia have now won six Women’s T20 World Cup titles, and they have completed a three-peat under the captaincy of Meg Lanning, winning in 2018, 2020 and now 2023

It was Meg Lanning’s Australia who came out on top in an entertaining final of the ICC Women s T20 World Cup 2023 against South Africa in Cape Town

Tasked with defending a target of 157, Australia s bowlers throttled the scoring rate of South Africa’s openers at the start of the reply, conceding just 22 runs in the Power-

to the tough conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The prime minister spoke to the media himself to unveil the austerity measures approved by the federal cabinet and expressed the hope that the government would be able to take the masses out of the current economic crisis

“There will be more inflation in the country,” he cautioned However, he added that the government was taking measures to mitigate the sufferings of the poor, by continuing various subsidies for them a u S t E r i t y m E a S u r E S: Unveiling decisions of the federal cabinet, Shehbaz detailed an ambitious aus-

play and with in-form Tazmin Brits sent back to the dugout by the electric Darcie Brown

A Brown catch saw Marizanne Kapp dismissed for a run-a-ball 11 off Ash Gardner as South Africa struggled to up the scoring rate, with 105 runs still required at drinks with ten overs remaining

The brilliance of Laura Wolvaardt threatened to bring South Africa back into the game as she hit big shot after big shot to surge to 61 from 48 balls

Laura Wolvaardt scored an outstanding fifty in the final of the ICC Women s T20 World Cup against Australia

But Megan Schutt removed Wolvaardt and Jess Jonassen cleaned up the dangerous Chloe Tryon (25 from 23) as the required rate of scoring proved too much for South Africa in the death overs

And Australia saw it out comfortably in the end, winning by 19 runs to add yet more silverware to the team’s bulging trophy cabinet Players from both teams spoke during the post-match presentation following the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup

terity plan at the federal government level to save Rs200 billion annually by slashing expenditures He stressed that the austerity measures would yield far-reaching results the measures announced by the prime minister include:

All the federal cabinet members, advisers and special assistants will not draw salaries and other privileges;

• All members of the cabinet will pay the utility bills from their own resources and return all the luxury vehicles which will be auctioned;

The cabinet members will use economy class during their visits abroad, while their assisting staff will not be allowed to accompany them; • The cabinet members will not stay in five-star hotels during their foreign visits;

All government divisions, departments, subordinate institutions and other entities under the federal government will slash their current expenditures by 15%; Purchase of luxurious vehicles will be banned; • Senior federal government officers, utilising official vehicles besides availing the monetisation scheme, will return all such vehicles while any officer violating this decision will be proceeded against;

Extra security vehicles for cabinet members will be withdrawn and a committee headed by the interior minister will decide the matter in case of any threats; The travelling and daily allowances (TA & DA) of the officials will be reduced by utilising modern telecommunication facilities like holding Zoom conferences to save expenditures;

• All public housing in the city centres will be sold;

2023 between Australia and South Africa

E m o t i o n a l d ay f o r S o u t h a f r i c a n c r i c k E t: There was a packed crowd and an emotional atmosphere

Pakistan and Kenya are all set to hold discussions on trade and cooperation for which the Kenya’s agriculture minister has reached Pakistan

Speaking with Profit, sources said that the Kenyan agriculture minister will visit the Ministry of Commerce on Monday wherein the two sides will discuss tea export and rice import

According to the details, bilateral trade between both countries was recorded $782 million last year which included $282 million in exports to Kenya

Pakistan is currently exporting rice, pharmaceuticals and textiles to the African country whereas it imports tea and leather from Nairobi

Sources said that Pakistani authorities will propose a barter trade system due to the ongoing economic crisis They said Islamabad plans to export rice and pharmaceuticals in return for tea from Nairobi

According to the country’s tea association, Pakistan has imported almost 234 million kg of tea from Kenya in the last year while the importers have also paid Rs65 billion in revenue to the government It is pertinent to note that Pakistan’s exports to Kenya increased 31% during the last three years owing to interaction between the both countries business delegations besides the Look Africa policy launched by Islamabad

“Pharmaceutical export to Kenya reached $15 million from $2 million sources added

Earlier, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has also arranged an exhibition which was attended by around 175 people from 54 countries including Kenya

It may be mentioned that tea prices have surged to Rs1,600 per Kg from Rs1,100 per Kg due to nonopening of tea industry’ letter of credit (LC)

Chairman Tea Association Zeeshan Paracha has said that prices can further go up if consignments stuck at the port are not released

The association has also written a letter to the SBP governor, calling for a meeting to address issues regarding bank documents He said PTA associations are facing problems in the clearance of documents due to dollar shortage in banks which means that containers full of tea leaves cannot be released Warning of a tea shortage in the country, he said he would once again write the central bank head a letter requesting resolution of the problem

Punjab ACE seeks record of projects launched during Buzdar, Elahi era

LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has summoned all commissioners to appear before the watchdog with relevant records of projects started during the governments of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and Usman Buzdar According to sources, following his posting as Punjab ACE Director General, Sohail Zafar Chatta has sought details of development projects initiated during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) era The sources informed that senior officers who had served in the Punjab government during Buzdar and Pervaiz Elahi s tenures were called to the inquiry along with the records The sources said that ACE has also warned of arrest if any senior officer fails to cooperate with anti-corruption watchdog

at Newlands as the home crowd embraced the opportunity to support their national team in a first-ever senior World Cup final

Marizanne Kapp wasn’t the only person

inside the ground in tears as the anthems were sung, and anticipation was high as South Africa took to the field after being asked to bowl first by Aussie captain Meg Lanning After those emotional scenes at the anthems, Australia’s openers did a terrific job to dampen down the atmosphere, making it through a tense opening few overs

But Alyssa Healy was the first wicket to fall for 18 when Nadine de Klerk held on to a chance off the bowling of Kapp Australia opted to promote Ash Gardner ahead of Meg Lanning in the batting line-up, but a stunning maiden over from Shabnim Ismail ensured the score was just 36/1 at the end of the Powerplay

South Africa’s strike bowling was sending down rockets during the early stages of the ICC Women s T20 World Cup final, and Shabnim Ismail finished off the Powerplay with a superb maiden over

The decision to promote Gardner up the order did pay off, with the all-rounder smashing consecutive sixes as she upped the scoring rate