Epaper_23-02-28 KHI

Profit

Yousuf Dewan Companies’ automotive wing continues to haemorrhage money

BOI set to launch ‘Invest Pakistan’ initiative

P M s h e h b a z o r d e r s s t r i c t a c t i o n a g a i n s t P r o f i t e e r s a h e a d o f r a M a z a n

g c l e a n - u p o p e r at i o n o r D e r e D at w a r e h o u s e s, m a r k e t s

g D i s t t a D m i n, l a w e n f o r c e r s g i v e n f r e e h a n D at f e D e r a l, p r o v i n c i a l l e v e l s to D e a l w i t h h o a r D e r s

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Pr i m e m i n i s t e r s h e h b a z s h a r i f m o n d a y d i r e c t e d s t r c t a ct o n a g a n s t t h o s e i n d u l g n g n p r o f t e e r i n g h o a r d n g a n d o v e r c h a r g i n g d u r n g t h e u p c o m i n g m o n t h o f ra m a z a nu l - m u b a r a k he was cha r ng a meeting here to review the avai abi ity of essential edible items dur ng ramazan and ook into steps to ensure the stabi ty of prices a free hand was g ven to the d str ct admin stration and aw enforcement agencies at the federal and provincia levels to deal w th profiteers and hoarders t h e p r i m e m i n s t e r o r d e r e d a c l e a n - u p o p e r a t i o n a t t h e w a r eh o u s e s s h o p s a n d m a r k e t s b e f o r e r a m a z a n h e s a i d t h o s e w h o w o u l d c h a r g e t h e p e o p l e a l r e a d y f a c i n g e c o n o m c d i f f i c u l t e s d u e t o f l o o d s m o r e t h a n t h e r a t e s f i x e d b y t h e a d -

m n i s t r a t i o n s h o u l d b e d e a l t w i t h i r o n h a n d s the prime minister gave the federal government and the ch ef ministers the task to ensure the ava abil ty of goods and control of prices elements who would be creating difficult es for those fasting n ramazan should be taught a lesson with the force of the law, he ordered he categorically stated that f any prob em arose in the demand and

supply of goods and pr ces, action would be taken aga nst the officer concerned in the area there was no shortage of edib e items inc ud ng wheat anywhere n the countr y he noted he inquired about the rise in the price of chicken when its feed was read ly ava lab e he reiterated that no en ency shou d be shown to those caus ng trouble for the public dur ng ramazan and said unscrupulous elements should be taken to task the profiteers who were burdening people with price h kes shou d be dealt w th str ctly according to law, he added he said the qua ity of items should be ensured at the ut lity stores n the countr y in the ho y month of ramazan mob le utility stores should be established for the benefit of people h e d r e c t e d t h a t s a s t a ra m a z a n B a z a a r s s h o u l d b e s e t u p n t h e fe de r a c a p i t a l a n d p r o v n c e s w h e r e m o d e r n t e c h n o o g y s h o u d b e u s e d t o ke e p p r i c e s u n d e r c o n t r o l

Dar reiterates govt’s commitment to complete IMF programme

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t finance minister ishaq Dar has re terated that the government is comm tted to completing the ex sting imf programme and fulfill ng all nternational obligations he said this wh le meeting with a delegation of executive Directors of asian Development Bank (aDB), who ca ed on him at the f nance division on monday the delegation compr sed liu weihua eD for peop e’s republic of china noor ahmed eD for pakistan takahiro Yasui eD for Japan sangmin ryu eD for korea mr shunsuke sakugawa adviser aDB rona d san huan adviser aDB and Yong Ye countr y Director aDB

special ass stant to prime minister (sapm) on finance tar q Ba wa sapm on revenue tar q mehmood pasha secretar y finance and sen or officers from the finance Divis on participated n the meeting Dar we comed the delegation and appreciated aDB s ro e and support in promoting sustainable deve opment n pak stan he informed the delegation about the economic outlook of the countr y and chal enges be ng faced by the countr y coupled with the physca and financia losses due to devastating floods last year he apprised the delegation that the present government with its pragmatic policy decisions has not only arrested the decl ne but has also been steering the economy towards

stabil ty and growth he a so shared that the government has taken difficu t dec sions in key sectors includ ng the energy sector in order to reduce budgetar y and current account deficits and ncrease revenue generation the fnance minister also nformed the delegat on about the talks held with the imf m ssion the aDB delegat on appreciated the reforms ntroduced by the government and the pol cy dec sions in important economic sectors for achieving sustainab e economic development the delegat on also exchanged views on cmate financing and environment protect on the de egation extended aDB s al out support and cooperat on to pakistan

KP, Punjab polls: President can announce poll date, says CJP

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t chief Justice umar ata Band al said monday that the par iament has clearly wr tten in the elections act, 2017, that the president can announce the date for polls after decid ng that khyber pakhtunkhwa kp and pun ab governors ha i ghulam al and Bal gh ur rehman and the elect on comm ss on of pakistan (ecp) were not fulf lling their const tutiona duties to announce the date for pol s in both provinces president arif alvi announced ear ier this month that elect ons would take place in apr l a move that drew strong crit cism from the government meanwhile the cJp s remarks came during the suo motu hear ng re ated to the elect ons in khyber pakhtunkhwa and punjab the bench which earlier constituted nine members now comprises only f ve members the bench was reconstituted after Justice ijaz ul ahsan Justice sayyed mazahar ali akbar naqvi Just ce athar minal ah and Justice Yahya afridi recused themselves from hearing the case the hearing of the case was schedu ed to start today at 11am however it was de ayed reported y due to the bench formation in the light of a supreme court order of the februar y 23 hearing a written order was ssued on the sc s website in which d ssenting notes of Justice afr di Justice minal ah Just ce Jama khan mandokhail and Justice syed mansoor a i shah had been inc uded fo lowing th s a f ve-member bench headed by ch ef Justice umar ata Bandial and compris ng

Just ce munib akhtar Justice muhammad a i mazhar Justice shah and Justice mandokhail was formed which pres ded over today s hearing the newly-formed bench after the counsel of speakers from both provinces, Barrister al Zafar concluded his arguments adjourned the hearng of the case til 9:30 morning on tuesday in a surprising turn of events the supreme court saw a reduced bench of f ve ustices instead of ts usual nine as t resumed suo motu proceed ngs regard ng the tardiness n announcing e ection dates for punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa prev ous y compris ng n ne judges the bench under went a restructur ng and now stands as a five-member entity due to the d sassociation of four udges namely Justice mansoor ali shah Justice Yahya afridi Just ce Jamal khan mandokhail and Justice athar m nallah

Despite exper encing two delays in schedu ed timings of 11:30 am and 12:30 pm, the bench proceeded with its hearing according to a court order five udges Justice Band al Justice ahsan Justice akhtar Justice naqv and Justice mazhar demanded the case be heard on the three questions framed by the ch ef justice in the n tial notice the majority order has a so indicated that the queries ra sed by Justice minal ah concerning the egality of d sso ving the kp and punjab parliaments for tak ng dictat on from a particular party

bear ng in mind the urgency of the matter

Austerity Committee directs ministries to implement 15% cut in current budgets

Pakistan marks anniversar y of day it downed intr uding Indian jet

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE

S ta f f R e p o R t the nat on monday marked the fourth anniversar y of the day t shot down an ntrud ng indian fighter aircraft and captured its p lot abhinandan varthaman n an aerial batt e over the disputed region of kashmir on februar y 27 2019 the pakistan air force (paf) downed the russianmade m g-21 warp ane and captured varthaman after his plane crashed in azad Jammu and kashmir in an offensive codenamed operation swift retort the next day, imran khan, prime m nister at the time announced h s release in a gesture of goodw ll widely ha led by the international community pakistan s act on came fo lowing an intrusion by ind an ets that bombed an al eged mi itant train ng centre n Balakot town of the mansehra d strict in khyber pakhtunkhwa new Delhi s c aim of k ll ng 300 terror sts in the strike was denied by is amabad and never ndependently verified as we l khan in a series of tweets on monday congratulated the nation for the response to india s reckless mi itar y adventure of airstrikes on that day the government of pakistan tehreek-iinsaf (pti) ordered a response to [the] ind an air str ke [ ] w th paf air strikes on indian [m litar y] targets in [occupied] kashmir [and] the paf downed an iaf [ind an air force] plane over [pakistan] air space capturing the p lot he tweeted

we were successful in choosing a l mited [militar y] response signal ing a c ear [message] to india ” meanwh le shehbaz sharif said that although h s government strives for peace with al nations it remains cognisant of our responsib ity to safeguard the countr y while we a m for peace with a l we are mindful of our duty to defend the countr y let no one make any m stake about it he warned n a series of tweets the inter-ser v ces pub ic relations (ispr) emphasised that the day ser ved as a reminder that the pakistan army is prepared to safeguard ever y nch of the motherland in the event of any impos tion of aggression “ cJcsc (chairman of the Joint ch efs of staff committee) ser vices chiefs and air forces of pak stan pay tribute to the resil ence of the nat on and reso ve of air forces d splayed during operation swift retort he sa d

M a r ya M N awa z ta r g et s J u s t I c e N I s a r , geN FaIz For ‘stIll suPPortINg IMraN’

sE N I O R vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

Maryam Nawaz on Monday again targeted former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice (retd) Saqib Nisar and ex-spy chief Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, accusing them of still supporting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan “through their pawns”

Addressing a party workers convention in Sahiwal on Monday Maryam alleged that remnants of Faiz Hameed are still protecting Imran Khan and that he is calling the shots

while sitting in Chakwal She also accused former CJP Nisar of facilitating Imran through his “henchmen”

Maryam also brought up the leaked audio clip of former judge Arshad Malik who sentenced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the assets beyond means case In the audio clip Judge Malik allegedly confessed that he convicted Nawaz Sharif under duress Maryam referred to this as evidence of the previous PTI government s manipulation of the judiciary to target the PML-N

During the speech, Maryam apparently responded to the criticism that the ruling PDM is trying to delay the elections amid fears of defeat due to prevailing economic

gen amjad shoaib remanded in police custody for 3 days

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Against the prosecution s request for a seven-day physical remand, the court granted the police a three-day physical remand of Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib and issued directives for him to be produced before the court on March 2 At the outset of the hearing, the IO requested a seven-day physical remand of Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib The prosecutor then read out the text of the complaint filed against the retired general Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib was present as a guest on a private television [channel] Hatred was spread against the government through his statement

GEn aMjaD SHOaIB REManDED In POLICE

CuStODY FOR 3 DaYS: Through his statement it was attempted to cause hatred between the government opposition and government officials he read the complaint The prosecutor further said The relations between the opposition and the government are not well; they were incited through the statement The opposition is being incited to employ a stricter strategy against the government Through Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib s statement hatred is being spread between three factions he added As per the sections imposed on Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib a sentence of five years can be given prosecutor Adnan said He said a photogrammetric and a voice matching were required to be conducted of the retired general adding that the photogrammetric test will be done in Lahore At this point during the hearing Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib s counsel Abbasi opposed the grant of the physical remand and requested for his client to be discharged from the case Advocate Abbasi said The court has to see whether LtGen (R) Shoaib even committed a crime or not If the magistrate thinks the suspect has not committed any offence then [Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib] can be discharged from the case The TLTP further leant that he argued that the sections registered in the case were not even applicable as Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib had only given an example regarding a specific situation Abbasi asked Did Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib say something on which the law has imposed a restriction? He asserted his client had till today not said anything that would harm the country Deeming his client s statement constructive criticism the counsel said The case has been filed on political bases only He added Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib is almost 80 years old and is being harassed for a long time He was sent behind bars within an hour of filing the case Imam another member of Lt-Gen (R) Shoaib s defence team said his client had acknowledged giving the said statements on the TV channel If he has admitted his statement and presence [on the TV show], then why does a photogrammetric and voice matching test need to be done? he asked Upon this, the prosecutor said, The evidence of voice matching and a photogrammetric test is necessary for the trial At one point, the retired general s counsel said the arrests of [only] two institutions officials had been pending, adding that the next arrest could perhaps be of a member of the judiciary Following the conclusion of the arguments from both sides, the court reserved its verdict

KP, Punjab polls: President can announce poll date, says cJP

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Meanwhile the remaining four judges in a dissenting note have called for the reconstitution of the bench citing various reasons At the previous hearing members of the coalition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) submitted a note to the apex court requesting that two judges Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi recuse themselves from the case During the hearing on Monday Justice Bandial said that while four members of the bench disassociated themselves from the proceedings the remaining bench will continue to hear the case concerning the interpretation of the Constitution He further said the court will resume the hearing Tuesday and attempt to conclude it The judge also expressed concern over the premature release of a note by one of the judges and assured that measures would be taken to prevent such incidents in the future During the hearing Barrister Ali Zafar informed the court about the Punjab governor ’s request for names from both parties regarding the caretaker chief minister However due to a disagreement the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) chose the name of the chief minister The ECP wrote to the governor who declined to propose a date for the election because he had not dissolved the assembly Justice Mazhar highlighted it was the governor who had “thrown the matter” to the commission’s court and questioned who appoints the governor

crisis and rocketing inflation

“This is an election year and election will be held but only after when scale of justice will be balanced she said

The PML-N stalwart asserted that ousted PM Nawaz who was disqualified for life in Panama Papers case by the Supreme Court will be absolved of false charges before the elections We are not afraid of elections

In fact we are on ground running campaign for elections and PML-N will win polls with huge majority, she claimed “Elections will be held but first justice will be done All injustices done to Nawaz Sharif will be compensated before elections ” she asserted

Maryam also accused the judiciary of having dual standards saying “Panama case proceedings held on daily basis while proceedings of Imran s cases are moving at snail s pace Referring to Toshakhana (gift depository) case against Imran Maryam demanded the judiciary to bring him to the book Watch thief must be held accountable

He is Pakistan s biggest thief who did not even spare watches, she added Maryam said those who brought Imran into power knew that he was incompetent and characterless” “You destroyed Pakistan in hatred of Nawaz Sharif You could have taken revenge from Nawaz Sharif but you made the lives of masses miserable and

destroyed their livelihood, she added

The ruling party leader said PML-N averted the Sri Lanka-like economic crisis in the country by removing Imran from power and accepting the tough condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “The country would have defaulted if w e h a d v i o l a t e d t h e I M F a g r e e m e n t l i k e Imran khan”

Robotaxis, cheap EVs, and a new master plan for the future

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Whatever he says about timelines, though, investors will be wary, since he has missed his most prominent deadlines while building the world’s most valuable car company

“The formula for decoding Musk is pretty simple Take whatever time frame he has and multiply it by two said

Gene Munster Managing Partner at Deepwater Asset Management which owns Tesla shares He expects the new car platform to be rolled out in 2025 at the earliest, which would still be years faster than the typical auto industry development of a new vehicle

Tesla did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment

It’S aLL aBOut BattERIES Clues offered by Musk about the Model 2 leave much to the imagination

Making a compelling $25 000 electric vehicle has always been our dream from the beginning of the company he said at a presentation about batteries in 2020

Last year Musk announced a plan to roll out a robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals by 2024, though it was not clear if it was the same inexpensive car

A recent Tesla engineering video showed a small car with typical Tesla curves that was assumed by company watchers to be a Model 2 sketch Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid said Tesla might announce a cheaper car with short driving range for the Chinese market but a longrange affordable car that would appeal in the U S market will probably take some time due to slow ramp up of its own batteries Musk said last year in a podcast about minerals, titled Getting Stoned , that the new master plan,

building on earlier ones for vehicle launches and developing solar and energy storage businesses is about how to scale and get all the materials needed to make batteries for vehicles and energy storage systems

The fundamental determinant of the rate at which we can transition to sustainability is the rate at which we can grow the output of lithium ion batteries,” he said in the interview

Although there is some sign skyhigh lithium prices may be easing Musk has said lithium costs could force Tesla to make its own supply of the electric vehicle battery metal Battery production also is an issue Musk in 2020 forecast his company in 2022 would produce 100 gigawatts of newer generation lower cost batteries, enough to power about 1 3 million Tesla Model Ys, but the

Nestlé Pakistan earns record Rs15b profit, highest in histor y

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Nestlé Pakistan Limited is a public limited company incorporated in Pakistan The company is principally engaged in the manufacturing, processing and sale of dairy, nutrition, beverages and food products including imported products It is headquartered in Lahore, with four production facilities across the country Factories in Sheikhupura and Kabirwala are multi-product, whereas the ones in Islamabad and Karachi are water factories

Around 78 5% of Nestlé Pakistan’s product portfolio comprises dairy and nutrition products such as Nestlé Milk Pak EveryDay Cerelac Lactogrow etc The remaining 21 5% includes

beverages such as Nestlé Pure Life, Milo, Fruita Vitals etc Nestlé Pakistan Ltd is a subsidiary of Société des Produits Nestlé SA (SPN) a company based in Vevey Switzerland The company has been operating in Pakistan since 1988 under a joint venture with Milk Pak Ltd which was taken over by the Swiss company in 1992 For the last several years Nestlé Pakistan has been consistently placed among the top companies of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Société des Produits Nestlé SA owns 61 6% shareholding in Nestle Pakistan Limited The other two significant shareholders of the company include IGI Investments (9 75% shareholding) and Packages Limited (8 05% shareholding)

Air India to fund $70bn plane order with c ash, equity amid overseas push

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Air India once considered a world-class airline in India saw its image tarnish in the mid-2000s due to financial troubles an ageing fleet and poor service The airline s renaissance under the Tata conglomerate, which took control of the previously government-owned carrier last year, aims to capitalize on India s growing base of fliers and large diaspora across the world There is untapped opportunity in direct flights

to North America, Wilson said, adding that Air India will also increase the frequency of flights to European destinations, including to places such as Frankfurt, Paris and the United Kingdom

The airline is spending $400 million on refurbishing and upgrading its planes especially on long-haul routes as it looks to compete with bigger rivals such as Emirates Air India is inducting 500 cabin crew each month Wilson said The airline said last week that it will hire more than 4 200 cabin crew and 900 pilots

Pakistan marks anniversar y of day it downed intruding Indian jet

The “failed mission” exposed the world to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “reckless and extremist war-mongering policies” driven by his

a d o f a g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n t h a t M o d i won with a landslide victory US-based Foreign Policy magazine, citing American officials, said all of Pakistan s F-16 combat jets had been accounted for, contradicting the IAF claim it had shot down one of the jets

December production rate of the batteries called 4680s was enough for just over 50 000 vehicles a year Musk has also said Tesla will continue to use battery suppliers to scale up fast Tesla counts Panasonic, CATL, LG Energy Solution and BYD as cell suppliers Batteries are also likely to figure in Musk s plans for a fully sustainable energy future” outside the car He may also discuss solar power generation and battery energy storage – which he has said are two other pillars to a sustainable energy future Investors will look out for any hints of demand plans to ramp up production of the Cybertruck which Musk said will start volume production next year and locations of new Tesla factories with Mexico Canada Indonesia and South Korea all cited as potential candidates

Imran Khan likely to depar t for Islamabad today

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan is likely to depart for Islamabad on Tuesday sources said on Monday Sources told that Khan completed consultations with the party leaders prior to his departure for Islamabad from Lahore He will depart for the federal capital by air The PTI workers have been ordered to complete preparations ahead of Khan s hearing On Saturday, it emerged that the PTI chief decided to appear before the banking court on February 28 in a prohibited funding case The PTI central leaders will also accompany Imran Khan to the court The party leaders and workers were informed to arrange the preparation to welcome PTI chief Imran khan Earlier a banking court ordered the former prime minister and PTI chairman to appear before the court on February 28 in a prohibited funding case It is pertinent to note here that the Investigation Agency had registered a case against the PTI chief and 10 others over accusations of receiving foreign funding The case had been registered by the FIA Corporate Banking Circle

Pakistanis among 59 killed in Italy boat tragedy

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His voice cracking up Ceraso told the Sky TG24 news channel that he had seen a spectacle that you would never want to see in your life a gruesome sight that stays with you for all your life Wreckage from the wooden gulet a Turkish sailing boat was strewn across a large stretch of coast Italian President Sergio Mattarella said: Many of these migrants came from Afghanistan and Iran, fleeing conditions of great hardship Ignazio Mangione, an Italian Red Cross official, said a very few of the children believed to have been on the boat survived Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed his deep concern over the drowning of over two dozen Pakistanis in a boat tragedy in Italy and took notice of the incident directing Foreign Office to ascertain the facts as soon as possible As the death toll rose to 60 including 28 Pakistan the prime minister in a tweet uploaded on Monday said he has directed the Foreign Office to ascertain the facts as early as possible and take the nation into confidence As many as 60 migrants including 28 Pakistanis died after their overloaded boat sank early Sunday in stormy seas off Italy s southern Calabria region officials said According to the Pakistani embassy in Rome the capital of Italy besides others, 40 Pakistanis were on board the ill-fated boat

Yousuf Dewan Companies ’ automotive wing continues to haemorrhage money

c y b e r s t r e N g t H ’ b e s t t o o l t o P u t Pa K I s ta N o N

Fa s t e s t t r a c K o F d e v e lo P M e N t : P r e s I d e N t a lv I

PT Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said besides conventional security, acquiring ‘cyber strength’ could put the country on the fastest track of stability and development

Addressing here at the 10th convocation ceremony of Air University the president highlighted the need for the world s fifth populous nation to gain knowledge in contemporary fields particularly artificial intelligence cyberspace and data-driven technology

President Alvi said Pakistan had achieved professional prowess in traditional

and conventional defence such as a nuclear deterrence however stressed that gaining a strong foothold in cyberspace was also vital for survival

He pointed out that in the last year s global cyber ranking, Pakistan was placed nowhere on the list

The situation, he said, demanded an overhaul in choices of career pathways besides a major shift in the retrogressive mindset He said cyber knowledge was one of the best tools to equip the country’s big youth bulge with contemporary skills

He mentioned that a huge quantum of data based on pattern recognition was available in the world that needed the skill of artificial intelligence to quantify and

analyze it

The president called for decision-making on imparting the youth requisite knowledge about quantum computing and artificial intelligence as the world witnessed an

unprecedented transformation in these fields

He emphasized the importance of carrying out thorough research on job markets by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and said that it would produce a skilled human resource to match the demands of national and international organizations, thus aptly addressing unemployment in the country

About the maiden batch of Cyber Security discipline, Dr Alvi expressed confidence that the graduates would play a vital role in safeguarding Pakistan’s cyberspace

The president commended the Chairman Board of Governors of Air University for his continuous support and patronage towards

E l e c t i o n s t o b e h e l d a s p e r s c h e d u l e a f t e r

f u l f i l l i n g a l l fo r m a l i t i e s : Ta r a r

iSLAmAbAd S ta f f R e p o R t

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Interior and Legal Affairs (SAPM)

Attaullah Tarar on Monday said that elections should be held in the country as per schedule after fulfilling all legal formalities

Speaking here at a press conference he said that two provincial assemblies were dissolved prematurely to satisfy a person s ego SAPM said that establishing care taker government is constitutional requirement for conduct of general

elections and there are different stakeholders including Ministries of Interior and Finance and others in this process which should be consulted for conduct of elections

He said that Article 224 of the Constitution is related to time of election and all the constitutional formalities should be fulfilled for conduct of elections “ It is a legal discussion and should be conducted at appropriate forum he maintained A t t a u l l a h Ta r a r s a i d t h a t f o u r j u d g e s r e c u s e d t h e m s e l v e s f r o m hearing the case related to the elections i n K h y b e r P a k h t u n k h w a a n d P u n j a b

Plea filed in lHc to stop Nab chairman appointment

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

A plea has been filed in Lahore High Court (LHC) to stop the appointment of new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman As per details the plea was filed by advocate Azhar Sadiq in Lahore High Court against the appointment of new chairman NAB The plea stated that notices has been issued on the appointment of the opposition leader Raja Riaz and the new chairman NAB has resigned from his post

The chairman National Accountability Bureau is appointed with the consultation of the Prime Minister and opposition leader but a letter has been sent to President and speaker National Assembly that the appointment of opposition leader is not under the law The plea further stated that the PTI has already written a letter that they want to bring their opposition leader So whatever consultation the current opposition leader holds will be unconstitutional Hence the Lahore High Court (LHC) was urged to stop the appointment of the chairman NAB

dasu HPP creates over 2,600 jobs for the local: waPda

iSLAmAbAd S ta f f R e p o R t

The under-construction Dasu Hydropower Project (DHPP) in the Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has created at least 2 664 jobs for the local community the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) stated Gwadar Pro reported

According to WAPDA DHPP will accommodate more people in the coming days from the local area, which is one of the backward regions of the country Currently, over 3,700 people (including 2,664 locals) have been given jobs during the peak construction period, the number of jobs will be increased to 8,000 with the majority from the local areas Meanwhile, the work on the project sites is underway to meet the 2026 deadline for power generation The under-construction sites include diversion tunnels (Indus River water has been recently diverted to one of the tunnels while one is under construction) underground powerhouse a flushing and traffic tunnel right bank access roads 132 KV transmission line WAPDA colony and offices China

Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) has been working on DHPP as the Main Works Contractor since 2017 which is one of the top green and low-cost energy projects in the country

child killed, two injured

H e s a i d t h a t t w o j u d g e s s e p a r a t e d t h e m s e l v e s f r o m t h e n i n e - m e m b e r

larger bench and two others expressed their reservations over it and their valid points should be answered He said that r e m a i n i n g f i v e j u d g e s i n t h e b e n c h would decide about the maintainability a n d j u r i s d i c t i o n o f t h e c a s e a s t w o higher courts had been already hearing the similar cases before suo motu H e s a i d e c o n o m i c c o n d i t i o n d o e s not allow the country to hold elections s e p a r a t e l y a n d a h u g e a m o u n t o f money is required to conduct elections in two provinces He said that budget w a s n o t e a r m a r k e d i n t h i s f i s c a l y e a r

iSLAmAbAd S ta f f R e p o R t

The National Highways and Motorway Police are taking strict measures to ensure the safety of public service vehicles traveling on motorways In light of a recent accident that caused fatalities and injuries fitness certificates are now mandatory for all public service vehicles

According to an official of the National Highways and Motorway Police the decision to make fitness certificates mandatory was

f o r c o n d u c t o f e l e c t i o n s a n d s e p a r a t e a l l o c a t i o n w o u l d b e m a d e f o r i t i n upcoming fiscal year Attaullah Tarar said that Imran Khan would be ultimately indicted in Toshakhana case as he sold out state gifts worth billion of rupees in nexus of his spouse, Farah Gogi and Ahsan Jamil Gujjar “A gang of four minted money after selling state gifts and through posting and transfers ” he said

He said that Imran Khan would have to be accountable in Parliament attack case and to answer for his wrongdoings A medical report he said had been submitted with Federal Investigation

the noble cause of education which has been provided with the support of the Pakistan Air Force

He awarded degrees to the graduating students and appreciated their efforts in various disciplines

Thirteen hundred bright graduates from the undergraduate, as well as MS and Ph D programmes, received their medals and degrees in various disciplines including Mechanical, Mechatronics, Electrical, Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering in addition to the disciplines of Business Administration Accounting & Finance Aviation Management Literature & Linguistics Mathematics Physics Strategic Studies Computer Science and Cyber Security

lHc moved for contempt proceedings against Mar yam Nawaz

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

A contempt plea has been filed against the senior vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Maryam Nawaz in the Lahore High Court over her negative remarks against the Supreme Court (SC) judges The plea was moved by Rana Shahid advocate in the Lahore High Court The plea stated that Maryam in her Sargodha speech leveled allegations at the judges and tried to scandalize them without evidence Maryam maligned the judiciary in her speech The plea has pleaded with the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Maryam Nawaz During Sargodha public gathering Maryam blamed a group of five for the country s current woes firing a fresh salvo at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman

Imran Khan

The PML-N chief organiser said Imran Khan kept saying his government was toppled through a conspiracy, but the real conspiracy was hatched against party supremo and former premier Nawaz Sharif

Pakistani doctors care for turkey quake victims in spirit of brotherhood

also assured the public that the police will continue to monitor the situation closely and take all necessary measures to prevent accidents and ensure the safety of all road users

Over 62,000 parents refuse polio vaccine in Januar y drive

iSLAmAbAd S ta f f R e p o R t

In the nation-wide polio vaccination campaign from January 02-29 over 62 thousand parents refused vaccination to their children

The anti-polio campaign which was held in January in three phases 62 411 parents refused to administer polio vaccine to their children

Most of the parents who refused polio vaccine to their children were belong to Sindh according to sources In Sindh 37 008 parents refused polio vaccine while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 20 305 parents refused vaccine administration

Moreover, in Balochistan 4,902 parents, in Islamabad 141 families and in Punjab 36 parents refused polio vaccine administration to their children

According to the figures shared by the authorities

in Karachi East 2 4 percent Korangi district 1 2 pct Karachi South 1 1 pct Keamari district 1 3 pct Karachi Central 1 7 pct and in Malir district 0 9 pct parents refused vaccine in the polio vaccination campaign, sources said In Hyderabad district 0 2 pct families refused administration of polio vaccine to their children

The drive was started after sewage samples in Lahore tested positive for wild poliovirus in January

According to the national polio lab at the National Institute of Health the first positive sample of 2023 was detected on January 19 and was genetically linked to the poliovirus found in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan in November 2022 This was the first evidence of cross-border transmission in more than a year The second positive sample was reported on January 27 which was genetically linked to a virus circulating in southern KP

T TP have Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police in their crosshairs

pESHAWAR R e u t e R S

Atop a police outpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Faizanullah Khan stands behind a stack of sandbags and peers through the sight of an anti-aircraft gun scanning the terrain along the unofficial boundary with the restive former tribal areas On this cold and rainy February morning, he was looking not for aircraft but for Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters behind attacks against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police

It was daytime, so he could relax a bit, said Khan, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) as he sat down on a traditional woven bed But the night was a different story he said pointing to pock marks left by bullets fired at the outpost named Manzoor Shaheed or Manzoor

the Martyr, after a colleague felled by insurgents years ago The outpost is one of the dozens that provide defence against militants waging a fresh assault on police from hideouts in the border region adjoining Taliban-controlled Afghanistan The area part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a hotbed for TTP militants

The threat the insurgency poses to Pakistan was illustrated last month when the bombing of a mosque in Peshawar killed more than 80 police personnel A faction of the TTP Jamat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility

Visiting northwest Pakistan this month, Reuters gained access to police outposts and spoke to more than a dozen people, including senior police officials, many of whom described how the force is suffering increasing losses as it bears the brunt of attacks while contending with resourcing and logistical constraints

AnkARA a n a d o l u ag e n c y Pakistani doctors tending to earthquake victims in Turkey’s southern Hatay province say their efforts reflect the spirit of brotherhood between the two nations “Our team is here to support earthquake victims ” Waqas Ahmed a Pakistani doctor told Anadolu Agency at a tent city set up in Hatay s Defne district Ahmed is part of a team that has come from Germany as part of an aid mission by Humanity First an international charity focused on disaster relief He said the team has been treating physical injuries such as cuts and wounds as well as providing psychological support for trauma Ahmed, the field director for Humanity First at the tent city, said the team has so far tended to some 8,000 patients We are trying to do our best to help people,” he said Recalling Turkey’s help after a 2005 quake in Pakistan, he added: “We should not forget that that humanity comes first, no matter our color religion or nationality We must keep that in mind ” The February 6 twin tremors have affected more than 13 million people in southern Turkey while the death toll is now over 44 200 The 7 7 and 7 6 magnitude quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces Adana Adiyaman Diyarbakir Elazig Hatay Gaziantep Kilis Malatya Osmaniye and Sanliurfa

several injured in clashes among Qau student groups

iSLAmAbAd S ta f f R e p o R t

Several students were injured in a clash between two student organizations at Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) here in the federal capital forcing the university administration to close down the university indefinitely while directing the students to vacate the hostels immediately According to the police, there was a dispute between two student organizations over the issue of hostel accommodation in the university The dispute turned into a clash and several students were injured in the incident Police force was also called at the university after the incident The Quaid-e-Azam University would remain closed indefinitely due to the clash among student organizations and the university registrar also issued a notification to close the university On the other hand the hostel management also directed the girl students to vacate the hostel immediately

C hinese researchers to reach Gwadar for green initiative

iSLAmAbAd

S ta f f R e p o R t

A group of seven Chinese researchers and botanists led by Professor Wang Sen will arrive at Gwadar Port in March for Green Gwadar Initiative According to Gwadar Pro their visit aims to make further progress on plant growth and sustainability by ensuring plants resilience against unsuitable and

harsh climates through the modern technology of tissue culture and genetic engineering They will work at the Tissue Culture Lab and Green Center in Gwadar Free Zone which has been jointly established by China Overseas Ports Holding Company and Central South University of Forestry and Technology China The prime focus of the laboratory is to conduct research and subsequently produce

plants that are conducive to the arid environment of Gwadar In collaboration with China, the tissue club has significantly contributed to the preservation of Gwadar s natural environment by planting 150,000 plants and converting the previously reclaimed area of Gwadar port and free zone into green land The previous team of researchers has conducted significant research using non-conventional methods such as tissue culture and genetic

engineering to yield new varieties of bananas and jujube plants A systematic experimentation has been conducted on the arid non-wood forest The team of researchers visiting Gwadar in March will continue the momentum to discover new avenues of research on plants in Gwadar and nearby regions The findings will be eventually shared with the local community to help them grow commercial crops and attain self-sufficiency

Public ser vice vehicle maintenance cer tificates to be stric tly enforced after tragic accident

o g e n a r i a n , l o c k e d u p

A n e r v o u s s e c u r i t y s t a t e’s a p p re h e n s i o n s

tH e farce continues the detention of retired general Amjad Shoaib over charges of inciting hatred against institutions is just the latest episode in the arbitrary actions by a nervous and rickety security state

the initial complaint against him had read that the retired general in an interview on a private television channel passed statements that “incited the government officials and opposition from performing their government and legal duties

It is absurd to imagine officers civil and military would stop doing their work on the basis of words uttered by anyone, least of all, the likes of Amjad Shoaib If that indeed was a plausible threat, then we would have been in far choppier waters to be worrying about Amjad Shoaib at all regardless of what way one slices this it s a ridiculous step to arrest this octogenarian

It is an irrelevant issue point that if the shoe were on the other foot, the retired general would have been cheerleading such arbitrary arrests only a short while ago, he was member of an institutionapproved list of ‘defence analysts’ who could be taken on television talk shows for his opinions

He was a supporter of such arbitrary detentions during the previous dispensation But that should not matter when viewing his case no one deserves to be treated like this over so little even if they were to endorse such actions for others

We, as a polity, need to make certain decisions, and then stick to them Do we want democracy? If yes we have to accept it can be messy Do we want freedom of speech? If yes, we have to accept people can say some unsavoury things Do we want rule of law? then we have to ensure that everyone must be subject to same set of laws all the time, not just when they have fallen out of favour

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late)

Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

M A Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Faking it

WAy too many people get morality all wrong I am not referring to any particular moral code here but to a more fundamental question; namely who exactly is morality about the crucial thing that many people fail to understand is that morality essentially concerns one s own attitudes and acts, and not those of others those others have their own moral codes to worry about, and so long as they do not become a hazard to public health and safety, how and according to which moral code they live their lives is nobody else’s business the sorry consequence of appreciating this cruc i a l d i s t i n c t i o n i s ‘ p i o u s ’ i n d i v i d u a l s p e r p e t u a l l y worrying about the infringement of this moral inj u n c t i o n o r t h a t o n t h e p a r t o f s o m e b o d y e l s e I t c o u l d b e a n y t h i n g : h o w t h i s w o m a n c h o o s e s t o d r e s s h o w t h a t m a n s i t s h o w a p a r t i c u l a r g r o u p c o n d u c t s i t s e l f t h e l i s t g o e s o n t h i s t y p e o f moralist while he incessantly obsesses with the behaviour of everybody else, rarely concerns himself with his own conduct to be human is to be less than perfect, of course So, at one time or another and in varying degrees, everybody is guilty of erring in this regard there is

For morality, by definition, is what is adopted by choice and conviction. Much of the miser y in the world can be traced back to a failure to g et the concept of morality right. The bigg est beneficiaries of g etting this straight would be those who are currently consumed by envy and bitterness, which are unavoidable consequences of simulated morality

a particular type of man however, who is especially prone to this failing this is the sort that lives by a certain moral code but without any degree of conviction on his part Why this type adopts that moral code is attributable instead to one or more of various factors: peer pressure the desire to please certain people half-hearted faith that he might earn salvation as a result to name a few Since his heart is not in it this type of person resents all those who choose not to be burdened by that moral code recall the story of the jealous fox that had lost i t s t a i l I n s t e a d o f p r a y i n g t h a t h e g o t h i s t a i l b a c k , h e s t a r t e d w i s h i n g t h a t a l l o t h e r f o x e s l o s t t h e i r t a i l s a s w e l l W h i l e t h e f o x e s t h a t l o s e t h e i r t a i l s b y a c c i d e n t d e s e r v e a l l t h e s y m p a t h y i n t h e w o r l d , t h o s e w h o c h o o s e t o d o s o m u s t n o t e x p e c t o t h e r s t o f o l l o w s u i t S i m i l a r l y, t h o s e w h o c h o o s e t o a d o p t a p a r t i c u l a r m o r a l c o d e m u s t n o t e x p e c t e v e r y b o d y e l s e t o f o l l o w t h e i r s u i t I f t h e i r b i t t e rn e s s a n d f r u s t r a t i o n i s a n y i n d i c a t i o n t h a t i s a l l m a n y m o r a l p e o p l e e v e r d o S i n c e t h e y a r e n o t c o n v i n c e d o f t h e s o u n d n e s s o f t h e i r m o r a l c o d e and have adopted it for all the wrong reasons they c a n n o t h e l p t h i s n a g g i n g s u s p i c i o n t o r m e n t i n g t h e m t h a t t h o s e w h o h a v e c h o s e n t o r e m a i n u n f e tt e r e d b y t h a t m o r a l c o d e m a y b e a t a c l e a r a d v a ntage in comparison, as the latter seem to be having a l l t h e f u n w h i l e t h e m o r a l p e r s o n m u s t f o r e g o a l l t h e j o y s l i f e h a s t o o ff e r G a r y M i l l e r c o m m e n t e d m o s t b e a u t i f u l l y o n this apparent conflict between moral sacrifice and fun When asked what he missed most from his life b e f o r e h e r e v e r t e d t o I s l a m h e r e p l i e d t h a t i f h e missed anything from his old life he would still be in his old life that it was not the case that there w e r e a l l s o r t s o f g o o d t h i n g s t h a t w e r e b a r r e d t o Muslims that as far he was concerned prohibited t h i n g s w e r e f o r b i d d e n t o h i m p r e c i s e l y b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e h a r m f u l n o t b e n e f i c i a l f o r h i m t h e same ought to be true of any moral code so long as one has adopted it by conviction, not by conven-

C r y p t o c u r r e n c y g o v e r n a n c e

Cry p to c u r r e n c y governance refers to the process by which decisions are made regarding the rules, policies, and direction of a particular cryptocurrency network Since cryptocurrencies are decentralized and do not have a central authority, the governance process typically involves a community of users developers and other stakeholders who come together to propose discuss and implement changes to the network Several states have implemented cryptocurrency governance including the united States the Japanese government has implemented a licensing system for cryptocurrency exchanges and other service providers and has established a framework for the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions the Swiss government has established a legal framework for cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses and has implemented a licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges and other service providers Malta has established itself as a hub for cryptocurrency businesses with the government implementing a pro-cryptocurrency regulatory regime the Maltese government has established a licensing system for cryptocurrency exchanges and other service providers and has also implemented a framework for initial coin offerings (Icos) the Singaporean government has established a licensing system for cryptocurrency exchanges and other service providers and has also implemented a framework for Icos overall, the approach to cryptocurrency governance varies widely from country to country Some countries have adopted more permissive regulatory regimes, while others have taken a more cautious approach the specific approach to cryptocurrency governance will depend on a variety of factors including the size and sophistication of the local cryptocurrency market the level of support for cryptocurrencies among regulators and policymakers and the specific goals and values of the local population there are different approaches to cryptocurrency governance but some of the most common include core Development teams: Some cryptocurrencies have a small group of core developers who make decisions about the network s direction and implementation these developers are typically chosen based on their technical expertise and are responsible for maintaining the codebase, implementing updates, and addressing bugs and security issues Decentralized Autonomous organizations (DAos): A DAo is a decentralized entity that operates through code and smart contracts on a blockchain In the context of cryptocurrency governance a DAo can be used to allow token holders to vote on network changes and proposals

token Holder Governance: Some cryptocurrency networks allow token holders to vote on proposals through a process known as token

holder governance this approach gives users a direct say in the network s development but it can also be prone to manipulation by large token holders Hybrid Governance: Some cryptocurrencies use a combination of the above approaches to achieve a balance between decentralization and efficiency overall, cryptocurrency governance is a complex and evolving field and there is no onesize-fits-all solution that works for every network the success of a particular governance model depends on a variety of factors including the size and diversity of the community the complexity of the network and the specific goals and values of the stakeholders involved pakistan like any other country can approach cryptocurrency governance in several ways Here are some potential steps that pakistan could take to develop a framework for cryptocurrency governance: Legal and regulatory Framework: the first step for pakistan would be to establish a legal and regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies this could involve defining cryptocurrencies as a specific asset class creating a licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges and other service providers and developing rules for the issuance of new cryptocurrencies education and awareness campaigns can be important tools for promoting responsible cryptocurrency use and reducing the risk of fraud and other illegal activities consumer protection: pakistan could establish consumer protection measures to ensure that users of cryptocurrency platforms are protected against fraud and other forms of exploitation this could include measures such as requiring exchanges to maintain sufficient reserves to cover user deposits and implementing dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve disputes between users and service providers pakistan could implement anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (Kyc) requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and other service providers this could help to prevent illicit activities such as money laundering

and terrorist financing pakistan can collaborate with other countries and international organizations to develop best practices for cryptocurrency governance this could involve sharing information and expertise with other countries, participating in international forums, and working with industry associations to promote responsible cryptocurrency use the approach to cryptocurrency governance in pakistan will depend on a variety of factors including the size and sophistication of the local cryptocurrency market the level of support for cryptocurrencies among regulators and policymakers and the specific goals and values of the pakistani people cryptocurrency governance has the potential to improve the pakistani economy in several ways Here are some potential benefits:

Increased Access to capital: cryptocurrencies can provide individuals and businesses with a new way to access capital By allowing users to make borderless transactions with low fees, cryptocurrencies can provide an alternative to traditional financing channels this could be particularly beneficial for pakistani entrepreneurs who face challenges in accessing capital due to limited access to credit and other traditional financial services

Improved Financial Inclusion: cryptocurrencies can also improve financial inclusion in pakistan cryptocurrencies are accessible to anyone with an internet connection, which means that people who are excluded from the traditional banking system can still participate in the economy this could help to reduce poverty and increase economic growth reduced transaction costs: cryptocurrencies can also reduce transaction costs for individuals and businesses traditional financial systems often involve high transaction fees especially for cross-border transactions cryptocurrencies on the other hand can facilitate low-cost and fast transactions which can reduce the cost of doing business and increase economic activity

Improved transparency: cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology which provides a transparent and immutable ledger of all transactions this can help to reduce corruption and improve accountability in the pakistani economy

Job creation: the development and adoption of cryptocurrencies can also create new jobs in the pakistani economy this could include jobs in software development financial services and other related fields overall the potential benefits of cryptocurrency governance for the pakistani economy are significant However there are also risks and challenges associated with cryptocurrencies such as volatility security risks and regulatory challenges therefore pakistan needs to approach cryptocurrency governance in a responsible and balanced way, taking into account both the potential benefits and the potential risks

The author holds an MPhil degree in International Relations from Quaid I Azam University Islamabad

t i o n o r f o r p r a g m a t i c r e a s o n s I f a m a n r e s e n t s a fellow human being merely because he chooses to a d o p t a d i ff e r e n t m o r a l c o d e i t i n v a r i a b l y m e a n s that he is not quite convinced of the validity of his own moral code A concrete example would help to illustrate the p o i n t L a d y A w e a r s t i g h t s i n p u b l i c a n d h a s n o p r o b l e m w i t h a n y b o d y e l s e c h o o s i n g t o d o t h e same or otherwise for that matter this is one manifestation of a moral code Lady B does not like to w e a r t i g h t s b u t h a s n o p r o b l e m w i t h o t h e r l a d i e s wearing them or choosing to do otherwise this is a manifestation of a different moral code Which of the two codes is better is not the point of the discussion at hand For our purposes, suffice it to say that both are legitimate moral codes, since both are applied to the person who chooses to adopt them, not to anybody else there is Lady c however who would love to wear tights but cannot do so on account of a variety of external factors unable to thus t r e a t h e r s e l f s h e h a s a p r o b l e m w i t h i m m o r a l women who are audacious enough to do so this is j u s t o n e e x a m p l e o f h o w t h i s s o r t o f m o r a l i t y works Instances of fake morality like this can be observed everywhere: as applied to music dance saris, films, theatre with very much the same mechanics at play If a code of conduct is inherited or accepted under pressure of any kind, it can hardly be called morality, whatever else it may be referred to For morality, by definition, is what is adopted by choice and conviction Much of the misery in the world can be traced back to a failure to get the concept of morality right the biggest beneficiaries of getting this straight would be those who are currently consumed by envy and bitterness which are unavoidable consequences of simulated morality

The author is a connoisseur of music literature and food (but not drinks) He can be reached at www facebook com/hasanaftabsaeed

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

Cr y for help from a hero’s daughter

I n 2013 my father the late Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan established the Dr

A Q Khan Hospital trust to provide free healthcare to the poor and needy of Lahore Before his death in 2021 in his capacity as the lifetime chairman of the said trust he named me as his successor unfortunately, seeing an opportunity, some unscrupulous individuals having nothing to do with the trust, have been promoting themselves as trustees and administrators of the hospital With the help of certain officials, they have created a totally fake and bogus trust deed, and are using it to scam the public into making donations It has now been 16 months since my father ’s demise, and I am still fighting to somehow stop this illegal activity the culprits have forcibly and illegally occupied the hospital as well as the trust offices and have stolen donations worth billions of rupees from the bank accounts

Before his death my father had legally instructed all the relevant banks to freeze the accounts till further notice but some unscrupulous bankers have given the corrupt people access and have handed over the deposits to them My father had also recorded a video while he was in hospital In it he clearly states that he has removed certain people from the trust and they are not to be given any access assistance or authority this video has been posted on social media and is available to the public yet, despite my efforts, these deceitful persons continue their illegal activities, using my father s name to loot the donors and to promote themselves on social and conventional media platforms I have repeatedly tried to get help from multiple quarters both in Islamabad and Lahore, but all have been in vain Instead, I am being harassed by the police, hearing of my court cases keeps getting adjourned, my requests for help from various government departments are being ignored and false accusations are being levelled against me My father gave this country security and freedom and even in the last days of his life he was trying to help the people of pakistan this is how he is being repaid I ask the relevant authorities to step in and resolve this matter once and for all I urge them to help me restore my rightful control of the trust so I may continue my father s work and force these fake trustees to stop their activities and repay all the funds that they have already stolen the people at large should not donate at all till sanity prevails

DR DINA KHAN ISLAMABAD

E a t i n g b i t t e r n e s s

L I S t e n I n G to a podcast about the cultural revolution in china I was struck by the phrase eating bitterness the podcast was about a book written by tania Branigan who was being interviewed by Sam Leith the author described life conditions before the cultural revolution, describing them as severe and harsh china has made monumental progress since those days nonetheless, some of the old guards still remember those times the author described the condition that people were experiencing and tolerating as eating bitterness they were, as they say, taking it all lying down It seemed that they were getting used to their situation pakistanis it seems are in a similar mode of national psyche they are taking it all lying down they are ‘eating bitterness’ day in and day out no amount of physical difficulty and mental torture seems to wake them up from their daily routine of tV dramas and made-to-order political bickering for television screen

My mother used to advise us not to be so sweet that people would swallow us whole and not to be too bitter that people would spit us out

We pakistanis are eating bitterness and swallowing it whole not only we are eating bitterness, we seem to be relishing it

Overall, the approach to cr yptocurrency governance varies widely from countr y to countr y. Some countries have adopted more permissive regulator y regimes, while others have taken a more cautious approach

tH e bungled economy of pakistan has nigh on turned into a cliche - a tragedy of volatile policies and volte-face politics over the course of the past few months after the ouster of Mr Imran Khan the recently dethroned prime minister of pakistan I have witnessed a brutal deterioration in the politico-economic fabric of the country two of the four provinces are without an elected government following a harried dissolution of respective assemblies in punjab and Khyber pakhtunkhwa (KpK) the federal government is subsisting on a razor-thin majority of a collective polity of 13 political parties of variegated vested interests

Inflation has reached 38 4% despite historic monetary tightening by the State Bank of pakistan (SBp) the foreign exchange reserves have dwindled down to $3 26 billion barely enough to meet 3 weeks of import cover While the pivotal economic review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) still dangles optimism to escape the dreaded default no prospective foreign inflows are on cards to plug the gap in the budgetary finances of pakistan

Many financial pundits are of the view that pakistan ought to restructure its external debt - currently hovering around $97 5 billion - to escape the fiscal crunch of debt servicing A motley group of economic gurus has posited their views, revolving around the structural reforms that are imperative to drag the economy of pakistan from the crutches of foreign dependence entirely unfortunately while one premise inherently defends the capitalist foundations of the status quo (perhaps even enabling such forces to consolidate) the other side takes on a populist approach that quite frankly defies practicality altogether the result of the clash of these two paradigms is an admixture of confusion breeding uncertainty in the economy of pakistan

I ask for a very simple answer to my question from the champions of debt restructuring: What exactly is the endgame? pakistan has already been downgraded to the cusp of precarity; its international bonds have been rele-

Quest for Pakistan’s path to prosperit y

guided economic agenda

gated to junk status by global credit rating agencies In all fairness, pakistan is dealing with a double whammy of debt and devaluation the more the rupee depreciates against the greenback the more the debt servicing costs swell A perennial cycle that continues to build pressure on limited state finances

According to Dr Miftah Ismail the former finance minister of pakistan the country is due to pay circa $21 billion in the next 12 months; $3 billion needs to be repaid within the remaining 5 months of the fiscal year 2023 according to the SBp sources Dr Ismail has further augured that pakistan would continue facing a similar burden of debt repayments for the next three subsequent years - a cumulative outflow of about $80 billion by the end of the fiscal year 2026 (Fy26) How is debt restructuring a solution to such an enduring issue that is clearly endemic to the existing economic structure of pakistan?

A country typically borrows when it consumes more than it could afford to produce or procure this a simplistic rubric but an effective one to describe the lopsided nature of pakistan s economy As reported by the SBp the country s current Account Deficit (cAD) clocked at $17 4 billion in Fy22 - roughly 4 6% of the GDp of pakistan one would be forgiven to assume that pakistan entertains abnormally extravagant imports relative to regional standards Statistically however that argument doesn t hold up In the corresponding fiscal year, pakistan ranked 42nd in the world for its nominal GDp It also ranked 49th for its import volume this parity reveals a consistency of imports with the size of the economy of pakistan But if imports are not the problem, what is? the answer is counterintuitive - exports In the same fiscal year, pakistan’s exports ranked 65th in the world a detraction compared to its economic heft As a percentage of GDp pakistan’s exports of goods and services were just 9 06% in 2021 the figure is lackluster when compared to Bangladesh s ratio of 14 8%; thailand s 58 2%; and Vietnam s 93 3% pakistan s domestic industries are notoriously inward-looking as protectionist trade policies and a windfall of state-sponsored subsidies take the incentive out of exploring export markers and developing quality standards yet, these industries still utilize imported fuel, machinery, and intermediate goods for production the end result: the government of pakistan keeps borrowing to subsidize inefficient industries that bring virtually no foreign exchange but lead to

natO on the precipice

a net outflow of hard (and borrowed) currency this circular flow is the reason why pakistan fails to sustain growth levels above 5-6% Whenever the threshold exceeds the country s forex reserves start to deplete and the disparity between exports and imports widens, exacerbating the current account deficit and forcing the government to borrow while tamping down on domestic demand to curb imports this is the ground reality today and it has been for the past few months And thus, no amount of debt restructuring, increased taxation or rate hikes or even administrative restrictions and draconian tariffs would prove potent against runaway inflation and a fraying standard of living Because these variables are in-built into the economic infrastructure of pakistan that would continue to cyclically drag pakistan into the throes of anemic economic growth and unsustainable debt then is the other facet of the debate worth exploring? Would structural reforms prove to be a lasting panacea for the economy of pakistan?

populist leaders like Mr Imran Khan like to boast about an idealistic model of egalitarian values and social equity His populist slogan of transforming pakistan into Medina ki riyasat (a state modeled on the welfare state of Medina founded by the Islamic prophet Muhammad (pBuH)) surely garnered popular support amongst the masses, enough to project him into high office in 2018 Ironically, his pakistan tehreek-e-Insaaf (ptI) government added record foreign debt, to the tune of $35 3 billion, in its 44month tenure the money was not used for reforms but to repay previous loans subsidize electricity and gas prices and finance export schemes that hardly made a modicum of improvement in forex inflows His postouster laments have been directed toward the alleged jawboning by the pakistani military and an ever-elusive and corrupt political elite in opposition the truth however is the failure of his narrow-sighted populism and mis-

In the same fiscal year, Pakistan’s expor ts ranked 65th in the world, a detraction compared to its economic heft. As a percentag e of GDP, Pakistan’s expor ts of goods and ser vices were just 9 06% in 2021 The figure is lackluster when compared to Bangladesh’s ratio of 14 8%; Thailand’s 58 2%; and Vietnam’s 93 3%

Structural reforms need a vision not a complex vision but a realistic roadmap Mere sloganeering and popularity are futile without a plan Just avowing to build oil refineries for instance, to efface pakistan s skewed dependence on imported petroleum products would never cut it In reality, a constant flow of investment is needed But how could that possibly metastasize when political chaos rocks the country haywire? Why would Multinational corporations (Mncs) set up production in pakistan when the country maintains some of the world’s highest tariff rates? How would domestic investors expand productivity and explore an export-based model when policy rates continue to vicillate around 17% - a prohibitive and inhibitive level compared to regional economies? the same playbook of heavy taxation and truncating demand would barely contain inflation However, it would continue to discourage innovation and hinder longterm development I’m all for the idea of reducing income inequality But this short-term benefit should not come at the expense of eroding domestic productivity stifling entrepreneurship and diverting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) ultimately I subscribe to neither the capitalist model nor the populist approach Instead I believe in a charter of economy that establishes a norm of policies and institutions for at least a decade A charter that doesn’t waver between the two extremes of policy with each change of government I’d go out on a limb and say that pakistan needs political uniformity and economic certainty more than debt restructuring or structural reforms And only after establishing market trust and openness can pakistan even dream of taking the next step otherwise this tussle of opinion is as abstract as our chances of avoiding a complete socio economic collapse

The writer can be reached at szainabbasrizvi 14122@khi iba edu pk

GErmany’s

ECOnOmIC mIraClE: It Was buIlt On dEbt rElIEF

tH e images tell the story In the packed meeting rooms and hallways of Munich’s Hotel Bayerischer Hof last weekend back-slapping allies pushed an agenda with the kind of forwardlooking determination nAto had long sought to portray but just as often struggled to achieve they pledged more aid for ukraine they revamped plans for their own collective defense two days later in Moscow, Vladimir putin stood alone, rigidly ticking through another speech full of resentment and lonely nationalism, pausing only to allow his audience of grimfaced government functionaries to struggle to their feet in a series of mandatory ovations in a cold cavernous hall

With the war in ukraine now one year old and no clear path to peace at hand a newly unified nAto is on the verge of making a series of seismic decisions beginning this summer to revolutionize how it defends itself while forcing slower members of the alliance into action the decisions in front of nAto will place the alliance which protects 1 billion people on a path to one of the most sweeping transformations in its 74-year history plans set to be solidified at a summit in Lithuania this summer promise to revamp everything from allies’ annual budgets to new troop deployments to integrating defense industries across europe the goal: Build an alliance that putin wouldn’t dare directly challenge yet the biggest obstacle could be the alliance itself a lumbering collection of squabbling nations with parochial interests and a bureaucracy that has often promised way more than it has delivered now it has to seize the momentum of the past year to cut through red tape and crank up peacetime procurement strategies to meet an unpredictable and likely increasingly belligerent russia

It s a massive undertaking, said Benedetta Berti, head of policy planning at the nAto secretary-general’s office the group has spent “decades of focusing our attention elsewhere,” she said terrorism, immigration all took priority over russia “It’s really a quite significant historic shift for the alliance ” she said

For now individual nations are making the right noises But the proof will come later this year when they re asked to open up their wallets and defense firms are approached with plans to partner with rivals to hear alliance leaders and heads of state tell it they re ready to do it ukraine has to win this, Adm rob Bauer, the head of nAto s military committee, said on the sidelines of the Munich Security conference We cannot allow russia to win, and for a good reason because the ambitions of russia are much larger than ukraine ”

ALL EYES ON VILNIUS: the big change will come in July when nAto allies gather in Vilnius Lithuania for their big annual summit nAto’s top military leader will lay out a new plan for how the alliance will put more troops and equipment along the eastern front And Gen chris cavoli supreme allied commander for europe will also reveal how personnel across the alliance will be called to help on short notice the changes will

amount to a reengineering of how europe is defended, one senior nAto official said the plans will be based on geographic regions, with nAto asking countries to take responsibility for different security areas, from space to ground and maritime forces “Allies will know even more clearly what their jobs will be in the defense of europe ” the official said nAto leaders have also pledged to reinforce the alliance s eastern defenses and make 300 000 troops ready to rush to help allies on short notice should the need arise under the current nAto response Force the alliance can make available 40 000 troops in less than 15 days under the new force model 100 000 troops could be activated in up to 10 days, with a further 200,000 ready to go in up to 30 days But a good plan can only get allies so far nAto’s aspirations represent a departure from the alliance’s previous focus on short-term crisis management essentially, the alliance is “going in the other direction and focusing more on collective security and deterrence and defense ” said a second nAto official who like the first requested anonymity to discuss ongoing planning chief among nAto s challenges: Getting everyone s armed forces to cooperate countries such as Germany which has underfunded its military modernization programs for years will likely struggle to get up to speed And Sweden and Finland on the cusp of joining nAto are working to integrate their forces into the alliance others simply have to expand their ranks for nAto to meet its stated quotas “nAto needs the ability to add speed, put large formations in the field much larger than they used to ” said Bastian Giegerich director of defense and military analysis and the International Institute for Strategic Studies

EAST VS WEST: An east-west ideological fissure is also simmering within nAto countries on the alliance s eastern front have long been frustrated at times publicly with the slower pace of change many in Western europe and the united States are advocating even after russia s invasion We started to change and for western partners, it s been kind of a delay, polish Armed Forces Gen rajmund Andrzejczak said during a visit to Washington this month those concerns on the eastern front are being heard, tentatively

Last summer nAto branded russia as its most direct threat a significant shift from postcold War efforts to build a partnership with Moscow u S president Joe Biden has also conducted his own charm offensive traveling to Warsaw for a major speech last week that helped alleviate some of the tensions and perceived slights

Still nAto s eastern front which is within striking distance of russia is imploring its western neighbors to move faster to help fill in the gaps along the alliance s edges and to buttress reinforcement plans

It is important to “fix the slots which countries are going to deliver which units,” said estonian Foreign Minister urmas reinsalu, adding that he hopes the u S “will take a significant part ” officials and experts agree that these changes are needed for the long haul “If ukraine manages to win then ukraine and europe and nAto are going to have a very disgruntled russia on its doorstep rearming mobilizing ready to go again said Sean Monaghan a visiting fellow at the center for Strategic and International Studies If ukraine loses and russia wins, he noted, the West would have

an emboldened russia on our doorstep so either way, nAto has a big russia problem

WAKEUP CALL FROM RUSSIA: the rush across the continent to rearm as weapons and equipment flows from long-dormant stockpiles into ukraine has been as sudden as the invasion itself After years of flat defense budgets and Soviet-era equipment lingering in the motor pools across the eastern front calls for more money and more Western equipment threaten to overwhelm defense firms without the capacity to fill those orders in the near term that could create a readiness crisis in ammunition tanks infantry fighting vehicles and anti-armor weapons nAto actually recognized this problem a decade ago but lacked the ability to do much about it the first attempt to nudge member states into shaking off the post-cold War doldrums started slowly in the years before russia’s full-scale invasion of ukraine last year

After Moscow took crimea and parts of the Donbas in 2014 the alliance signed the “Wales pledge” to spend 2 percent of economic output on defense by 2024 the vast majority of countries politely ignored the vow giving then-president Donald trump a major talking point as he demanded europe step up and stop relying on Washington to provide a security umbrella But nothing focuses attention like danger, and the sight of russian tanks rumbling toward Kyiv as putin ranted about Western depravity and russian destiny jolted europe into action one year on, the bills from those early promises to do more are coming due “We are in this for the long haul” in ukraine said Bauer the head of nAto’s Military committee a body comprising allies’ uniformed defense chiefs But sustaining the pipeline funneling weapons and ammunition to ukraine will take not only the will of individual governments but also a deep collaboration between the defense industries in europe and north America those commitments are still a work in progress part of that effort, Bauer said, is working to get countries to collaborate on building equipment that partners can use It s a job he thinks the european union countries are well-suited to lead that’s a touchy subject for the eu, a selfproclaimed peace project that by definition can’t use its budget to buy weapons But it can serve as a convener And it agreed to do just that last week pledging with nAto and ukraine to jointly establish a more effective arms procurement system for Kyiv talk of course is one thing traditionally nAto and the eu have been great at promising change and forming committees and working groups to make that change only to watch it get bogged down in domestic politics and big alliance in-fighting And many countries have long fretted about the eu encroaching on nAto s military turf But this time, there is a sense that things have to move, that western countries can’t let putin win his big bet that history would repeat itself and that europe and the u S would be frozen by an inability to agree “people need to be aware that this is a long fight they also need to be brutally aware that this is a war the second nAto official said this is not a crisis this is not some small incident somewhere that can be managed this is an all-out war And it s treated that way now by politicians all across europe and across the alliance and that s absolutely appropriate

Removing the economic straitjacket would allow developing countries to breathe again

se V e n t y years ago the London Debt Agreement saw half of Germany’s (then West Germany’s) borrowings accumulated after two world wars written off the debt cancellation worth more than a fifth of national GDp was driven by the united States the uK and France eventually South American Asian and African nations signed up – including in a bitter twist of history colonial precursors of today s bankrupts Germany s economic miracle was built on debt relief unlike today Germany was allowed to repay a large part of its debts in its national currency Meanwhile, the cost of servicing the country s external debt was capped at 5% of export revenues In 2021, the comparable figure was 16% for poor, indebted nations – money that should be used for schools and hospitals creditors in the 1950s were expected to take a haircut if the German economy faltered the country was allowed to industrialise by replacing imports with homemanufactured goods while creditor nations agreed to reduce their own exports unlike the current International Monetary Fund bailouts West Germany s state was allowed to get bigger Social welfare spending zoomed upwards

Wealthy nations put the Wunder into postwar Wirtschaftswunder they are either the most important creditors or home to the most important creditors for poor countries the institutions they run – the World Bank and the IMF – only began forgiving poor nation debts with strings attached, in the late 1990s yet the generosity shown to Germany is denied to today s developing nations there is no space for them to regain industrial strength and control Firms in the global north make windfall profits in global manufacturing, even though they rarely make the products the big powers aren’t in a hurry to encourage poorer countries to develop away from sectors such as agriculture and mining, where bountiful surpluses are extracted by rich-world multinationals europe was integrated through trade – with the anti-Soviet West Germany at its core – yet in Latin America and Africa outside powers seek the opposite outcome through bilateral trade agreements It s no surprise that impoverished nations end up stuck in development dead ends the secret of making poor nations rich has been known since Henry VII in 15th-century england began taxing the export of raw wool to subsidise the manufacture of woollen textiles poor countries face a hostile political and economic environment

With the uS Federal reserve raising interest rates, their currencies are depreciating, making it harder for developing nations to purchase goods priced in dollars and pay back dollar-denominated loans rebeca Grynspan, of the united nations conference on trade and Development, has warned that such “debts will never be realistically repayable” – with G20 restructuring talks this weekend deadlocked poor nations face too high a cost for the climate emergency that the rich world created countries should be spending cash to indigenise production while keeping within planetary boundaries Instead they are trapped into shelling out vast sums to their creditors

What would help them is unconditional debt relief and adequate grant-based green finance private bondholders not china would be the biggest losers Banks institutional funds and investors advanced $250bn to the 55 most climate vulnerable countries, while Beijing lent $47bn Bonds are governed by either english or new york law – and the uK and uS should pass legislation requiring bondholders to take part in internationally agreed debt relief the globalisation currently being orchestrated by the world’s richest countries is suffocating poor nations What the German experience revealed is that removing the economic straitjacket would allow developing countries to breathe again

BEIJInG ag e N c I e S

THE Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday urged the US to stop spreading disinformation on the so-called China s military backing for Russia, saying that China will not accept such coercion or pressure I n t h e l a t e s t r o u n d o f p u b l i c o p i n i o n o ff e n s i v e s a g a i n s t C h i n a , t h e U S , f r o m s e n i o r o ff i c i a l s t o u n n a m e d s o u r c e s , h y p e d u p C h i n a ’s m u l l i n g o f s e n d i n g w e a p o n s a n d a m m u n i t i o n t o a i d R u s s i a a t a t i m e w h e n C h i n a h a s j u s t o u t l i n e d i t s p e a c e f u l a n d p o l i t i c a l s e t t l e m e n t p o s i t i o n i n b o t h i t s t o p d i p l o m a t ’s E u r o p e t r i p a n d a p o s i t i o n p a p e r

On Sunday, White House national security adviser Jack Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union that aiding Russia would be a bad mistake and the US will continue to send “a strong message” to China against “giving military aid to Moscow ” In an interview with CBS News on Saturday CIA Director Bill Burns expressed confidence that China “is considering the provision of lethal equipment” to Russia

Both Sullivan and Burns admitted that there s no evidence of actual shipments of

Man along with two kids commits suicide in Sialkot

SIALKOT S ta f f R e p o R t

A man committed suicide by jumping into a canal along with his two children over a domestic row in Sambrial city of Sialkot on Monday Rescue 1122 said that the bodies of father Abdul Rauf and one child have been recovered while the divers are making efforts to fish out the body of the other child

PTI shor tlists candidates from Lahore for polls

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) shortlisted its candidate from Lahore for the upcoming general elections on Monday The PTI had compiled the recommendations of the shortlisted candidates for Lahore for the upcoming general polls A nonfinal list had been prepared for 13 national and 25 provincial constituencies in the Lahore district

The PTI had recommended the re-issuance of tickets to most of the former lawmakers The leader of Narowal on one seat of the National Assembly from Lahore will also likely be awarded a ticket Two current members of the Senate were also in the race for the National Assembly tickets from Lahore Wajid Azeem and Abrarul Haq were candidates from NA 123 Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan and Muhammad Khan Madani were candidates from NA 124 Dr Yasmin was a candidate from NA 125 Former Federal Minister Hammad Azhar was a candidate from NA 126

Jamshed Iqbal Cheema Hamid Miraj and Mian Ibad Farooq were candidates from NA 127

Usman Hamza Awan from NA 128 Mian Akram

Usman Humayun Akhtar Khan and Senator Waleed Iqbal were also candidates from NA 129

Shafqat Mehmood from NA 130, Humayun

Akhtar Khan and Ali Imtiaz Waraich from NA 131 Chaudhary Mansha Sindhu from NA 132

Senator Ejaz Chaudhary Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and Atif Chaudhary from NA 133, Zaheer Abbas Khokhar from NA 134 From PP 145 – Mahmood-ur-Rashid Farooq Khan and Abrar Khan

From PP 148 – Hafiz Zeeshan Rashid From PP 151 – Mian Aslam Iqbal From PP 159 – Dr Murad Raas From PP 160 – Mahmood-urRashid From PP 163 – Hafiz Farhat Abbas and Bilal Aslam Bhatti

Senate body discusses Barkhan murders, summons IGP, CS

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

The Senate Standing Committee for Interior discussed murders in Barkhan district of Balochistan on Monday The members of the Senate body expressed their resentment over the absence of the Home Secretary and the I G Balochistan The committee members decided to summon the Chief Secretary and the I G Police Balochistan to get briefing from them over cold-blooded murders in Barkhan

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said that several private jails exist in Balochistan with innocent people illegally imprisoned and detained The chairman house committee summoned briefing from the chief secretary and the police chief in the next session of the senate body Senator Kamil Ali Agha demanded registration of cases against those trying to save the culprits

The alliance of Marri tribe including the family members of the victims had ended the sitin which was staged in the Red Zone of Quetta following the terrifying Barkhan murders The chairman of Marri alliance Mehrdin Marri said that the provincial government did not cooperate with them and backed provincial minister Abdul Rehman Khetran He thanked the IG Balochistan for helping in recovery of the abducted members of the family The levies personnel recovered abducted woman Giran Naz, her four sons, and a daughter that were allegedly kept in the custody of Balochistan Minister Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran

lethal equipment from China to Russia

However, the Biden administration on Friday added Chinese and Russian companies to a trade blacklist for allegedly supporting the Russian military, according to Reuters Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday urged the US to stop spreading disinformation and withdraw the sanctions against the Chinese companies

“On the Ukraine issue China has been actively promoting peace talks and promoting the political settlement of the crisis The US is in no position to point fingers at China-Russia relations We do not accept coercion or pressure from the US Mao said

The US acts are typical unilateral sanctions, illegal “long-arm jurisdiction” and detrimental to Chinese interests Mao said

We will take resolute countermeasures in response to the US sanctions

On February 24 the first anniversary of the Ukraine-Russia military conflict US President Joe Biden told ABC News that he did not expect China to provide significant military aid to Russia while unnamed sources aware of the intelligence said on the same day that Beijing was considering sending ammunition and small arms, according to Politico

Shen Yi an international relations expert

from Fudan University told the Global Times on Monday that fabricating and hyping “China’s aid to Russia” illustrates how the US is in a bind over the Ukraine crisis one year after the military conflict began The US and NATO have done almost

everything short of sending troops directly to the battlefield, but is still unable to tip the balance in its favor, Shen said, and that “tolerance for the spillover of the conflict in the US and Europe is also lower than expected

The Pentagon on Friday announced a

new package of assistance for Ukraine with a $2 billion commitment to send more rounds of ammunition and drones With this latest package the US has now committed more than $32 billion in assistance to Ukraine since the conflict started, according to the AP

By hyping about China s mulling of sending lethal weapons to Russia, the US is actually coercing and pressing China to prove its innocence by standing on the US side to some extent, Shen said, The US is also trying to deflect public anger at the yearlong conflict from itself to China ”

The US is also attempting to find a scapegoat for its possible failure in Ukraine, and to put the blame on China in advance, which is a very cheap political stigmatization a Beijing-based expert told the Global Times on Monday on condition of anonymity

The launch of the public opinion war against China reflects the anxiety and hysteria of the US,” the anonymous expert said Due to the conflict between policy stability and term limits Washington s elites are probably feeling that their window of opportunity is shrinking significantly as the Russia-Ukraine conflict passes its first anniversary the expert said

How Modi shammed world ’s largest democrac y

nEwS DESK a M I t S I N g h

In the contemporary world, Akhand Bharat has a contrasting relationship with the Westphalian order It tries to override the concept of sovereignty for physical expansion a method to increase land boundaries This concept was considered as radical but the prolonging BJP rule in the last decade has made it mainstream through likeminded media coverages

Unfortunately the growing majoritarian trend since last decade in World Largest Democracy’ is resulting in wider acceptance of the concept within India as BJP s public support is skyrocketing

Nationalism a formidable force in Narendra Modi’s India Prime Minister Modi an active member of RSS is notorious for his complicity in the post-Godhra riots Modi claimed that the fire on the train which killed 59 Hindus in 2002 was an act of Islamist terrorism rather than an outbreak of communal violence, after that violence staged in Gujarat resulting in killing hundreds of Muslims

Modi always portrays India as once a glorious Hindu civilization eroded first by Mughals and then by British empire For BJP Hindus were forcibly converted in other religions without their will and it is

the responsibility of their leadership to revert back those conversions by all means under the guidance of Modi known as Butcher of Gujrat

Over the decades politicians frequently have violated the secularism mantra, often cynically and out of calculated political compulsion The leadership of the Indian National Congress which ruled India for much of the post-independence period, traditionally has championed its commitment to secular nationalism But in reality the Congress Party has invoked religious sentiments in India to suit its changing political interests followed by BJP

According to political scientist Ashutosh Varshney, three competing themes have fought for political dominance in India First there is the territorial notion of India the land between the Indus River to the west, the Himalaya Mountains, and the seas to the south and east comprise India’s “sacred geography ” A second conception, the cultural notion, is the idea that Indian society is defined by the values of tolerance pluralism and syncretism

The final theme stresses religion the land known as India is originally the homeland of the Hindu community While different religious communities may call India home proponents of this third viewpoint

see India as fundamentally belonging to the Hindu majority” and this concept gained momentum under the leadership of Modi to further polarized the already divided society of India T h e H i n d u t v a i d e o l o g y h a u n t i n g India since the time of independence, the founder of India ‘Gandhi’ became its first v i c t i m N o t o n l y G a n d h i b u t a l l t h o s e communities favored secularism met with d i r e c o n s e q u e n c e s S i n c e t h e n , t h e H i n -

dutva ideology became the very foundat i o n o f e v e r y r i g h t w i n g p o l i t i c a l organization in India namely, RSS, Shiv

S e n a , H i n d u M a h a s b h a , w i t h t h e l a t e s t one being BJP under the leadership of the most ignorant fascist cruel and extremi s t p e r s o n i n t h e S o u t h - A s i a n r e g i o n , Narendra Modi who is ruling India

The cult of Modi in India has daunting everyone promotes anti-intellectualism by attacking religious seminaries, universities and educational systems that might challenge its ideas

It is a nightmare for the press and media in fact anyone who is against the idea of Modi

Academics and scholars are fired attacked for criticizing Hindutva or the policies of Modi Government institutions, security and financial agencies, intimidate and harass opposition parties in fact anyone who dares to voice dissent From the de-

More European leaders to visit C hina to seek ‘common ground ’ for Ukraine crisis

UKRAIn

M a N a b R a R

More European leaders are planning to visit China in the coming week or months focusing on resuming highlevel talks and seeking practical cooperation amid the country’s post-pandemic recovery and more importantly, on the Ukraine crisis

Although China and European countries do not share the same position on the issue Chinese officials and experts believe that the two sides can find common ground to enhance communication and coordination with the aim of advancing peace talks

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay a state visit to China from February 28 to March 2, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Saturday

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he would visit China in early April and called on Beijing to help us pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine, AFP said Although the nature of the two visits will not be the same the RussiaUkraine conflict will be a major focus Belarus is an ally of Russia, and it could increase its involvement in the conflict Given its geopolitical status

and location, China can learn what role Belarus could play in helping advance the peace talks ” Cui Hongjian director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday A day before Lukashenko s visit was announced, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang talked with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik on the phone, saying that China is willing to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and deepen political mutual trust

On the Ukraine crisis, Qin introduced China’s 12-point position paper, China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis which emphasizes that China always stands

on the side of peace and urges the resumption of negotiations as soon as possible while avoiding further escalation Aleinik said Belarus completely agrees and supports China’s position paper noting that China’s relevant proposals have great significance to resolving the crisis

To resolve the Ukraine crisis, we can’t simply exert pressure on Russia or Putin like the West wants We need to find out if China and Belarus can find some common ground and jointly play a certain role which will be a major focus of this visit, Cui said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel may visit China in the first half of 2023 with preparations already underway, Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Cong told the Global Times in an exclusive interview China and the EU are expected to usher in frequent highlevel mutual visits soon he said

This positive trend of growing high-level exchanges between China and Europe shows that Europe does not want to see a protracted RussiaUkraine conflict, as the bloc s economy and competitiveness have been weakened by it Wang Yiwei director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday

Justice Afridi objects to invocation of

ISLAMABAD

Justice Yahya Afridi of the Supreme Court

Monday expressed his objection to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial’s decision to invoke suo motu jurisdiction in order to prevent a potential delay in the conduct of elections in Punjab and Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa

The constitutional provision allows the chief justice to take up cases on his own initiative Justice Bandial justified his decision maintaining it is aimed at protecting the Constitution

In an additional note, Justice Afridi questioned the rationale behind the move, particularly when the matter was already

under consideration in the high courts of the two provinces it appears that prima facie these petitions fall within the purview of Article 184(3) of the Constitution However it would not be judicially appropriate to exercise the power to make an order under the aforementioned provision of the constitution given that the matters raised in the petitions are presently pending adjudication before the Lahore High Court and the Peshawar High Court ” his note read Afridi said he believes that even though the apex court has the authority to hear the case, the specific circumstances surrounding the LHC decision and the parties political positions make it important for the court to exercise caution and avoid

struction of Babri Majid to the communal riots of 2022 Modi found everywhere in one way or the other Muslims have been the prime target of Hindutva fascism in India but unfortunately they aren’t the only one After Muslims Christians and Sikhs have been suffering at the hands of Hindu vigilantes They are punished with pogroms lynchings targeted murders custodial killings love jihad fake police encounters and imprisonment under false pretexts Bulldozing their homes and businesses a tactic recently adopted by BJP following Israel, before the bulldozer era, punishment for Muslims was meted out by Hindu vigilante mobs under the supervision of Police

The Hindu regime with the help of media tycoons made up of about 400 TV channels numerous websites and newspapers to keep a continuous drumbeat of hatred and bigotry against minorities On social media, it is now routine to encounter open calls for the genocide of Muslims In 2021, Mohan Bhagwat, the head of RSS, in his speech warned Hindus about the enforced religious conversions and demographic changes in India s Northeastern states which consist of large Christian population Three days after the speech, Rameshwar Sharma a BJP member called the Hindutva masses for a India free of

PM Shehbaz orders action against illegal cigarette factories

ISLAMABAD

I N p

Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has directed the authorities concerned to take action against illegal cigarette factories after International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised concerns over tax evasion’ of Rs80 billion, sources said Monda According to details the prime minister issued the directives during a meeting after the Fund expressed reservation over tax evasion of Rs80 billion through trade of illegal cigarettes PM Shehbaz has directed Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to complete the track and trace system on all the cigarette manufacturing companies

Sources said that FBR Inland Revenue Intelligence teams would launch a crackdown on illegal cigarette factories across the country and a report on the matter would also be shared with the IMF

Sources further claimed that almost 24 cigarette manufacturing companies were still not included in the track and trace system During the meeting, the Ministry of Finance and FBR briefed the prime minister on the trade of illegal cigarettes

The FBR has been directed to submit its monthly report on crackdowns on illegal cigarettes to the

Prime Minister ’s Office Earlier in February the federal government enhanced taxes on cigarettes with immediate effect to collect Rs115 billion out of the planned Rs170 billion mini-budget According to the notification issued by FBR the standard rate of General Sales Tax (GST) was jacked up from 17 to 18 percent with effect from February 15, 2023 The Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cigarettes was also gone up

motu to prevent election delay

the said petition/appeal pending before the respective high courts but more importantly, offend the hierarchical judicial domain of the high court as envisaged under the Constitution

It would also disturb the judicial propriety that the high court deserves in the safe mature and respectful administration of justice Accordingly I dismiss these three petitions, his note read As a result of his objections, Justice Afridi decided to recuse himself from the initial nine-member bench constituted to take up the matter Consequently, a smaller five-judge bench was formed, with Justice Bandial as its head The court order regarding the February 23 hearing has also been released to the public

corporate corner

NOT-BY- PROFIT

Proficiency in local mother tongue can benefit local businesses, industry

ISLaMaBaD

N E W S D E S K

iN T E R N AT I O N A L Mother

Language Day is celebrated globally on February 21st each year under the United Nations (UN) auspices The day has been observed annually since 2002 with a theme associated with it This year s (2023) theme is Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education," with a specific emphasis on indigenous people's education and

Experts identify key skills to prepare students at Cambridge Principals Forums

i s l a m a b a d: Cambridge International has held Cambridge Principals Forums in Pakistan this month for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic More than 509 leaders and educators from 411 Cambridge schools came together at the events in three cities to discuss the theme Ready for the World Dr Mark Winterbottom Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education University of Cambridge delivered the keynote session on Positive classrooms, positive students: creating a positive learning environment Participants discussed key topics such as creating student and teaching autonomy, how it helps students in developing world-ready skills and how it encourages teachers to create a positive learning environment for students in classrooms The keynote was followed by an informative panel discussion titled “Building Better Futures: developing worldready skills in students” The diverse panels in all three cities included education thought leaders industry experts as well as students from top universities who shared their perspectives on the skills students need to develop to navigate future challenges and how education can help develop these skills pr

SSDO Organizes International Conference on Combating Trafficking in Persons in Pakistan in collaboration with the US Embassy

i s l a m a b a d: In an effort to reduce trafficking in persons and increase direct referrals of victims for services or rehabilitation and advocating for prevention and prosecution of Trafficking in Persons, Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO) in collaboration with US Embassy and Pakistan US Alumni Network (PUAN) organized a two-day international conference in Islamabad on the 27th and 28th of February The conference’s objective was to strengthen institutional capacity and collaboration of various stakeholders primarily for the implementation of legal frameworks The conference initiated with speeches from notable figures of the abovementioned organizations and was attended by government private and development sector institutions from both Pakistan and the United States pr

Over 1 2m orders were influenced by Daraz Live campaigns and streams in 2022

K a r a c h i: Daraz Group, South Asia s leading e-commerce platform, released the inaugural report on Daraz Live selling in South Asia The report indicated that live commerce, a combination of live streaming and sales is one of the fastest-growing platforms for raising awareness for brands and sellers alike The report looks at Daraz Live’s performance over twelve months across Pakistan Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Nepal with over 3000 brands and sellers Over 2600 consumers were also interviewed across the four markets NUST is honored and grateful to announce a significant donation by the family of the late Arshad Sharif - a renowned Pakistani journalist writer and television news anchor The donation is in the name of the Arshad Sharif Endowment Fund and will enable two perpetual free seats for first-generation Mass Communication students struggling to fund their education at NUST The endowment seat will serve as a memorial tribute to Mr Sharif 's significant contribution to journalism and to keep the legacy of his noteworthy work alive pr

Staff RepoRt

Lahore Qalandars thrashed Islamabad United by 110 runs in the 16th match of the ongoing eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the

languages

Experts agree that the mother tongue is valuable for children s cognitive development, reasoning, emotional balance, and learning additional languages However children across the developing world are learning very little in school partly because they are taught in a language they do not fully understand This practice leads to limited learning acquisition of knowledge and skills alienation and high dropout and repetition rates To improve the quality of educa-

tion, language policies should consider mother-tongue learning Research shows that models of education that ignore mother tongue in early years may prove unproductive and ineffective, negatively affecting children's learning In the Unesco report 40% of people have no access to education in a language they understand and 617 million children and adolescents do not achieve minimum proficiency levels in reading

Using mother tongue education as a tool can help achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable De-

velopment, particularly SDG 4, which focuses on education and aims to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all " Moreover, mother-tongue education plays a vital role in personal social and cultural identity development critical thinking literacy skills and modern technological skills aligned with local businesses industry and trading

To read the full article visit www tribune com pk

S olid waste poses both a challenge and an oppor tunity

ISLaMaBaD N E W S D E S K

Solid

ZEAL future enablement program launched to develop critic al skills for digital media planning

LahoRe p r

Z2C Limited, a venture accelerator that invests in and launches MarTech start-ups, has taken yet another step towards increasing the quality and quantity of advertising industry talent in Pakistan

Through its Publicis Groupe Delivery (PGD) affiliated export-first digital agency Activ8 the accelerator has partnered with digital agency East River and the media science department of Ziauddin University to launch fast-track courses Pakistan s services industry generates under $ 2 b i l l i o n a n n u a l l y i n a g g r e g a t e e x p o r t r e venue, while the academic side of the equation p r o d u c e s r o u g h l y 1 0 , 0 0 0 g r a d u a t e s a n n u a l l y

A c r o s s t h e b o r d e r, I n d i a s s e r v i c e s i n d u s t r y generates over $100 billion annually in aggregate exports, and the academic space produces over 500,000 graduates annually LinkedIn data clearly reflects that the quality of Indian engineers and marketers is so high that Fortune 500 technology companies set up back offices in the second-most populous country in the world

According to keynotes delivered by executives of Careem and Systems Limited the lowquality of Pakistani graduates stems from a disconnect between what the market wants and how academics choose to teach students This is particularly reflective in a grading system around memorization instead of on the demonstration of applicable skills and critical thinking

To solve the disconnect between what the market wants and what universities should teach, partnerships between leading companies and institutions is the need of the hour One such part-

nership has taken place this weekend at the Ziauddin University

Drawing from the industry-leading management trainee program at Brainchild the 12-week innovative program aims to create a pool of talented digital resources at the management or project trainee level

"We are pleased to partner with East River Digital, Z2C Limited, and Activ8 to provide our students with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience and develop critical skills in digital media; we believe that this program will equip the next generation of digital leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their careers said Dr Nida Hussain Pro-chancellor of Ziauddin University

The first batch of the ZEAL Future Enablem e n t P r o g r a m a t Z i a u d d i n U n i v e r s i t y w i l l occur four times in 2023 and will enroll up to 50 participants in each cohort to develop critic a l s k i l l s i n d i g i t a l m e d i a p l a n n i n g , s o c i a l media, Google Ads, business communication, branding, and search engine optimization

“Launching a training academy has been a passion project of mine because it can change the destiny of our country," said Faizan S Syed, the CEO of East River

tribune com pk

Pakistan and Kenya to expand cooperation in agric ulture and livestock

i s l a m a b a d: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema met a Kenyan delegation headed by Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development of Kenya, Mithika Linturi today During the meeting both sides discussed areas of cooperation and partnership in the field of agriculture and livestock Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema welcomed the Kenyan delegation and said that Pakistan and Kenya have a longstanding agricultural trade relations and vast opportunities exist to further it Mithika Linturi Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development of Kenya, appreciated the cordial relations between the two countries He noted Pakistan is one of the leading export destinations for tea produced in Kenya Mithika Linturi said that food security is a global concern “Climate change has adversely affected food production,” he added He stressed that through knowledge sharing, we can mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure food availability Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema said that we can become helping hand of each other to overcome these challenges Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema said that Pakistan was a wheat and cotton exporting country a few years ago but unfortunately because of climate change and farmers shifting to other crops, Pakistan is now importing what it used to export pr

Babar A zam is a bigger diamond than Kohinoor: Shadab Khan

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan all-rounder, Shadab Khan, has come out in support of Babar Azam, who has been recently criticised by former cricketers and fans for his captaincy Pakistan failed to win a single Test at home under Babar s captaincy in 2022 and recently lost an ODI series to New Zealand at home as well

However Shadab in a recent interview with a local TV channel said that Pakistani people should understand the value of Pakistan captain and not unnecessarily criticise him

I think we are doing injustice with such a diamond Pakistan has been blessed with such a big dia-

mond He [Babar] is even a bigger diamond than Kohinoor ” Shadab said “As a nation we are not valuing Babar for what he is worth and are pressurising him

At the end of the day he is human We should respect him the way the world respects him he added

The all-rounder was also surprised with the criticism on Babar s leadership qualities by former cricketers I am surprised when people doubt him as a captain or a leader He is Pakistan s biggest player Our nation should respect him the way we respect him in the team, he concluded The Pakistan captain recently received the ICC Cricketer of the year award for his performances in the year 2022

delivered a slow short bowl that was mistimed by Gurbaz and Fakhar Zaman took a blinder to send the Afghan batter back to the pavilion

Soon

Colin

per Shadab Khan (4) back to the pavilion after a successful review Islamabad kept losing wickets In a bid to up the run-rate, Asif Ali went for a six but ended up getting caught by Haris off Rashid Khan Wiese added to Islamabad’s miseries by trapping Azam Khan for an lbw The wicket-keeper batter who scored 96 runs against Quetta Gladiators in their previous match, was sent packing after he scored only four runs The wizard Rashid claimed his second of the evening by bowling out Tom Curran (10) Hasan Ali Abrar Ahmed and Zeeshan Zameer were sent back inside the 14th over For Lahore, Wiese claimed three wickets, while Rashid and Raza took two scalps each Zaman and Haris secured a wicket each Earlier, Lahore Qalandars have set a 201-run target against Islamabad United Tahir Baig and Fakhar Zaman gave Lahore Qalandars a good start against Islamabad United The two batters stitched a 58-run target for the first wicket However Shadab Khan gave Islamabad a much-

needed breakthrough as he bowled out Tahir after he scored 20 runs off 17 balls In the next over Fakhar was dismissed by Tom Curran The left-handed batter was trying to go for a bid shot but the ball toppled the stums after an inside edge Nevertheless the onslaught continued as Abdullah Shafique and Sam Billings continued to hit boundaries Abdullah and Sam put on a magnificent 71-run partnership off just 38 balls But Curran struck again and broke the crucial partnership as he dismissed Abdullah, who was caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz at midwicket The 23-year-old departed after scoring 45 runs off 24 balls including four boundaries and two maximums Billings was the next batter to walk back as his compatriot got the better of him The righthanded batter scored 33 runs off 23 balls Following Billings departure, David Weise (12) came to the crease but was sent packing by Abrar Ahmed Spinner Rashid Khan also played a crucial cameo of 18 runs, which included two boundaries and a six But fell to Hasan Ali

N o G 2 0 J o I N T S TAT e m e N T A f T e r C h I N A o B J e C T I o N S o N U k r A I N e w A r

PR Ofit R e u t e R S

G20 finance ministers failed Saturday to adopt a joint statement on the global economy at talks in India after China sought to water down references to the Ukraine war Russia for its part accused the United States, the European Union and the G7 nations of disrupting the ministers meeting by trying to force through a joint statement on

Ukraine

“We regret that the activities of the G20 continue to be destabilized by the Western collective and used in an anti-Russian way ” Russia’s foreign ministry said

After no agreed-upon final statement was reached current G20 president in India issued a chair s summary which said most members strongly condemned the

Austerit y Committee directs ministries to implement 15% cut in current budgets

iSLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

war in Ukraine and that there were different assessments of the situation and sanctions at the two-day meeting in Bengaluru

A footnote said two paragraphs in the summary about the war, which it said were adapted from the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration in November “were agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China Spain s representative Nadia Calvino had said earlier that because of less constructive approaches by some unspecified countries at the talks among the world s top 20 economies agreeing on a statement was difficult China wanted to change the language of the declaration from November, officials told AFP, with one saying on condition of anonymity that Beijing wished to remove the word “war”

Previous meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs have also

failed to produce a common communique since Russia, a member of the grouping, invaded its neighbour last February

Senior Indian official Ajay Seth said the Chinese and Russian representatives did not want to sign up to the wording on Ukraine because “their mandate is to deal with economic and financial issues”

On the other hand all the other 18 countries felt that the war has got implications for the global economy and needed to be mentioned Seth told a closing news conference China has sought to position itself as neutral on the conflict while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia

State news agency Xinhua quoted top diplomat Wang Yi on Wednesday as saying China was willing to “strengthen strategic coordination” with Russia after meeting President Vladimir Putin in Moscow

On Friday the first anniversary of the

invasion, China published a 12-point paper calling for a political settlement to the crisis that was met with skepticism from Ukraine’s allies

G20 host India has also refused to condemn Russia, which is New Delhi’s biggest arms supplier and has become a major source of oil for India since the invasion Western countries including the United States Germany and France had insisted the language in any joint statement could not be weaker than the communique issued by G20 leaders in Indonesia in November This is a war And this war has a cause, has one cause, and that is Russia and Vladimir Putin That must be expressed clearly at this G20 finance meeting, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told a news conference on Friday Debt relief: India’s summary document said the global economic outlook had “modestly improved” although overall

growth remains slow and risks persist including elevated inflation a resurgence of the pandemic and high debts in many poorer nations

On climate change it stressed the importance of meeting fully as soon as possible the commitment made by developed countries to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance annually through 2025 for poorer countries

The gathering also focused on debt relief for poorer countries hit by rocketing inflation because of the war, amid differences between China and the West on how to provide it Western officials want China to take haircuts on loans to debt-stricken nations but Beijing says multilateral lenders including the World Bank should also do so India s summary said that strengthening multilateral coordination by official bilateral and private creditors was needed Delegates said agreeing to this wording was a success In Bali last summer we discussed for three days the wording of a communique and we didn’t discuss substance at all there

We did this time,” one negotiator said International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva called it a “very good meeting” praising the Indian presidency for focusing on the issues that really matter such as inflation and debt

Yousuf Dewan Companies’ automotive wing continues to haemorrhage money

The monitoring committee to oversee the implementation of austerity measures on Monday directed all Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) of divisions in the ministries to implement a 15% cut in their current budgets The first meeting of the committee to oversee the implementation of austerity measures was held under the chair of Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at the Finance Division Secretary Finance gave a presentation on the decisions and their implementation status It was informed that ministries are already working on these measures and instructions have been issued for immediate compliance and reporting of any exemption and violation of these decisions Earlier last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced an austerity drive in the hopes to save Rs 200 billion (approx $766 million) by cutting down on government expenditures The announcement came with a list of measures that are to be implemented The list included the foregoing of various perks enjoyed by government employees and executives On Sunday the Prime Minister ’s Office issued a public statement to form a seven-member committee to overlook these measures The committee directed all PAOs to implement a 15% cut in their current budgets It was decided that the use of tele conferences must be encouraged for all meetings to save time and expenditure The committee conveyed that the decision to withdraw the use of luxury vehicles by Cabinet members and government officials must be implemented without any exemptions Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, while highlighting the challenging economic situation in the country, stressed that all the concerned should ensure and expedite the implementation of austerity measures with sincerity and devotion in their ranks, without any exception

Arrested in Jail Bharo Tehreek , PTI’s top leadership detained for ‘hampering PSL securit y’

LAHOR E S ta f f R e p o R t T h e L a h o r e c e n t r a l j a i l a u t h o r i t y o n M o n d a y c o n f i r m e d a 3 0 - d a y d e t e n t i o n f o r P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a f s ( P T I ) t o p l e a d e r s h i p b e i n g h e l d i n d i ff e r e n t j a i l s a c r o s s P u n j a b u n d e r t h e P T I s J a i l B h a r o Te h r e e k o v e r a l l e g e d l y c r e a ti n g a l a w a n d o r d e r s i t u a t i o n a n d h a m p e r i n g s e c u r i t y a r r a n g e m e n t s f o r P a k i s t a n S u p e r L e a g u e ( P S L ) t e a m s b y b l o c k i n g L a h o r e s M a l l R o a d T h e h o m e d e p a r t m e n t a n d t h e c e n t r a l j a i l a u t h o r i t y, c o m p l y i n g w i t h t h e L a h o r e H i g h C o u r t ’s ( L H C ) o r d e r, s u b m i t t e d r e p o r t s r e v e a l i n g t h a t P T I l e a d e r S h a h M e h m o o d Q u r e s h i w a s d e t a i n e d i n d i s t r i c t j a i l A t t o c k , A s a d U m a r i n R a j a n p u r, U m a r S a r f r a z C h e e m a i n B h a k k a r, A z a m S a w a t i i n R a h i m Ya r K h a n , M u r a d R a s i n D G K h a n M u h a m m a d K h a n M a d n i i n B ah a w a l p u r Wa l e e d I q b a l A z a m K h a n N i a z i a n d I h s a n D o g a r i n L a y y a h j a i l C

Pakistanis among 59 killed in Italy boat tragedy

R OME S ta f f R e p o R t

Fifty-nine people died, including some children, when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast early on Sunday, authorities said The vessel had set sail from Turkiye several days ago with migrants from Pakistan Afghanistan Iran and several other countries and crashed in stormy weather near Steccato di Cutro a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria As of a few minutes ago the number of confirmed victims was 59 Crotone mayor Vincenzo Voce said while a provincial government official Manuela Curra said 81 people survived with 22 of them taken to hospital Curra said the vessel left Izmir in eastern Turkiye, three or four days ago, adding that survivors had said some 140 to 150 were on board The survivors were mostly from Afghanistan, as well as a few from Pakistan and a couple from Somalia, she said, adding that identifying the nationalities of the dead was harder One survivor was arrested on migrant trafficking charges the Guardia di Finanza customs police said

LAHORE da n ya l a h M a d

Dewan Automotive Engineering and Dewan Farooque Motors have both released their earnings for Q2FY23 to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)

Dewan Automotive Engineering ended Q2FY23 with a net loss of Rs 2 559 million for a total HFY23 loss of Rs 18 6 million Similarly, Dewan Farooque Motors ended Q2FY23 with a net loss of Rs 80 25 million for a total HFY23 loss of Rs 185 3 million

Both companies have encountered impediments in fulfilling their financial commitments to lending institutions owing to liquidity constraints leading to the non-renewal of shortterm facilities by banks and other financial entities Consequently a significant number of creditors have pursued legal recourse to recuperate

their outstanding debts via the foreclosure and sale of mortgaged assets, while others have initiated winding-up proceedings against the companies

Dewan Automotive Engineering Dewan Automotive Engineering Limited is a publicly traded entity that specialises in the assembly and manufacturing of tractors light commercial vehicles motorcycles and associated parts The company s incorporation took place on May 6th, 1982, followed by the initiation of commercial operations in August of the subsequent year

The Yousuf Dewan Company assumed management control of Dewan Automotive Engineering in April 2004

Dewan Automotive Engineering was added to the defaulters’ list of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in 2017 leading to the suspension of trading activities of its shares Consequently the company s operations

have been suspended to date due to its exclusion from credit lines, subject to the formal agreement with its creditors

Dewan automotive engineering Q2fY23: The company gross loss grew by

BOI set to launch ‘Invest Pak istan’ initiative

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

The Board of Investment (BOI) will launch the ‘Invest Pakistan’ initiative to attract foreign investment in the country after it s approved in the Cabinet meeting next week

According to sources in the BOI the initiative will be a flagship project of the BOI that specialises in investment realisation, sustainability and bringing the government together for resolve binding constraints in the investment decision BOI will register a new public-private partnership company named ‘Invest Pakistan’ in the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) The com-

pany will operate as a joint venture between the government and private sector partners, and will bring together the expertise and resources of both parties to promote investment in the country The company will be mandated to work as an investment promotion agency with the primary objective of creating a more business-friendly environment in the country to encouraging foreign investment

According to the concept note Invest Pakistan has the potential to transform Pakistan s investment landscape Pakistan has an attractive market size and a growing young middle-class but despite this investment rates continue to remain low as net foreign direct investment for a few years

T witter lays off 10pc of current workforce: repor t

PR Ofit

R e u t e R S

Twitter Inc has laid off at least 200 employees or about 10 per cent of its workforce the New York

Times reported late on Sunday in its latest round of job cuts since Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging site last October The layoffs on Saturday night impacted product managers data scientists and engineers who worked on machine learning and site reliability, which helps keep Twitter s various features online, the NYT report said, citing people familiar with the matter Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment The company has a headcount of about 2,300 active employees, according to Musk last month The latest job cuts follow a mass layoff in early November when Twitter laid off about 3 700 employees in a cost-cutting measure by Musk who had acquired the company for $44 billion Musk said in November that the service was experiencing a massive drop in revenue as advertisers pulled spending amid concerns about content moderation Twitter recently started sharing revenue from advertisements with some of its content creators

has been either negative or neutral at best The attractiveness of investment is not going to come by itself or through the promotion of investable assets attractiveness will have to be created, the note adds The low level of FDI and looming macroeconomic crisis both require immediate and medium to long-term fixes

In the case of Pakistan, while market size and infrastructure are positive factors political instability inadequate economic governance regulatory burden and accountability have been the sub-optimal factors lowering profitability on investments Work on these areas is needed to build investors interest Sources further added that the primary determinant of investment is the risk-adjusted rate of return, Investors who are convinced of the net returns will invest regardless of all other systematic risks and factors”

Air India to fund $70bn plane order with cash, equit y amid overseas push

Air India said on Monday it plans to fund its $70 billion order for a record 470 aircraft with internal cash, equity and through sale-and-leasebacks as the airline seeks to rapidly expand its presence in international markets Tata Group-owned Air India said on Feb 14 it would buy 220 planes from Boeing (BA N) and 250 from Airbus (AIR PA) in a deal that has eclipsed previous records for an order made by a single carrier So the principal driver (for the plane order) was really recognizing the opportunity for Indian aviation and putting in place the investment in the capacity of the aircraft in order to realize that for India’s benefit,”

Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said on Monday We see significant opportunity in long-haul international he said adding that a new order for 70 widebody planes combined with its exiting fleet and other leased aircraft means a many-fold increase in Air India’s widebody long-haul fleet, and therefore capacity ”

This could also indicate possible success in Dewan s negotiations with its creditors Finally, the company closed the quarter with a final loss of Rs 2 559 million This is a QoQ improvement of 84 07% from its previous loss of Rs 16 million and a 86 2% YoY improvement from its Q2FY22 loss of Rs 18 55 million Dewan automotive engineering HfY23 The company saw a 6 9% YoY improvement on its gross loss It recorded a gross loss of Rs 7 39 million in comparison to its previous Rs 7 94 million

Gen Amjad Shoaib remanded in police custody for 3 days

iSLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

An Islamabad district and sessions court has granted the police a three-day remand of defense analyst and retired Lieutenant General Amjad Shoaib following his arrest after a magistrate registered a case against him on charges of inciting the public against state institutions The first information report (FIR) was lodged at the Ramna police station by Magistrate Owais Khan a day ago It invokes section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups etc) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code The TLTP learnt that in the complaint, Magistrate Khan said that the retired general in an interview on a private TV channel show passed statements that “incited the government officials and opposition from performing their government and legal duties” Following his arrest, the retired lieutenant general was presented in the court of Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah where Ramna police station’s investigation officer (IO) and Prosecutor Adnan were also present The legal team representing the retired general comprising Advocate Mudassir Khalid Abbasi Islamabad Bar Association President Advocate Qaiser Imam and Advocate Riyasat Ali Azad were also in attendance

Nestlé Pakistan earns record rs15b profit , highest in histor y

Consumer goods giant, Nestlé Pakistan Limited (Nestlé), earned a record profit of over Rs 15 billion in 2022

The company made the disclosure when it announced its financials for the year ended December 2022 to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday Despite the tough macroeconomic challenges in the country such as ever-rising inflation

Nestlé s net sales grew 22% in the previous year to reach Rs

dividend of Rs 95 per share in addition to Rs 240 per share interim cash Dividend already paid during the year 2022 As of Monday the company s share is trading at a price Rs 5 300 per share