Epaper_23-05-05 LHR

S C E X T E N D S S TAY O N L AW C L I P P I N G

C J P ’ S P O W E R S ’ T I L L F U R T H E R O R D E R S ’

ISLAMABAD

t Lt p

THE top court on Thursday decided to continue its stay order against implementation on the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 “till further orders” and sought complete record pertaining to debate over the legislation in the concerned forums by May 08

It is pertinent to mention that earlier during hearing of the matter on May 02, an eight-member larger bench of the top c o u r t h a s r e s u m e d h e a r i n g o f t h e p l e a s a n d b e i n g h e a d o f t h e b e n c h t h e C h i e f Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial observed the court s latest order suspending the act was provisional in nature Issuing a four-page order on Thursday relating to hearing of the matter on May 02

in response to identical pleas challenging constitutionality of the Act, the top court directed attorney general for Pakistan to submit record pertaining to debates of the

Govt considering restoration of RD on vehicles, mobile phones

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ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t T h e F e d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t i s c o n s i d e r i n g r e s t o r at i o n o f r e g u l a t o r y d u t i e s o n v e h i c l e s a n d m o b i l e p h o n e s F e d e r a l B o a r d o f R e v e n u e ( F B R ) , C h a i rm a n , A s i m A h m a d w a s t a l k i n g t o t h e m e d i a a f t e r t h e v i s i t t o t h e h e a d q u a r t e r s o f t h e D i r e c t o r a t e G e n e r a l o f C u s t o m s I n t e l l i g e n c e o n T h u r s d a y H e s a i d t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y o f C o m m e r c e i m p o s e s r e g ul a t o r y d u t i e s o n v e h i c l e s a n d m o b i l e p h o n e s A cc o r d i n g t o t h e F B R C h a i r m a n t h e t i m e - b o u n d S R O s d e a l i n g w i t h t h e R D s o n c a r s a n d m o b i l e p h o n e s e x p i r e d o n M a r c h 3 1 , 2 0 2 3 a n d t h e r e f o r e R D s w e r e a u t o m a t i c a l l y w i t h d r a w n f r o m t h e s e i t e m s a t t h e i m p o r t s t a g e T h e g o v e r n m e n t i n A ug u s t l a s t y e a r h a d i m p o s e d R D o n 7 5 0 i t e m s i nc l u d i n g v e h i c l e s a n d m o b i l e p h o n e s t o c u r t a i l i m p o r t s L a t e r o n t h e g o v e r n m e n t e x t e n d e d t h e R D o n 7 4 9 i t e m s e x c l u d i n g E l e c t r i c Ve h i c l e s t i l l M a r c h 3 1 , 2 0 2 3 a n d a f t e r e x p i r y o f t h i s d a t e , t h e M i n i s t r y o f C o m m e r c e h a d n o t e x t e n d e d t h e d a t e S o u r c e s s a i d t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y o f C o m m e r c e c a nn o t i m p o s e R D f o r a n i n d e f i n i t e p e r i o d T h i s w a s a t e m p o r a r y m e a s u r e H e s a i d t h a t t h e Ta r i ff P o li c y B o a r d d e c i d e s i m p o s i t i o n o f R D o n i t e m s a n d b a s e d o n t h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f T P B , a n d F B R i s s u e s t h e S R O C u r r e n t l y, t h e r e i s n o c h a i r m a n o f N T C s o t h a t ’s w h y n o m e e t i n g o f T P B h a s b e e n h e l d i n r e c e n t d a y s T h e o t h e r m e m b e r s o f T P B a r e C o m m e r c e M i n i s t e r w i t h M i n i s t e r f o r I n d u st r i e s & P r o d u c t i o n S e c r e t a r y F i n a n c e S e c r e t a r y R e v e n u e C h a i r m a n F B R S e c r e t a r y C o m m e r c e S e c r e t a r y B o a r d o f I n v e s t m e n t S o u r c e s s a i d t h a t i f t h e g o v e r n m e n t d e c i d e s t o i m p o s e R D o n C a r s o r m o b i l e p h o n e s t h e n T P B w i l l g i v e r e c o m m e nd a t i o n s a n d t h e r e i s n o m e e t i n g e x p e c t e d d u r i n g t h i s w e e k M e a n w h i l e t h e D G I & I C u s t o m s o n T h u r s d a y b r i e f e d F B R C h a i r m a n A s i m A h m a d o n t h e a n t i - s m u g g l i n g o p e r a t i o n s w h i c h w e r e c o nd u c t e d b y t h e D i r e c t o r a t e G e n e r a l o f I n t e l l i g e n c e & I n G o v t c o n s i d e r i n g r e s t o r a t i o n o f R D o n v e h ic l e s , m o b i l e p h o n e s

Top cour t distances from failed govt-PTI talks

The bench directed the federation through attorney general for Pakistan saying, “The learned Attorney General shall place on record before the next date of hearing the debates of the National Assembly of the Joint Sitting of the two Houses and of the relevant Standing Committee in which the provisions of the Act were discussed

The bench also issued notices to respondents in response to three identical petitions filed in the matter saying, “We are informed that three fresh constitution petitions (No 10 to 12 of 2023) seeking essentially the same relief as constitution petitions no 6 to 8 of 2023 have also been filed In the interest of justice, notices are issued to the respondents in these petitions

National Assembly, of the joint sitting of the two houses and of the relevant standing committee in which the provisions of the act were discussed

The court’s order did not mention the objection of the Pakistan Bar Council regarding the eight-member bench However the court has directed both parties to submit a comprehensive response by May 08

Pakistan decides to enhance relationship with African countries

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The federal cabinet has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) with Ethiopia, as part of its efforts to improve relations with African countries The BPC mechanism will provide directions and substance to the relationship maintaining a steady momentum to review bilateral cooperation a n d c o n s u l t a t i o n s o n i m p o r t a n t b i l a t e r a l , r egional, and international issues of mutual interest and concern

According to sources in foreign ministry, the federal cabinet through circulation of summary has granted its necessary approval to sign MoU for BPC with Ethiopia

Pursuant to Rule 16 (1) (h) of the Rules of Business 1973, approval of the Cabinet is solicited for signing of the MoU to establish BPC mechanism with Ethiopia

“Draft MoU has been mutually agreed by both sides and has also been duly vetted from Law & Justice Division Signing of the MoU would certainly add positive and substantive value to our ties with Ethiopia, said sources The Foreign Minister has seen and authorized the submission of this summary before the cabinet, they added T h e s o u r c e s i n f o r m e d t h a t t h e E t h i o p i a n

D e p u t y P r i m e M i n i s t e r / F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r D em e k e M c k o n n e n i s s e t t o v i s i t P a k i s t a n i n M a y 2 0 2 3 t o i n a u g u r a t e E t h i o p i a n A i r l i n e s ’ f l i g h t b et w e e n A d d i s A b a b a a n d K a r a c h i w h i c h w i l l d ir e c t l y c o n n e c t P a k i s t a n w i t h E t h i o p i a a n d t h e r e s t o f A f r i c a T h e v i s i t w i l l a l s o m a r k t h e f o r m a l i n a u g ur a t i o n o f t h e E t h i o p i a n E m b a s s y i n I s l a m a b a d , w h i c h b e c a m e f u n c t i o n a l i n J u l y 2 0 2 2 , s a i d s o u r c e s The signing of the MOU is expected to add positive and substantive value to Pakistan s ties with Ethiopia and other African nations crucial in protecting and promoting Pakistan s interests both bilaterally and at global and multilateral platforms, sources added A s p e r s o u r c e s , t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’s “ E n g a g e A f r i c a ” p o l i c y f o c u s e s o n r e v i t a l i z a t i o n a n d qualitatively enhancing political diplomatic and t r a d e t i e s w i t h t h e A f r i c a n c o n t i n e n t T h e c o n t i n e n t i s t h e w o r l d s l a rg e s t g e og r a p h i c a n d p o l i t i c a l b l o c F o s t e r i n g g o o d r e l a t i o n s w i t h A f r i c a n c o u nt r i e s i s c r u c i a l i n p r o t e c t i n g a n d p r o m o t i n g o u r i m p o r t a n t i n t e r e s t s b o t h b i l a t e r a l l y a n d a t g l o b a l a n d m u l t i l a t e r a l p l a t f o r m s ( i n t h e U N w h e r e a l l 5 4 A f r i c a n S t a t e s a r e v o t i n g m e m b e r s w h e r e a s i n O I C 2 6 o u t o f 5 7 m e m b e r s a r e A f r i c a n n at i o n s , i n C o m m o n w e a l t h 2 1 o u t o f 5 6 m e m b e r s a r e A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s a n d 4 9 A f r i c a n s t a t e s h a v e m e m b e r s h i p o u t o f t o t a l 1 3 4 m e m b e r s a t G - 7 7 )

The Supreme Court on Thursday clarified that talks between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) regarding the simultaneous holding of general elections for all provincial and national assemblies were not influenced by any direction or order from the apex court In a written order issued Thursday the apex court emphasised that the decision-making process behind the proposed electoral changes was entirely up to the involved parties and that the judiciary had no role in these negotiations The court stated that the talks between the two sides were entirely to be their own effort without any direction or order of the court in this regard in any manner The Supreme Court has fixed further hearing of matters related to general elections tomorrow (Friday) at 11:30am The written order comes as the issue of elections has once again landed in the apex court following the failure of talks between the coalition government and the opposition

BRR Guardian Limited announces merger with BRR Guardian Modaraba

g Fo r m e d i n 1 9 8 3 , B R R I n v e s t m e n t s ( Pr i v a t e ) L i m i t e d ( B R R I ) a i m e d t o p r o m o t e l e a s i n g i n v e s t m e n t s i n Pa k i s t a n

KARACHI p R o f t R e p o R t BRR Guardian Limited delightfully broke the news of a merger with BRR Guardian Modaraba, to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) It was announced after a decision of the Sindh High Court approved the merger

What does BRR Guardian Modaraba do?

Formed in 1983 B R R Investments (Private) Limited (BRRI) aimed to promote leasing investments in Pakistan They introduced two Modarabas in 1985 and 1990 A modaraba is one of the prime codes of the Islamic Financial System BRRl was also a sponsor of Equity International Modaraba (ElM) which was launched in 1993 Later the International Finance Corporation (IFC) joined as an equity partner in 1999 In 1998 B R R Second Modaraba and Equity International Modaraba merged with B R R Capital Modaraba and it was renamed B R R International Modaraba Guardian Modaraba merged with B R R International Modaraba in 2006 and Crescent Standard Modaraba merged in 2017

Eight, including five teachers, gunned down in Parachinar

PARACHINAR S ta f f C o R R e S p o n d e n t

At least eight people including five teachers were killed in separate incidents of firing in the Parachinar area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa s Kurram district on

Thursday, police said

Upper Kurram District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Imran told media that the first shooting incident took place on a road near the Shalozan area and the second at Teri Mengal School at a distance of around six kilometres from the site of the first incident

Later, he said while speaking to the media that one person a teacher was killed in the first incident and seven in the school shooting He added that those killed at the school included four teachers and three drivers

Separately, Rescue 1122 official

Syed Ghayyur Hussain said that bodies of the school shooting victims were taken to district headquarters hospital

Parachinar DPO Imran told the media that measures were being taken and negotiations being carried out with tribal leaders to bring the situation back to normalcy after the attacks

He said the Kohat division deputy inspector general of police and commissioner had reached Parachinar after the incidents, adding that security had been beefed up and routes blocked in the areas The official said a probe into the incidents was under way Earlier Zahid Hussain a representative of the Teacher Union, said that they had decided to keep schools in the area closed until the culprits were caught Staging a protest outside the Parachinar Press Club he urged teachers across KP to close schools from tomorrow In another incident in Parachinar, which falls in Upper Kurram and is the capital of Kurram district, a man was

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ISLAMABAD: S ta f f R e p o R t F i n a n c e M i n i s t e r I s h a q D a r h a s o n c e again claimed that Pakistan has complied w i t h a l l t h e p r i o r a c t i o n s f o r t h e 9 t h r eview with the IMF

The Finance Minister on Thursday mentioned in his article that Pakistan has already carried out all the required reforms for the 9th review with the IMF These reforms include measures to broaden the low tax base by ending tax exemptions raising the electricity and gas prices to pass on the burden to the consumers and minimizing

the subsidy component while protecting low-income groups Ishaq Dar mentioned in his article that the government has accomplished significant structural reforms in the energy sector during the last 3-4 months All untargeted subsidies in the power and gas sector have been withdrawn with the aim of recovering the full cost of generation through tariff revision In addition, the government has moved towards targeted subsidies so that the poor and vulnerable are cushioned from the effects of inflation and rising prices while the burden falls on the affluent class

Moreover the government has increased the stipend for the poorest of the poor by 25 per cent under the Kafalat Programme under BISP with effect from January 1 2023 increasing the BISP budget by Rs40 billion to Rs400 billion

The government is also taking all possible measures to correct the twin deficits including policy and administrative measures As a result, the Current Account Deficit (CAD) narrowed to only $3 4 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year to March 31 2023 as against $13 0 billion in the corresponding period last year

killed whilst in a moving vehicle taking the total number of educators killed in a day to eight

The man, named Mohammad Sharif, who was killed inside the car said the police He was shot while he was travelling on Shalozan Road The police are searching for the killers, but have not been able to track them down so far

School shootings are rare in Pakistan Over 140 people mostly students were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack at an army school in Peshawar in December 2016 M a t r i c B o a r d e x a m i n a t i o n s h a v e b e e n d e f e r r e d f o r a n i n d e f i n i t e p e r i o d i n P a r a c h i n a r f o r n o w, a nnounced the chairperson of Kohat’s edu c a t i o n b o a r d S a m i n a A l t a f “ T h e students inside the examination centre remained safe she said

The chairperson further informed that board examinations in the rest of Kurram district and areas will be held as per schedule

It is expected to close the CAD around $4 5 billion in the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 This will help improve the country’s forex reserves and reduce reliance on external borrowings

Ishaq Dar said that the government has gradually withdrawn all tax exemptions as agreed with the IMF

The government is mindful of the fact that these exemptions not only create distortions in the tax system but also lead to a shortfall in the revenue targets Third net federal revenues have witnessed a growth of 32 per cent during the first eight months to February 28, 2023, of the current fiscal year against the same period of the last year He said that the current non-markup ex-

Four days ago tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the ever-deteriorating law and order situation in Lakki Marwat district of KP

A large number of local residents including political workers of all parties civil society lawyers and students participated in the protest

The call for protest was given by Olasi Pasawon Lakki Marwat after terrorists attacked a local college where the army was camped State broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incidents and had sought a detailed report from relevant authorities on the attacks Separately Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said in a tweet that he too had sought a report from the interior secretary and assured that the perpetrators would be punished

penditures have been reduced by 19 per cent, mainly due to the withdrawal of subsidies and grants The SBP has been independently taking its decisions for monetary policy tightening in order to curb inflation in the country He again claimed that the Staff Level Agreement (SLA) will be signed soon with the IMF which should be followed by the approval of the 9th review by the IMFBoard

However media reports suggest that the IMF is still not content with the progress made by Pakistan As per reports it is expected off of Pakistan to increase the interest rate further to target its inflation The headline inflation for last month crossed 36%, making situations worse for a common citizen

a s Pa k i s t a n c o m p l i e d w i t h a l l p ri o r a c t i on s o f t h e IM F

CHINESE NAV Y SHIP RESCUES PAKISTAN NATIONALS FROM WAR-TORN SUDAN

It was the worst time of my life when the conflict in Sudan broke out, I was so uncertain if I could get back home because the situation was getting dismal back there

NA S R U L L A H K H A N a 42-yearold mechanic who worked in Sudan, experienced the real adversity of life for the first time since his birth when sitting anguished and penniless in Port Sudan in recent days

Now safely in his home in Swabi a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he recalled the intense and moving experience, saying that “the Pakistan-China ironclad friendship helped him out of danger ” Deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on April 15, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands

With every passing hour my hopes were fading until I heard an announcement to get on board a Chinese navy vessel to take a voyage towards peace, Khan, who worked in a printing factory in Sudan, told Xinhua

In the wake of the recent unrest in Sudan Khan and thousands of other foreigners working in the African country had to flee for their lives leaving all their belongings behind Khan rushed to a safer place from his workplace in the Sudanese city of Soba to the capital city of Khartoum one night in April, from where he was sent to Port Sudan by Pakistan’s embassy for evacuation

According to Pakistan s foreign ministry over 200 Pakistani evacuees in

Sudan were brought to Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia by the Chinese navy ship Weishanhu “We are grateful to our Chinese friends for this gesture of support and friendship the ministry said Khan told Xinhua that he and other Pakistanis spent four days in a hotel near the port, adding that initially they were being evacuated in groups of 30 to 40 people, but when the Chinese navy vessel arrived it evacuated over 200 nations waiting at the port Chinese friends opened their doors and hearts for us during our most dire circumstances, they took good care of us and ensured that our 18-hour-long voyage to Jeddah was a comfortable one,” Khan said while ruffling his daughter’s hair in affection Khan took selfies with the Chinese navy staff enjoyed the halal cuisine specially prepared for the Pakistani evacuees and

eventually had a peaceful sleep in a cosy room on the vessel after many days of fear and uncertainty in Sudan

Throughout my life I had heard about the Pakistan-China friendship but never had I imagined the depth of the friendship until I experienced it myself It made my heart swell with pride that my best friends saved my life and reunited me with my family For us China is indeed the most valuable friend in this time of need ” the father of four children told Xinhua Khan Ghalib Khan s 65-year-old father a white-bearded man living with the children of Khan and four of his other sons in an old ancestral home in the remote area of Swabi, said that he had several sleepless nights when Khan was stranded in Sudan I was worried about his life and wellbeing and I sighed with relief when I

I H C ex te n d s b a i l o f I m r a n i n m u l t i p l e c a s e s

ISLAMABAD

S tA f f R e p o R t

The interim bail of Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan in nine different cases has been extended for 10 days by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday

The two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq of the high court, granted the extension despite its warning to revoke bail if Khan failed to appear in court Khan’s lawyer, Salman Safdar said that 140 cases had been registered against the former prime minister and he had sought bail in all of them

During the hearing Safdar revealed that something huge was about to happen and expressed concern over the increasing use of section 154 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) outside of the court Justice Farooq who presided over the bench responded the court had offered protection for Khan to approach the relevant court, but that he had not yet joined the investigation

When Safdar argued that the cases were politically motivated Justice Farooq advised Khan to record his statement in one of the seven cases for which he had sought bail

The court, after reserving its verdict, extended Khan s interim bail in seven ter-

ror cases and directed him to approach the trial court The court also ordered that a medical report from a government hospital should be submitted in the future to seek an extension, and material should be provided for the plea seeking permission to appear through a video link

In addition the court extended Khan’s interim bail in two other cases including

threatening officers of the armed forces and the attempted murder of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MP Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha until May 9

Furthermore, the judge ordered that Khan s plea for staying the action on cases against him would be fixed on May 9

During the proceedings Khan claimed that he had informed the Lahore High

Court (LHC) about a person who could harm him but refused to name the individual alleging that they were involved in running the caretaker government Khan said that naming the person would result in no newspapers publishing it In an informal conversation with journalists, he said his party wants good relations with everyone in response to a question about meetings with American diplomats This statement came shortly after the party s senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry s meeting with American envoy Donald Blome

Using a sarcastic tone, Khan expressed his frustration about the number of cases filed against him comparing it to his cricket score of 170 and stating that he would soon reach a double century in politics He also criticised former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, alleging that Bajwa said there was no oil in military tanks during several briefings Khan condemned Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari s visit to India during the conversation When asked about the rifts among the puisnes, Khan claimed that the reference against Justice Qazi Faiz Isa was initiated by people in positions above retired Gen Faiz Hameed He added that they were told to get answers from Justice Isa but later realised that there was another intention behind it

Par ticipation in CFM reflects Pakistan’s commitment to SCO Char ter: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan s decision to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization s Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting in India reflects its commitment to the SCO Charter and multilateralism The prime minister on Twitter said that Pakistan was committed to playing its part to advance the shared values of peace and stability in the region We are all for win-win understandings based on connectivity trade and mutually advantageous cooperation, he commented The prime minister s statement came as Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in Goa, India, to attend the meeting and expressed confidence that the moot would lead to a successful outcome S tA f f R e p o R t

PAC seeks maritime ministr y’s repor t on Chinese solar panels for Gwadar

ISLAMABAD: The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Thursday sought report from Maritime Affairs ministry over solar panels given by China for Gwadar A session of the PAC chaired by Noor Alam Khan reviewed Year 2021-22 audit objections with regard to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs The session discussed the issue of solar panels gifted by the Chinese government for the people of the port city of Gwadar “Some elements want to fail Gwadar and cause estrangement of friendly countries Noor Alam said It has been heard that the solar panels gifted by China have been given to anyone else PAC chairman said The PAC should be informed about those who have been handed over solar panels, he stated “We want delivery of solar panels to the people of Gwadar,” he said “If these solar panels have been handed over to a politician than an inquiry of the matter should be conducted and report submitted to the committee PAC chairman said It will be welcome if panels delivered to Gwadar s fishermen otherwise responsible persons will be made accountable, he said The PAC demanded report from the secretary maritime affairs StAff RepoRt

saw him safe and sound before my eyes, Ghalib told Xinhua He said that since his son returned safely, he always wished the crew which had evacuated Khan the very best and hoped that the Pakistan-China friendship would further bloom According to an official statement Chinese naval vessels evacuated 493 people, including 272 Chinese and 221 foreigners from countries such as Pakistan and Brazil, from Sudan in two evacuation operations that concluded on April 29 as the evacuees arrived at the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah

Pakistan’s ranking improves by seven places in World Press Freedom Index

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s ranking improved by seven places in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as the country was placed at 150th position among 180 countries While citing the reason for the improvement in Pakistan s position from 157 in 2022 to 150 this year, RSF noted that Pakistan achieved the improved ranking because after the change of government in 2022 constraints on the media were loosened It is a significant achievement as compared to last year when Pakistan came down to 157 in 2022 from its ranking of 145 in 2021 and the then prime minister Imran Khan was declared a press freedom predator along with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi This year India’s position on the Press Freedom Index further worsened as it dropped from 150 last year to 161 in 2023 losing 11 points Citing reasons for slip in the ranking of India, RSF stated, The violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in the world s largest democracy The RSF report further noted that Modi has an army of supporters who track down all online reporting regarded as critical of the government and wage horrific harassment campaigns against the sources Caught between these two forms of extreme pressure many journalists are in practice forced to censor themselves App

SAPM criticizes superior judiciary over “lopsided judgments”; interference in politics

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Malik Ahmed Khan on Thursday criticized the superior judiciary for what he called the last six years’ “lopsided judgments” that he claimed demonstrated favouritism and interfered with the country s politics Speaking to the media he cited 16 specific cases, including those involving Hanif Abbasi and Zulfi Bukhari, and argued that the decisions delivered in the last six years have had a significant impact on the political history of the country He referred to a tweet by senior journalist Talat Hussain who asserted that certain judgments of the superior judiciary have had a negative impact on the country s politics According to Khan, the purpose of some of these judgments was to remove former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from power while benefiting the leaders of the PTI He called on the Chief Justice to form a larger bench to review and possibly overturn certain decisions SAPM contended that Nawaz Sharif was unfairly disqualified for life in the Panama case on weak grounds, and criticized the court’s remarks as being inadequate He further alleged that Shahzad Akbar and NAB were tasked with removing Nawaz Sharif from the political arena to make way for Imran Khan and that Saqib Nisar cleared Imran Khan of any wrongdoing and helped him attain power He claimed that Saqib Nisar ’s son was caught selling PTI party tickets and that the Supreme Court appeared to have favoured one player to attain power StAff RepoRt

Cabinet accepts resignation of C hairman ETPB amid ‘differences ’ with Religious Affairs Minister

The Chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Habibur Rehman Gillani, has resigned from his position following alleged differences with Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Talha Mehmood and the federal cabinet has accepted his resignation it was learnt on Thursday

According to sources the resignation of Chairman Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Habibur Rehman Gillani has been accepted by the federal cabinet amidst alleged differences with Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Talha Mehmood The sources said that the approval was taken from the Federal Cabinet through circulation on the summary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs They said the federal cabinet has also authorized the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Dr Syed Attaul Rehman, to serve as the Acting Chairman of the board

(ETPB) for at least three months or until a permanent chairman is appointed The Ministry of Religious Affairs did not allow the one-month notice period of the Chairman to complete and the federal cabinet has approved his resignation by paying one month s salary in advance said the sources Gillani was appointed as chairman for three years on April 9 last year, with the government coalition party being keen on the attractive appointment, the sources added The sudden resignation of Gillani has raised concerns among political circles with some questioning the government s decision to remove the ETPB chairman The situation remains unclear and it remains to be seen how the Evacuee Trust Property Board will function under the new leadership

It is pertinent to mention that the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) manages properties abandoned by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947

A F G H A N F M T O L E A D H I G H - L E V E L D E L E G AT I O N T O PA K I S TA N T O D AY

ISLAMABAD

S tA f f R e p o R t

TH E Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi would lead a “high-level delegation” to Pakistan from May 5 (today) to May 8

In a statement issued today the FO said: Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi is visiting Pakistan from May 5 to May 8 2023

“He will lead a high-level delegation, which includes Acting Afghan Minister for Commerce and Industry Haji Nooruddin Azizi and senior officials from the Afghan Ministries of Foreign Affairs Transport and Trade

During the visit, the statement said, the two sides would review the “entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan” in the political economic trade connectivity peace and secu-

Sharif’s leadership catalyses global action on climate change

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz

rity, and education domains

“Apart from holding bilateral meetings the acting Afghan foreign minister will also participate in the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue on May 6 2023 State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People s Republic of China Qin Gang will also participate in the Trilateral Foreign Minister ’s Dialogue ” the FO said

Mutaqqi’s visit it added was a continuation of Pakistan s political engagement process with Afghanistan which also included Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

Hina Rabbani Khar s visit to Kabul on November 29, 2022, and the visit of a highlevel delegation, led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to the Afghan capital on Feb 22 2023

Pakistan is desirous of a peaceful prosperous stable and connected Afghanistan and reiterates its commitment to pursue continuous and practical engagement with the interim Afghan govern-

Sharif co-chaired the United Nations climate conference or COP27 last year to gather global support in addressing catastrophic climate change impacts that caused unprecedented devastation in Pakistan in the form of historic monsoon flooding The prime minister effectively reminded the world that the natural catastrophe triggered by the climate impacts of developed countries that hit Pakistan could engulf other regions in the future Due to Pakistan s proactive leadership and global efforts to cope with climate change, the COP27 announced the vice-chairmanship of the conference for the prime minister, jointly chaired by the Egyptian president and the Norwegian prime minister The prime minister s continued presence in flood-affected areas was praised by different heads of governments during the mega climate change summit as an “extraordinary gesture” The prime minister drew attention to the risks posed by climate change in his meetings with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan Tajikistan s

President Emomali Rahmon Indonesian Vice President Maruf Amin, Iraq s President Abdul Rasheed Rashid, and Lebanon s Prime Minister Najib Mikati He stressed the need for climate solidarity and climate justice as Pakistan needed urgent attention Nature-based solutions were at the heart of Pakistan s ambitious climate action agenda under the convention and Paris Agreement The prime minister thanked the international community for helping Pakistan’s flood victims and discussed bilateral regional and global issues with them He also urged the international community to come together to create a common charter for the survival of the planet Pakistan needed additional funding, not debts, to rebuild resilient and adaptive infrastructure, the prime minister said He emphasised prioritising the Global Goal on Adaptation both in terms of financing and timelines The current financing gap was too high to sustain any real recovery needs of those on the frontlines of climate catastrophe Loss and damage needed to be part of the core agenda of COP27 to meet the pressing humanitarian needs of those who were trapped in a crisis of public financing fueled by debt and yet had to fund climate disasters on their own The prime minister called for clearly defining climate finance as new additional and sustained resources with a transparent mechanism to meet the needs of developing and vulnerable countries with the required speed and scale S tA f f R e p o Rt

Karachi’s first monkeypox case takes countr y’s overall tally to four

KARACHI: The first monkeypox (mpox) case reported in Karachi on Thursday has taken the overall tally in the country to four

According to Sindh Health Department medical tests of a man serving as driver in Jeddah who returned back to Pakistan through Oman having monkeypox symptoms were conducted and found affected of the disease After being detected with monkeypox the affectee was isolated and further investigation in this connection was underway It should be mentioned here that monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic disease that is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus Although the natural reservoir of monkeypox remains unknown, African rodents and non-human primates like monkeys may harbour the virus and infect people S tA f f R e p o R t

Eight , including five teachers, gunned down in Parachinar

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ment, the FO added This will be Mutaqqi’s second visit to Pakistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15 2021 with his last visit to Islamabad taking place in November of the same year The development was earlier announced by the Afghan foreign ministry as well However, the date of the visit was not specified in the statement Earlier this week a UN Security Council committee agreed to allow Muttaqi to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China, according to diplomats Muttaqi has long been subjected to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under Security Council sanctions

According to a letter to the 15-member Security Council Taliban sanctions committee Pakistan s UN mission had requested an exemption for Muttaqi who was to travel between May 6-9 for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China” It had also said that Pakistan

would cover all costs associated with Muttaqi’s trip

Afghanistan sits as a key geographical trade and transit route between South and Central Asia and has billions of dollars of untapped mineral resources The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war

The Security Council committee allowed Muttaqi to travel to Uzbekistan last month for a meeting of the foreign ministers of neighbouring countries of Afghanistan to discuss urgent peace security, and stability matters

The Afghan foreign minister s visit comes at a time when Pakistan is seeing an uptick in attacks by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) The country has expressed its desire for Kabul to take action against the banned outfit which Pakistani officials say operates from Afghan territory However, the Taliban government in Afghanistan denies these assertions

: F O Q ureshi urges Bilawal not to ‘shy away ’ from raising Pak,

ISLAMABAD S tA f f R e p o R t

Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood

Qureshi has said that while trade between Pakistan and India makes economic sense , it cannot be viewed in isolation

Qureshi made the remarks in an interview with Times of India published on Thursday The PTI leader ’s remarks come as his successor Bilawal BhuttoZardari is in Goa to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers the first visit to India by a Pakistani foreign minister in over a decade In the interview, Qureshi touched upon several aspects of Pak-India ties

Asked whether there was an opportunity for Pakistan and India to discuss their issues as well as Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) on the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Qureshi said “Some steps taken by the BJP government on August 5 2019 were unilateral and many Kashmiris within India are not happy with the situation

On August 5, 2019, India had revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir and stripped Kashmiris of the semi-autonomy they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order I know there are no quick fixes I do understand it s not going to be easy but there can be some movement The region needs peace and stability

Qureshi said that the abrogation of Article 370 was an “internationally recognised dispute” that cannot be brushed aside as India s internal matter

Let s call a spade a spade and recognise that there is an issue By call-

ing it an internal issue, I don t think you ll be able to resolve the issue

Asked about reports suggesting he was not keen on resuming trade with India

Qureshi said “You see the point is I do see the benefits of trade between the two countries It makes a lot of economic sense but it can t be seen in isolation It has to go in tandem with other things but only trade [is] not enough That’s all I’m saying Trade can help improve relations but trade in itself will not be enough

Commenting on Bilawal s visit to Goa the PTI leader made it clear that his party was not opposing the exercise and understood that this was a multilateral obligation” “As a former foreign minister who has been to such conclaves this is an important visit And by all means [he] should go ahead At the same time he said that it might be useful if there was a meeting on the sidelines to examine Pak-India ties Our diplomatic relations were downgraded after the Pulwama incident and the Balakot misadventure ” he said referring to when the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had shot down two Indian planes that had violated Pakistani airspace in 2019 We have no trade and cultural ties at the moment and are looking for neutral venues for cricket matches My party and I desire peace with India ” the ex-foreign minister said How can we have good neighbourly relations and peace unless we have a dialogue? We need to recognise that we do have outstanding issues We can t wish them away We have to address them,” he said, adding that the most civilised way of doing so was through dialogue Doctrines like hot

pursuit are mutually suicidal In my view, we do not have a military solution to our issues, but they have to be resolved politically They have to be resolved through dialogue ”

Qureshi went on to say that Bilawal had a real opportunity to raise issues that were relevant I hope he s not shy of raising human rights issue[s], of raising the treatment minorities are getting, particularly the Muslims I hope he is not shy of raising the issue of water which is becoming increasingly challenging between the two countries

He went on to say that while the SCO was a multilateral forum where bilateral issues cannot be raised, what I m saying is that on the sidelines he should not miss that opportunity ” At one point in the interview when the interviewer alleged that the suicide bomber involved in the Pulwama attack in 2019 came from Pakistan, Qureshi noted that Pakistan bashing was very popular in India

“That’s your point of view There is a different point of view and that point of view is that it was a self-created orchestrated incident for political reasons he said I think India has to come out of this groove that we will not sit until and unless Pakistan gives up terrorism Pakistan has fought terrorism, Pakistan is in the process of defeating extremism and terrorism As I said we have suffered So let s not pick that as an excuse and let things simmer

Ghandhara’s Q3FY23 losses ravage annual earnings

C O N T I N U E D F R O M B A C K PA G E 9MFY23 earnings Ghandhara’s sales revenue decreased by 17 67% YoY from Rs 12 9 billion to Rs 10 623 billion while COGS decreased by 19 15% from Rs 11 274 billion to Rs 9 11 billion As a result, COGS as a percentage of revenue decreased YoY from 87 3% to 85 73%, and the GPM increased YoY from 12 7% to 14 27% Overall, gross profit decreased by 7 5% YoY from Rs 1 639 billion to Rs 1 516 billion Other income decreased by 16 7% YoY from Rs 83 9 billion to Rs 69 9 billion; however other income as a percentage of operating income increased YoY from 8 33% to 12 37% Ghandhara s interest expense increased significantly by 78 89% YoY from Rs 508 million to Rs 908 765 million, resulting in earnings before tax decreasing by 168 3% YoY from a profit of Rs 504 477 million in 9MFY22 to a loss of Rs 345 221 million Ghandhara s tax expense decreased significantly by 163 67% YoY from an outlay of Rs 167 846 million to a rebate of Rs 106 874 million resulting in a final loss of Rs 238 347 million for 9MFY23, representing a contraction of 170 8% compared to the profit of Rs 336 631 million recorded in 9MFY22 What do the experts say? Mustafa Mustansir Director of Research

and

such as a decelerating economy, elevated interest rates, rampant inflation and currency depreciation,” he expounds

Mustansir also highlights the impact of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on the business operations Passenger car OEMs have been compelled to observe nonproduction days due to the unavailability of CKD kits This has adversely impacted Ghandhara s OEM sales, he adds

According to Mustansir, the replacement market has also borne the brunt of these economic challenges “The diminished purchasing power of consumers amid soaring inflation, widespread floods and torrential rainfall has taken its toll on the replacement market However Ghandhara has managed to bolster its exports to Rs 150 million by primarily targeting customers in the African region he explains

Despite this growth in exports, costs have escalated significantly The confluence of surging raw material prices, rupee depreciation and fierce competition in the market has resulted in a substantial uptick in costs ” Mustansir adds

Mustansir is of the opinion that relaxing import restrictions would provide a much-needed impetus to Ghandhara s business operations Once the restrictions are lifted OEMs are expected to resume operating at full capacity Ghandhara stands to be the primary beneficiary in this scenario,” he explains Furthermore Ghandhara is also poised to benefit in cases where prices for imported tyres are on an upward trajectory

Its market share is expanding due to competitive pricing However the proliferation of smuggled tyres continues to pose a threat, muses Mustansir

n i e d b y a c o u r t l e t t e r t h a t c o n f i r m e d t h a t J u s t i c e N a d e e m A k h t a r h a s e x a m i n e d t h e S c h e m e t h a t o u t l i n e s t h e a m a l g a m a t i o n o f t h e t w o p e t i t i o n e r s , B R R G u a r d i a n L i m i t e d a n d B R R G u a r d i a n M o d a r a b a I t w a s c o n f i r m e d t h a t t h e p e t i t i o n e r s s u cc e s s f u l l y p r o v i d e d t h e c o u r t w i t h a l l r e le v a n t m a t e r i a l f a c t s i n c l u d i n g t h e l a t e s t financial position and audited accounts of B R R G u a r d i a n M o d a r a b a f o r t h e y e a r e n d e d o n D e c e m b e r 3 1 , 2 0 2 1 T h e p r oj e c t e d b a l a n c e s h e e t o f B R R G u a r d i a n

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the office of KP caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan attributed the killings to a property dispute The statement said the CM had taken notice of the matter and sought a report on the incidents from police and the relevant administration It carried his instructions to take immediate measures for the arrest of those involved in the incidents “Nobody will be allowed to take the law into their hands Those sabotaging peace in the area will be dealt with iron hands ” the CM said vowing that the perpetrators of today s incidents would be taken to task The statement said he issued directives for taking all the needed measures for ensuring peace in the area and the provision of timely treatment for the injured It added that the CM expressed grief over the loss of lives terming the firing incidents very unfortunate and condemnable and extended condolences to the heirs of the victims C O N D E M N AT I O N S: President Arif Alvi condemned the attacks, grieving the killing of “on-duty teachers” “The attack on teachers by the enemies of knowledge is condemnable ” a statement on Twitter quoted him as saying The president said he hoped that the suspects will be arrested soon and punished according to the law He offered prayers for the slain individuals and extended condolences to their heirs In his condemnation, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also demanded punishment for those behind the attacks and an immediate and complete investigation of the matter by police and the administration A statement on the PPP s Twitter quoted him as saying that such incidents could not be tolerated at any cost and that their prevention should be ensured Another statement on the PPP’s official Twitter said the party’s cochairperson and former president Asif Ali Zardari had termed the killing of on-duty teachers an act of terrorism The statement quoted him as saying that the perpetrators of the attack should be taken to task He offered prayers for the deceased and extended condolences to the bereaved Meanwhile a statement on the National Assembly s Twitter said Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani had termed the attacks a heinous act by elements working against humanity The statement quoted them as saying that these elements wanted to “sabotage peace in the country” Expressing grief over the deaths of slain individuals they demanded the strictest punishment by law enforcers for elements involved in such heinous atrocities and terrorism

Top court distances from failed gov t-PTI talks

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

The clarification appears to serve as a reminder of the separation of powers and that the top court has not influenced any political discussions amid calls from lawmakers to respect the autonomy of each branch of government The order highlights the voluntary agreement between the government and PTI to negotiate a single date for holding general elections “The Court appreciates the efforts of all parties to try end the current political impasse and in particular their voluntary agreement to enter into negotiations to choose a singleConst P 9 of 2023 3 date for holding General Elections to the National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies,” the top court stated in the order The order emphasises that the negotiations between the government and PTI were entirely to be their own effort without any direction or order of the Court in this regard in any manner It was also made clear that the order P 5 of 2023 of 04 04 2023 in Const Unchanged, it added Meanwhile, the top court has fixed the hearing of matters related to general elections tomorrow (Friday) at 11:30am it was reported on Thursday A day earlier the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had filed a petition in the apex court seeking a review of its order to conduct polls in Punjab on May 14 In the plea, the commission maintained that changing the election programme was the solitary domain of the ECP under Section 58 of the Elections Act 2017 Later the same day the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) also filed a civil miscellaneous application (CMA) in the apex court praying that its order on holding the polls in Punjab on May 14 must be ensured In its application, the PTI requested the court to hold elections in Punjab on May 14 while submitting a report on the negotiations held between it and the government to decide the date of the elections The party informed the top court in its application that the government and PTI could not reach a solution within the Constitution on the Punjab Assembly election Pdates “in spite of the best efforts of [the] parties” The former ruling party pleaded that the top court s order for the Punjab Assembly elections to be held on May 14 should be implemented in letter and spirit so that the Constitution is upheld and does not stand violated”

L i m i t e d h a d a l s o b e e n r e c e i v e d a n d r ev i e w e d b y t h e c o u r t M e m b e r s a n d c e r t i f i c a t e h o l d e r s o f th e tw o co mp an ies ag r eed to th e merg er in their respective meetings held with the p e r m i s s i o n o f t h e c o u r t T h e d o c u m e n t n o t e d t h a t t h e R e g i s t r a r M o d a r a b a h a s a l s o g i v e n i t s c o n s e n t t o t h e s a n c t i o n o f

and formal

the

order relayed that all legal

plied with by all the petitioners The court ruled the proposal to be lawful and deemed it to be in accordance with the public interest/policy or and not in violation of any law currently in force The court acknowledged that since the members and certificate holders of all parties have unanimously approved the proposed amalgamation and in the lack of any impediment in sanctioning the Scheme the court granted the petition and sanctioned the Scheme

o r d I n f l a t i o n

AP R I L saw more of the punishing inflation characteristic the last couple of years, with a record 36 percent rise year-on-year The month’s increase was 2 4 percent and the y-o-y inflation last month was 36 percent making the 11th month since last June that inflation was above 20 percent The economy is not heading into hyperinflation yet hyperinflation is defined as over 50 percent a month That works out at several quadrillion times a year That is then prices change on an hourly or daily basis, not weekly or monthly

What has made this inflation so unbearable is that it is accompanied by low growth An indication of this came in the monthly trade figures, which showed that the trade deficit in the first nine months of 2022-2023 had shrunk 39 62 percent from $39 3 billion to $26 7 billion This does provide some relief to economic managers worried about where to make the next payment, but it has not been achieved because of some mighty surge in exports which have indeed shrunk

11 2 percent from $26 2 billion to $23 3 billion

Imports declined 28 4 percent from $65 5 billion to $26 9 billion The trade volume thus shrank from $91 7 billion to $50 2 billion That decline in commercial activity implies a severe contraction especially in an economy where export sales lead growth Not only are households losing their sources of income, as breadwinners become jobless, but that bread goes out of reach The inflation news was bad enough, but the hike was on the basis of high food inflation Not only do households have to handle loss of income but pay more to put food on the table one of the main difficulties is that the path out of this lies in a massive expansion of exports, which have shrunk That is not going to happen The import bill can only fall so far with the decline in the global oil price likely to translate into benefits for Pakistan however, a disturbing fact has been the failure of consecutive interest rate hikes to tame inflation They have probably led to contraction, and thus stagflation

The experience of half a century ago shows that interest rate hikes to tame inflation may well have caused the stagflation characteristic of the era Interest rate hikes are always bad for business, and are a really bad idea if they don’t work either to tame inflation

The IMF wants to suggest them The government must not fall for this as it reflects a lack of solutions

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

All the King’s Men…

Th o u g h negotiations have started, positions do not seem to have changed It is worth noting that the governing coalition is going through the motions because it does not want to offend the Supreme Court (well at any rate more than it has done in Parliament) the PTII has no such inducement Indeed it could be argued that it has made the bigger sacrifice, giving up its stand that it would not even talk to thieves and dacoits’, while the ‘thieves and dacoits’ of the PPP and the PML(N) The PTI has managed to preserve the purity of chairman Imran Khan but not only is he closely supervising the negotiations but he has had his Senior Vice-Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mahmud Qureshi, talking to those who have hitherto been treated as a polluting presence

The PTI negotiators do not exactly come to the table without unchequered pasts Makhdum Shah Mehmood himself started with the IJI/PML(N) and spent almost two decades in the PPP before joining the PTI Fawad Chaudhry has been with the PML(Q) and the PPP before getting into the PTI Ali Zafar was a caretaker minister in 2018, when the PTI won the election he then went into the PTI, and is the only one of the three not to have served in the PTI’s Cabinet

The PTI has been instructed to break off the talks if the coalition does not agree to an immediate dissolution This is not a formula for getting the other side to agree to anything more The murmurings from Fawad Chaudhry of a new street agitation are also not going to bode well for the success of the talks It is almost as if the PTI is negotiating with the belief that the talks will fail Even if one side entertains such a belief making it public by announcing one’s postfailure plan of action is a reasonably good way of ensuring that the talks will fail

It is perhaps not clear why the PTI is talking There is a strong suspicion that it is going along with what is a charade because it has been told to do so by those forces iit has been following ever since it was founded, and with which it has been on the same page for so long The Supreme Court has not been as steely with it bon talks to which there is more resistance from its supporters While Imran is indeed disinclined to talk to opponents, having learnt as a sportsman that they have to be beaten in the field (much military men learn)

There has been a red flag raised about whether the present Imbroglio has been specifically created so that military rule can be imposed Indeed that was one of the points raised by the mother-in-law of the Chief Justice in her telephonic conversation with Mrs Rafia Tariq Rahim wife of a legal practitioner presently associated with the PTI She is supposed to have said regretfully that these damned people did not impose martial law

The resemblance to 1977 cannot be mistaken

The Prime Minister had not been ousted then as now however there was a clash on elections In 1977 the

hungry get sick and spend this winter without proper winter clothes Women spend the entire day contemplating post-flood tragic events and fretting about future cultivation

Women work as housemaids in order to earn a living and provide food for their families

They could barely earn Rs 50 to 70 daily What food can they buy for this amount? Just the flour price is skyrocketing

“We hardly eat a single meal properly

Women are losing their ability to sur vive

opposition claimed they were rigged In 2023 the ousted party wants them held In 19777 governmentopposition talks were held with much fanfare and raised great hopes This time too they have started of apparently less importance, but perhaps of greater imponderability, is that the CoAS in both instances has taken over the year before Both gen Ziaul

haq and gen Asim Munir had parents belonging to Jullunder district however the parallel stops Zia was himself a migrant born in Jullunder a commissioned officer at the time of Partition Asim was born in Rawalpindi, long after his parents had migrated There is the difference of caste Zia was an Arain, Asim a Syed There is one commonality; both were shortcourse graduates Zia did attend the elite Indian Military Academy at Dehradun but in a wartime short course, designed to meet the shortage of officers Similarly Asim attended the officers Training School at Mangla which had been set up in 1982 to meet a shortage of officers when the Army expanded after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan While belonging to different arms (Zia being from the Armoured Corps and Asim from the infantry), the latter was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment, which is where Zia might have well gone if sent to the infantry his family being domiciled in KP after Partition one similarity with Zia is their religious bent general Asim is actually a hafiz-i-Quran, and not the more traditional one produced by a stint at a madressa, but a hifz accomplished as an adult, which is much rarer but not unknown as a kind of religious duty hifz is not an accomplishment to be done and dusted but implies a lifetime commitment because if a hafiz does not incorporate revision into his daily schedule, then he forgets

Though Imran has no military connection, he is half-Jullunderi, his mother being from that district of the three, his connection is the most tenuous Still, it is there and his living at Zaman Park is evidence of this

It has not been inherited from his Niazi paternal side but his maternal and is in the midst of a nest of Jullunderi Pathans The Zaman Khan after which the Park is named was Imran s great-uncle on his mother s side

Perhaps most relevant is the fact that general Asim was commissioned when general Zia was

This has all created the suspicion that events are being taken to a direction which would lead to a takeover Pakistan s first coup took place after 11 years of civilian rule The next coup 11 years later

took place on military rule and Pakistan seemed in danger of falling into the pattern made by Nigeria where the principal method of changing the government was another coup however, Pakistan had to split in 1971 before civilian rule was restored, and a coup came in 1977 Civilian rule was restored in 1985 but there was a coup in 1999 with elections held in 2008 It has now been 15 years since the last military intervention meaning that while a coup could take place it is hardly overdue It had been thought that Martial Law could now no longer be imposed because of the danger of a high treason trial Though the last coup-maker gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf escaped being hanged, the fact that he was tried and sentenced, being acquitted only on appeal, it was an indication that any future coup-maker would not be able to escape There is also the risk that juniors down to the level of Junior Commissioned officers, getting indicted, and having the defence of obeying orders rejected Another imponderable is the place Pakistan has in the uS-China conflict If uS interests are to be advanced, then Pakistan must be broken away from China That is easier said than done, and might be the only reason the uSA would put its weight behind a coup At the same time one of the reasons behind the fall of the PTI is reputed to be its casual attitude towards the CPEC once again, it seems, Pakistan s domestic politics are being caught up in the geopolitics of the region About half a century ago, the uSA used a military regime in Pakistan to help its relations with China

Now it wants Pakistan on its side in the developing conflict however Pakistan should remember that on this chessboard it remains a pawn for the uSA which has got India on its side to act as a knight or a rook

Another problem for the negotiators is that the timing of the polls matters that much less with every passing day The problem is that neither side can have what it wants without making major concessions That neither is willing to do Is apparent

The unfortunate part is that the Constitution is not going to be obeyed If there is an agreement then the Supreme Court will be complicit in stepping beyond the 90-day limit for two provincial elections If not, the Court will be disobeyed in the name of parliamentary supremacy

The writer is a member of staff

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

Th E recent flooding in Sindh has made history and its effects on the impoverished have altered their lives forever unquestionably, disasters cause vulnerabilities in a variety of ways, but what and how the already vulnerable, particularly women live feel and suffer every day in this weather is nobody’s concern

Since June 2022 we have been flooded with the numbers figures charts diagrams and fancy colourful stylish data to reflect the miseries of the people unfortunately, there is hardly any in-depth account that presents how the flood has devastated human relations, destroyed the small happinesses of the poor shattered the innocent dreams and killed the feelings of the thousands of flood-affected women

Spending time with the most vulnerable population has at least shattered the illusion between what we hear in the news and what the women suffer in the aftermath of the flood

Many women said that they had some mental peace due to communal collective and pleasant living but the floods have altered their lives and made it miserable

Post-flood survival for women has been very difficult There were women with diabetes

They had dull faces and they shivered due to insufficient health care and lack of a humanly liveable environment Many women were troubled about their children s health

The location in which they lived resembled a jungle There was no available facility like health, education, sanitation, shelter, clothing, or food, among other things People also consumed contaminated water The pregnant women were suffering greatly and had no place to sleep They had little rest There was no location for restrooms

Doctors failed to respond to flood-affected patients if they responded the response was diffident, showing little empathy Before the floods, women enjoyed their life and had worked in the agricultural fields They formerly belonged to peasant groups and had their life schedule of earning money buying things they needed and lived less dependently than the urban educated rich Change in the women s lifestyle has greatly impacted their mental health We never knocked at anyone s door for money and food, neither do we now, but it kills us seeing our children sleep

They require additional meals but lack the money They could not eat adequately because typically families consisted of six to seven individuals Women said that their men are discriminated against due to the stigmas associated with the displaced people that they are criminals, liars and lack modesty, so no one hires them

“We are treated as subhuman by these educated elite human beings one woman said in agony

E x p e r i e n c i n g

Numerous women were quiet They did not speak a single word, but showed their agonising expression Their eyes told so many tales, and they desired to ask so many questions. However, their voices were becoming degraded owing to terrible circumstances.

women’s quotidian living it felt that the elites held the poor people’s survival strategies

Women claimed that god provides food through

the hands of elites Tents were shattered by the cold, which caused seasonal illness Women argued that since they were poor and vulnerable, hence they endured I recall a woman questioning me saying that “Sindh and Sindhis are famous for their kindness and hospitality They don t let anyone sleep hungry We thought we were your guests; we were treated as if we were animals when we visited the city Do we deserve such conduct?” her question was genuine Where is the welcoming Sindh and Sindhis? This catastrophic event undermines the cultural ethics, civilisational principles and hospitality Women are losing their ability to survive Numerous women were quiet They did not speak a single word, but showed their agonising expression Their eyes told so many tales and they desired to ask so many questions however their voices were becoming degraded owing to terrible circumstances They desired to return home They still had hope for a decent human life The only source of hope for them is the Almighty

Maria Memon studies Anthropology at the University of Sindh Jamshoro

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor Pakistan Today 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah Lahore Pakistan E-mail: letters@pakistantoday com pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Official apathy

T h E area around the Mauripur truck stand commonly known as ‘truck adda used to face massive traffic jams owing to frequent almost non-stop movement of trucks trailers and other heavy mechanical monsters But the government re-constructed the road with a three-lane dual carriageway, wide pavements on both sides and a carpeted service road

Although there was a gap in the design as the wide pavements remained deprived of any greenery, the nicely constructed road provided much-needed relief to the people passing through the area

But people soon started facing the same misery again one out of three lanes on both sides can now be seen occupied by trucks and trailers taking the road to its previous level The same is the case with the service road Nevertheless, this violation cannot happen without the connivance of relevant law-enforcement agency; the traffic police in this case The two parties the truck-owners and the traffic police enjoy the lack of accountability and a check on them by the authorities while the public has been suffering once again from the misery they were suffering for long till the construction of the road and other development in the area The government makes huge investments in the development and building of infrastructure, but does not maintain it, resulting in public nuisance other than the truck mafia and its collaborators, the footpaths have been encroached upon and kiosks have sprung up, leaving no place for the pedestrians Will the authorities concerned look into these issues and ensure that the people are facilitated for whom the whole development was supposedly carried out? ABDUL MAJEED KARACHI

Critical thinking

W h E N it comes to being critical towards celebrities, politicians or other public figures, we are always on the offensive, especially on social media But all this happens to be more in the realm of criticism for the sake of it It has nothing to do at all with actual critical thinking In fact many of the critics seem to have no idea about what critical thinking actually is

We often ask ourselves why we do not produce scientists philosophers or other professionals and problem solvers of high merit It is because the ability to think critically is not encouraged here Actually, it is discouraged, if not forbidden Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and logically A critical thinker always questions things and events and personalities Critical thinkers do not readily accept anything that is presented to them Always curious they tend to find the answers of the questions that agitate their minds Consequently they often discover or observe what others might have simply overlooked There are many reasons why we do not think critically our cultural norms and family values discourage us from asking questions If children question any of the prevalent norms, they are considered disrespectful Blind obedience, especially to elders, is considered a virtue As a result, we have become conformists When the same children become parents they expect the same submissiveness from their children As a solution to this family elders especially parents should encourage critical thinking in a child at a very young age Besides our education system is to equally blame for this lack of critical thinking If students question or even think about challenging a teacher during some lecture, chances are that the teacher might take it personally, feel offended, and react accordingly The education system advocates rote learning and not creativity or pragmatism Thus, the educators too should understand that they have a huge responsibility in this regard as they deal with young minds that need to grow intellectually Another reason for the state of affairs is that it is difficult to think critically because it takes courage and is harder than merely obeying orders and commands It is easier, for instance, to follow the crowd and do what everyone else is doing, to be part of the rat race and strive to win it

W o m e n a f t e r t h e f l o o d s

MArIA MeMoN

The unfor tunate par t is that the Constitution is not going to be obeyed. If there is an agreement, then the Supreme Cour t will be complicit in stepping beyond the 90-day limit for two provincial elections. If not, the Cour t will be disobeyed in the name of parliamentar y supremacy

Th E phenomenal economic development achieved by China during the last four decades is probably an unparalleled event of modern history Economists are of the unanimous view that by 2050 China will be the number one economic power of the world and probably also in terms of military prowess over the last 40 years the gDP of China has been expanding at an average rate of 9 5 percent The result is that China now accounts for 30 percent of global gDP The reforms set in train in 1978 were premised on special economic zones in several provinces; the introduction of household responsibility system that allowed households to contract land machinery and other facilities from collective organizations; the consolidation of state-owned enterprises and accession to the World Trade organization in 2001 These policies boosted foreign investments exponentially besides encouraging entrepreneurship The willingness of the Chinese leaders to implement pragmatic and impregnable economic policies enabled the country to escape the poverty trap and gave its 800 million people uppermiddle class income status

The commendable aspect of this development is that China also wants to lift the economic profile of other countries through the launch of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as its flagship component It is a concept of participative development which unlike the Marshall Plan has no ideological strings attached to it

The fact that more than 150 countries and international organizations have signed agreements on Belt and Road cooperation with China amply demonstrates the faith of the participating countries and multilateral organizations in the BRI initiative and its potential to give the world a new global economic order predicated on participation and shared economic prosperity The much awaited re-awakening of the East has come forth in the shape of BRI however the BRI initiative and its flag-ship component of CPEC is an eyesore for the uSA and its western allies who perceive it as a threat to the global economic orders which promotes their vested interests They are taking all possible measures to stop China from gaining the status of number one economic power of the world

Burgeoning influence of China

The USA can adjust to the new realit y

with a greater political role on the world stage

The uS trade war with China is one of the manifestations of the malice and grudge that it harbours against China but it will harm it more than the latter Their economies have reached a point of saturation while China still has a vast potential to increase its economic prowess that will benefit the countries participating in the BRI because China is not only a global factory for producing goods and services for exports but is also a global market for other countries with ever expanding horizons China is vying for removal of trade barriers and is willing to lower tariffs as well as removal of non-tariff barriers to meet ever-growing material and cultural needs of its people by giving them more choices and benefits

The uSA is feverishly pursuing a Stop-China policy It has also roped in some Asian countries including India, Japan and Australia forming The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ commonly known as the Quad The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with the support of Australian Prime Minister John howard Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and u S Vice President Dick Cheney It coincided with wide-scale military exercises titled Exercise Malabar This diplomatic and military arrangement is widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power China views it as ‘Asian NATo’

The uSA has also been using other ploys to malign China besides staunch opposition to the one-China policy

It is continuously expressing support for Taiwan It unleashed a vigorous maligning campaign against the policies of China in hong Kong The presence of the uS naval fleet in the South China Sea represents its military muscle to check Chinese advancement in the region It has also been persistently making a hue and cry over the alleged human rights situation in China notwithstanding its own poor record in this regard But all the foregoing ploys by the uSA seem to have failed as far as checking the burgeoning influence of China across the world is concerned China has become almost unstoppable

It is not only poised to become the number one economic and military power in the near future but is also destined to assert itself as a peacemaker growing number of countries of the world have faith in its ability to play that role as well China has manifested the effectiveness of its influence and diplomatic ingenuity which stems from its unique economic achievements by brokering a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia which almost seemed impossible in view of their unyielding hostility towards each other and battling it out in yemen Even the efforts made by some Muslim countries including Pakistan could not break the ice This development in the backdrop of the gulf and some Middle Eastern countries burying the hatchet, promises a change

for the better

It is indeed an auspicious augury for peace in the Middle East and in our region as well A ceasefire has come into effect in yemen and the swap of prisoners has taken place Iran and Saudi Arabia have also agreed to establish diplomatic relations with each after a hiatus of seven years Reportedly, the Iranian President has also invited the Saudi King to visit Iran All these developments taking place in quick succession are a strong pointer to enhanced prospects of peace and tranquility in the region China has also made an offer to re-initiate dialogue between Israel and Palestine for a durable peace That again is an appreciable step by China however its success depends on how the uSA views it and its restraint in regards to sabotaging it In view of the events on the roll and the impregnable position attained by China the uSA is well advised to rethink its hostile policies towards the former and develop a cooperative approach with it to find amicable solutions to the economic and political issues that hinder global peace and amity, if it is really interested in a peaceful world as claimed by it from every convenient roof-top There is a need for setting aside false egos by recognizing the turn of events Starting a new cold war would prove inimical to the interests of both the powers with its debilitating impact on other countries

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail com

In view of the events on the roll and the impregnable position attained by China, the USA is well advised to rethink its hostile policies towards the former and develop a cooperative approach with it to find amicable solutions to the economic and political issues that hinder global peace and amity, if it is really interested in a peaceful world as claimed by it from ever y convenient roof-top.

Wh E N King Charles rumbles up the road from Buckingham Palace in his horse drawn carriage on May 6 off to his coronation I will be nearby protesting for the abolition of the British monarchy I will be joined by many other protesters each of us determined to do two things: show the world Britain isn t a nation of royalists and tell the British people it s time we brought this nonsense to an end

The monarchy is always wrong in principle and is no good in practice The support it has had until recently was sustained by the Queen by media deference and by official secrecy (the Royal household is exempt from Freedom of Information requests)

That support is now falling According to a recent Savanta poll, support for abolition – that is, Britain having an elected head of state – is close to a third Even more so for young people under 35 years where it’s almost half

Importantly most people simply aren’t interested in the coronation After a string of scandals – from accusations of racism (the Royal household maintains that it complies with the provisions of the Equality Act) to the ongoing saga of Prince Andrew (who has continually denied allegations of sexual abuse) – the monarchy is now reduced to an uninspiring quartet: Charles and Camilla, William and Kate These are not people to turn around those falling polls But while it is almost certainly the case that in Charles we have a head of state who would lose a free and fair election opposition to the monarchy isn t about the royals yes, in my view the monarchy is corrupt, guilty of systematic abuses of public office and public money, albeit legitimized by the government

But more profound concerns lie behind the growing push for a republic It is about recognizing the strength of democratic ideals and the failures of Britain s own democracy It s about democratic reform that leaves no room for hereditary power and privilege The monarchy not only forces us to compromise our values, to make intellectual room for hereditary public office and for an institution steeped in the crimes of slavery and empire – it fails to deliver or defend a democratic culture or constitution

Quite the opposite the monarchy is the wellspring

I n my v i e w t h e m o n a rc hy i s co r r u p t, g u i l t y o f s y s te m at i c a b u s e s o f p u b l i c o f f i ce a n d p u b l i c m o n e y, a l b e i t l e g i t i m i ze d by t h e g ove r n m e nt

of so much that s wrong with our politics The Crown is the source of all political and legal power The courts exercise their power in the name of the Crown, as do government ministers over the past 300 years the powers of the monarch have simply been passed on to the government allowing them to declare war sign treaties and control parliament Power is highly centralized the government largely free to do as it pleases with few checks and balances in place to obstruct it

It is telling that royalists so often reduce the argument to economic costs and benefits, as more serious arguments never favor the monarchy They may say monarchy defends us against tyranny but this is palpably false yet so are claims of economic gain which have been debunked According to research by my organization there is no profit from the monarchy, only cost Cost to our nation s finances, certainly, but also to our democratic values and how our democracy plays out in practice

A parliamentary republic by contrast would give us checks and balances disperse power between government parliament and people and an accountable head of state –one of us who can genuinely represent us Not running the government but guarding our constitution It s a model which works well across Europe, most notably in Ireland

So, when we shout Not My King! at Charles, it is a proud statement of democratic principle – that we recognise no person’s claim to be above us because of birth Instead we demand a democracy that celebrates our noblest principles and greatest endeavours on May 6 it s about saying very clearly we want an election instead of a coronation, and a choice instead of Charles Graham Smith is CEO of the campaign organisation Republic which aims to abolish the monarchy and replace it with an elected head of state He is the author of upcoming book Abolish the Monarchy: Why We Should and How We Will

Analysts see oil prices rising to $90 by end-2023

barrels per day (bpd) between May and December to significantly tighten supply in the second half of this year

Rebounding demand in China is also set to reduce supply and potentially offset weakness in major mature economies if the ongoing interest rate hikes lead to recessions later this year hours after oPEC+ announced the new cuts, goldman Sachs raised its Brent Crude forecast to $95 from $90 at the end of the year The bank also raised its Brent Crude forecast for 2024 now seeing it at $100 at the end of the year from an earlier projection of $97

We s h o u l d n o t, u n d e r a ny co n d i t i o n s, o p e n t h e d o o r to g ra nt i n g i nve nto r s t at u s to a n A I

logically from the prior art, i e something which does not involve the exercise of any skill or ability beyond that to be expected of the person skilled in the art ”

At this point we should spend a few words on the definition of “person skilled in the art” because it will come in handy to understand the point I m making

JERUSALEM POST

No WA D Ay S, the acronym AI is omnipresent wherever we go and whatever we read Where patents are concerned interested parties have made efforts to convince patent authorities worldwide that AI should be granted the status of inventor because it is capable of developing inventions on its own So far, those efforts have not been successful because one of the requirements in most patent laws is that an inventor must be human and AI does not qualify as such (at least for the time being)

The World Intellectual Property organization (WIPo) has a very neat definition for it: A person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains (referred to as a person skilled in the art ) refers to a hypothetical person who has common general knowledge in the art to which the claimed invention pertains and the ability to use ordinary technical means for research and development (including experiment analysis and manufacture); who has the ability to exercise ordinary creativity in selecting appropriate materials, optimizing numerical range of the invention, and replacing the invention with equivalents, etc ; and who is able to comprehend all technical matters regarding the state of the art in the field to which a claimed invention pertains at the time of filing based on his/her own knowledge

So far this year Brent prices have averaged around $82 while they traded at just above $79 early on Friday

The u S benchmark WTI Crude is set to average $82 23 per barrel this year the analysts in the April poll expect, compared to an average forecast of $80 88 per barrel in the Reuters poll in March Early on Friday, the front-month WTI Crude contract traded at around $75 a barrel

Despite concerns about economic growth, global oil demand is still set for a record high 101 9 million bpd this year, driven by a resurgent Chinese consumption, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest monthly report in the middle of April

Solid demand from China raised global oil demand by 810 000 bpd year-on-year in the first quarter to 100 4 million bpd the IEA said in its oil Market Report for April A much stronger increase of 2 7 mb/d is expected through year-end, propelled by a continued recovery in China and international travel,” the IEA noted

To avoid any confusion I should point out at the outset that I am all in favor of using AI tools to help flesh and blood inventors make good inventions An effort may also be required to adapt the patent system to better exploit the advantages of AI by developing appropriate standards for the sufficiency of description requirement of inventions that combine AI elements with other systems but that is a discussion for another day however, there is apparently a sentiment that something should be done about the issue of inventorship, so much so that The uS Patent and Trademark office launched an initiative stating that “the uSPTo is seeking stakeholder input on the current state of AI technologies and inventorship issues that may arise in view of the advancement of such technologies overcoming the legal hurdle could be done simply by amending the law to omit the requirement of the humanity of the inventor, which some people believe should be done without delay to catch up with the development of artificial intelligence technologies I argue that even so inventions made by an AI could never be granted a valid patent at least not as long as the patent system maintains any resemblance to an institution that makes sense for us humans The reason for the above should be apparent to every patent practitioner, and I will explain it in simplified terms for the reader who is not familiar with patent law one of the basic conditions for a patent to be validly granted is that the invention should not be obvious (or as stated in certain national laws should possess an inventive step ) obviousness, or on the flip side, inventiveness, is not an objective and measurable fact because an invention is inventive if “a man of average skill in the art” does not find it obvious The exact wording of u S law is that an invention is not patentable if the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains ”

Similarly the definition of obviousness in the European Patent office is as follows: “The term “obvious means that which does not go beyond the normal progress of technology but merely follows plainly or

Now let s examine what will happen when we ask our AI to develop a method for doing something With its incredibly enormous capability for handling information, the AI goes through an unknown number of facts documents videos etc (probably millions of them) Then it comes up with an invention As to what the AI did with all the information to which it has access to supply us with the invention we don t have a clue

So here s the thing: because of how the invention was made by the AI inventor, a human patent Examiner cannot determine whether the resulting invention is or is not obvious because he is not “a skilled person” by any reasonable definition of patent law This is because he does not have the ability to perform a synthetic reading of all the information available to the AI inventor and determine whether, on the basis of all that information, it would have been obvious to reach the invention the AI has made

As a result of the above, if we want to allow an AI to be considered an inventor we must also agree that the skilled person who can judge the inventive step of that invention is also an AI It follows that to grant valid patents in which an AI is an inventor we must assign those patent applications for examination to an Examiner who is also an AI There is no way around it, no matter how advanced and open-minded we want to be (or appear)

That is the legal argument but the real argument is one that I cannot prove to you although I believe it to be true here goes: the AI s tremendous ability to exercise ordinary creativity does not imply that it possesses the inventive spark that a human inventor needs to make a non-obvious invention I sincerely hope I’m right (in which case, obviously, an AI cannot be an inventor) because if I’m wrong we are already in big trouble

Based on the analysis above the only conclusion that can be drawn is that we should not under any conditions open the door to granting inventor status to an AI Doing so would not be a slippery slope but rather a slippery abyss If our heart is set on destroying the patent system (and mine is not), I am sure that we can find simpler ways to do it

Dr Kfir Luzzatto is a senior patent attorney and the president of The Luzzatto Group Israel’s leading intellectual property group celebrating 154 years of practice

W e w a n t a c h o i c e

i n s t e a d o f C h a r l e s

T h e c a s e a g a i n s t

A I “ i n v e n t o r s ”

D I A ’ S G R O W I N G P O P U L AT I O N A B U R D E N

O R S T R U G G L I N G M O T H E R S

NEW DELHI A F P

MARRIED off by her parents at 14, Indian mother-of-seven Jaimala Devi kept having children because her husband insisted she could only stop once she had given birth to two sons

Devi s story is common across Bihar, the poorest state in the world s most populous country and also its fastest-growing: with around 127 million people, it already has roughly as many people as Mexico

India s overall birthrate has fallen in tandem with its rising economy, but poverty and a deep-rooted bias for male heirs have kept Bihar an engine room of national population growth

Having seven kids and managing everything on my own really drives me crazy at times, said Devi, who at 30 has never left her home village

I thought we d be comfortable with one or two kids, she told AFP But we had girls

first and because of that we have seven Devi her five daughters and two sons live in a ramshackle one-room hut unadorned except for a small television an old fan and some posters of Hindu deities on its unplastered walls Bihar has scarce opportunities for wellpaid employment and Devi s husband Subhash is gone for most of the year sending back his meagre earnings as an unskilled storehand in the capital New Delhi

Many fathers leave the state to find work elsewhere but consider long absences from home and the struggle to feed their children a worthy sacrifice for the chance of future prosperity

Having more children is still considered a way to get more earning members for the family Parimal Chandra the state head of the non-profit Population Foundation of India (PFI) told AFP

RESPECT AND PRIDE

The insistence by many men on having sons reflects cultural expectations that they will support their parents even after marry-

ing and having their own children

Giving birth to a boy means respect and pride for the family and the mother Chandra said

Daughters by contrast are commonly seen as burdensome and costly due to the tradition of wedding dowries paid by the parents of brides

Parents in poorer households often seek to relieve themselves of the responsibility of girls by marrying them off early as was the case in Devi s wedding as a teenager

This is especially true in Bihar where the early departure of girls from school has left only 55 percent of women in the state able to read and write India s lowest female literacy rate according to the National Family Health Survey Chandra said this abysmal statistic undergirded the state s high birthrate leaving mothers without access to knowledge on contraception or agency over the size of their families Bihar s situation was once replicated across India a country formerly synonymous with grinding poverty but which in

recent decades has seen phenomenal economic growth

The average woman in India now gives birth to just two children down from a 1960 peak of six in concert with better maternal healthcare and rising living standards

But Bihar has long been an economic laggard and its much higher birthrate around three children per mother on average reflects some of India s worst rates of malnutrition child mortality education and access to medical care

Raj Kumar Sada 55 has outlived four of his five children and often tells his only surviving son to have at least four kids of his own That way if something happens to one or two of them he d still have someone left he told AFP You will find people with four five six seven or eight children and it is very normal here A BIG CHALLENGE

Government healthcare worker Indira Kumari attends to around 400 women in rural Bihar each month many of whom she says do not get to choose how many children

China for avoiding escalation in Uk raine crisis af ter K remlin drone attack

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that China has noted the relevant reports, and China calls on all parties to avoid any action that could further escalate the situation The statement came amid Ukraine’s denial of Russia’s accusations that it had tried to attack the Kremlin with drones in an attempt “to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin,” prompting even more speculation over the incident

“China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear All sides need to avoid taking actions that might further escalate the situation,” Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routine press conference in China’s capital, Beijing, on Thursday Some Chinese experts considered the attack as likely to be linked with Ukraine extremists who advocate prolonging the Russia-Ukraine conflict and coercing high ranking Ukrainian officials to continue the fight, while the odds are that there was support or even encouragement from international hegemonic forces for

the operation Online footage showed a flying object exploding in an intense burst of light near the dome of the Kremlin Senate building The Russian government said early Wednesday that Kiev attempted a drone strike against the residence of the President of the Russian Federation at the Kremlin The aircraft were downed using electronic warfare measures and caused no casualties or damage, RT said, citing a presidential administration statement Moscow considers the incident an act of terrorism Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied the Russian claims, saying that we don t attack Putin, or Moscow, we fight on our territory and defend our towns and cities, the Guardian reported on Wednesday

But on Thursday, Russia accused the US of being b e h i n d o f t h e d r o n e i n c i d e n t A t t e m p t s t o d i s o w n t h i s , b o t h i n K i e v a n d i n Wa s h i n g t o n , a r e , o f c o u r s e , a b s o l u t e l y r i d i c u l o u s We k n o w v e r y w e l l t h a t d e c isions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, a r e m a d e n o t i n K i e v b u t i n Wa s h i n g t o n , P u t i n s s p o k e s p e r s o n D m i t r y P e s k o v w a s q u o t e d a s s a y i n g

i n a R e u t e r s r e p o r t

When asked about whether the incident would affect the visit of the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs to Ukraine, the spokesperson said we will make further announcements in due course China will continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis

On the battlefield in Ukraine, both sides have paid a heavy price but neither has fully achieved their purpose in the war, and now both sides willingness to continue the war is undergoing a great test, some Chinese experts said Ukraine has been the defensive side, unwilling to see a large area of its land being controlled by Russia, but it has been unable to launch a large-scale counteroffensive, they noted

With divergences growing inside Ukraine, the conflict between those advocating for peace and those advocating for war has escalated, Wang Xiaoquan, an expert with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday

Indigenous leaders demand King Charles apologise for colonialism

LONDON

A F P

Indigenous leaders from a string of former British colonies on Thursday urged King Charles to swiftly apologise for centuries of racism and the legacy of genocide perpetrated by the crown

In a staunchly worded letter that could sour the build-up to this weekend s coronation Indigenous representatives from 12 Commonwealth nations also called for financial reparations and the return of stolen cultural treasures

The letter was signed by leaders from Australia where Indigenous people were massacred by British colonisers and forced off their lands as well as several Caribbean nations once plundered for slaves The group said they had banded togethr to help their people recover from centuries of racism oppression colonialism and slavery

Charles has in recent years stepped up efforts to engage with Indigenous leaders as the monarchy faces a reckoning over its links to the slave trade and the British Empire s legacy of violence

Although he has conceded the crown must acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past the letter implores him to go further by offering a formal royal apology

Former Olympian Nova Peris the first Aboriginal woman elected to Australia s federal parliament was

one of the leaders to sign the letter

A s t a u n c h c r i t i c o f A u s t r a l i a s t i e s t o t h e r o y a l f a m i l y P e r i s s a i d i t w a s t i m e t o a c k n o w l e d g e t h e h o r r i f i c a n d e n d u r i n g i m p a c t s o f c o l o n i s a t i o n a n d t h e l e g a c y o f g e n o c i d e f e l t b y m a n y I n d i g e n o u s populations I t s v i t a l f o r u s t o d i s c u s s a n d e d u c a t e p e o p l e o n t h e t r u t h b e h i n d c o l o n i s a t i o n d u r i n g t h e w e e k o f t h e c o r o n a t i o n s h e s a i d C o n v e r s a t i o n s

they have

Even if a woman wants to use family planning her in-laws or husband don t support her view Kumari told AFP

The state government has offered cash incentives for girls to finish their schooling and distributed free condoms in an effort to encourage women to start families later and have fewer children These and other efforts have helped change some parents attitudes in Bihar when even raising the topic was a big challenge a few years ago PFI programme officer Ritu Singh told AFP

Among the women whose perspective has shifted is Poonam Devi 26 and no relation to Jaimala a daily wage labourer who opted for tubal ligation after delivering her fourth child Our people say that a woman is useless if she can t produce kids after marriage she told AFP B u t I t o l d m y h u s b a n d a f t e r o u r f o u r t h t h a t w e h a v e e n o u g h a n d s h o u l d focus on feeding and educating them and h e a g r e e d

No alternative: Afghan farmers lament Taliban poppy ban

KABUL A F P

In a secluded compound in south Afghanistan Bibi Hazrato cries in dismay as a group of men hack down her poppy crop enforcing a Taliban government order to wean the nation off the narcotic plant If you were working for God you would not have crushed this little field the frail sexagenarian hectors the turbaned men flaying her plants God says crush this one of them bluntly answers The lucrative trade of poppy tar the psychoactive substance in heroin has been one of the few constants over decades of war and chaos in Afghanistan But last April Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada declared poppy cultivation strictly prohibited On a trip to the opium-producing areas of Afghanistan AFP saw fields of wheat where poppy flowers once bloomed as the first harvest season under the ban got underway In Hazrato s spartan home with tarpaulin sheet windows in Sher Surkh village of Kandahar province Afghanistan s dilemma plays out in brief as an illicit-yet-vital source of revenue is extinguished in the midst of a humanitarian crisis God also says to help the poor like me she says her head covered in a trailing black shawl No one has ever helped me STRICTLY IMPLEMENTED

The Taliban were largely successful in eradicating poppy agriculture at the tail-end of their first rule from 1996 to 2001 analysts say But their veto faded when they were ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001 and started funding their fightback with a tax on the crop Opium production provided about half of the Taliban insurgents revenues in 2016 according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) By 2020 the last full year of rule by the Westernbacked government 85 percent of the world s opium was flowing out of Afghanistan the UN body said

PA K I S TA N - T U R K E Y T R A D E A G R E E M E N T C O M E S

I N T O E F F E C T, B O O S T I N G B I L AT E R A L T R A D E

ISLAMABAD

G h u l a m a b b a S

PAKISTAN and Turkey s Trade in Goods Agreement which was signed in August 2022, has finally come into effect on May 1, 2023, as per mutual agreement The agreement was signed by the Turkish Minister for Trade Mehmet Muş and Federal Minister for Commerce of Pakistan Syed Naveed Qamar and witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif The Trade in Goods Agreement signifies a notable milestone in the historic

MoU signed to provide digital smar t healthcare system in Punjab

RAWALPINDI S ta f f R e p o R t

The Punjab Health Department and Telecom Foundation (Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to provide state of the art smart digital health system in the province

The President & CEO Telecom Foundation Syed Zomma Mohiuddin and the CEO of District Health Authority Punjab, Dr Saadat Ali Khan, signed the MoU documents at a ceremony held in Rawalpindi Speaking at the occasion, Dr Jamal Nasir, the Punjab Minister for Health expressed his appreciation for Telecom Foundation for bringing about a revolutionary change in the health sector He further added that in line with the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi a modern digital health system is being planned with the help of Telecom Foundation for the Punjab Health Department, which would initially provide smart digital services in the basic health centres of the province starting with Rawalpindi This digital smart system would be equipped with smart beds smart wearables and mobile apps through which health would be automatically monitored on a 24/7 basis

Majid Al Futtaim expands its investment to PKR 11.5 Billion in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Majid Al Futtaim the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East and Africa – has further expanded its retail footprint in Pakistan by breaking ground for its twelfth Carrefour store in Phase 11 DHA Rahbar Carrefour’s eleventh store in Phase 7 is currently under development and both new stores will be operational by the end of 2023

The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Umer Lodhi, Country Manager for Carrefour Pakistan at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, who was joined by Dr Younis Al Mullah, the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Business Development at Majid Al Futtaim and Colonel Ali Yasir Pirzada the Director of Joint Venture & Built Operate Transfer (JV & BOT)

Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Dr Younis Al Mullah

the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Business Development at Majid Al Futtaim while speaking on the occasion said, I am delighted to be a part of this new strategic development in Pakistan p R e S S R e l e a S e The country offers exciting opportunities for Carrefour and we remain committed to expanding our presence in Pakistan and bringing the best of Carrefour to this dynamic market

Shan Shares Launches

Innovative Snapchat Filter to Help Combat Hunger

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o Rt Shan Shares the corporate entity of Shan Foods extending its partnership with Saylani Welfare International Trust in a bid to combat world hunger has launched a Snapchat filter that lets users help feed less privileged individuals Shan Shares is the CSR identity of Shan Foods that personifies the brand s corporate citizenship and is rooted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Zero hunger, SDG # 2 is one of the main pillars of its objectives Through this latest initiative Shan Shares and Saylani Welfare International Trust have made it simple for people to support one another and contribute to ending world hunger using the Snapchat filter Users can open Snapchat, take a photo with the Shan Shares filter, and share it For each snap of a meal taken using the Shan Shares lens Shan Shares will share food with one person through Saylani Welfare Trust The partnership between Shan Shares and Saylani Welfare Trust was forged earlier last year, under which thousands of people have been provided with meals through food trucks and free meal setups, to date Taking it a step further with the release of the innovative Snapchat filter, Shan Shares aims to give back to the society and support fellow citizens of the country during the ongoing difficult economic situation while also fostering the sentiment of sharing among people This is in line with the mutual mission of Shan Shares and Saylani Welfare International Trust which is committed to making life better for individuals in Pakistan and creating a better, more nourished planet

brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkey and envisages further integration of the markets and business communities of both countries This agreement is expected to increase bilateral trade across various sectors and bring reciprocal tariff concessions extended to select exports of both countries Under the agreement, Pakistan has gained preferential access to the Turkish market for 261 tariff lines covering traditional as well as non-traditional sectors such as leather rice dates mangoes cutlery sports goods seafood processed agricultural products rubber tubes and tires, plastics, and engineering goods

Meanwhile, Turkey has been granted concessions on 130 tariff lines, including products such as black tea, processed food products and flavorings, industrial raw materials and parts of machinery and parts of electronic equipment

The Trade in Goods Agreement is expected to have a significant impact on Pakistan s exports, particularly in non-traditional sectors It will provide P a k i s t a n i b u s i n e s s e s w i t h a c c e s s t o the Turkish market which has a population of more than 80 million peop l e a n d w i l l a l l o w P a k i s t a n i e x p o r t e r s t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f t h e

growing Turkish economy

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Naveed Qamar, the Federal Minister for Commerce of Pakistan, said that the agreement would open up new opportunities to boost bilateral trade across various sectors He also stressed the need to increase business-to-business interaction for strengthening trade and investment relations between the two brotherly countries

The Turkish Minister for Trade Mehmet Muş also expressed his satisfaction with the agreement saying that it will further strengthen the historic ties between the two countries

Decibel join hands to offer AbhiS alar y

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

AFBHI, an embedded finance company, is excited to announce its partnership with Decibel, a global provider of Human Resource Management System (HRMS) solutions This collaboration brings together ABHI s cutting-edge earned wage access technology with Decibel s HRMS expertise, creating a powerful solution that financially empowers employees with convenient access to their earned wages ABHI is a forward-thinking Earned Wage Access provider that enables employees to access their earned wages in real-time helping them manage their finances and avoid financial stress AbhiSalary allows employees to access a portion of their earned wages before their scheduled payday providing them with

greater financial flexibility and control Decibel is the largest HRMS Cloud in Pakistan offering a comprehensive range of HR management tools and services to businesses of all sizes Decibel's expertise in HRMS solutions includes talent management, attendance and leaves management benefits administration payroll and tax compliance and more

The partnership between ABHI and Decibel brings together ABHI s earned wage access solution with Decibel s

Japan envoy, Finance Minister for boosting bilateral trade

ISLAMABAD S ta f R e p o R t

His Excellency Mr Mitsuhiro Wada, Ambassador of Japan called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here at the Finance Division today Mr Shinji Yanagi Vice Chairman Toyota Co

SAPM on Finance Mr Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Finance and senior officers attended the meeting Finance Minister Ishaq Dar extended a warm welcome to H E Wada Mitsuhiro and briefed the Ambassador about the economic challenges and priorities of the present government He apprised the Ambassador of the economic policies and reforms being implemented by the government to lead the economy towards growth and stability

The Finance Minister also expressed his views on the cordial relations between Pakistan and Japan

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan

4th May 2023 – The Board of Directors of Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) announced the first quarter results for the company on 4th May The company posted a loss after tax of PKR 4,762 million compared to the profit after tax of PKR 2,079 million made in the same period last year

The period witnessed devaluation of the Rupee rising inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty

Continued economic challenges resulted in slowdown in economic activity decrease in demand and risks to supply security for the company Finances and profitability of the company also continued to be impacted However, SPL was able to maintain its market share SPL remains committed to operational excellence safety performance to further strengthen its financial position and play a responsible role in society Shan Shares Launches Innovative Snapchat

Filter to Help Combat Hunger

Karachi: Shan Shares, the corporate entity of Shan Foods, extending its partnership with Saylani Welfare International Trust in a bid to combat world

Game Now, Jazz s online eSports platform, in collaboration with FreeFire, a world-famous multiplayer battle royale mobile game by Garena has awarded PKR 1 million to RZX x Legacy the winning team from Pakistan to celebrate its qualification into the FreeFire SEA Invitational (FFSI) 2023 Game Now and FreeFire have collaborated to hand out a pool prize money of PKR 1 million to RZX x Legacy which won the month-long qualification rounds in Pakistan from among 1 152 local teams and qualified as one of the 18 teams to compete globally in the FFSI The upcoming tournament will be hosted from 12th May to 28th May in Thailand and the team will leave for Thailand later this week Speaking at the event Kazim Mujtaba Chief Commercial Officer at Jazz said As a digital-first company, Jazz is committed to creating and bolstering avenues of digital growth in Pakistan

HRMS capabilities creating a seamless and efficient way for employers to offer earned wage access to their employees

Through this collaboration employees can access their earned wages when they need it the most, to pay for unexpected expenses or invest in opportunities thus reducing financial stress and promoting financial wellness

We are thrilled to partner with Decibel a trusted name in the HRMS solutions industry, said Mr Ali Lad-

and appreciated Japan s investments in Pakistan He stated the two countries enjoy sound friendly relations which have been getting stronger with each passing day He said that Japan is one of the major development partners of Pakistan and he firmly believes that the cooperation will further strengthen in multiple fields for the mutual benefit of both the countries The Finance Minister further highlighted potential opportunities of investment in Pakistan and welcomed investment plans of Japanese companies in Pakistan Ambassador of Japan Mr Wada Mitsuhiro praised the pragmatic policies and actions being taken by the government and said that Japan greatly values its bilateral relations with Pakistan He expressed confidence in the economic policies of the current government and assured that business investment and economic linkages between the two countries would further strengthen in coming days

hubhai, COO at ABHI "This collaboration allows us to combine AbhiSalary with Decibel s HRMS solutions creating a powerful solution that brings financial flexibility to thousands of employees Together, we can make a positive impact on the financial lives of employees and help them achieve improved financial well-being "

"Decibel is dedicated to providing comprehensive HRMS solutions that cater to the needs of businesses and their employees, said Mr Faisal Qamar, CEO at Decibel "Our partnership with ABHI aligns perfectly with our mission, as it allows us to add an innovative earned wage access solution to our suite of features and promote financial wellness among employees We are excited about the opportunities this collaboration brings and the positive impact it can have on employees financial lives "

Participants of the two days training workship on Project Mangement ocnducted by the Executive Development Institute of National School of Public Policy (NSPP) in a group photo at the closing ceremony

Clifford Chance announces new Head of Global Asset Finance Group

NEW YORK

S ta f f R e p o R t

hunger, has launched a Snapchat filter that lets users help feed less privileged individuals Shan Shares is the CSR identity of Shan Foods that personifies the brand’s corporate citizenship and is rooted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Zero hunger SDG # 2 is one of the main pillars of its objectives Through this latest initiative Shan Shares and Saylani Welfare International Trust have made it simple for people to support one another and contribute to ending world hunger using the Snapchat filter Users can open Snapchat take a photo with the Shan Shares filter and share it For each snap of a meal taken using the Shan Shares lens Shan Shares will share food with one person through Saylani Welfare Trust

The partnership between Shan Shares and Saylani Welfare Trust was forged earlier last year, under which, thousands of people have been provided with meals through food trucks and free meal setups to date Taking it a step further with the release of the innovative Snapchat filter Shan Shares aims to give back to the society and support fellow citizens of the country during the ongoing difficult economic situation while also fostering the sentiment of sharing among people

Clifford Chance announced today the appointment of partner Zarrar Sehgal as Head of the firm s Global Asset Finance Group Sehgal will lead the 125-strong international team of asset finance lawyers who work alongside the firm s global corporate tax insolvency litigation and regulatory practices to provide full-service advice to clients Assuming the role from William Glaister, Sehgal is also co-head of the Global Financial Markets group in the Americas, and head of Clifford Chance's Global Transport & Logistics sector group Chambers USA 2022 ranked Sehgal Band 1 in Transportation: Aviation: Finance (Nationwide) and he has also been inducted into Legal s Hall of Fame in the United States for Transport: Aviation and Air Travel – Finance Considered one of the foremost experts on a wide variety of international asset finance transactions, Sehgal’s experience includes acquisition financing, leveraged leasing secured lending structured financing and export credit agency-supported financing Global Head of Financial Markets Emma Matebalavu offers Zarrar is renowned industry-wide for his knowledge and expertise, having worked extensively on some of the most complex asset finance transactions in the market globally I am delighted to announce his appointment to lead the Asset Finance group which is a core element of our worldleading award-winning international finance practice

and

For Pakistan in 2023 alone, the revenue in the online gaming market is estimated to reach over $46 million, and by 2027 this value is predicted at nearly $73 million These numbers indicate lucrative global opportunities for our youth and a tremendous potential for economic uplift, and Jazz is determined to help materialize this through Game Now ” Expressing similar zest, Falak Gondal Partnerships Manager at FreeFire said The global online gaming industry is expected to reach a value of over $32 5 billion by 2027 We are delighted to host this celebratory event with Jazz Game Now, to recognize the brilliant gaming talent of Pakistan and help pave the way for future gamers in the country

y : Chairman

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Organized by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council the three day National Dialogue on Agricultural Research successfully concluded at the National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad At the closing ceremony of the Dialogue the Chief Guest Honorable Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain commended PARC for organizing a comprehensive and goaloriented dialogue that involved all stakeholders The Minister emphasized that the agriculture sector is crucial to Pakistan's economy and stressed the importance of maximizing its potential to ensure food and nutritional security He urged all the researchers to establish a purely indigenous and self-reliant agricultural research which is aligned with the international standards of food and nutritional security He added that the government is fully committed to consistently provide financial support for research and schol-

arships to the researchers and encouraged them to engage with the international scientists community in order to attain latest knowledge and expertise

The three day event at NARC, Islamabad, was attended by representatives from all partners’ institutions where vice chancellors from 12 universities including Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Chairman HEC Director Generals of all provincial agricultural research, Heads of international organizations, and the private sector A wide range of innovative ideas were discussed throughout the event including opportunities for joint ventures with international organizations diversification and sustainable intensification of climate resilient crops, advanced strategies and techniques for high value horticulture, revolutionizing the mechanized agriculture and ensuring food and nutritional security

PA K I S TA N AT TA C H E S H I G H I M P O R TA N C E T O Q I N

G A N G ’ S V I S I T : S P O K E S P E R S O N

s u m i n g o f f i c e Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and State Councilor Qin Gang will co-chair the 4th round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue

The Strategic Dialogue is a structured mechanism that reviews bilateral cooperation in key areas

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e S p o k e s p e r s o n o f t h e F o r e i g n M i n i s t r y t h e v i s i t w i l l f u rt h e r s t r e n g t h e n b i l a t e r a l t i e s b e t w e e n t h e t w o c o u n t r i e s a s w e l l a s p r o m o t i n g t h e i r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o n r e g i o n a l a n d i nt e r n a t i o n a l a f f a i r s T h i s w o u l d b e h i s f i r s t o f f i c i a l v i s i t t o P a k i s t a n s i n c e a s -

The two sides will reaffirm the abiding vitality of the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership; develop a roadmap for multidimensional cooperation between Pakistan and China; and discuss the evolving regional and global landscape

The 3rd round of Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue took place in July 2021 in Chengdu China China s top diplomat to visit Pakistan to attend strategic dialogue

The foreign minister of China will arrive in Pakistan on Friday for a two-day state trip to attend the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue, according to the Foreign Office The visit of Qin Gang will mark his first official trip to Pakistan since he took office in December of last year T h e P a k i s t a n - C h i n a S t r a t e g i c D i al o g u e s f o u r t h r o u n d w i l l b e j o i n t l y c h a i r e d b y G a n g a n d h i s P a k i s t a n c o u nt e r p a r t B i l a w a l B h u t t o - Z a r d a r i A c c o r di n g t o t h e C h i n e s e s t a t e - r u n C G T N b r o a d c a s t e r, t h e t w o d i p l o m a t s w i l l h a v e “ i n - p e r s o n a n d i n - d e p t h c o m m u n i c a t i o n o n b i l a t e r a l r e l a t i o n s ” a s w e l l a s t h e i nt e r n a t i o n a l a n d r e g i o n a l s i t u a t i o n T h e d i a l o g u e i s a s t r u c t u r e d m e c h a n i s m a i m e d a t r e v i e w i n g b i l a t e r a l c o o p e r a t i o n i n k e y a r e a s , t h e F o r e i g n O f f i c e s a i d

C h i n a r e g a r d s P a k i s t a n a s a s t r a t e g i c c o u n t e r w e i g h t a g a i n s t t h e i r m u t u a l l o n gs t a n d i n g r i v a l I n d i a a n d a h e d g e a g a i n s t

U S i n f l u e n c e a c r o s s t h e r e g i o n I t a l s o w a n t s t o u s e P a k i s t a n a s a g a t e w a y t o t h e

M u s l i m w o r l d

The Foreign Office said that during the dialogue the two governments will reaffirm the abiding vitality of the so-called allweather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China Islamabad and Beijing will also develop a roadmap for multidimensional cooperation and discuss the evolving regional and global landscape The third round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue was held in Chengdu China in July 2021 Qin s upcoming visit highlights the significance of the relationship

Stung by smuggling, Attock Refiner y reducing capacit y to 25pc for five days

KARACHI p R o f i t R e p o R t

The Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) is faced with an emergency that requires immediate attention due to which it will be functioning at a 25% capacity for over five days

The refinery disclosed the information to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and investors early on Thursday morning As per the notification High Speed Diesel (HSD) upliftment by OMCs from ARL has been abysmally low in the preceding two months It was disclosed to the PSX that they suspect their supply envelope to have been infiltrated by smuggled product which has presented to be a predicament to the company Adding insult to injury the refinery s HSD stocks have also reached a concerningly high level, with little to no capacity left in their storage tanks These conditions have created an impossible situation for the refinery leaving them no choice but to shut down the main distillation unit for five days in order to manage the critical levels and conduct essential maintenance on allied downstream units In simpler words, the refinery will only be partially operational at just around 25% of its capacity during these five days

However the letter reassured the re-

cipients that the refinery has enough inventories of products to meet current requirements It was also shared that the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) and Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has been informed accordingly while also enclosing a disclosure form as prescribed under Notification SRO

No 143(1)/2012 as Annexure – A

What does Attock Refinery Limited do?

Attock Refinery Limited’s history dates back to 1922 back when it first pioneered crude oil refining in Pakistan

Ever since the company has seen technological upgrading that has enabled it to continue being competitive According to the company’s website, ARL’s current nameplate capacity stands at 53 400 barrels per day (BPD) and it has the capability to process the lightest to heaviest crudes

It is an ISO certified company and also holds the title of being the first refinery in Pakistan to implement an Energy Management System The refinery’s latest expansion and up-gradation project completed in November 2016 which included reducing Sulphur contents in High Speed Diesel increasing refining capacity, enhancing production of Premium Motor Gasoline, and expanding its captive power plant Moreover its paid-up capital has increased from Rs 80 million to Rs

Chaudhr y Shujaat to remain PML-Q president , ECP rules

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t T h e E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f P a k i s t a n ( E C P ) h a s a n n o u n c e d i t s d e c i s i o n o n t h e p r e s i d e n c y o f t h e P M L - Q d e c l a r i n g C h a u d h r y S h u j a a t H u s s a i n w i l l r e m a i n t h e p a r t y h e a d T h e E l e c t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f P a k i s t a n a l s o d e c l a r e d t h e a m e n d m e n t t o t h e P M L - Q c o n s t i t u t i o n n u l l a n d v o i d D u ri n g a r e l a t e d e l e c t i o n c o m m i s s i o n i n j u n ct i o n t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a m e n d m e n t w a s i l l e g a l t h e E C P a n n o u n c e d T h e E C P r ej e c t e d f o r m e r P M L - Q M N A C h a u d h r y Waj a h a t s r e q u e s t t o a m e n d t h e p a r t y c o n s t i t u t i o n A f t e r j o i n i n g t h e P a k i s t a n Te h r e e k - e - I n s a a f , C h a u d h r y P a r v e z E l a h i a n d s o m e o f h i s a s s o c i a t e s a p p r o a c h e d t h e c o m m i s s i o n t o r e m o v e C h a u d h r y S h u j a a t f r o m t h e P M L - Q p r e s i d e n c y b u t t h e c o mm i s s i o n r e j e c t e d t h e i r r e q u e s t I n F e b r u a r y f o r m e r c h i e f m i n i s t e r C h a u d h r y P a r v e z E l a h i j o i n e d t h e P T I f o r m a l l y, a l o n g w i t h 1 0 f o r m e r p a r t y l a w m a k e r s E l a h i m a d e t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t a t a p r e s s c o n f e r e n c e a l o n g w i t h P T I l e a d e r F a w a d C h a u d h r y H e s a i d h e w i l l a l w a y s s u p p o r t P T I c h i e f I m r a n K h a n a n d n e v e r d o a n y t h i n g t h a t h a r m s h i s n e w p a r t y I n J a n u a r y t h e E C P h a d r e s t o r e d C h a u d h r y S h u j a a t a s t h e p a r t y p r e s i d e n t o n h i s p e t i t i o n a m i d a n o n g o i n g t u s s l e w i t h h i s c o u s i n P a r v e z E l a h i o v e r t h e position

1 066 163 million since it started

A minor blip in the refinery s operations

How can we understand the current situation and the low High Speed Diesel (HSD) upliftment?

According to Mustafa Mustansir Director Research and Business Development at Taurus Securities, the current event might not have far-reaching financial consequences “I don’t think it should have much financial impact, since they have sufficient inventory to sell if need be during these five days

However Mustansir believes that

the more serious problem that ARL faces at the moment is that of storage, They have less space to store refined products, so the surplus inventory which they will try to manage by operating at a lower utilization level can be an issue ” When inquired about the broader issue of smuggling and the actions that can be taken by ARL to prevent such an event from transpiring in the future, Mustansir told Profit, “As far as tackling smuggling is concerned refineries cannot do much There are law enforcement and other government agencies to keep a check on all this

Russian company Yango to invest in digital urban mobility ser vices in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD

G h u l a m a b b a S

International Russian company Yango has announced its plans to invest and provide digital urban mobility services in Pakistan

The announcement was made during a meeting with the Board of Investment (BOI) in Islamabad, which was chaired by the Federal Minister for BOI Chaudhry Salik Hussain via Zoom

The meeting was moderated by the Secretary of BOI

Asad Rehman Gilani

According to officials, Anton Zykv, Vice President of Yango, informed the meeting that the company was successfully operating in 33 countries across Africa Europe the Middle East and South America in the fields of ride-hail, foodtech, delivery, e-commerce, and more

The company has now finalized its decision to invest in Pakistan, which will bring foreign investment direct and indirect job opportunities and digitalize the transport infrastructure in Pakistan Chaudhry Salik Hussain welcomed Yango s investment and desired that the Russian side should also explore other areas of investment in Pakistan

He invited Yango to invest in

e-bikes manufacturing in the country citing a huge investment opportunity in this sector The minister also extended his support to Yango and assured the delegation that their problems would be solved on priority Asad Rehman Gilani suggested that Yango should work on providing agriculture services in Pakistan which has a vast investment opportunity He assured the delegation that the BOI would help Yango to arrange meetings with different stakeholders to initiate its work in Pakistan The Russian delegation expressed pleasure at the overwhelming response from the minister and secretary BOI Faisal Iftekhar Head Pakistan Yango, said that Yango s investment

would help bring sufficient foreign investment and direct and indirect job opportunities to the country

As per the officials the investment is a significant step towards diversifying Pakistan s economy and attracting investment in various sectors Yango’s success in operating in different continents is a testament to their expertise in various fields

The BOI s support to Yango will not only help bring foreign investment to Pakistan but also digitalize t h e c o u n t r y ’s

between Pakistan and China and their commitment to further strengthening their strategic partnership

A c c o r d i n g t o M a o N i n g , s p o k e s p e rs o n o f t h e C h i n e s e f o r e i g n m i n i s t r y, C h i n a h o p e s t h e v i s i t w i l l “ f o l l o w t h r o u g h o n t h e i m p o r t a n t c o m m o n u n d e rs t a n d i n g s b e t w e e n t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e t w o c o u n t r i e s f u r t h e r d e e p e n s t r a t e g i c c o mm u n i c a t i o n a n d p r a c t i c a l c o o p e r a t i o n p r o m o t e t h e b u i l d i n g o f a n e v e r c l o s e r C h i n a - P a k i s t a n c o m m u n i t y w i t h a s h a r e d f u t u r e i n t h e n e w e r a , a n d c o n t r i b u t e p o si t i v e e n e rg y t o t h e r e g i o n a n d t h e w i d e r w o r l d ”

Ghandhara’s Q3F Y23 losses ravage annual earnings

previous Rs 4 15 billion COGS as a percentage of revenue increased to 88 1%, representing an increase in both QoQ and YoY from the previous 86 45% and 87 64%, respectively Consequently, the gross profit margin (GPM) decreased to 11 9% compared to Q2FY23 s 13 55% and Q3FY22 s 12 36% In absolute terms gross profit decreased by 23 39% QoQ from Rs 538 million to Rs 412 16 million This is also 29 75% lower YoY compared to Q3FY22 s Rs 586 7 million Other notable changes include the company s other income decreasing by over a third QoQ, falling by 34 4% from Rs 30 134 million to Rs 19 766 million This is also 8 38% lower YoY compared to the previous Rs 21 5 million The company s interest expense increased by 6 46% QoQ from Rs 301 4 million to Rs 320 927 million representing a significant increase of 55 67% YoY from the previous Rs 206 15 million recorded in Q3FY22 As a result Ghandhara s earnings before tax decreased by a massive 1052 53% QoQ from a profit of Rs 44 5 million in Q2FY23 to a loss of Rs 424 268 million in the current quarter However, Ghandhara s tax expense did decrease in Q3FY23 falling by 749 64% on a QoQ basis from an expense of Rs 22 4 million to a rebate of Rs 145 851 million and by 401 18% on a YoY basis from Q3FY22 s tax expense of Rs 48 427 million Ghandhara concluded the quarter with a final loss of Rs 278 417 million, representing a 1360 38% QoQ decline from its previous profit of Rs 22 09 million and a 391 97% YoY decline from the corresponding Rs 95 359 million recorded in Q3FY22

Bilawal discusses bilateral cooperation, regional matters with his Russian counterpar t

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov here on the sidelines of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation s Council of Foreign Ministers being held in Goa, India During the meeting, they discussed bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest Foreign Minister Bilawal assured to work closely for further deepening cooperation in food security energy and people-to-people contacts He said that the SCO opened new vistas of cooperation and coordination with Russia

S ix soldiers mar t yred, three terrorists killed in Nor th

Waziristan encounter : ISPR

RAWALPINDI S ta f f R e p o R t

As many as six soldiers of Pakistan Army were martyred and three terrorists killed in intense exchange of fire with militants in North Waziristan district of North Waziristan the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday According to military s media wing, the encounter took place in Dir Duni area of the district

“The Pakistan security personnel effectively targeted the suspected hideouts of militants killing three terrorists and leaving two others injured the ISPR said

In exchange of fire, six soldiers including 36-year-old Havaldar Saleem Khan, 37-year-

old Naik Javed lqbal, 26-year-old Sepoy Nazir Khan 25-year-old Sepoy Hazrat Bilal 22year-old Sepoy Syed Rajab Hussain and 22year-old Sepoy Bismillah Jan were martyred

The military s media wing said, Sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area [The] security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve

The attack comes amid a surge in terrorist activities across the country, especially in KP and Balochistan, since the outlawed militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November Director General ISPR Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in his maiden press briefing last

month said that at least 293 people were martyred and 521 were injured in 436 terrorist incidents over the past year

As many as 192 people were martyred in 219 terror activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while 80 people lost lives in 206 incidents in B a l o c h i s t a n , 1 4 p e o p l e i n f i v e a t t a c k s i n Punjab, and seven in six terrorism incidents across Sindh

He had said that the army and law enforcement agencies carried out 8 269 intelligencebased operations during the previous year in which 1,378 suspected terrorists were apprehended and 157 were killed The DG ISPR had also said that overall

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