Epaper_23-05-26 ISB

f o r pA k i s TA n , s Ay s p M s H e H b A z

g

RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

CH I E F of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir on Thursday declared whatever happened May 9 was very unfortunate and condemnable elaborating on the nation will never allow anyone to disrespect or desecrate martyrs that s why Youm-eTakreem Shuhada-e-Pakistan is being observed to pay rich tribute to the martyrs who laid their lives while protecting the motherland and its people

His comments came during his visit to the Police Lines Headquarters in Islamabad on the occasion of Youm-e-Takreem

Shuhada-e-Pakistan (Martyrs Reverence Day) to remember and pay rich tribute to the martyrs who laid their lives while defending the motherland and its people

The main event was held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi with COAS Munir as the chief guest During the ceremony rich tribute was paid to the martyrs and prominent personalities laid flowers at the martyrs monument

Those who attended the ceremony included former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa former chairman joint chiefs of staff committee Gen (retd) Nadeem Raza

Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam Mufti Muneebur Rehman and other members of the society The army chief was welcomed by the Inspector General of Police (IG) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan where he addressed the police officials and families of the martyred policemen and personnel

Such behaviour will not be tolerated said the army chief, adding that the nation

will not forgive or forget those who desecrated the memorials of martyrs and undermined their dignity Gen Munir said that the Pakistan Army, police and law enforcement agencies are the symbols of the state and the first line of defence that would render sacrifices for the dignity of the country and the people

I want to convey this message to the heirs of those martyred that the people of Pakistan and the Pakistan Army are standing and will continue to do so with the relatives of the martyrs of all law enforcement agencies " he continued to say Gen Munir also invited the daughter of martyr Sepoy Imran Azra whose video condemning the May 9 events went viral The army chief assured her that the sacrifices of

Jinnah House vandalism: ATC hands over 16 suspects to militar y officer for trial under Army Act

the martyrs will never be forgotten

PRESIDENT SAYS NATION PROUD OF VALIANT MARTYRS WHO DISPLAYED SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM, FEARLESSNESS

The Pakistan Army will always stand with you in every difficulty, he said, adding that all the martyrs of the country are a source of pride

The army chief also met the school students and children of martyrs present on the occasion He said that the Pakistan Army was the heir of all children of martyrs Thanks to the eternal sacrifices of the martyrs, army's relationship with them was ideal and eternal he added He pledged on behalf of the armed forces that the army would stand on their side always

A strong army is the guarantor of a country s security and unity, he maintained

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)

Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday while terming the court guardian of the Constitution said it will have to see how long constitutional provisions could be held in abeyance Delay in elections will allow “negative forces” to swing into action and "play tricks" on the country” CJP Umar Ata Bandial gave the remarks during hearing of the review petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the apex court's decision to conduct polls in Punjab on May 14 The bench headed by the CJP included Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan –the same bench that issued the directive on April 4

Following the bench s order, the electoral watchdog had informed the apex court that it could not conduct elections owing to security concerns and a paucity of funds

It then filed a review petition stating that appointing a date for elections is not the Supreme Court’s mandate

On Thursday hearing of the review petition began with more arguments from the ECP lawyer which

irritated CJP Bandial Tell us what your main point is he asked Sajeel Swati responded: Supreme Court Rules cannot curtail constitutional powers Noting his point, Justice Ahsan instructed him to proceed

The full court has ruled in several cases that the scope of the review is not limited Swati then contended On this point Justice Akhtar reiterated that if Swati s argument was accepted, “the Supreme Court Rules will become null and void ” At times even Parliament s power to legislate is also limited the ECP counsel submitted

T E R M O F I N T E R I M G O V-

E R N M E N T: The bench then directed Swati’s attention to the role of the interim government

The ECP lawyer said that family members of caretaker cabinet cannot participate in elections

In order to maintain transparency in elections, this ban was added to the Constitution ”

Justice Ahsan then inquired:

If a provincial assembly is dissolved in six months will the caretaker government remain for 4 and a half years? Will we wait for the dissolution of the National Assembly for 4 and a half years?”

Swati confirmed saying that

President

Arif Alvi said that the entire nation is proud of its valiant martyrs who displayed the spirit of patriotism and fearlessness in testing times throughout history

The nation owes to the heroism and sacrifices offered by the jawans (soldiers) and officers of our armed forces including Pakistan Army, rangers, air force, navy, police, and other security institutions that made Pakistan’s defence impregnable,” a press release issued by President Secretariat Press Wing stated

The president acknowledged the armed forces services for crushing the menace of terrorism and assisting fellow countrymen

the caretaker government would work in the respective province for 4 and a half years

He argued that one article cannot be violated while implementing another, adding that Article 254 which says that an act in not rendered invalid merely because of failure to comply with its time stipulation lends support to a delay of 90 days

A 90-day delay in elections can be redressed,” he said

“The redressal is that the elected government come instead of a caretaker government for 4 and a half years CJP Bandial cut in

How is it possible that the elected government remain for 6 months while a caretaker government [stays in power] for 4 and a half years?” he asked

Where is it written in the Constitution that the [term of] a caretaker government can be extended? Justice Ahsan asked, adding that doing so would be against the spirit of the Constitution

Swati submitted that the court s observation was correct E C P ’ S R O L E : The argument then turned to the role of the ECP and its handling of the situation in the county following the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly in January this year

during natural calamities and pandemics

Let us pledge on this day that we will never forget our valiant martyrs and reiterate our commitment to always honour them and express our undying love for these brave sons and daughters of the nation ” the statement added

Meanwhile PM Shehbaz Sharif urged the people especially the children to visit monuments and graves of martyrs and shower flowers on them as a sign of affection and respect

He said Pakistan should show the worldthat it is a nation that holds its martyrs in veneration and affection

He said that martyrs' reverence day is being observed to pay glowing tribute to the heroes and express unflinching solidarity with their families

FY22-23

g TARGET FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH SET AT 5PC, ONLY REACHED 0 3PC

ISLAMABAD

Despite imposing additional taxes and cutting power subsidies to the industries, Pakistan still failed to achieve most economic targets in the current fiscal year, it surfaced on Thursday According to the details the current fiscal year witnessed a failure in achieving the majority of the economic targets As per the documents presented in the Public Accounts Committee the target for economic growth was 5 per cent, but it only reached 0 3 per cent The target for industrial development was 5 9 per cent but it stood at 2 9 per cent The target for agriculture growth was set at 3 9 per cent but it reached at 1 55 per cent Similarly the target for the services sector growth was set at 5 1 per cent but the services sector growth achieved only 0 8 per cent T h e t a rg e t f o r l a rg e i n d u s t r i e s ’ e c o n o m i c g r o w t h w a s 7 4 p e r c e n t b u t i t e n d e d u p w i t h a n e g a t i v e g r o w t h o f 7 9 p e r c e n t w h i l e t h e t a rg e t f o r f o r e s t r y g r o w t h w a s 4 5 p e r c e n t b u t i t r e a c h e d 3 9 p e r c e n t

According to the National Accounts, the growth rate of the live-stock sector remained at 3 7 per cent, fisheries growth rate was 1 4 per cent, mining sector growth rate was negative at 4 4 percent manufacturing sector growth rate was negative at 3 9 per cent however electricity generation witnessed a 6 per cent increase and the construction sector growth rate was negative at 5 5 per cent

Exodus unabated as Maleeka, Jamshed Cheema, wife quit PTI, politics

Three Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders

Maleeka Bokhari Jamshed Cheema and Musarrat Jamshed Cheema

Thursday announced quitting the Imran Khan-led party joining a long list of leaders to desert the party following the May 9 riots

I condemn the events that transpired on May 9 For every Pakistani, the events that took place on May 9 are very painful ” the former member of the National Assembly said in a press conference in Islamabad

Announcing her dissociation from the party, Bokhari said she wasn t under duress and no one forced me into making this decision

“As a lawyer, I want to play a positive role in Pakistan I also want to spend time with my family ” she said

Bokhari quit the party hours after her release from Adiala Jail where she was sent after being arrested under Section 4 of the

her

Bokhari backed the au-

thorities decision to investigate the May 9 events and said the people behind the violent events should be punished When a red line has been crossed, then action should be taken in line with the law,” she added

In a separate press conference Cheema said he and his wife could not continue with the Khan-led party due to the violence that ensued after the PTI chief s arrest I was there at the Corps Commander House myself It saddened me to see what was happening there The people who were involved in it should be punished ” he said

He said it is a party s failure if its workers are violent This career [ ] is in our blood it was not an easy decision to leave politics You serve the nation in politics, but not at the cost of armed forces not at the cost of people who protect the country ” Cheema added Separately PTI Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir also announced his exit from the party as he condemned the May 9 riots and the attack on the Jinnah House I will sit as an independent member instead of sit-

ting in the PTI s benches in the Senate from now on he announced Meanwhile, former Punjab Assembly members from Bahawalnagar Mumtaz Ahmad Maharvi and Asif Manzoor Mohal also joined the list of those quitting the former ruling party Mohal termed May 9 the darkest day in Pakistan s history

T H E H E AT: Khan s party has been feeling the heat of the state s might after his party workers burnt and smashed military installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi after his arrest on May 9 a day the army dubbed as Black Day Several party leaders and thousands of workers have been rounded up in connection with the violent protests and the army has insisted that the people involved in att a c k s o n m i l i t a r y i n s t a l l a t i o n s b e t r i e d under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act A close aide of Khan Asad Umar has relinquished his posts of secretary general and core committee member, citing the ongoing situation

Several party leaders and lawmakers including Shireen Mazari Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan among others have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling

party since the May 9 vandalism

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the federal government was considering imposing a ban on the PTI after receiving evidence that the party’s supporters carried out “preplanned” and “coordinated” attacks on public properties and military installations

MAy 9 T r A g i C e v e n T s w A k e - u p C A l l

Govt fails to achieve economic targets for

Delay in polls only to allow ‘negative forces play tricks’ on countr y: CJP Bandial

I M R A N R I A Z N O T I N C U S T O D Y O F I N T E L L I G E N C E A G E N C I E S , L H C T O L D

LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t

LAWYER for the federal government on Thursday submitted a reply of the interior ministry in the Lahore High Court (LHC) declaring that journalist Imran Riaz was not in the custody of any of the federal intelligence agencies

LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Khan Bhatti resumed hearing on the petition, seeking recovery of journalist and anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan DIG (Operations) Kamran Adil appeared before

the court on behalf of the Punjab IG Police

During the proceedings the LHC chief justice asked the petitioner s lawyer Azhar Siddique whether he had filed a miscellaneous petition The lawyer replied that he had made the prime minister and the Punjab caretaker chief minister respondents in the petition

“Don’t make it political Otherwise I will not hear this case ” the chief justice said to the petitioner s lawyer At this Azhar

Siddique withdrew the miscellaneous petition to make the prime minister and the caretaker chief minister respondents

The chief justice inquired why the

Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) had not come “Today is Youm-e-Takreem-eShuhada The IGP has gone to Gujranwala DIG Kamran Adil told the court [But] he is absent in the court Let him submit an affidavit and explain why he has gone without permission, the chief justice remarked DIG Kamran Adil told the court that the police were in a constant touch with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) We are working together, he added The chief justice asked the DIG to give the performance report in written form and

Anchorperson Sami Ibrahim goes 'missing' from federal capital

ISLAMABAD

s ta f f r e p o r t

Senior journalist and TV anchorperson

Sami Ibrahim has gone missing from the federal capital it emerged on Thursday

According to a statement issued by the Islamabad police efforts are being made for search and recovery of Ibrahim but it would be premature to draw any conclusion yet

The statement added that the police would cooperate with the senior journalist’s family

Meanwhile in a complaint lodged at Aabpara Police Station by Ibrahim s brother Ali Raza, the senior journalist was intercepted by four cars near Sixth Avenue, Sector G-6, at around 9pm on Wednesday night after he left his office to head home with his driver

According to the complainant Ibrahim was forcibly taken by eight to 10 unidentified men who also took three mobile phones belonging to the driver and the car keys

The news comes amid an aggressive crackdown by the state on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ’s (PTI) leadership

ATC terminates bail petitions of PTI leaders

workers and supporters Media personnel have also come under the ire of the state for speaking in support of the popular political party and/or against violations of civil liberties and judicial rights

Journalist Imran Riaz Khan has been

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t A n A n t i - Te r r o r i s m C o u r t ( AT C ) o n T h u r s d a y t e r m i n a t e d b a i l p e t i t i o n s o f P T I l e a d e r s i n a t e r r o r i s m c a s e r e g i s t e r e d b y G o l r a P o l i c e S t a t i o n T h e b a i l p e t i t i o n s w e r e f i l e s b y P T I l e a d e r s i n c l u d i n g M u r a d S a e e d H a s s a n N i a z i F a r u k h H a b i b A s a d Q a i d e r S h i b l i F a r a z Z u l f i B o k h a r i , A z a m S w a t i , A t i f K h a n , A l i N a w a z Aw a n a n d K h u r r a m N a w a z T h e c o u r t h a d d i s m i s s e d t h e b a i l p e t i t i o n s d u e t o n o np u r s u a n c e b y t h e p e t i t i o n e r s T h e G o l r a P o l i c e h a d r e g i s t e r e d c a s e a g a i n s t t h e P T I l e a d e r s u n d e r A n t i Te r r o r i s m A c t ( ATA ) p e r t a i n i n g t o r i o t s a n d p r o t e s t s M e a n w h i l e t h e I s l a m a b a d H i g h C o u r t ( I H C ) T h u r s d a y d i s p o s e d o f p e t i t i o n s a g a i n s t a r r e s t s o f P T I L e a d e r s M a l e e k a B o k h a r i a n d A l i M u h a m m a d , a n d i n s t r u c t e d t h e p e t i t i o n e r s t o a p p r o a c h t h e r e l e v a n t f o r u m J u s t i c e M i a n g u l H a s s a n A u r a n g z e b a n n o u n c e d t h e v e r d i c t a g a i n s t t h e p e t i t i o n s T h e c o u r t w a s t o l d t h a t t h e t w o P T I l e a d e r s h a d b e e n a r r e s t e d f o l l o w i n g t h e o r d e r s o f d e p u t y c o m m i s s i o n e r R a w a l p i n d i u n d e r 3M P O T h e c o u r t n o t e d t h a t t h e c a s e d i d n o t f a l l i n i t s j u r i s d i c t i o n a n d i n s t r u c t e d t h e p e t i t i o n e r t o m o v e i t t o t h e c o n c e r n f o r u m f o r r e l i e f

KP gov t faces Rs15b shor tfall in salar y and

pension payments

PESHAWAR a z i z B u n e r T h e c u r r e n t g o v e r n m e n t o f K h y b e r P a k h t u n k h w a i s g r a p p l i n g w i t h a s h o r t f a l l o f o v e r R s 1 5 b i l l i o n i n t h e d i s b u r s e m e n t o f s a l a r i e s a n d p e n s i o n s p r o m p t i n g t h e c a r e t a k e r g o v e r n m e n t t o s e e k i m m e d i a t e a s s i s t a n c e f r o m t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t A c c o r d i n g t o F i n a n c e d e p a r t m e n t s o u r c e s t h e g o v e r n m e n t r e q u i r e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y R s 4 6 b i l l i o n p e r m o n t h f o r s a l a r y a n d p e n s i o n p a y m e n t s , i n c l u d i n g u t i l i t y e x p e n s e s P r e s e n t l y, t h e f i n a n c e d e p a r t m e n t h a s a b a l a n c e o f j u s t o v e r R s 3 0 b i l l i o n l e a v i n g a c r i t i c a l d e f i c i t o f R s 1 5 b i l l i o n w h i c h h a s p r o m p t e d t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o t a k e u rg e n t m e a s u r e s I n l i g h t o f t h i s s i t u a t i o n t h e c a r e t a k e r g o v e r n m e n t h a s r e a c h e d o u t t o t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t f o r i m m e d i a t e f u n d s , w i t h t h e C h i e f M i n i s t e r a l s o h o l d i n g a m e e t i n g w i t h t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r t o r e q u e s t t h e t r a n s f e r o f f u n d s S i m u l t a n e o u s l y t h e F i n a n c e d e p a r t m e n t i s i n c o n s t a n t c o m m u n i c a t i o n w i t h t h e M i n i s t r y o f F i n a n c e a n d m a k i n g e v e r y p o s s i b l e e ff o r t t o s e c u r e f u n d s T h e K P g o v e r n m e n t h a s a l s o p i n n e d h o p e s o n t h e R e v e n u e A u t h o r i t y a n d h a s i n i t i a t e d c o n t a c t w i t h t h e M i n i s t r y o f E n e rg y f o r t h e p a y m e n t o f e l e c t r i c i t y d u e s T h e s i t u a t i o n r e m a i n s c h a l l e n g i n g a s t h e g o v e r n m e n t s t r i v e s t o e n s u r e t i m e l y s a l a r y a n d p e n s i o n p a y m e n t s t o i t s e m p l o y e e s a n d p e n s i o n e r s T h e i m m e d i a t e p r o v i s i o n o f f u n d s f r o m t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t i s c r u c i a l t o a d d r e s s t h e p r e s s i n g f i n a n c i a l s h o r t f a l l a n d a l l e v i a t e t h e c o n c e r n s o f t h e a ff e c t e d i n d i v i d u a l s

missing and his whereabouts remain undisclosed to date, despite clear instructions from the LHC chief justice Ibrahim’s disappearance has also brought condemnation on social media “What should the world think of

explain what the police have done in the last three days The lawyer for the federal government also submitted a reply of the interior ministry to the court stating that Imran Riaz was not in the custody of any federal intelligence agency

The chief justice while talking to the lawyer for the federal government said: “I have not mentioned the name of any agency All of you make a concerted effort My feelings are the same as the petitioner but we cannot express them

The petitioner s lawyer suggested forming a joint committee of all the institutions “The committee must have been

Pakistan where prominent journalists can just disappear like this? Imran Riaz is still missing after 14 days; he was picked up by police from Sialkot Airport but now police say they don’t know where he is ” wrote senior journalist Moeed Pirzada on Twitter

Another senior journalist Mazhar Abbas questioned why a journalists protection commission has not been formed yet despite a law safeguarding journalists’ rights being enacted in 2021

“We lost Arshad Sharif last year now journalists Imran Riaz Khan and Sami Ibrahim disappeared God knows where they are he tweeted Media personnel are often among the first to come under the line of fire amid political crackdowns in Pakistan, with the country facing severe criticism from global press freedom and human rights groups for violating the rights of free speech and failing to ensure journalist safety The country ranked 150/180 on Reporters

Without Borders (RSF) 2023 Press

Freedom Index

This is the second time Ibrahim has come under the ire of “unidentified men”

In July 2022 he was reportedly attacked and tortured by unidentified men outside his office in Islamabad

The anchorperson, who sustained minor injuries in the attack, had told the media that the alleged attackers were driving a vehicle having a “green-coloured registration plate” He also claimed that the assaulters had also filmed the incident

IHC resents absence of IG in S hireen

M azari re -arrest contempt c ase

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

A bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday heard contempt case over re-arrest of former Human Rights minister Shireen Mazari despite the court orders Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petition Advocate Imaan Mazari the daughter of Shireen Mazari appeared in the court along with her lawyer Zainab Janjua

Why the IG Islamabad has not been in attendance it is a contempt case He should be in the hearing the bench exclaimed

The IG has been in bench-one, he will come in the hearing soon,” Additional Attorney General informed the court “They should have informed on day one why the entire state machinery has been active and Shireen Mazari’s arrest is not linked with the MPO Justice Miangul Hassan said They should have also informed that what is

formed You should hold a meeting again today and also include two lawyers in it If I realise that they are not doing anything, I will pass the order,” he chief justice said t the lawyer Imran Riaz’s father told the court that his son had made a vlog which they did not like and lifted him out of malice The chief justice, while speaking to the father of Imran Riaz, said: People have made vlogs a livelihood nowadays They talk about other people so that their vlogs get more views ”

The court then adjourned further hearing on the plea for an indefinite period

Last week the Sialkot Police had registered abduction case of senior journalist and anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan on the complaint his father The Sialkot DPO informed the court that the abduction FIR of the senior journalist had been registered at the Civil Line police station

He said that abduction sections had been included against unknown persons and a committee comprising IT specialists and police officers had been constituted to trace and recover the journalist

Nvidia’s results spark nearly $300 billion rally in AI stocks

PR OFIT r e u t e r s

Stocks related to artificial intelligence surged in extended trade on Wednesday, adding almost $300 billion in market capitalization after chipmaker Nvidia Corp (NVDA O) forecast strong revenue growth and said it was boosting production of its AI chips to meet surging demand Nvidia s stock zoomed as much as 28% after the bell to trade at $391 50, its highest level ever That increased its stock market value by about $200 billion to over $960 billion extending the Silicon Valley company s lead as the world s most valuable chipmaker and Wall Street s fifth-most valuable company

happening, have nothing to do with cases, it is politics with no link to the cases,” court remarked

“It seems the I G has preferred the deputy commissioner Rawalpindi s orders over the court order bench said The court summoned the I G Police Islamabad in his personal capacity in the next hearing of the case Before the next hearing the I G should submit his written reply in the court, bench ordered The court adjourned further hearing of the case until May 31 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari announced on Tuesday to quit PTI and the politics

The announcement came in the wake of incidents of violence that took place on May 09 and 10 which she strongly condemned In a press conference, Shireen Mazari condemned the violence and expressed her solidarity with the victims and their families “I condemn the incidents of May 09 and 10 in the strongest possible terms ” she said PR OFIT r e u t e r s

With all the enthusiasm around AI and the fact Nvidia delivered a huge beat for firstquarter results and second-quarter estimates, this gives some actual evidence AI is for real said Daniel Morgan senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust in Atlanta Morgan said Synovus owns Nvidia shares Nvidia forecast quarterly revenue more than 50% above Wall Street estimates, with Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang saying in a statement the company is “significantly increasing our supply to meet surging demand for its data center chips Shares of other corporations related to AI rallied on the back of Nvidia s strong report, adding another nearly $100 billion in stock market value after the bell Rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD O) jumped 10% Microsoft Corp (MSFT O) and Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL O) which are both rushing to incorporate generative AI into their Web search platforms, each rose about 2% AI software maker C3 ai (AI N) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR N), which recently launched its own AI platform both soared about 8% Interest in AI surged this year after startup OpenAI introduced ChatGPT attracting over a million users within a week Using past data, generative AI can create new content like fully formed text, images and software code Ahead of Nvidia’s report on Wednesday optimism around AI had already fueled a 109% surge in its stock so far in 2023 making the chipmaker the S&P 500 s ( SPX) top performer year-to- date That rally left Nvidia trading at about 60 times expected earnings, approaching its peak of 68 times expected earnings in 2021, according to Refinitiv data

Chinese hackers spying on US critical infrastruc ture, Western intelligence says

A state-sponsored Chinese hacking group has been spying on a wide range of U S critical infrastructure organizations from telecommunications to transportation hubs, Western intelligence agencies and Microsoft (MSFT O) said on Wednesday

The espionage has also targeted the U S island territory of Guam home to strategically important American military bases Microsoft said in a report adding that mitigating this attack could be challenging

While China and the United States routinely spy on each other, analysts say this is one of the largest known Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns against American critical infrastructure

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment

It was not immediately clear how many organizations were affected but the U S National Security Agency (NSA) said it was working with partners including Canada New Zealand Australia, and the UK, as well as the U S Federal Bureau of Investigation to identify breaches Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand warned they could be targeted by the hackers too Microsoft analysts said they had moderate confidence this Chinese group which it dubbed as Volt Typhoon , was developing capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises

It means they are preparing for that possibility, added said John Hultquist, who heads threat analysis at Google s Mandiant Intelligence The Chinese activity is unique and worrying also because analysts don’t yet have enough visibility on what this group might be capable of he added

There is greater interest in this actor because of the geopolitical situation

critical infrastructure to identify malicious activity using the technical guidance they issued “It is vital that operators of critical

n a t i

As opposed to using traditional hacking techniques which often involve tricking a victim into downloading malicious files Microsoft said this group infects a victim s existing systems to find information and extract data Guam is home to U S military facilities that would be key to responding to any conflict in the Asia-Pacific region It is also a major communications hub connecting Asia and Australia to the United States by multiple submarine cables Bart Hoggeveen, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute who specializes in state-sponsored cyber attacks in the region said the submarine cables made Guam a logical target for the Chinese government to seek intelligence

There is high vulnerability when cables land on shore, he said New Zealand said it would work towards identifying any such malicious cyber activity in its country

It s important for the national security of our country that we re transparent and upfront with Australians about the threats that we face, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Clare O’Neil said Canada’s cybersecurity agency said it had no reports of Canadian victims of this hacking as yet However Western economies are deeply interconnected it added Much of our infrastructure is closely integrated and an attack on one can impact the other ”

PA K I S TA N H U B O F M E D I C A L T R E AT M E N T, S E R V I C E S I N R E G I O N : B I L AW A L

ISLAMABAD i n p

FEDERAL Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that it is matter of satisfaction

that Pakistan has maintained itself as hub of medical treatment and services in the region despite having limited resources

Addressing the Fazaia Medical College convocation here on Thursday h said that Pakistan handled COVID-19 in a far better way than its neighboring countries including India Bilawal Bhutto said, “Pakistan had low resources, but due to hard work by the professional medical teams it managed the pandemic in a better way and earned international prestige

All the medical professionals and institutions in the country should keep upgrading their skills in the medical field, he stressed He said the ministry of foreign affairs

was ready to play its due role in facilitating the international partnership in healthcare cooperation The foreign minister said the export of high-end surgical and medical equipment and products of other avenues would enable Pakistan to qualify in the league of high-technology exporters and to this end He also urged the country s industry

and academia to proactively strengthen their linkages He informed that despite low resources, the Sindh government in particular had managed to build state-of-theart international standard health institutes in the province that were providing free medical facilities to the general public In Gambat area of Khairpur district

Bilawal Bhutto said the provincial government had established the internationally recognized hospital where patients from across the country were availing free liver kidney bone marrow and lung transplant facilities

He further stated that the National Institute for Cardio-vascular diseases in Karachi was also providing treatment of heart-related diseases free of charge

The minister said in every district of Sindh, satellite healthcare centers had also been established to provide emergency treatment to heart patients and children

After the COVID pandemic the government had also established the first-ever infectious disease hospital in Karachi where free treatment is being provided, he maintained

Congratulating the successful graduates, Bilawal asked them to support the government in their efforts to develop highvalue services for the people

With respect to the achievements of Pakistan on the international front, the minister said We have worked day and

C JP-led larger bench to hear pleas against commission probing audio leaks

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata

Bandial has formed a five-judge larger bench led by himself to take up petitions against the formation of a judicial inquiry commission probing the audio leaks allegedly involving current and former members of the superior judiciary and their family members

Apart from the chief justice the five-man bench includes Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Jusitce Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shahid

Waheed

The bench will commence hearing the petitions on Friday May 26 2023 at 11:00 AM

Last week the federal government had formed the judicial commission to probe into over half-a-dozen

COAS donates Rs25m for mar t yrs of Islamabad Police

ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t C h i e f o f A r m y S t a ff ( C O A S ) G e n e r a l A s i m M u n i r h a s d o n a t e d R s 2 5 m i l l i o n f o r t h e m a r t y r s o f I s l a m a b a d P o l i c e A c c o r d i n g t o a p o l i c e s p o k e s p e r s o n t h i s h o n o r a r i u m w i l l b e d i s t r i b u t e d a m o n g t h e h e i r s o f a l l t h e m a r t y r s L e t t e r s h a v e b e e n d i s p a t c h e d t o t h e h e i r s o f t h e m a r t y r s b y t h e I s l a m a b a d P o l i c e i n t h i s r e g a r d , t h e I C T P o l i c e s a i d i n a t w i t t e r p o s t T h e d o n a t i o n w o u l d b e d i s t r i b u t e d a m o n g h e i r s o f t h e m a r t y r s o f I s l a m a b a d P o l i c e i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h P a k i s t a n M a r t y r s D a y T h e I C T P o l i c e s p o k e s p e r s o n t h a n k e d C O A S G e n e r a l A s i m M u n i r f o r t h e d o n a t i o n o n b e h a l f o f t h e h e i r s o f m a r t y r s

Mushaal fears Yasin Malik’s slow death due to Modi gov t’s callous attitude

ISLAMABAD: Chairperson of Peace and Culture

Organisation, Mushaal Hussein Mullick came down hard on the notorious Narendra Modi-led Indian government for unlawful detention of her husband Yasin Malik in the death cell of the notorious Tihar jail for the last one year in false fabricated and politically motivated cases Speaking at an event in Islamabad Bar Council along with Secretary General Sabien Hussain Mullick here on Thursday held on the occasion of the completion senior hurriyat leader one year in Tihar Jail Mushaal said that Yasin Malik had been languishing Tihar jail s death cell after Indian kangaroo courts sentenced him life imprisonment in a one-sided decision without providing him with a fair trial opportunity

Mushaal, the wife of jailed Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik, urged that Kashmiri people across the world should raise their voices for the release of Yasin Malik and other Kashmiri people detained in Indian jails for their crimes to raise voice for their birthright of right to self-determination i n p

leaked audio clips allegedly involving some current and former members of the superior judiciary and their family members to determine their veracity and impact on the independence of the judiciary

The three-man judicial commission is led by Supreme Court senior puisne judge Qazi Faez Isa and comprises Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq F o r m e d u n d e r S e c t

M ay 9 tragic events wake -up c all for Pakistan, says PM shehbaz

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

May 9 tragic events a wake-up call for us: PM: In a detailed tweet the prime minister regretted and condemned the May 9 violence and desecration of martyrs monuments saying that the incidents gave the enemy a reason to celebrate

"Our nation knows how to protect the honour of their martyrs [ ] Today we revive and reiterate our pledge to uphold the honour and respect of our Shuhada The essence of Pakistan s existence lies in the spiritual covenant between its people and the martyrs," PM wrote on Twitter

Moreover the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee tri-services services chiefs retired services officers and representatives of civil society also paid tributes to martyrs of Pakistan, a statement released by Inter-Services Public Relations said They said the sacrifices of the martyrs are eternal and will continue to inspire future generations of countrymen

These sacrifices will never be forgotten, irrespective of vicious propaganda by the enemies of Pakistan," it added

PM chairs meeting on law order in KP: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting here at the Governor House about the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb Minister for Planning Development and Special

Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal and Advisor to the PM Ameer Muqam attended the meeting On the occasion KP Governor Ghulam Ali, CM Azam Khan, Chief Secretary KP Nadeem Aslam, Home Secretary Abid Majeed, IG Police Akhtar Hayat Gandapur and other administrative secretaries were also present Chief Secretary KP Nadeem Aslam and Home Secretary Abid Majeed briefed the prime minister about the security situation and the challenges in the province

Earlier upon his arrival at the Governor House the prime minister was received by KP Governor Ghulam Ali CM Azam Khan and Advisor to the PM Ameer Muqam

KP Governor meets PM: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali Thursday met Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and thanked him for his detailed visit to Peshawar on the occasion of Youme-Takreem-e-Shuhada-e-Pakistan The governor apprised the prime minister about overall law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including merged tribal areas and financial affairs and others problems

The governor said the people of Khyber Pakthunkhwa and masses of all walks of life were united against a miscreant mindset He appealed for funds for local government representatives

He said May 9 would be remembered as black day in the country s history due to vandalism of a political party and said that people of KP had distanced themselves from the pessimists and miscreants thinking forces

He said martyrs of security forces were pride of the entire nation

The governor thanked the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet for visiting the burnt Radio Pakistan building and expressed solidarity with employees of the national broadcaster and Associated Press of Pakistan

Culprits involved in May 9 arson attacks to be awarded exemplary punishment

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday said that no concession would be given to miscreants and armed groups who attacked sensitive installations on May 9 May 9 cannot be repeated and the culprits involved will be awarded exemplary punishment", the minister said while speaking during a ceremony on the occasion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif s visit to Radio Pakistan Peshawar

She said that the Radio Pakistan building and historical archives were burnt by arsonists

"Our precious asset was set on fire which cannot be recovered " she maintained The district administration and Radio Pakistan staff the minister said, tried their best to stop the armed groups who carried batons and petrol bombs

She said many people were injured while trying to protect the building of Radio Pakistan during the arson attack

The minister said They thought that they would be acquitted of this crime, under the guise of political protest," but that was not possible

Senator Saleem Mandviwala denies existence of fake pilots

q u e s t i o n A d d i t i o n a l l y 3 3 p i l o t s ’ l i c e n c e s w e r e d e e m e d d u b i o u s O f t h e s e c a s e s w e r e r e g i s t e r e d a g a i n s t 2 7 w h i l e n o c a s e s w e r e r e g i s t e r e d a g a i n s t t h e r e m a i n i n g s i x A r e v i e w b o a r d w a s e s t a b l i s h e d f o r 3 0 d a y s a n d o p e r a t e d f o r t w o y e a r s , a l l o w i n g p i l o t s t o a p p e a l Where does PIA fit into this?

night towards the betterment of our relations with all the international partners

He said Pakistan s foreign policy was guided by national interest, pragmatism and constructive engagements “It is a matter of great satisfaction that despite enormous challenges faced by Pakistan on national international and economic fronts we have been able to advance foreign policy interests of Pakistan The recent achievements on the diplomatic front, he said include Pakistan’s exit from the FATF grey list and global recognition of Pakistan’s leadership at G77 in China

When we gathered at the international convention for climate resilient Pakistan the entire international community stood shoulder to shoulder to Pakistan, he added

The recent SCO meeting in Goa, India was a testimony of Pakistan’s strong resolve to proactively pursue the country’s foreign policy interests and traditional areas like national security galvanizing international support on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Bilawal said

Police return ‘empt y-handed’ from Per vaiz Elahi’s Lahore residence

The police on Thursday returned empty-handed from former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central President Pervaiz Elahi s residence in Lahore’s Gulberg area where they conducted raid to arrest him on corruption charges his lawyer confirmed The development came after an anti-corruption court earlier today discarded his interim bail over his failure to appear before the court citing health issues His arrest is required in the Rs70 million corruption case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district The anti-corruption court judge declared that his medical certificate bogus which claimed that Elahi had been experiencing chest pain A heavy contingent of police and anti-corruption personnel led by the deputy inspector general (DIG) operation police was tasked with arresting the PTI leader The Elahi s spokesperson said the PTI president was not present at his residence The roads leading to Zahoor Elahi House Elahi s residence were closed for traffic during the raid Elahi s counsel Asim Cheema said his client bail was approved in all cases which were registered till May 2 and added that his bail was discarded in one of the cases earlier today over old medical certificate He said police would not be allowed to enter the house without search warrant Later speaking to the media Elahi s counsel said police and anticorruption officials came to arrest his client without search warrant Cheema said the police searched the entire house and left empty-handed as Elahi was not present at home “All cases [against Elahi] are false Such cases have never been registered under interim government ” he added

Fitch puts US rating on negative watch as debt deadline looms

CONTINUED FROM BACK PAGE

WATCH: The rating watch indicates that there is a heightened probability of a rating change and the likely direction of such a change, and is different from a “ratings outlook” which indicates the direction a rating is likely to move over a one- to two-year period Fitch now predicts that the U S government will spend more than it earns creating a deficit of 6 5% of the country s total economy in 2023 and 6 9% in 2024 Among the other credit ratings agencies, Moody’s also has an “Aaa” rating for the U S government with a stable outlook – the highest creditworthiness evaluation Moody s gives to borrowers S&P Global s rating is AA-plus its second highest S&P stripped the United States of its coveted top rating over a debt ceiling showdown in Washington in 2011, a few days after an agreement that the agency at the time said did not stabilise “medium-term debt dynamics ” Moody’s previously said it expects the U S government will continue to pay its debts on time but public statements from lawmakers during the debt ceiling negotiations could prompt a change in its assessments Fitch previously put the United States on ratings watch negative in October 2013 during the debt ceiling spat at the time

s t a t e d t h a t p i l o t s w i t h a n n u l l e d l i c e n c e s l a c k e d s e c u r i t y c l e a r a n c e u n l i k e t h e p i l o t i n

total revenues ” Khan continued

When the heavens fall…

Dar ’s saying that the IMF programme expires on June 30 will cause hear tburning

FE D E R A L Finance Minister Ishaq Dar s optimism about Pakistan not defaulting indicates quite the opposite Once again a foreign debt servicing payment has been made, once again the country has managed to meet it, but only at the cot of its reserves falling below the level needed to pay for a month of exports, or that needed to cover the deposits with the State Bank of Pakistan made by friendly countries These deposits are supposed to be there merely to let the State Bank bolster its forex reserves figure, not be actually used, as they are While Senator Dar ’s optimism is touching, it is wearing a little thin, and perhaps the frequency with which he has repeated it makes it less credible than ever However he has taken a new tack with respect to the stalled IMF programme, which has been stalled Senator used to try and bolster market confidence by saying that it would be revived but now he has said that it was due to expire anyhow on June 30 meaning that he did not see much chance of its revival

The first issue that will arise is whether the measures taken the government, in the hope of meeting IMF conditionalitiies were worth it This is particularly relevant to those sections which suffered the brunt of those measures, which is everybody Senator Dar went to the extent of bringing in a mini-budget with less than half the financial year left, but to no avail However, the history of Pakistan’s engagement with the IMF is littered with failed and incomplete programmes and thus makes it likely that Pakistan will once again have recourse to it

The reason for that explains why IMF conditionalities next time around are likely to be even harsher than the current ones Another problem for Pakistan is that IMF aid is also linked to US approval as shown by Pakistani approaches to the USA for help with the IMF That approval is no longer there, because of Pakistan’s friendship with China It has also been no help that the IMF is unsure about whom to talk to The current wave of political instability has failed to give the impression that the situation is stabilizing, thus leaving the country in a dangerous place Senator Dar has also not taken any of the steps towards economic reform that would both satisfy the IMF and make Pakistan independent of it

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

TH E perpetrators of the May 9 mayhem against military installations are to be tried under the Army Act including civilians (which includes all of the rioters) which reflects a certain lack of confidence in the justice system Whether this is because the justice3 system is too ramshackle to be trusted, or because of the recent tilt of the superior judiciary towards the PTI, which provides most of the accused, is not clear

However, in either case, the military wants to control not just the investigation but also the trial process This has raised a number of concerns especially about the fairness of the trials that anse It should be remembered that there is little compunction within the military about the presiding officer of a court martial of what verdict is expected of him and his colleagues As he is not usually above the rank of lieutenant-colonel there are a lot of seniors to tell him what result is to be produced

One of the significant differences between a court martial and a trial in a civilian court is that a court martial is preceded by a board of enquiry That board hears all the evidence collected thus far, and recommends whether there should be a court martial or not Mostly the accused g3t off at that stage, so courts martial are usually of accused whose conviction is a foregone conclusion

Interestingly the term hanging judge was first used for the civilian Judge George Jeffreys who is the original hanging judge , because in 1685, when as Lord Chancellor he found 160- 70 of 1381 defendants guilty of treason during the Monmouth rebellion Those found guilty were executed The Monmouth Rebellion has a certain relevance because a large number were accused Again those accused in the May 9 incidents are many in number

There is every danger of the investigation process turning into one of the hounding of one political party, the PTI There is already a tendency to combine video evidence of presence at the attacked buildings with evidence of espousing PTI ideas especially by posts on social media to prove guilt

It has been said that military justice is to justice what military music is to music Of course where the military, through the ISPR, has been a patron of the arts, sponsoring patriotic songs, plays and whatnot, there can be claims that the military can produce good even great music so there is no reason why its justice should be anything less than great

However if one is to point to any one aspect of military justice that is problematic it is that it does not observe the legal maxim about the accused being the favourite child of the law There is also the maxim that ‘better 100 guilty men go free than one innocent man be hanged ’

On the other hand military justice seems to invoke the maxim let justice be done though the heavens fall It is perhaps appropriate that the inci-

dent originating the saying was of a Roman Army commander who ordered his son executed for going home on leave (a capital offence)

While the Pakistan military seems inspired by that same fine Roman spirit the guilty wish more lenient treatment The accused in Pakistan is not so much a favourite child of the law, as his lawyer Most of the causes of delay are supposed to come from lawyers asking for adjournments

As Imran Khan’s fate in the courts has shown the original case is lost sight of as the process is examined

To take the July 9 events Imran got bail from the Supreme Court not because of any merits or demerits of the NAB case against him, but because he was not properly arrested All of the fuss over the attempt to arrest him from Zaman Park was because he was not appearing in a court in Islamabad He has been trying to avoid appearing in that court because he wishes to avoid being indicted in the Toshakhana case

One of the distinguishing features of arrests and trials under the Army Act will be the absence of such procedural niceties That is being translated as a violation of fundamental rights That may indeed be so but the military is not ready to be very considerate of them The basic political position of the establishment, that it can impose military rule has meant a disregard of such niceties There is a previous experience of civilians being tried by military courts, when the military was brought in to try sectarian terrorists One reason was that civilian courts were finding it increasingly difficult to conduct such trials, because the judges and lawyers themselves were threatened by the accused’s accomplices Though the power to try civilians was given terrorism was not eliminated In fact the military continued to be targeted, which made the courts martial a failure even in that respect

Some of the trials, where civilian property was damaged and where military installations were not targeted will be in anti-terrorist courts under the Anti-Terrorism Act That Act was originally meant for sectarian terrorism so it cannot really be said to be non-political It can be said that it is aimed at organizations which seek to achieve political aims through terrorist methods The difference between the anti-terrorism courts and the military courts might produce a sort of competition in speedy disposal

This is a competition the civilian courts are

Cyber threats to nuclear weapons

The digital age brings new dangers

RIMshA MAlIk

“The more connected we get, the more we need to be concerned about security The more we depend on technology the more we need to be concerned about its reliability ” Vint Cerf

EA C H aspect of society is at risk from cyber-based dangers, including the financial sector, the entertainment industry, department stores, and insurance organizations When it comes to cyberattacks on their most important systems governments face an even more serious threat A successful cyberattack on a nuclear weapon or related system such as a nuclear weapon a delivery system, or the accompanying Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) systems, might have existential repercussions

Attacks on key infrastructure could have extreme implications Cyberattacks could result in false attack warnings disrupt access to information or vital communications undermine nuclear delivery or planning systems, or even let an enemy gain control of a nuclear weapon The resilience of nuclear systems may be negatively impacted by the increased use of digital technology

In historically resilient systems like submarines or mobile missile launchers new technology can improve performance and dependability but it can also create new vulnerabilities

Although there haven t been any known public cyberattacks on nuclear weapons systems, past occurrences give us some idea of what can happen For instance in 1980 missiles were detected to be heading for the USA by warning systems The warning turned out to be a false alarm brought on by a defective computer chip in the minutes before the President would have had to

Ever yone has an interest in aver ting a cyber-attack that either trigg ers a nuclear launch or explosion or that precedes, exacerbates, and intensifies a nuclear catastrophe . Therefore , the most urg ent need is to bring nuclear-armed states tog ether and seek consensus on preventing the most hazardous dynamics offered by the new cyber threat

issue an order for retaliation More recently, in 2010, a computer system malfunction caused 50 nuclear-armed missiles to go down for about an hour These missiles were based in Wyoming

These are the kinds of occurrences that particularly in times of crisis or conflict could push leaders to the point of deciding to launch a nuclear attack based on incomplete intelligence and weaken their trust in military systems, which is necessary to prevent a serious error

The human factor is also a significant concern in terms of cyber threats to nuclear weapons In 2016 a security researcher discovered that the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system used an unsecured communications protocol that made it vulnerable to hacking This vulnerability was caused by an insider who deliberately inserted the insecure protocol into the system

Another potential cyber threat to nuclear weapons is through supply chain attacks where attackers compromise the security of a thirdparty vendor or supplier that provides critical components or software to the nuclear weapons system In 2017, malware known as “NotPetya” was able to spread globally through supply chain attacks affecting several companies and causing billions of dollars in damage North Korean hackers have been linked to several cyber-attacks on nuclear-related targets

In 2014, a South Korean nuclear power plant operator was hacked, resulting in the leak of blueprints and other sensitive information In 2017, a cyber-attack on a South Korean defense contractor resulted in the theft of sensitive military information including plans for joint military exercises with the USA These incidents demonstrate the potential for cyber threats to physically damage critical infrastructure and the need to maintain robust cybersecurity measures and regularly assess and address potential vulnerabilities in nuclear weapons management systems

In 2013 a report by the International Institute

for Strategic Studies (IISS) highlighted the vulnerabilities in Pakistan’s nuclear programme to cyber-attacks The report stated that Pakistan had invested relatively little in cybersecurity and relied on outdated technology making its nuclear facilities vulnerable to cyber-attacks In 2014 a group of hackers claiming to be from India breached the computer systems of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and leaked sensitive information The attack was believed to be part of a larger cyber espionage campaign targeting Indian and Pakistani government agencies

In 2015 the FBI arrested a Pakistani national in the USA who was attempting to sell sensitive information about Pakistan s nuclear programme to an undercover FBI agent The individual had previously worked as a contractor at Pakistan’s Chashma nuclear power plant

These incidents suggest that Pakistan’s nuclear programme is vulnerable to cyber threats and underscore the need for robust cybersecurity measures However it is important to note that Pakistan has a policy of maintaining a low profile on its nuclear weapons programme and does not publicly disclose details about its nuclear arsenal or its security measures Therefore the extent of cyber threats to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme remains largely unknown The consequences of a successful cyber-attack could be catastrophic, resulting in physical damage, loss of life, and potentially even nuclear war A concerted global effort will be needed to address the cyber danger of nuclear weapons

Everyone has an interest in averting a cyber-attack that either triggers a nuclear launch or explosion or that precedes exacerbates and intensifies a nuclear catastrophe Therefore the most urgent need is to bring nuclear-armed states together and seek consensus on preventing the most hazardous dynamics offered by the new cyber threat

The writer is a freelance columnist

bound to lose, because the experience of such special courts is that while they have been set up for quick disposal of cases, the supposed regard for the rights of the accused makes them about as slow and cumbersome as the ordinary courts Apart from pace there are also results

It should not be forgotten that the military does not like military courts They are an extra duty, unlike ATC judges, who are merely exercising professional abilities If not an ATC judge, the judge in question would be an additional sessions judge somewhere

An officer serving as a member of a court martial has to be withdrawn from the normal regimental or staff duties of his rank The same applies to officers assigned as prosecutors or defenders in such cases In matters of justice, the military are merely amateurs and a lot of the violations of rights occur because the machine demands convictions Whatever the reason, the civilian judiciary, unlike the past, cannot be relied on to give desired results One of the problems is that the superior judiciary seems to have struck out on its own and the establishment would not like to patiently accumulate evidence against attackers of its installations, only for them to get bail before their trial starts or to get a reversal on appeal of a conviction in an ATC There seem to be two different levels of operation At one level, the establishment is working to convince its own rank and file that it can protect corporate interests At another it must also convince the general public That it can do so In short, justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done Two different courts are needed for the two different audiences While the second audience is crucial, the first is absolutely essential That may explain why the establishment is running the danger of having military courts struck down by the superior judiciary That is why Imran s abandoning the rioters is crucial Signals for their being saved have not yet been received, and the judiciary has not yet been tested over whether it values Imran over the establishment If it had indicated that it valued the establishment things would have been simpler The writer is a member of staff

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan Today 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan Today e x c l u s i v e l y

People’s cour t will be a step for ward

T H I S is with reference to the report Plea seeking Punjab PA restoration dismissed as unnecessary (May 9), which, among other things, mentioned that the petitioner had also been fined a sum of Rs100,000 for filing a frivolous petition, implying that it was a wastage of the court’s time I wonder why the judges do not flatly refuse to take up cases of political nature and direct the politicians to settle political disputes among themselves

Why is the judiciary unable to focus on the backlog of thousands of cases pending before the Supreme Court? This is perhaps because political cases are considered high profile even if they do not go beyond the first hearing The rest of the cases are merely normal ones that do not attract public attention I wonder if that really is the reason behind our current practice It is wonderful that the judiciary is protecting the Constitution but what about the rights of the teeming millions that have been guaranteed by the same Constitution?

What about article 25-A of the Constitution which guarantees free education to every child aged 5-16 years? The courts have never opened up late night or stood firm for months to ensure the education of more than 22 million out-of-school children in Pakistan

The Constitution guarantees life and liberty to the citizens, but thousands of less fortunate fall victim to crimes die of preventable diseases and commit suicides due to extreme poverty unleashed by the system but there has never been a corresponding suo motu action The authorities concerned need to be forced to ensure compliance with constitutional provisions relating to the common man, but who will do that?

The Constitution also makes production of arrested persons before a magistrate mandatory, but police keep helpless souls behind bars for days and weeks without registering any cases There has to be a strict visibly strict resolve to prevent innumerable violations of the Constitution on a daily basis but cases of political nature continue to consume the precious time of the courts We have had several designated courts like antiterrorism courts, banking courts, labour courts, etc There is a desperate need to form people s courts to protect the rights of the have-nots The present system is geared largely to protect the rights of the privileged, and has no time to look into matters related to the wretched of the earth GULSHER PANHWER JOHI

Unregulated psychology

T H E R E is no regulatory or licensing authority for psychologists in Pakistan and while there are bodies like the Pakistan Psychological Association (PPA), it is not mandatory for someone to become its member to qualify as a practising psychologist

Also, the PPA takes no responsibility for any unprofessional or unethical practices being carried out by its members Naturtally it does not have any regulatory power to do anything meaningful

This is a serious problem because people with inadequate or insufficient education can simply open their own unsupervised practice especially in the realm of clinical psychology, and this, as is well known, is exactly what has been happening for years now

As a result, incompetent people claiming to be ‘therapists’ and ‘psychologists’ find no obstacle in treating their clients who need genuine professional help Simply having a BS Psychology degree is just not enough to be a therapist

Therefore it is necessary that some action is taken against such people and that a proper body is formed for conducting licensure examinations and issuing proper licences after registration of psychologists

There is a need to move quickly in this direction Earlier, the better

That may explain why the establishment is running the dang er of having militar y cour ts struck down by the superior judiciar y That is why ImranÊs abandoning the rioters is crucial Signals for their being saved have not yet been received, and the judiciar y has not yet been tested over whether it values Imran over the establishment.

AD D R E S S I N G the media along with Home Minister Ziaullah Langove on May 13 this year the key militant commander and the chief of the banned militant organisation Baloch National Army (BNA), Gulzar Imam alias Shambay urged all insurgents operating in the Balochistan province to surrender and adopt a peaceful life, saying that rights could only be achieved through political and constitutional struggle which offer solutions to issues related to Balochistan

The repentant militant commander said: I seek apology from the family members of all those who were martyred during my tenure as an active (BNA) commander Shambay rejected all sorts of armed struggles, including foreign support to the insurgents

However Balochistan’s top separatist leader Gulzar Imam who was also the founder of the banned outfit BNA was arrested on April 7 which is a big setback to the terrorist groups and their handlers in Balochistan His arrest is also a big success for Pakistani intelligence agencies Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and a sequel to an excellent intelligence operation by the country’s primary intelligence agency ISI which captured this key terrorist who was living under the wings of hostile foreign intelligence agencies

The Balochistan terrorism landscape is diverse a number of Baloch anti-state anarchist groups sponsored by hostile intelligence agencies (HIAs), are involved in militants terrorist activities Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has an inconsequential presence in Northern Balochistan whereas Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Republican Army (BRA) have been carrying out terror attacks and extortion in Quettacapital of the province and surrounding areas while Gulzar Imam had remained very active in Southern Balochistan and executed terrorist acts against the LEAs

After the formation of the BNA, Kech and Noshki were impacted Scattered pockets and sleeper cells of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) have been also effective in Quetta and North East Balochistan but with very limited potency BNA was one of the major contributing organisations in Baloch Raj Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) which was formed on 10 November 2018

Balochistan’s key militant Commander’s apology for terror attacks COMMENT 05

Shambay ’s arrest may be a game - changer

Gulzar Imam alias Shambay, head of BNA, was one of the major operation commanders for terrorist activities in Balochistan Gulzar remained deputy to Brahamdagh Bugti in BRA till 2018 Later after creation of BRAS he formed a new militant outfit BNA

Nevertheless he was an ideologue who was a staunch believer in independent Balochistan, and was in contact with the HIAs He visited India on fake documents in December 2017

Upon shifting of militancy leadership from feudals to commoners Shambay emerged as an influential character in BRAS due to links with HIAs He also remained operational head of BRAS prior to his arrest

As regards the arrest of Gulzar highly trained intelligence operators were employed at various geographic locations to verify the digital information Upon his positive confirmation, he was approached under the guise of agents from HIAs

After necessary rapport building he was gradually lured in through offers for financial and technical assistance

Owing to different geographic contiguities, this complex case of intelligence history was undertaken through creation of fictitious characters and preparation of required supporting documents which ultimately facilitated in engagement and strengthening bond with Gulzar

In this connection, his arrest and admission, including apology for terrorism-related attacks will break the backbone of BNA and will have significant effects on the actions of his outfit Besides other sub-national groups particularly BLA (Majeed Brigade) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) will also be affected

The arrest of the top separatist leader of Balochistan will result in a positive impact on the morale of LEAs and intellig ence ag encies Now, the Baloch people must think that the so-called militant or sub-national leaders are living abroad, enjoying a luxurious lifestyle , whereas ordinar y Baloch are facing hardships in mountains and fighting a futile battle against the state

The operation was spread over months However, its climax/execution was carried out in a professional and calculated manner sketching a complex web of militant outfits of Balochistan and establishing their links with HIAs

In this respect playing the main role ISI successfully broke into the web of terrorist outfits Arrest of Gulzar Imam alias Shambay indicates that the state, LEAs and intelligence agencies (especially ISI) are in full grip of the landscape for |suppression of such militancy

It will adversely impact the morale of all militant groups

It is mentionable that the ink on Pak-China agreements related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is part of China s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative or BRI was barely dry when HIAs, especially American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad had accelerated playing up the Baloch insurgency Malicious propaganda against the CPEC coincided with the terror attacks in Pakistan s various regions, particularly in Balochistan

Particularly, India was openly opposing the CPEC and China’s OBOR or BRI; the USA also joined New Delhi

Besides energy projects CPEC will open new doors of development relating to various fields, as the national economy of the country will grow fast leading to creation of new job opportunities poverty reduction and development of the transportation sector boost agricultural and industrial growth, including exports

The Gwadar seaport projec,t which is the backbone of the CPEC, will uplift the impoverished people of Balochistan including developments in other backward areas of the province by redressing their grievances which the hostile elements supported by the USA India and Israel do not want

Under the former COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa s command, the fencing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which also entails Pak-Afghan border of Balochistan was started in June 2017 by the Pakistan

Army to improve the security situation and has been almost completed

The Army also contributed a lot in socio-economic development of Balochistan besides giving military training to the youth, while protecting mega-projects and the CPEC staff

The country s armed forces and ISI have successfully broken the spine of the foreign-backed terrorists

Besides other vulnerable provinces peace has been restored particularly in Balochistan

But, in the recent past, terrorist attacks especially in Balochistan show that these external intelligence agencies are destabilizing Pakistan and want to damage the CPEC It is mentionable that RAW is also using some terrorist outfits such as ISIS BLA BNA and -their linked groups like Majeed Brigade which claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist assaults on workers and labourers, working for the CPEC projects in Balochistan These terror entities also abducted and killed many Chinese nationals

Notably the military’s media wing ISPR in a statement on April 7 said: The leader and founder of the banned Baloch National Army Gulzar Imam alias Shambay was arrested in a high-profile intelligence-based operation by the security forces [BNA] which came into being after the amalgamation of Baloch Republican Army and United Baloch Army ”

The ISPR statement elaborated: “The BNA has been responsible for dozens of violent terrorist attacks in Pakistan including attacks on law enforcement agencies His visits to Afghanistan and India are also on record; his linkages with Hostile Intelligence Agencies are being investigated which tried to exploit Gulzar Imam to work against Pakistan and its national interests”

Nonetheless, arrest of the top separatist leader of Balochistan will result in a positive impact on the morale of LEAs and intelligence agencies Now the Baloch people must think that the so-called militant or sub-national leaders are living abroad enjoying a luxurious lifestyle whereas ordinary Baloch are facing hardships in mountains and fighting a futile battle against the state

Hence, the BNA and other separatist groups must reconcile and surrender for ultimate integration into the society which can lead to development of Balochistan and Pakistan So peace will afford better socio-economic (health education societal) opportunities for Balochistan

The writer focuses on international affairs and is the author of the book US vs Islamic Militants Invisible

Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations He can be reached at sajjad logic@yahoo com

High time for a ‘Hajj Express’ for Israeli Muslims Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu statistically tied in election runoff

Minister Eli Cohen in early May I cannot tell you if there is any progress But with that, I am optimistic that we can advance peace with Saudi Arabia ” Obstacles remain however The Kingdom s Chinabrokered renewal of ties with Iran has strained its relations with Israel and may have weakened Riyadh s appetite for normalization

The poll indicates a nail-biting race in Turkey, the closest in the countr y ’s modern histor y. It showed 40% of respondents favoring Erdogan and 39% favoring Kilicdaroglu. A whopping 15% of those polled remain undecided only five days before the election

AL-MONITOR STAFF

AS Turkey prepares to hold its first ever runoff vote to elect its next president on Sunday, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu are locked in a statistical tie, a new Al-Monitor/Premise poll found, while a significant portion of voters remain undecided

The poll indicates a nail-biting race in Turkey the closest in the country s modern history It showed 40% of respondents favoring Erdogan and 39% favoring Kilicdaroglu A whopping 15% of those polled remain undecided only five days before the election

round forced Kilicdaroglu to dial up his anti-refugee rhetoric In an unusually jingoistic tone earlier this week, he described refugees as potential criminals and pledged to send them back to their countries as soon as he gets elected His remarks failed to sway Ogan who announced his endorsement for Erdogan in Sunday s runoff

However it remains unclear to what extent Ogan s support will boost Erdogan s chances The farright electoral alliance that carried the unaffiliated candidate into mainstream politics was divided last week, with its heavyweights endorsing Kilicdaroglu while Ogan supported Erdogan

WI T H the Hajj being only a month away, Saudi Arabia has a chance to take the high road with Israeli Muslims and sidestep the obstacles in their efforts to normalize relations Riyadh is hereby called upon for the first time to allow direct flights for Muslim pilgrims from Israel

The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is an annual pilgrimage to Makkah, Islam’s holiest city, that Muslims must conduct at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able The centerpiece of the trip is the circumambulation of the cube-shaped Kaaba a black stone structure that according to the Qur an Abraham built as the metaphorical house of God

More than 2 million Muslims some 6,000 of whom are Israelis make the journey each year, though Riyadh significantly restricted such visits during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic The Kingdom now says it has dropped limits on visiting this year

Yet until now pilgrims from Israel as from the Palestinian territories have had to travel to Makkah through third countries, incurring surcharges and hassle

With Donald Trump and Joe Biden being the latest US presidents to have flown directly between Israel and Saudi Arabia in recent years, and the Kingdom now routinely allowing Israeli airliners to overfly its territory en route to other destinations a Hajj Express is timely and solutions need to be found for Israeli Muslims to make it easily implementable

After all, Qatar admitted direct flights from Tel Aviv for World Cup fans Surely Saudi Arabia can be no less accommodating for the Muslims who make up 18 percent of Israel’s population

Yair Lapid who served as Israel’s prime minister from July to December of 2022 is on record as saying he secured an understanding for future direct Hajj flights during his term When Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for Israeli flights to other countries last summer, Lapid said it was the “first official step in normalization with Saudi Arabia ”

But unlike Lapid Riyadh has never given an on-therecord confirmation to allow direct flights which by default raises questions on the hope for normalization

This issue is under discussion said Israeli Foreign

The right-wing policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have also angered the Kingdom Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Arab League Summit last week that he remains committed to establishing an independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital Such territorial concessions constitute a nonstarter for the Israeli government Recent unconfirmed American media reports, and Israeli ones months before them, have suggested that, on top of finding a solution for Palestinians, Saudi Arabia has requested that the Biden administration greenlight the domestic enrichment of uranium on Saudi soil as part of a civilian nuclear program in exchange for normalization with Israel Washington is loath to take such a step because enriched uranium could also be used for a nuclear weapons program Riyadh also wants the Biden administration to guarantee the sale of American offensive weapons systems to the Saudis a demand that faces stiff resistance in Congress

So if the Kingdom now withholds consent for direct flights from Israel to Saudi Arabia it would be a setback for those normalization efforts, not merely a continuation of the status quo It is hard to see what the Saudis would gain from that One way to support the arrangement would be to include Palestinians in the deal

Israel might also consider earmarking its southern Ramon Airport for the flights After all Ramon is significantly closer to the Kingdom than Ben Gurion Airport making for cheaper routes Its seclusion from Israeli population centers would also help Israeli efforts to monitor outgoing passengers and incoming flights for security purposes

A pilot program that ran between August and October proved promising with dozens of Palestinians from the West Bank traveling back and forth from Ramon to Cyprus and Turkey This program proceeded over the objections of the Palestinian Authority, which fears being sidelined by such accommodations Jordan, too, has reason to be concerned about the loss of Palestinian passenger dinars at Amman’s airports

But Palestinians deserve easier travel Since Israel is willing to be magnanimous in this regard Saudi Arabia can certainly follow suit by allowing Ramon to be the springboard for direct Hajj flights for Palestinian and Israeli Muslims alike And that would be a net positive for efforts to normalize ties between Tel Aviv and Riyadh Which airline gets to fly the route, how frequent flights would be and what happens for Muslims who wish to perform Umrah outside of Hajj season are also questions worth looking into

Mark Dubowitz is the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Tzvi Kahn is a research fellow and senior editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies

The economy, refugees and justice stand out as the top three issues that the respondents deem challenges for the country In the May 14 elections neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu secured a simple majority to be elected in the first round The incumbent president finished the race with nearly a five-point lead, but it was the first race Erdogan has been unable to win outright during his more than two decades in power Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu received 49 52% and 44 88% of the vote respectively

The country s longest-serving leader is now facing his first runoff after deftly overcoming almost every electoral challenge he has faced as the nation is gripped by a deepening cost-of-living crisis with no end in sight The Feb 6 earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people in the country’s south exacerbated the country’s financial woes

A majority of respondents also believe that the most important issue Turkey is facing is the economy

More than 57% of the respondents said food prices and inflation are the biggest problems in the country

Turkey s Central Bank, whose independence has largely eroded over the past few years, follows a highly unorthodox monetary policy under Erdogan’s influence As its peers raised their interest rates to rein in inflation Turkey s Central Bank delivered several interest rates cuts bringing it as low as 8 5 Many blame Erdogan s unconventional economic theory which argues that higher interest rates cause higher inflation, for the breakneck inflation that climbed to 85 5% late last year before easing to below 45% in April

However Kilicdaroglu has been unable to convince voters that he could restore the economy with 52% of the respondents saying they trust Erdogan on the economy and 48% saying they trust Kilicdaroglu

In contrast, on the issue of refugees in Turkey, the main opposition leader seems to have managed to garner more trust among voters Of the respondents, 57% said they trust Kilicdaroglu more in this area while 43% said they trust Erdogan

A sweeping majority of the respondents 71% said the refugees should return to their country as soon as possible Only 5% of respondents said the decision should be up to them, with 20% saying they should return only when it s safe for them to do so

Asked whether they support reconciling relations with the government of Syrian President Bashar alAssad 44% of respondents said yes while 24% said no

The public debate surrounding refugees became particularly heated in the campaign after far-right candidate Sinan Ogan received an unexpected 5 17%, placing third in the May 14 presidential vote The immediate and forceful return of refugees was a central theme in the campaigning by Ogan and his far-right

The majority of the parties within Ogan s alliance including its pillar the Zafer (Victory) Party and its architect leader Umit Ozdag endorsed Kilicdaroglu Zafer received more than 2% of the votes in the May 14 parliamentary vote

The third biggest issue the nation is facing stands as justice according to the poll with 11% of respondents placing it at the top Government critics have long argued that the independence of the judiciary has eroded under Erdogan s executive presidency which has been accused of removing all checks and balances in the country

Meanwhile, Erdogan’s efforts to make national security the dominant theme of the campaign by casting the opposition six-party electoral alliance and their candidate Kilicdaroglu as collaborators of outlawed groups seem to have somewhat failed Only 3% of respondents believe that national security is the most important issue the country is facing today Yet 57% of the respondents said they trust Erdogan more on issues about national security while 43% said they trust Kilicdaroglu

The closely fought campaign took nasty twists in the final weeks before the May 14 vote During his massive rally in Istanbul Erdogan played a campaign ad that was doctored to look as though outlawed Kurdish militant leaders were singing the campaign song of the six-party opposition bloc

Kilicdaroglu, in turn, accused Russia of meddling in the country’s election to support Erdogan citing concrete information His leader s camp accused Russia of fabricating deepfake sex videos that forced another presidential candidate to withdraw from the race The Kremlin staunchly rejected the accusation, calling Kilicdaroglu s sources liars

Asked whether they believe the opposition’s accusations that Russia fabricated videos to target opposition candidates only 21% of respondents said they did while 40% said they did not and 39% said they didn t know

An electorate of more than 61 million at home is eligible to vote in Sunday s runoff, but both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu’s camps fear that the race could be marked by voter apathy and are calling on their supporters to cast their ballots The May 14 elections saw more than 88% voter turnout

The Al-Monitor/Premise poll found that 6% of respondents do not plan to vote in the runoff elections The figure is lower than the number of respondents who said they did not vote on May 14

The poll found 14% of respondents will not vote for the same candidate they voted for in the first round More than 77% of the respondents said they would vote for the same candidate

The poll of 970 respondents was conducted by AlMonitor in partnership with Premise Data between May 19 and May 23 across Turkey The margin of error is +/-3

R U S S I A , C H I N A S E A L E C O N O M I C PA C T S A M I D

W E S T E R N C R I T I C I S M

Today relations between Russia and China are at an unprecedented high level, Mishustin told Li in their meeting

African Studies (SOAS) China Institute in London

RUSSIA'S prime minister signed a set of agreements with China on Wednesday during a trip to Beijing, describing bilateral ties at an unprecedented high, despite criticism of their relationship in the West as the war in Ukraine drags on Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin the h i g h e s t - r a n k i n g R u s s i a n o ff i c i a l t o v i s i t B e i j i n g s i n c e M o s c o w s e n t t h o u s a n d s o f troops to Ukraine in February 2022 held t a l k s w i t h C h i n e s e P r e s i d e n t X i J i n p i n g and Premier Li Qiang

With the war in Ukraine in its second year and Russia increasingly feeling the weight of Western sanctions Moscow is leaning on Beijing for support far more than China on Russia feeding on Chinese demand for oil and gas

The pressure from the West has shown n o s i g n o f e a s i n g , w i t h t h e G r o u p o f S e v e n ' s w e e k e n d d e c l a r a t i o n s s i n g l i n g b o t h c o u n t r i e s o u t o n a s e r i e s o f i s s u e s i ncluding Ukraine

The G7 agreed to tighten s a n c t i o n s a g a i n s t M o s c o w a n d u rg e d C h i n a t o p r e s s R u s s i a t o w i t h d r a w i t s f o r c e s f r o m U k r a i n e

"They are characterised by mutual respect of each other's interests, the desire to jointly respond to challenges which is associated with increased turbulence in the international arena and the pressure of illegitimate sanctions from the collective West," he said

"As our Chinese friends say, unity makes it possible to move mountains "

The memorandums of understanding signed included an agreement to deepen investment cooperation in trade services a pact on export of agricultural products to China, and another on sports cooperation Russia's energy shipments to China are projected to rise 40% this year, and the two countries are discussing technological equipment supplies to Russia Interfax news agency reported

With sanctions against Russia providing new opportunities for China it is hardly surprising that China would be happy to engage actively, if not proactively, with Russia economically, as long as whatever relationships they forge will not trigger secondary sanctions against China " said Steve Tsang director of the School of Oriental and

Sindh gov t to launch pink E-taxi ser vice for women

Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Memon on Thursday announced separate taxi service for women as Sindh government has taken the initiative to introduce electric taxi services for the citizens of Karachi and the pink-colored taxis service only specifically for female passengers, ensuring their safety and comfort He said that the first phase of the project will see the launch of over 200 electric taxis, with 50 of them designated as pink taxis for women This step aims to provide convenient and reliable transportation options for women in the city A modern affordable and environment-friendly electric taxi service will be launched in Karachi and extended to other major cities of the province, he said In addition to the electric taxi service, the government has decided to enhance the public bus service by adding 500 new buses valued at Rs25 billion Orders have been issued to deploy these buses across various routes in Karachi ensuring improved accessibility for the public Sharjeel Memon also said that the Sindh government is actively working to acquire an additional 20 buses by June 15, further bolstering the public transportation system Furthermore, in an effort to expand the People’s Bus Service, the government has directed the initiation of a new route from Hattri to Kisana Mori in Hyderabad The trial for this route will commence within three days providing a convenient commuting option for residents in that area

"China's policy towards the war in Ukraine is one of 'declaring neutrality, supporting Putin and paying no price', and the visit reaffirms it particularly the support Putin element said Tsang X i v i s i t e d R u s s i a i n M a r c h a n d h e l d talks with dear friend President Vladimir P u t i n , a f t e r c o m m i t t i n g t o a " n o l i m i t s " partnership just before the 2022 Russia att a c k o n U k r a i n e , w h i c h M o s c o w c a l l s a "special military operation" to "denazify" its neighbour Beijing has rejected Western attempts to link its partnership with Moscow to Ukraine insisting the relationship does not violate international norms, China has the right to collaborate with whichever country it chooses, and their cooperation is not targeted at any third countries China and Russia should find ways to upgrade the level of economic trade and investment cooperation Xi told Mishustin with energy an area in which they could expand collaboration Deepening of ties with China is a strategic course for Moscow said the secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev who held talks on Monday with Chen

Wenqing member of the Chinese Communist Party s Politburo who oversees police, legal affairs and intelligence Beijing has refrained from openly den o u n c

comed by Kyiv Last week, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visited Ukraine and met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a European tour that Beijing billed as its effort to promote peace talks and a political settlement Li Hui is scheduled to visit Russia on Friday

C h i n a d e n i e s s py i n g a l l e g at i o n s, s ay s

U S i s t h e ‘e m p i r e o f h a c k i n g ’

BEIJING

China denied it organized state-sponsored hacking groups to attack U S networks, saying the hacking allegations were a collective disinformation campaign from the Five Eyes countries consisted of the U S Canada New Zealand Australia and the UK Western intelligence agencies and Microsoft released a report on Wednesday alleging that China has been spying on a wide range of U S critical infrastructure organizations Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday that the report scraps all kinds of things up, misses a lot of evidence and is "extremely unprofessional"

The fact that the National Security Agency (NSA) of the U S and other agencies from the Five Eyes countries issued the report simultaneously demonstrated that the disinformation campaign, launched by the U S and followed by the Five Eyes countries, is for geopolitical

reasons Mao said at a regular press briefing in Beijing Mao added that the Five Eyes Alliance is the world s largest intelligence organization, and the NSA is the largest hacking group in the world "It's ironic that the two organizations jointly publish false information reports," she said

As for the involvement of Microsoft Mao said it showed that the U S government was expanding its channels of disinformation beyond government agencies But no matter what varied methods are used, none of this can change the fact that the U S is the empire of hacking " she told reporters She also mentioned a report by the Chinese side in September last year that disclosed details of a cyberattack by the NSA on Northwestern Polytechnical University of China She urged the U S to give an account of its actions instead of spreading false information to divert attention

CHINA'S SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS GERMAN DIPLOMAT ON UKRAINE, BILATERAL TIES IN BERLIN Chinese Special Representative on

Eurasian Affairs Li Hui on Wednesday held talks with German Federal Foreign Office State Secretary Andreas Michaelis in Berlin, with both sides exchanging views on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis and relations between China and Germany

According to a press release published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday Li said during the talks that China s position on the Ukraine issue has been consistent and clear-cut, with the core being the promoting of peace talks and a political solution

He reiterated that there would be no panacea and all parties need to do their own part to create favorable conditions for restarting peace talks through accumulating mutual trust China supports European countries' efforts of addressing the root causes of the crisis and finding a solution to both the symptoms and the root causes for the lasting peace and security of the European continent said Li China is willing to continue to main-

tain close communication with the German side and implement the consensus reached by the two countries leaders to inject more stability and positive energy to the world, he added F o r h i s p a r t , M i c h a e l i s s a i d t h e G e r m a n s i d e h i g h l y v a l u e s C h i n a ' s p o s i t i v e e ff o r t s t o d e - e s c a l a t e t h e U k r a i n e c r i s i s It is very useful and necessary for Germany and China to strengthen dialogue on a series of major international and regional issues, including the Ukraine issue, he said Germany is willing to work together with China to enhance communication at all levels and promote a peaceful solution to the crisis he added I n a b i d t o e n g a g e w i t h v a r i o u s p a r t i e s o n t h e p o l i t i c a l s e t t l e m e n t o f t h e U k r a i n e c r i s i s , t h e C h i n e s e s p e c i a l e n v o y i s n o w o n a t r i p t o E u r o p e t h a t h a s t a k e n h i m t o U k r a i n e P o l a n d a n d F r a n c e o v e r t h e p a s t 1 0 d a y s H e i s a l s o e x p e c t e d t o v i s i t M o s c o w a n d B r u s s e l s

A Swiss court Wednesday declared famous Islamic studies scholar Tariq Ramadan innocent in a case of rape and sexual coercion brought by a citizen who had accused him of raping her in a Geneva hotel in 2008

The woman told the court that Ramadan sexually assaulted her in a brutal manner with beatings and insults which he denied though he admitted he did meet the woman Ramadan a Swiss citizen and a grandson of Hassan alBanna, the founder of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood invited the accuser to his hotel room for a coffee after a conference

If convicted the 60-year-old scholar would have faced three years in prison Amid rising anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe and terrorism, Ramadan was a voice of reason condemning terrorism and opposing the death penalty He was once even denied entry to Tunisia Egypt Saudi Arabia Libya and Syria, because, he said, he had criticised their lack of democratic conduct Ramadan was Time magazine’s 100 most influential personalities in

the world He became a professor of Islamic Studies at St Anthony s College Oxford in 2007 He has a lot of critics importantly in France, where a number of leading academics allege him of anti-Semitism In a blow to his reputation, a French woman accused him of rape in 2017 More women came forward as the case went public By 2020 there were five rape charges against him four registered in France and one in Switzerland He had also spent nine months under custody in France before he was released on probation According to media reports the situation in the courtroom was tense and a number of cameras faced him as he landed in court

The accuser explained the alleged attack in detail, saying she feared she would die He admitted that he had invited her to his hotel room but denied any form of violence All the accusations against him have been politically motivated and designed to discredit him he said Ramadan s lawyers objected to the accuser s veracity highlighting the inconsistencies around the dates of the alleged attack He was supported by his family in his arguments Sami, his son, pointing to his father's "role in the debate about Islam in France " told the BBC in 2019 that the cases against his father were "motivated by other reasons which we feel are political "

A similar view was supported by a number of influential people including a well-known philosopher Noam Chomsky and British filmmaker Ken Loach, who signed an open letter doubting whether Ramadan was receiving a trial, with the usual presumption of innocence Ramadan in his own remarks in court asked not to be tried on his "real or supposed ideology" After a deliberations of three weeks the three Swiss judges found him innocent however in France prosecutors are analyzing whether charges brought against Ramadan should go to court He continues to be consistent in the argument that he is innocent in all cases and vowed to clear his name

ISLAMABAD S TA F F R E P O R T

T h e S e n a t e S t a n d i n g C o m m i tt e e o n D e f e n s e , u n d e r t h e c h a i rm a n s h i p o f S e n a t o r M u s h a h i d H u s s a i n S a y e d , c o n v e n e d a s i gnificant meeting to discuss matt e r s r e l a t e d t o n a t i o n a l s e c u r i t y a n d p u b l i c w e l f a r e The meeting which was held on Thursday, encompassed an array of agenda items, including the commemoration of Youm-eTakreem-e-Shuhada condemnation of the May 9 arson and

vandalism incident, and the resolution of a land issue in Turbat, Balochistan a news release said To commence the proceedings the committee members paid their respect to the martyrs by offering Fateha on the occasion of Youm-e-Takreem-eShuhada Pakistan Day This solemn moment served as a reminder of the immense sacrifices made by the valiant defenders of our nation During the meeting the committee unanimously passed a resolution expressing unwavering solidarity with Pak-

istan's armed forces and condemning the regrettable incidents of arson and vandalism that occurred on May 9 The resolution reflected the committee s strong commitment to upholding peace, stability, and security within the country and demanded the culprits should be caught and brought to justice following the due process of law after a transparent investigation

The Committee also discussed the land issue in Turbat which Senator Naseema Ehsan raised as a point of public impor-

tance, prompting the committee to thoroughly investigate the matter The officials of the Ministry of Defense led by Secretary Defence Lieutenant General (R) Hamood Uz Zaman Khan provided a comprehensive briefing on the issue which was welcomed and appreciated by the Committee After hearing the perspectives of all concerned the committee unanimously concluded that the issue at hand was not one of land occupation but rather of land transfer”

Swiss cour t declares scholar Tariq Ramadan innocent in rape c ase

Senate body unanimously adopts resolution, expresses solidarity with armed forces

CORPORATE CORNER

P U T I N : E U R A S I A N E C O N O M I C U N I O N S U P P O R T S PA I R I N G W I T H C H I N A ' S B R I

TH E Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) supports pairing with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to achieve the Greater Eurasian Partnership Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an address at the plenary session of the second Eurasian Economic Forum of the EAEU on Wednesday

KE cracks down on illegal water hydrant in Nazimabad

Around 2,700 representatives from some 50 countries attended the economic forum that began on Wednesday in Moscow under the motto: "Eurasian Integration in a multipolar world The forum is designed to look at ways in which BRICS the EAEU and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can be expanded and possibly integrated

Putin said the EAEU supports initiatives that are committed to developing the Eurasian region and will continue to work with China to promote the docking of the EAEU s development with China s BRI

He said the world today is experienc-

USC cuts prices of various brands of ghee, oil with immediate effect: Spokesman

spokesperson of Utility Stores Corporation Utility Stores Corporation has reduced the prices of various brands of ghee and cooking oil for the convenience of the public A formal notification has also been issued According to the notification, the price of branded ghee has been reduced by Rs 69 per kg While the prices of cooking oil have also been reduced from Rs 18 to Rs 76 per litre It should be noted that the Utility Stores Corporation is also providing special subsidy of the federal government on five basic items P R

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto c alls on Air C hief

Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mr Bilawal Bhutto

Zardari, called on Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force during his visit to Air Headquarters, Islamabad today Matters pertaining to evolving geo-strategic environment and regional security situation were discussed during the meeting Air Chief briefed the visiting dignitary about various ongoing projects being carried out by Pakistan Air Force with special focus on the modernization and development of indigenous capabilities Chief of the Air Staff also briefed the Foreign Minister about his vision of PAF's National Aerospace Science & Technology Park project and highlighted that the mega project is aimed at fostering collaborative research development and innovation in the domains of aviation, space, IT, cyber & computing to accrue maximum social, economic, technological and scientific dividends for Pakistan The Foreign Minister lauded the matchless professionalism of PAF personnel and stated that the government would utilize all its resources to modernize Pakistan Air Force in order to ensure an impregnable aerial defence of the country Paying rich tribute to the PAF Shuhada, the Foreign Minister said, the nation is grateful to all martyrs of Pakistan Air Force P R

QAU announces allocation of seats, scholarships for children of mar tyrs

In a high-level important meeting, presided over by the Minister of Information Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon has been decided that 500 new buses worth 25 billion rupees will be purchased and added to People s Bus Service to provide more travel facilities to the people during the next financial year

Secretary Transport Saleem Rajpoot CEO Trans Karachi Tufail Palijo Project Director Yellow Line Ameer Owaisi General Manager Red Line Pir Sajjad, and Project Director PSB Sohaib were also present and actively

ing revolutionary changes and that more countries are seeking to build a new architecture of international economic relations that is fairer and based on mutual respect and mutual benefit

He criticized U S economic policy

saying it is"shooting itself in the foot" by reinforcing a trend that undermines its own development In this regard, he said Russia and its partners in the EAEU are interested in honest productive and pragmatic cooperation noting that anyone acting oth-

erwise damages the global economy Putin then argued that the global economy will only benefit from the formation of a decentralized international financial system and that it's important to coordinate efforts to form such a global system

Founded in 2015 the EAEU is an economic union of countries located in Eurasia and consists of five member states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia

Echoing Putin's call for a decentralized international financial system Belarusian

First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov said on Wednesday that Belarus plans to completely move away from the U S dollar and the euro in trade with Russia and other EAEU countries by 2023

Currently, the U S dollar and the euro account for about 8 percent of Belarus's trade with these countries according to Snopkov at the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic A G E N C I E S

Iran unveils 2,000 km range ballistic missile

DUBAI

S TA F F R E P O R T

Iran unveiled the fourth generation of its Khorramshahr ballistic missile under the name Kheibar with a range of 2 000 km (1 243 miles) and a 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) warhead, the official news agency reported on Thursday

Iran has expanded its missile programme, particularly its ballistic missiles despite opposition from the United States and expressions of concern by European countries Tehran says the programme is purely defensive and is for deterrence Iran s newest ballistic missile and the latest product of the defence ministry's Aerospace Industries Organisation (AIO) was unveiled today in a ceremony attended by the defence minister," it added Kheibar (Khorramshahr 4) was unveiled on Thursday morning in the presence of Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtian during a ceremony marking the 41st anniversary of the liberation of the southwestern city of Khorramshahr The missile s extended range, advanced guidance and control system, and improved structural features further solidify Iran’s status as a formidable missile power Kheibar is one of the most advanced missiles designed by the experts of the Ministry of Defense s Aerospace Industries Organisation It is a liquidfueled missile The Khorramshahr class of missiles is known for its unique guidance and control system during the mid-flight phase

Today marks the end of the twoday learning event by DAFPAK, a leading organization dedicated to

improving population health outcomes in Pakistan focused on ensuring a brighter future for Pakistan, titled "Pakistan s Population: A Brighter Future For All " Delivering Accelerated Family

Planning In Pakistan (DAFPAK) is a £90m Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) programme that aims to improve family planning outcomes across Pakistan by improving access to family planning services for the most vulnerable and disseminating messages for the common good under a platform called KhairKhwah

Jo Moir Development Director of the British High Commission in Pakistan in her opening remarks of Day 2 further expanded on the Commission's agenda and said, "Two years ago, the UK made a significant commitment to work with all our partners to end preventable deaths of mothers

LAHORE

S TA F F R E P O R T

Social Champ, a trailblazing digital platform, is taking a bold stance in supporting women in the digital realm and championing gender equality Recognizing the uphill battle faced by women in the tech industry Social Champ is determined to create an inclusive environment where women can excel and thrive

In an industry long dominated by male voices women have encountered numerous obstacles on their path to success From workplace disparities to online harassment and biased promotions, women in the digital

ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

Advisor to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar

Zaman Kaira has predicted key role of Africa at global level in coming years with bundle of opportunities and potential

This was stated by him while addressing a special event organized by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI) to celebrate “Africa Day 2023”

Qamar Zaman Kaira was of the view that Pakistan’s Engage Africa policy was a testament to its commitment to strengthening its relations with African nations in myriad field The policy is encouraging trade and investment between Pakistan and African countries, he added

While reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to the engage Africa policy, he stated, “We must overcome any challenges and keep moving forward towards greater progress ”

The event was also addressed by Dean of African Corps/Ambassador of Morocco Mohammad Karmoune; Additional Secretary Africa Javed Ahmad Umerani; Director General ISSI Ambassador Sohail Mahmood and Director CAMEA Amina Khan

Others who spoke on the occasion included, the Heads of African Missions in Pakistan and Heads of Pakistan Missions in Africa Academics and members of the business community and students participated in the celebratory event Stalls exhibiting African products

space have been met with significant challenges Social Champ is committed to dismantling these barriers and driving progress toward gender parity One of the major challenges I faced was harassment For a long time, I used to say no to conversations I could not allow myself to go and speak anywhere because I’ll be like, what if I say something which doesn’t make sense? So I used to hide a lot and I used to have low self-esteem to some extent Janet Machuka - founder of Africa Tweet Chat

At Social Champ gender equality is not just a buzzword; it s deeply ingrained in the fabric of the organization The company upholds a steadfast commitment to providing equal salaries

were also set up by the African Missions in Islamabad

In his welcome remarks, Director General ISSI Sohail Mahmood said that Pakistan’s relations with Africa were long-standing marked by warmth cordiality mutual respect and close cooperation Africa with its vast natural resources young population and untapped potential had emerged as a land of immense opportunities he expressed

He said that the continent was experiencing rapid economic growth and technological advancement, adding the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has multiplied those possibilities and it is no wonder that Africa is called the Continent of the Future

Sohail Mahmood added that this Africa Day was an important occasion to acknowledge the significance of Engage Africa policy as part of Pakistan commitment to comprehensively upgrade its partnership with African countries, both on the bilateral and Continental plane

Speaking on the occasion Amina Khan said every year CAMEA at ISSI commemorates Africa Day This served as a testament to ISSI s unwavering commitment to foster closer relations between Pakistan and the African Continent, she said She further stated that Pakistan had established and strengthened diplomatic missions across the Continent to facilitate meaningful dialogue and promote cooperation in diverse areas of mutual interest The economic cooperation formed a vital pillar of Pakistan s engage-

This feature allows the missile to control and adjust its trajectory outside the Earth’s atmosphere and to deactivate its guidance system upon entering the atmosphere giving it complete immunity against electronic warfare attacks

Thanks to its advanced control system, the Kheiber missile's warhead does not require the typical thinwing arrangement, which in turn allows the missile to pack up a heavier explosive load

Police hosts candlelight to pay tribute to martyrs

RAWALPINDI

S TA F F R E P O R T

Rawalpindi District Police here on Thursday organized a candle lighting ceremony to celebrate Youm-e-Takreem Shuhada-e-Pakistan at the martyrs monument, Police Lines Headquarters and pay tributes to those who rendered the supreme sacrifices of their lives in the line of the duty and to protect the lives of the citizens

The ceremony was attended by Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Syed Khurram Ali City

Police Officer Rawalpindi Syed Khalid Hamdani

Senior Superintendent of Police, Operations, Capt Amir Khan Niazi, Divisional SPs, Senior Police Officers, families and children of the martyrs

A large number of civil society members were also present on the occasion to pay tribute to the martyrs

The citizens women and children paid tributes to the martyrs by lighting candles on the martyrs monument Police officers mingled and interacted with the citizens and children

The RPO thanked the participants for joining the ceremony to celebrate Youm-e-Takreem-e-Shuhada-ePakistan

in coming years

ment with Africa and therefore recognized the tremendous potential for trade and investment between the two sides, she added

Expressing his view Dean of the African Corps Ambassador Mohammed Karmoune said that Africa was now building its single market to facilitate trade among states parties to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and with the rest of the world

He further said that the African Union had made the ‘Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area implementation’ its main theme for the year 2023 to increase the attractiveness of the African market for trade and investment though a number of critical protocols were yet to be negotiated finalized and implemented Additional Secretary (Africa) at the Foreign Office, Javed Ahmad Umrani underlined that Africa Day served as a significant reminder of the historic struggles and aspirations of the African people in their journey towards independence self-determination and unity which Pakistan had fully supported Pakistan and Africa shared bonds that went beyond geographical proximity and these historical bonds had been reemphasized with the introduction of the Engage Africa policy by Pakistan, which had become an important part of the country’s foreign policy agenda, he added T h e e v e n t c o n c l u d e d w i t h t h e l a u n c h o f a s p e -

K aira views key role of Afric a at global level

Po p u l at i o n ex p e r t s, g ov t o f f i c i a l s d i s c u s s l i f t i n g p o p u l at i o n h e a l t h i n c o u n t r y

S o c i a l C h a m p s u p p o r t s wo m e n i n d i g i t a l r e a l m , g e n d e r e q u a l i t y

PAKISTAN DID NOT ENGAGE WITH INDIA AT SCO DUE TO ITS ACTIONS IN K ASHMIR: BIL AWAL

ISLAMABAD S TA F

MI N I S T E R for Foreign Af-

fairs Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday said his office had taken a principal stance not to seek bilateral connection with his Indian counterparts at the SCO meeting due to the latter s actions in Kashmir in 2019

Briefing the Senate s Standing Committee on foreign affairs on the SCO meeting he attended in India earlier this year, he said it was a difficult decision to take after India s actions in Kashmir in 2019 adding that he had at first no interest in participating in the SCO meeting for emotional reasons But I sat to deliberate and decided to join as it was a multilateral meeting, he added

He continued by saying that he also used the forum meeting to meet FMs of other countries except one to strike meaningful dialogue

He went on to say that the other point his office considered that its founding members were Russia and China – our all-weather friend As the PDM took over, it has made the SCO and Central Asian countries its priority,” he added

It was a strong message to show how seriously we took the SCO he added

He said the host gave the Pakistani delegation full protocol during the meeting, adding that Indian FM Jaishankar acted professionally But I deplore that he used some words behind my back,” he added

It was the abuse of the chair of the

SCO he maintained

He said he was not in favour of calling off any platform adding that he also put forward Pakistan’s stance before the West too “We deemed it necessary to attend the SCO not only because of the SCO but also to present our stance before the world he added

Why we would give them the opportunity to go unchallenged, he asked

He said he also tried to take input from all PDM members, adding that it turned out to be great opportunity “India wanted to abuse the SCO platform to put their agenda unchallenged he added

Our host [Indian FM] mentioned

LHC seeks replies on plea seeking judicial inquir y into May 9 violence

The Lahore High Court on Thursday sought replies from the respondents on a petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the violent incidents of May 9

A single member bench of LHC, comprising Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan heard the petition filed by Afzal Pahat During initial proceedings, the court sought replies from the federal and Punjab governments, and the Punjab Inspector General of Police

The court also directed to club all the identical applications with the petition

The petition maintained that after the arrest of Imran Khan on May 9, peaceful protests were held across the country However, due to some extremists, the protests turned into chaos

Government buildings were damaged and incidents of vandalism took place

The petitioner pleaded that a joint investigation team should be formed to probe into these incidents under the supervision of a Lahore High Court judge Further hearing was adjourned till Monday

PM, FM discuss political situation

ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Thursday here met Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and held a detailed consultation on the present political situation

The prime minister appreciated the foreign minister for exposing all over the world the false propaganda of India on Kashmir and its condemnable attempt to give a wrong impression to the world by calling recent meeting of G-20 in the occupied valley

He also praised Bilawal Bhutto for effectively espousing the aspirations of Kashmiris during his address to the Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Kashmir issue was the unfinished agenda of partition of the sub-continent he said adding the nefarious attempts of India to claim the Occupied Kashmir as its part would never succeed Shehbaz Sharif said heart of every Pakistani beat for his Kashmiri brothers PM condoles with Ayaz Sadiq over his brother's death Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of Sardar Mahmood Sadiq the elder brother of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq

The prime minister prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and elevate the ranks in paradise

He also prayed for grant of courage to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude

some issues in his speech he said adding that he [Mr Bhutto] got the opportunity to rebut India s attempt to paint Muslims and Pakistanis as terrorist “I told them that Pakistan’s casualty count is more than all of them combined he added Bilawal Bhutto said he used the opportunity to break the myths about Muslims, Pakistanis, and Kashmiris, adding that India did not want to take this thing further but Pakistan wanted “We should engage with the Indian media to counter such impression ” he added As for the bilateral relations he said it was a positive visit overall

Answering a question about the imminent security threat by Afghanistan, he said he reminded his counterparts that Pakistan would not be the first, but the last victim adding that if it was not taken seriously it would be a disaster “The number of terrorist attacks has jumped from five to fifty after the fall of Kabul he added He said he had one-point agenda during his bilateral meeting, adding that he made them clear that the issue of terrorist organisation functioning in Pakistan needed to be addressed There was this one thing standing between Pakistan and Afghanistan he said adding that he said if this was resolved, they could face the world together Borders could only be managed by support from both sides ” he added Pakistan did not have any sympathy for issues if there was lack of will to counter those [terrorist] groups he said H e s a i d h e c o n v e y e d t o h i s c o u nterparts in clear words that both count r i e s h a d t o w o r k c l o s e l y t o a d d r e s s t h e s e i s s u e s “ I t i s a l o n g j o u r n e y t o take” he added Bilawal said he wanted problems between Muslim countries to settle adding that China played the biggest role in addressing this Peace was a yardstick in the past, but now the environment does not reflect a will to make peace, he added It was a time of heightened tensions between states he said but China not only proved itself a superpower but a peacemaker by meddling peace with Iran and Saudi Arabia We saw ripple effects of this relationship, he added

S enator S aleem M andviwala denies existence of fake pilots

In conversation with the media Senator Saleem Mandviwala refuted the claim made by former Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan regarding the issuance of fake licences to pilots I reiterate that no fake pilot exists, stated Mandviwala The comments were made following a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation’s Sub-Committee on May 24 where the Sub-Committee decided to examine the suspended pilots cases

The Sub-Committee convened to scrutinise the cases of 80 pilots whose licences were either revoked or suspended due to allegations of malpractice during pilot exams Senator Saleem Mandviwalla expressed the committee’s intention to expedite the resolution of the matter and prevent further embarrassment for the country

In attendance were Senator Muhammad Sabir Shah Sr Joint Secretary Aviation Division Mir Hassan Naqvi Director General (DG) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Khaqan Murtaza Director Flight Operations Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Asif Gillani, Chief Human Resource Officer PIA Athar Hussain, and other concerned officers

The CAA’s legal counsel informed that an interim challan has been submitted by the Federal Investigation Authority against the pilots named in the First Information Report (FIR) The Committee instructed the CAA to reinstate pilots not implicated in the FIR through a Review Board and upon withdrawal of their cases from the courts The Sub-Committee deferred further deliberations on the matter until their next meeting

What is the fake licence case in question?

In 2020 Pakistan s then Aviation Minister Ghu-

Gov t likely to renew REIT scheme benefits for another three years in budget 2024-25

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the imposition of Article 245 across the country except Sindh, attempts being made to dissolve the PTI through fear and arrests and ongoing crackdown on the party workers in the wake of May 9 riots

The PTI chairman has made the Federation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other ruling alliance leaders including Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rehman respondents in the petition filed through senior lawyer Hamid Khan

confidence of investors in a regulated real estate sector Furthermore it will promote agricultural and industrial warehousing and the outsourcing of cellular towers

Imran, spouse among 600 PTI leaders put on 'no-fly list'

lam Sarwar Khan revealed that investigations had uncovered more than 260 of the country s 860 active pilots held fake licences or had cheated on their exams As a result Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) grounded 150 pilots over concerns about the validity of their licences The International Air Transport Association (IATA) stated that the irregularities discovered in pilot licences at the airline represented a serious lapse in safety controls

This issue was revealed as part of a preliminary report into the crash of PIA flight PK 8303 en route to Karachi from Lahore which resulted in the deaths of 97 individuals

Where does the CAA fit into this?

Profit contacted the CAA to comprehend the events between Sarwar s initial disclosure and the Sub-Committee s meeting

“Various forums have clarified that no fake licences existed The Aviation Minister expounded on the examination system’s exploitation by delinquent pilots During 2018-19 investigations CAA Pakistan identified anomalies in pilots examination records Some pilots employed unfair means during examinations Consequently, their licences were suspended or annulled per the law on the Federal Government’s instructions after scrutiny,” the response stated

“CAA Pakistan tackled organisational and implementation challenges to prevent system misuse Rigorous entry control procedures were implemented in the PEL Directorate and exams were conducted only during working days and hours The Examination branch was segregated from the Licensing branch, and 24/7 electronic surveillance systems were installed Computer systems were secured, and computerised results were generated ” it further elaborated

ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

Over 600 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and former assembly members including chairman Imran Khan and his wife's name have been added to the no-fly list

According to the sources within the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) the names of the PTI leaders and its party chief have been added for their involvement in the May 9 violence and desecration of martyrs' monuments

The names have been added to the FIA s Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) to prevent them from going abroad added the sources

Moreover the former prime minister s wife Bushra

Bibi s name has also been added to the list Apart from that, the list includes Murad Saeed, Maleeka Bokhari, Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Yasmin Rashid and Mian Aslam Iqbal

The sources further claimed that some of the PTI leaders and office bearers tried leaving the country in the last three days however they were stopped at the airports

In a bid to stop them from leaving the country their names were sent by the police, the counter-terrorism department (CTD), and intelligence agencies

Thousands of party workers and leaders were arrested during the crackdown on the PTI since May 9 for the party’s alleged involvement in the riots that claimed at least 8 lives and injured dozens of others

Several party leaders and lawmakers including Shireen Mazari Asad Umar Fawad Chaudhry Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan among others have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling party since the May 9 vandalism

Fitch puts US rating on negative watch as debt deadline looms

R

Ratings agency Fitch put the United States credit on watch for a possible downgrade on Wednesday raising the stakes as talks over the country s debt ceiling go down to the wire, and adding to the jitters in global markets Fitch put the country s AAA rating, its highest rank, on a negative watch in a precursor to a possible downgrade should lawmakers fail to raise the amount that the Treasury can borrow before it runs out of money which could happen as soon as next week

A downgrade could affect the pricing of trillions of dollars of Treasury debt securities Fitch s move revived memories of 2011, when S&P downgraded the United States to AA-plus and set off a cascade of other

Referring to the deployment of army troops in aid of civil authorities, the PTI chief implored the court to declare the imposition of Article 245 invalid and barred the authorities from arresting party workers and leaders who are allegedly involved in ransacking state installations following Khan s arrest on May 9

The petition has also requested the apex court to stop the trial of civilians accused of attacking defence installations in military courts terming it violation of fundamental rights

The Lahore Corps Commander House is actually Jinnah House, and legally a civilian building,” the petition says Khan also accused Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif

downgrades as well as a stock market sell off

On Thursday stocks in Asia fell as investors remained wary of risky assets due to the hit the global economy will take if the U S government defaults Treasury bills maturing around June 1, the so-called Xdate when the government runs out of money, have been under pressure for weeks and came in for further selling pushing yields on securities maturing on June

1 to 7 628% “It’s not entirely unexpected given the shambles that is the debt ceiling negotiations said

Tony Sycamore analyst at IG Markets in Sydney

This is not a great sign President Joe Biden s administration and congressional Republicans are at an impasse over raising the $31 4 trillion debt ceiling, and Fitch said its rating could be lowered if the U S does not raise or suspend

and his daughter Maryam of creating rifts between PTI and military by “propagating” that the latter wanted to appoint army chief of his choice

Moreover the petition also prayed the SC to take action against forced separation of PTI leaders as many leaders including Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari and others parted ways with Khan over May 9 riots

It further asked the apex court to hold “impartial judicial inquiry into events leading up to the horrendous and gory events of May 9 2023

On Monday, the PTI had filed a similar petition in the SC wherein it challenged the deployment of the armed forces under Article 245 alleging that it was being used to “political[ly] victimise” the Imran Khan-led

its debt limit in time

Fitch still expects a resolution to the debt limit before the X-date the credit agency said in a report

However we believe risks have risen that the debt limit will not be raised or suspended before the X-date and consequently that the government could begin to miss payments on some of its obligations ”

Fitch said that the failure to reach a deal “would be a negative signal of the broader governance and willingness of the U S to honor its obligations in a timely fashion and would be unlikely to be consistent with a AAA rating A U S Treasury spokesperson called the move a warning and said it underscored the need for a deal

The White House said it was “one more piece of evidence that default is not an option ”

party and trial of the civilians accused of May 9 arson under military courts a “clear violation of due process” and Pakistan’s commitment to international laws

The petition was moved by PTI s Additional Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan on behalf of the party and sought the top court s intervention under Article 184(3)

On Wednesday, the former prime minister said he is ready to constitute a committee for talks with the ‘powerful quarters’ and to step back if that panel is convinced over two things

He addressed his supporters soon after PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry quit the party

He said he is ready to form a committee to talk to anyone who wielded any power

“I am forming this committee and I say two things If they convince it that they have

a solution and the country can function better without Imran Khan, or they convince it what benefit will Pakistan gain from holding elections in October

Convince us on these two things and I am ready to retreat for the sake of the country, he added

On May 9, PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from the Islamabad High Court, and following his arrest protests broke out throughout the country with many military installations attacked as well including the corps commander s house in Lahore and the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi

Following the violent protests, the military was called in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Islamabad and Balochistan to maintain the law and order situation