PM OFFERS CONDOLENCE TO PRESIDENT SHEIKH MOHAMED ON HIS BROTHER’S DEMISE

ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

PR I M E Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Friday offered condolences to United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sad demise of his brother Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed AlNahyan in Abu Dhabi

The prime minister was accompanied by Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi and Ambassador of Pakistan to UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi

The PM conveyed the profound sympathies and condolences of the leadership, Government and people of Pakistan to the president of UAE on his brother s demise, which was received with great warmth by Shiekh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Pakistan and the UAE are bound by close fraternal ties Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was a sincere friend of Pakistan His invaluable contributions will be long remembered by the government and the people of Pakistan

Later in a tweet the PM said the deceased was a great friend of Pakistan His demise was certainly a big loss for the Al Nahyan family

He said “In my meeting with my brother H H Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan I offered my heartfelt condolences to him on the passing of H H Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Representative of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and brother of His Highness The deceased was a great friend of Pakistan His demise is certainly a big

Rain-triggered floods cut off Balochistan from Sindh

Flash

It may be mentioned here that Pinjra Bridge on the River Bolan in Kachhi district is the main point where road traffic is struck In monsoon last, it was swept away and not rebuilt by the National Highway Authority despite the passage of over one year Adding to the miseries of the commuters the alternative route temporarily used has been washed away too As many as 10 people have lost their lives and 13 suffered injuries in rain-and-flood-related incidents in Balochistan since June 19, PDMA data shared with media read, while a total of 112 houses have been completely and 223 partially damaged R e s p o n d i n g t o t h e e m e rg e n c y s i t u a t i o n t h e p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s r e l e a s e d R s 1 5 0 m i l l i o n f l o o d r e l i e f f u n d s t o t h e d i s t r i c t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f a l l 3 6 d i s t r i c t s o f t h e p r o v i n c e

Moreover, on the directives of the CM Balochistan, a control room has also set up to monitor the relief activities H o m e a n d Tr i b a l A ff a i r s M i n i s t e r Z i a L a n g o s a i d “ E ff o r t s a r e a f o o t t o p r o v i d e r e l i e f t o t h e c a t a s t r o p h e - h i t m a s s e s o f t h e p r o v i n c e loss for the Al Nahyan family We, in Pakistan share the grief & sorrow of our Emirati brothers & sisters and pray for peace of the departed soul According to a tweet by the PML-N Pakistan s ambassador to the UAE and senior UAE officials received the premier on his arrival in Abu Dhabi Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said Prime Minister Muhammad She- hbaz Sharif had met United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Presidential Palace to express condolences over sad demise of his brother Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan

The minister, in a tweet, said that the PM conveyed condolences to the Royal Family on behalf of the Government and people of Pakistan over the sad demise She said the prime minister, on the occasion, prayed to Allah Almighty to elevate the ranks of the departed soul in paradise and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss with fortitude Marriyum said the prime minister reached Abu Dhabi on Friday afternoon specifically to condole with the President of the UAE on demise of his brother He has returned to Pakistan earlier in the night Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and special assistant to Premier Tariq Fatemi are also accompanying the prime minister

The UAE Presidential Court had announced Sheikh Saeed s death in an obituary notice published by state news agency WAM on Thursday It also said that a three-day mourning period would be observed with flags flown at half-mast across the country from July 27 to 29

Talks under way to appoint technocrat or politician as caretaker PM: Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday that talks were underway about whether a bureaucrat o r a p o l i t i c i a n s h o u l d b e a pp o i n t e d t o t h e c o v e t e d s l o t o f caretaker prime minister

“In case there’s a consensus that a politician can be appointed then it can either be Ishaq Dar or any other politician from any party, Sanaullah told media

However, he added, the government would try to appoint a person acceptable to all sides Sanaullah also tried to clear air about PML-N s nomination of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for the slot of caretaker prime minister, arguing that that no one in the government proposed his name

“Neither was Ishaq Dar ’s name suggested nor was it rejected It can be a rumour the in- terior minister remarked despite the fact that many PML-N leaders had made the claim a week back S A N A U L L A H S A I D T H AT:

Earlier this week rumours that Dar was a possible candidate for the post of interim CM began to circulate

However, neither Dar nor any other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader rejected these rumours In fact Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the finance minister could be appointed to the post

It was only later that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif denied the reports, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also against his appointment

During the show Sanaullah also spoke about the return of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif who has been residing in London since 2019, to Pakistan

The minister said people had a wrong assumption that the incumbent government has the authority to allow Nawaz to stage a

Saudi Aramco shakes hands with Pakistan’s SOEs to open countr y’s largest refiner y

g

The biggest Oil and Gas company of the world and Saudi Arabia s publicly owned oil company Saudi Aramco has signed an MoU for the investment of $10 billion, to set up a refinery (Greenfields refinery) in the deep sea port of Gwadar The company will make the investment alongside leading Pakistan Oil and Gas SOEs

The state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) and Government Holdings Private Ltd (GHPL) signed the MoU to join hands with the Saudi firm The four SOEs would join the project through equity participation The exact share of their equity compared to Saudi Aramco’s equity is still unknown despite various media reports

The production capacity of this refinery is expected to be north of 300 000 barrels per day which is the largest in the history of Pakistan This is the first oil refinery that will be set up in more than a decade and will give considerable relief to Pakistan’s petroleum imports, a large portion of which has to be attributed to refined petroleum products owing to the low production capacity of the existing pool of refineries

How did it Start?

Comeback In Politics

This is completely wrong

The government does not have this right ” he said pointing fingers at the Supreme Court Sanaullah said the top court had disqualified Nawaz through an order no one accepted He blamed the judges for being biased against the PML-N supremo

The minister further added that PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz had secured acquittals in her cases through courts, and Nawaz would do the same once he returned Nawaz Sharif will soon return He will first secure interim bails and then secure acquittals All the political restrictions imposed on him through conspiracies will end Parliament has passed a law that limits the disqualification of a parliamentarian to five years, benefiting Nawaz who was barred for a lifetime from running for office

It started in February 2019 when the Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman and his delegation visited Pakistan The Saudi government announced an investment package of $20 billion dollars, 10 out of which were supposed to be allocated to setting up a refinery in Gwadar

Later the governments in Pakistan changed and so did the plans of investment owing to Pakistan s falling credit ratings Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after coming into power became interested in expediting the energy projects, announced by Saudi Arabia

The Arab nation offered to provide incentives for new refinery projects prompting the Petroleum Division to speed up work on a new refinery policy that had been delayed for some time Former petroleum minister and current Chairman of the Energy Task Force, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, was leading the Pakistani team in negotiations with the Arabian government till December 2022

It was reported then that Saudi Arabia requested a less than 7 5% deemed duty on petrol and highspeed diesel for the next 25 years as one of the incentives Currently, there is a 7 5% deemed duty on high-speed diesel, while that for petrol is 10%

While the Pakistani side didn’t agree with this demand they remained adamant on a 10% deemed duty on petrol and high-speed diesel for the next ten years to establish the new oil refinery in Pakistan What is in it for us?

ISLAMABAD S TA F F R E P O R T

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary virtual session for the Council of Foreign Ministers of member states (CFM) on July 31 to discuss the repeated incidents of desecration and burning of copies of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark This session has been convened at the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Chair of the 14th Islamic Summit, and the Republic of Iraq

The urgent meeting of ministers has been called in response to the final statement issued by the OIC Executive Committee after an extraordinary meeting held at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah on July

02, this year

The statement addressed the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran

According to the petroleum division, only two refineries have been set up in Pakistan in the last 40 years Moreover, Pakistan’s demand for refined crude oil is expected to cross 33 million tonnes per annum by 2023 Compared to that Pakistan is capable of producing only 20 million tonnes out of which it only manages to produce 11 million per annum on average, which is the refineries utilization capacity Adding this refinery will be a much needed push to Pakistan’s oil and Gas sector According to careful estimates the addition of another refinery will only add up to fulfilling Pakistan’s domestic demand Moreover the FDI of $10 billion dollars would give the Pakistani economy a huge uplift What is in it for them?

Despite being apparently beneficial for Pakistan,, the biggest oil company of the world has managed to make the deal a rather attractive one for itself On the subject of deemed duty as per reports the greenfields refinery will have a flat 7 5% deemed duty on petrol and diesel for the next 25 years Other than that, the refinery will have a 20-year tax holiday They would also be entitled to exemption from levy of customs duties, surcharges, withholding tax, general sales tax, any other ad valorem tax or any other levies and duties on import of any equipment to be installed or material to be used in the refinery projects without any precondition for obtaining certification by the Engineering Development Board

Main Zuljinnah procession of Ashura-e-Muhar ram taken out from Nisar Haveli

The main Zul Jinnah procession of the city regarding Ashura-e-Muharram appeared from Nisar Haveli, Mochi Gate here at late Friday night (9th Muharramul Haram)

The main mourning procession will march through its traditional route including Kashmiri Bazaar Masjid Wazir Khan Rang Mahal Paniwala Talab Bazaar Hakiman

Taksali and Bhati Gate During the procession, the mourners will hold Majalis-eAzadari at main chowks of the route and also flagellate themselves to express their deep sentiments and aspirations with Hazrat Imam Hussain (A S ) and his companions who laid down even their lives in Karbala for the cause of justice righteousness and elevation of Islam

While, Anjuman Shiiti Haider-e-Karar and other Shiiti organisations has made arrangements to facilitate the mourners by serving them meal, beverages, tea and milk along side the procession’s route

The law enforcement agencies made elaborate security arrangements to ensure full protection to the participants of the procession as well as the public and private property The main procession will culminate at its end point of Karbala Gamey Shah on 10th of Muharramul Haram today (Saturday) night At Karbala Gamey Shah the participants of the mourning procession will start Shaam-e-Ghariban

Meanwhile, mourning processions and Majalis-e-Azadari were also held in all the Imambargahs including Imambargah Gulshan-e-Zahra Bhekewal Mor Bibi Pak Daman Empress Road Qasr-e-Batool Shadman Colony Khaima-e-Sadaat Islampura and other parts of the city on 9th of Muharramul Haram Nohas were recited throughout the processions journey paying homage to the sac- rifices of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions at Karbala Zakirs and orators also held the Majalis to highlight the patience and commitment of these sacred personalities Police officers and other high-ups from relevant departments visited Nisar Haveli Karbala Gamey Shah and other main points of the mourners to inspect the security arrangements made for main procession of 10th Muharram They also visited the route of main procession and directed the police officials to implement the security plan strictly Heavy contingents of policemen have been deputed on the processions routes and Majalis in the province to provide security cover to the participants Close circuit cameras have been installed at procession routes while special monitoring cells have also been set up to keep vigil on suspects All the SPs DSPs and SHOs will also maintain strict monitoring o l e i n c a s e o f a n y e m e rg e n c y o r m i s h a p during performance of the religious rituals o f t h e f a i t h f u l