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CLIMATE CHANGE: PM CALLS FOR PUTTING INTO USE LOSS AND DAMAGE FUND
Profit
Friday, 1 December, 2023 I 16 Jamada Al-Awal, 1445
STRESSES FUND SHOULD NOT BE LINKED WITH DEVELOPMENT FUNDS AND LOANS FROM MULTILATERAL LENDERS
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TERMS CLIMATE CHANGE NO MORE A FASHIONABLE POINT TO DISCUSS AS IT HIT PAKISTAN VERY HARD LAST YEAR
STAFF REPORT
ARETAKER Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday stressed the need for immediate operationalization of the Loss & Damage Fund, asserting its utilization on merit to cope with the issues of climate change. He said the utilization of Fund should not be linked with the development funds and loans from multilateral financial entities, but the funding should be additional and tangible. The prime minister, in an interview with CNN on the sidelines of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP28, said that currently Pakistan’s focus was on transformation from the coal-based power plants to renewable energy projects to contribute towards minimizing the climate change impacts in the region and beyond. “This is the area which could attract interest of countries here in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the settled economies and democracies on the Western side, so it is an opportunity for all of
them and all of us,” he added. He said the climate change was no more a fashionable point to discuss as it hit Pakistan very hard last year. The prime minister pointed out that Pakistan was not primarily responsible for contributing to the climate disaster in which the country’s two provinces Sindh and Balochistan faced historical devastation.
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DIESEL SLASHED BY RS7 PER LITRE; KEROSENE OIL REDUCED BY RS3.82 PER LITRE ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
The caretaker federal government decided on Thursday to maintain the petrol price at Rs281.34 per litre for the next fortnight — till December 15. However, the high-speed diesel (HSD) has been slashed by Rs7 per litre while kerosene oil reduced by Rs3.82 per litre. The light diesel oil has also been cut by Rs4.52 per litre. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar approved the new fuel prices which will be effective from Thursday midnight and remain in place till December 15. The country fixes fuel prices on a fortnightly basis after evaluating fluctuating international energy market costs and the rupee-dollar parity to transfer the impact on domestic consumers. On November 15, the interim government reduced the petrol and diesel prices by Rs2.04 and Rs6.47 per litre, respectively. The government is charging zero general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products while the rate of petroleum levy (PL) on petrol and diesel is Rs60 per litre. Diesel is widely used in the transport and agriculture sectors and the reduction in its price could bring inflationary impact down. According to brokerage reports released on Wednesday, inflation is expected to surge in November, primarily due to a massive hike in gas prices, The consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods and services, is likely to rise to 28.6-29.6% year-on-year in November, up from 26.9% in October. A report by brokerage Insight Securities predicts that the inflation rate will register a 2.1% month-on-month jump, defying earlier expectations of a gradual slowdown from September onwards. Optimus Capital Management estimates that the CPI will increase by 2.9% month-on-month, primarily driven by an 11.6% jump in the housing index due to gas price revision and a 1.6% increase in the food index.
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIV No 152 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
“Everyone knows who have been contributing in last one century so it is more of a question of an honest conversation rather than passing judgment on countries and economies,” he remarked. Therefore, he said, the responsibility shown by the wealthy nations themselves would be a welcome step. To a question whether the Fund
should be operationalized through a United Nation framework, the prime minister said, “If we wait for a UN framework it will take years of years. Therefore, initially it is possible to operationalize it under the World Bank and other multilateral entities.” PM TO LEAD PAK DELEGATION IN COP-28: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar will lead the Pakistani delegation in the high-level segment of the 28th UN Conference of Parties (COP 28) starting here at the Expo City on Friday. The prime minister will attend the World Climate Action Summit on December 1 and 2, a press release by the Prime Minister Office Press Wing said. Prime Minister Kakar will give a national statement at the World Climate Action Summit on December 2. Meetings of the prime minister with various world leaders are expected on the sidelines of the conference. Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Caretaker Minister for Climate Change Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Caretaker Energy Minister Muhammad Ali will also participate in the COP 28.
In letter, Imran draws CJP’s attention towards PTI’s ‘victimization’ ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Thursday penned a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, seeking affirmative action against the political victimization of his party, and abductions, and disappearances of its workers. In a seven-page document, Imran emphasized the need to assert Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan, which safeguards the ‘right to liberty, to associate, assemble, and speak’ on account of their political affiliation. ‘Set up commission’ In his letter, the PTI chief urged that a commission be established to further investigate the disappearances of PTI journalists and political workers. “These disappearances or abductions, quite apart from the arbitrary arrests, have spread fear through society and are a grotesque affront to the claim that Pakistan is a country ruled by a constitution and a set of laws,” the letter noted. “Today, the power to prosecute and arrest is being used in a blatant attempt to engineer and skew the political landscape of the country,” Imran wrote. Lifting media ban Imran Khan further said that all political parties, along with the PTI, should be allowed “coverage without any restriction or discrimination”. It is noteworthy to mention that the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned the former prime minister’s speeches and live broadcasts.
In a six-page document, PEMRA noted that, “Therefore, the competent authority, i.e., Chairman PEMRA, hereby prohibits the broadcast or rebroadcast of the speech(s) or press talks (recorded or live) of Mr Imran Khan on all satellite TV channels with immediate effect.” May 9 riots Referring to the May 9 riots, Imran argued that a large number of women arrested in Lahore were a “tragic indictment of law enforcement”. He said that these women were imprisoned for six months, with further re-arrests when bail was already granted in one case, The PTI chief particularly highlighted Punjab, Khyber-Paktunkhwa, and Islamabad authorities for their ‘maltreatment’. His letter further maintained that any worker affiliated with the
PTI is “being targeted through the registration of multiple and successive criminal cases so as to ensure continued imprisonment”. Imran said party workers were being re-arrested, as he demanded the conduct of a fair trial against them. “…the apex court cannot be unaware of the phenomena of the disappearances of individuals affiliated with the PTI or those connected with the government led by PTI between august 2018 and April 2022. These persons have re appeared and made press conferences that are clearly tutored”. “Without the intervention of the apex court in halting the widespread arrests and abductions that are presently underway, there is no possibility of a fair general election being conducted on February 8, 2024, Imran concluded.
‘Politically-motivated’: Justice Naqvi moves SC against SJC’s show-cause notices ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi on Thursday challenged in the Supreme Court the two show-cause notices issued to him by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) over allegations of financial misconduct. In his petition, Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi termed the “so-called complaints” filed against him with the SJC politically motivated. He contended that he was merely fulfilling “his solemn duty to protect and safeguard the Constitution” which was being violated by delaying the general elections in the provincial assembly of Punjab. The judge made the Federation of Pakistan a respondent through the Ministry of Law, the president of Pakistan and the SJC were also added as respondents. The petition was submitted under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. In his petition, Justice Naqvi requested that the complaints against him be heard in the open court. In its October 27 session, the SJC, the Constitution platform for accountability of judges of the superior courts, reviewed 29 complaints filed against different judges. The council, however, dismissed 19 of them and issued a show cause notice to Justice Naqvi for the remaining 10, accusing him of financial misconduct. In the petition, Justice Naqvi recalled the principles of the salience of judicial accountability in upholding the legitimacy of the judicial institution and maintained that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had explained it in his judgement in the case of Justice Qazi Faez Isa v Federation of Pakistan. The petitioner contended that the right of a judge to be treated in accordance with the law is “equally important”. The petitioner, citing Article 9, protested that access to justice is a fundamental right that is guaranteed by the Constitution. “Without the independence of the judiciary this right is illusory,” he maintained and added that due to this the interference in the office and/or the tenure of a judge is “a matter of public importance relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights”. Justice Naqvi said that he was a part of the two-member bench that presided over the former Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Hameed Dogar’s transfer case in which the issue of elections of the Punjab Assembly within 90 days of its dissolution was discussed. The petitioner claimed that the bench then took notice of the issue of elections and that the former chief justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial initiated suo moto proceedings, forming a nine-member bench to preside over it. He further added that Justice Athar Minallah, in his additional notes in the same case, observed that the delay in holding the general election deprived the citizens “of their most valuable constitutional right”. Justice Naqvi, in his 40-page petition, has claimed that this proves that the then-federal government delayed the elections in the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In the petition to the SC, the judge of the apex court protested that a malicious campaign was started against him for a suo moto notice taken by a two-member bench of which he was a part. “They held press conferences and issued maliciou statements against me,” he contended, adding that former members of the cabinet were amongst those who launched a campaign against him. He remarked that during this, members of bar councils, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in particular, met with then-prime minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif and other cabinet members after which the complaints were filed against him to the SJC, terming them “politically motivated”.
Careem launches Flexi Ride in bid to compete with Bykea, InDrive
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WITH COMPETITION GETTING FIERCE IN RIDE-HAILING MARKET, IS CAREEM READY TO FIGHT BACK? PROFIT
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Ride-hailing platform Careem has realigned its strategy with the launch of a price bidding option for customers, as competition in the ride-hailing industry gets fiercer with the entry of Russian Yandex-group backed Yango in the country. Careem already faces stiff competition from inDrive, also a Russian origin company. Matters are not helped by the entry of Bykea in car-hailing. Both companies allow users to bid fares and offer them more control over pricing. Yango also offers these rides at discounted prices. Which is why, in a recent announcement, Careem launched Flexi Ride, in the company’s new bid to allow for more user flexibility. Careem has kept the original model of automatically generated fares without the bidding option intact in all categories. What is Flexi Ride? The Flexi Ride feature might be a new offering by Careem, but it is not a new concept in Pakistan. This feature allows commuters to set their preferred price at the time of booking,
with an average fare initially displayed. Users on the Careem app can only bid fares 15% over or under the displayed average fare, while users on Bykea and InDrive do not have any range restrictions. The rest of the process remains the same, where the user’s offered price is sent to multiple drivers, who either accept the fare or offer counter bids. When an agreement over the fare is reached, a driver is assigned, commencing the journey. Careem’s justification for having a 15% upper and lower cap for bidding range is to prevent users from offering exploitative fares to Captains and keeping the prices fair. The new offering was piloted in Faisalabad and Multan in Spetember, where it received a positive response, according to the company, prompting its launch in Islamabad and Rawalpindi in November. The company plans to expand to other cities like Lahore and Karachi soon. Imran Saleem, General Manager Ride Hailing at Careem Pakistan told Profit, “We launched Flexi Ride because we saw an appetite for it in the market based on surveys
and routine connect sessions with the Captains and customers. While the early adoption rate is promising, we will continue to monitor and see how it progresses.” The company refused to share the exact adoption rate but informed Profit that the new feature has gained positive traction. Flexi Ride is currently available in three categories of rides, including Flexi GO, Flexi GO Mini, and Flexi Bikes. GO Premium remains unchanged, and maintains the existing variable price marketplace model. While Careem did not disclose the commissions charged to Captain, it was confirmed that commissions under Flexi would be lower than in the original non-bidding fare model. Recently, there have been complaints that Careem captains can not earn enough from rides, as they are charged hefty commissions between 30% to 40%.This means that from every Rs1,000 that a driver earns, anywhere between Rs300 and Rs400 will go to Careem. Careem was forced to charge high commissions, as investors demanded more profitability from Careem’s parent company Uber.
Competitors such as inDrive took advantage of the situation, and started with no commissions. Now, Careem appears to be forced to adopt the same route by introducing a similar offering and lower commissions for drivers. Recently, Careem had also announced that it would resume bonuses and incentives for its drivers, in a bid to prop up the supply of drivers which had fallen since the pandemic. But why would commuters, especially ones opting for the smaller GO and GO Mini cars, continue using the original model when Flexi exists? Should Careem not have discontinued the previous billing model in GO and GO Mini cars because customers and captains alike have greater incentive to opt for the new price model? A Careem captain, who requested to stay anonymous, disclosed that the company is using several incentives for captains to adopt the new model. “Careem is charging less service fees from Captains on Flexi Rides,” he shared, confirming that high commissions might have been part of Careem’s troubles. With the new offering, Careem’s own commissions might suffer, but
the company will have to succumb to market demand, especially in today’s highly competitive ride-hailing landscape. The captain also told Profit that in a briefing session for captains prior to the launch of Flexi Ride, a Careem spokesperson said, “The idea behind keeping both the Flexi (fixed) and marketplace (variable) models operational is, to account for factors that influence the cost of the ride. This way Captains have liberty to take rides on the marketplace model during peak hours, whereas, customers who prefer the original model due to any factors, such as having multiple stops or longer journeys, but want a cheaper and smaller car can also opt for it.” It is safe to say that this new feature was launched to cater to more price sensitive customers, who prefer having control over the fares they pay. It is also safe to assume that Careem was urged to introduce this new feature in order to retain its market share in a highly competitive market, so that it does not lose its user base to alternatives like Bykea and InDrive.
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02 NEWS
CHINA HELPING PAKISTAN’S TRANSITION TO SOLAR POWER
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Friday, 1 December, 2023 | ISLAMABAD
centralized energy storage system SOFAR PowerMaster, covering zero-carbon homes, parks, and energy bases.” This was stated by Zhu genhao, Domestic Solution Director, Centralized Energy Storage Business Line of SOFAR, in an interview with China Economic Net during the CISCE. SOFAR is a global leading supplier of solar PV and energy storage solutions and committed to be the leader of digital energy solutions. In March, SOFAR presents its wide product portfolio at Solar Pakistan, furthering its commitment to renewable energy and fueling the national transition to a low car-
BEIJING
Staff RepoRt
T the 2023 China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), the products we display cover multiple scenarios such as zero-carbon homes, industrial parks, and energy bases, including the string ground PV system solution SOFAR PowerMega. Besides, the overseas star product smart household storage system SOFAR PowerAll and new released industrial and commercial energy storage system SOFAR PowerMagic,
Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto to reach Lahore today LAHORE
Staff RepoRt
Former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will reach Lahore on Friday, it was learnt on Thursday. During their stay in Lahore, Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto will attend the wedding of party leader Mehreen Anwar Raja’s son in Lahore on December 2, said sources. The sources said that Asif Zardari and Bilawal will also meet various political personalities during their stay in Lahore. The sources added that both the leaders will meet the PPP Punjab and Lahore leaders to discuss the future course of action regarding the elections. Both the leaders will also hold consultations regarding the candidates of the People’s Party in Punjab, the sources concluded.
Ads placed declaring Moonis Elahi proclaimed offender LAHORE
Staff RepoRt
Proceedings against PTI leader Moonis Elahi have started after he was declared a proclaimed offender by the court in a money laundering case earlier this month. On court orders, the proceedings against the PO have been initiated, and advertisements related to him pasted on various locations. Moonis has also been given a chance to appear in court today (Thursday). The advertisement pasted against Moonis says that he is absconding and not appearing in court. A judge of the Special Central Court started the proceedings regarding a proclaimed offender in the money laundering case. The Federal Investigation Agency had submitted an investigation report to the court. An accountability court of Lahore had declared Moonis an absconder on November 13 in a case of receiving kickbacks worth billions in development projects. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had accused the former PML-Q leader of embezzling money in various development projects. On Oct 6, it started proceedings to declare the former minister a proclaimed offender after the suspect evaded arrest.
bon economy. Jesse Lau, Regional Director, APAC&MEA, sees Pakistan as a vibrant solar market, and promises to boost efforts to prop up local decarbonization ambitions and surging demands. “As a pivotal player in Pakistan, we will keep bringing forth innovations that address diverse applications with a considerably lower LCOE typically for local market.” Pakistan’s practical solar potential, measured at 4.713 kWh/kWp, places the country at 49th globally. This metric showcases the efficiency of solar power generation systems in Pakistan and highlights its
ability to convert sunlight into usable energy. What needs to be mentioned more is that Pakistan’s average levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar power stands at 0.09 USD/kWh, highlighting its affordability compared to traditional fossil fuel-based electricity generation. With a range of 0.08 to 0.11 USD/kWh, Pakistan has the potential to further optimize its solar energy systems, making them even more economically viable. In addition to ensuring hassle-free install and O&M, SOFAR inverter is adaptable for various scenarios both in increasing the output of solar energy
FBR deploys monitoring teams to sugar mills to curb tax evasion g
TAX OFFICERS AT SUGAR MILLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WILL SCRUTINIZE STOCK CLEARANCE THROUGH A MANUALLY INSTALLED SYSTEM OF TAX STAMPS ON SUGAR BAGS PROFIT
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of the sales tax law, the FBR or chief commissioner has the authority to assign an officer of Inland Revenue to the premises of a registered person or a class of such persons to monitor pro-
duction, sales of taxable goods, and stock positions. The initiative aims to ensure compliance with tax regulations and enhance transparency within the sugar industry.
CONTRARY TO ANALYSTS' EXPECTATIONS, THE WINDFALL TAX, IF IMPLEMENTED, COULD POTENTIALLY GENERATE OVER RS40 BILLION IN REVENUE FOR THE GOVERNMENT PROFIT
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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a temporary stay on the government’s imposition of a one-off 40 percent tax on bank profits derived from foreign exchange transactions in the last two years. The suspension, effective until December 8, comes in response to a statutory regulatory order (SRO) related to Section 99D of the Income Tax Ordinance 2021, introduced by the Finance Act 2023. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) clarified that the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) proposal received
approval from the cabinet. This decision was prompted by the government’s concern over substantial profits—reported to be Rs110 billion—earned by banks in 2021 and 2022 through speculative rupee-dollar trading. Contrary to analysts’ expectations, the windfall tax, if implemented, could potentially generate over Rs40 billion in revenue for the government. Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan of the IHC issued notices to the revenue division secretary and others for the upcoming hearing. The court’s decision followed a writ petition filed by Askari Bank Ltd against the SRO issued on November 21, which mandated a 40 percent tax on banks’ windfall income
calculated according to the specified formula. During the proceedings, the FBR’s lawyer argued that the legislation would remain in effect until declared otherwise. However, the judge acknowledged the petitioner’s argument that interim relief was sought specifically concerning the SRO—an executive act, not legislation. Consequently, Justice Khan ordered, “The foregoing submissions, therefore, demonstrate not only a prima facie case but also that the ingredients of the balance of convenience and irreparable loss operate in favour of the petitioner. Resultantly, the operation of the impugned SRO shall remain suspended till the next date of hearing.”
FBR freezes PIA’s bank accounts over Rs55bn unpaid federal excise duty g
RECENT REPORTS INDICATE THAT PIA HAS NOT FILED RETURNS SINCE FEBRUARY, AND A TRIBUNAL'S ORDER REQUIRES THE AIRLINE TO PROMPTLY PAY RS2.77 BILLION PROFIT
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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken action to freeze all bank accounts of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) due to non-payment of federal excise duty, adding to the airline’s ongoing financial challenges. FBR officials report that PIA’s out-
Pakistan has successfully exported a minimum of 125,000 cotton bales, with prospects indicating further improvement in export volumes. All export deals have been secured by a singular cotton ginner from Sindh, Dr. Jasso Mal, with destinations including China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. It is anticipated that a comparable quantity of cotton bales will be exported in the remaining duration of the season. The current season marks a potential record, considering that cotton exports have not surpassed six digits since 2017-18 when the figure reached 207,424 bales. In contrast, the country exported only 4,900 bales in 202223, 16,000 bales in 2021-22, and 70,200 bales in 2020-21. Ginners attribute this upswing in exports to the superior quality of lint and favorable international markets, drawing foreign buyers to Pakistani cotton. According to Cotton Ginners Forum Chairman Ihsanul Haq, the absence of typical rains in most cotton-growing areas has positively influenced crop quality. Additionally, a significant factor has been the record devaluation of the rupee, making local cotton more competitive on the global stage. Haq acknowledges that the potential record in cotton exports might have been higher if not for a decline in lint yield in Punjab due to a severe whitefly attack. Environmental pollution has also negatively impacted the industry.
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standing liabilities for federal excise duty have reached Rs55 billion up to September 2023. Despite repeated notices, the airline has failed to address these obligations. Furthermore, the tax liabilities for October 2023 remain unresolved as tax returns for that month are yet to be filed. The Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) in Karachi, a subsidiary of FBR, executed the
Booming season for Pakistan’s cotton exports as 125,000 bales shipped
GINNERS ATTRIBUTE THE UPSWING IN EXPORTS TO THE SUPERIOR QUALITY OF LINT AND FAVORABLE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, DRAWING FOREIGN BUYERS TO PAKISTANI COTTON
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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken decisive steps to counter tax evasion within the sugar industry, by deploying monitoring teams to sugar mills across the country, according to a prèss release issued on Wednesday. Sugar, identified as a notified product, is subjected to rigorous monitoring, covering production, sales, clearances, stocks, and related activities. The press release emphasizes the mandatory affixation of tax stamps on every bag of sugar produced or supplied. Violation of this requirement constitutes a punishable offense under Section 33(23) of the Act, with products liable to confiscation. Convicted defaulters may also face imprisonment for up to three years. The FBR, invoking Section 40-B of the Sales Tax Act 1990, has tasked its field formations with monitoring the sales of sugar production in all sugar mills nationwide. Tax officers at these mills will scrutinize stock clearances through a manually installed system of tax stamps on sugar bags. Under the enforcement provision
and slashing electricity bills for end-users. By 2021, SOFAR entered the TOP5 Global Hybrid Inverter Suppliers, set up a global R&D network with three R&D centers and two manufacturing bases. In 2022, SOFAR annual production capacity reached 10GW for PV & storage inverters and 1GWh for batteries. By the end of 2022, with three major R&D centers and two major production and manufacturing bases worldwide, SOFAR has shipped over 18GW inverters to more than 100 countries and regions, not only Pakistan, but around the globe.
freezing of PIA’s accounts with the aim of recovering the outstanding tax liabilities. Already, an amount of Rs1.5 billion has been recovered and deposited into the national treasury. Banks have been instructed to promptly transfer any funds received in PIA’s accounts to the FBR’s treasury accounts. Recent reports indicate that PIA has not filed returns since February, and a tribunal’s order requires the airline to promptly pay Rs2.77 billion. The freezing of accounts occurred two days before the end of the month, deviating from the usual practice of such actions taking place on the month’s last day. It is pertinent to mention here that last
month, PIA faced operational disruptions, including flight cancellations and delays, due to unpaid dues to the state’s oil marketing company, Pakistan State Oil (PSO). Reports from Bloomberg highlight that PIA’s liabilities stand at Rs743 billion (approximately $2.5 billion), surpassing its total assets by five times. PIA sought additional borrowing of over Rs7 billion from banks amid concerns about potential flight operation suspensions amidst a severe financial crisis. The airline has approached the Aviation Division for immediate loans, including a government-guaranteed option for securing Rs7.5 billion.
MoU between Punjab Police, Jiangsu to promote LEAs cooperation: Baligh LAHORE
Staff RepoRt
Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligh-urRehman has said that Pakistan and China are bound in a relationship of mutual trust, love and unparalleled friendship. He was talking to a Chinese Jiangsu Police delegation led by Deputy Director General of Police Security Tan Yongsheng which called on him in Lahore on Thursday. Speaking on this occasion, Baligh-urRehman said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was related to development of not only Pakistan and China but also the entire region. The Governor Punjab said that signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Punjab Police and Jiangsu Province will promote bilateral cooperation between law enforcement agencies of the two countries. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Director General of Police Security Tan Yongsheng said apart from cooperation in the field of policing between Pakistan and China, people-topeople contacts and economic cooperation will also be promoted.
Senate committee unhappy with SBP’s probe into Rs70bn solar panel scam g
SBP’S INADEQUATE REPORT ON SOLAR PANEL MONEY LAUNDERING ANGERS SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, WHICH DEMANDS FULL DISCLOSURE OF BANKS INVOLVED AND FIA INVESTIGATION PROFIT
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Solar panel cell on dramatic sunset sky background,clean Alternative power energy concept. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance expressed its dissatisfaction with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) over its handling of the investigation into the tradebased money laundering of over Rs70 billion through the import of solar panels. The committee, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, met on Wednesday to discuss the issue for the third time, but found the latest report by the SBP to be inadequate and lacking in new information or progress.
The committee members questioned why the SBP was not sharing the full details of the case, when the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had already established the evidence of money laundering through the duty-free imports of solar panels. A representative of the SBP told the committee that the banks involved in the case had been identified and penalised, but did not disclose their names. The committee members, including PMLN’s Musadik Malik and Saadia Abbasi and PTI’s Mohsin Aziz, demanded that the SBP provide the complete information and the names of the banks to the Senate panel. Senators also pointed out that the money
laundering was a serious offence, especially at a time when the country was facing foreign exchange constraints and had to restrict essential imports. Mandviwalla said he had been suggesting that the case should be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for a thorough probe, as the SBP was not giving a clear picture to the committee. PMLN’s Malik said the FBR and Customs authorities had revealed that 63 importers had laundered money through over-invoicing of solar panels, but this was based on an audit of only 200 out of 450 importers. He said the total amount of money laundering could be as high as $2.5 billion if all the importers were audited. Customs officials reiterated their earlier stance that they had started the investigation in October 2022 and found 63 importers involved in over-invoicing of solar panels, which were imported from China but payments were routed to the UAE or Singapore. They said the solar panels were not physically examined by the customs as they were duty-free items and only good declarations
(GDs) were presented to the customs desks. The FBR had reported that solar panels had emerged as a high-risk item for over-invoicing and trade-based money laundering due to their duty-free import status and the absence of sales tax on local supply. They said the solar panels, which were imported at Rs72.83 billion, were sold in the
domestic market at almost half the price, i.e. Rs45.61 billion. Customs officials said they had registered cases against the major suspects, including Rab Nawaz and his wife of Bright Star Company, who were now on bail. Senator Mohsin Aziz said the Bright Star had laundered around Rs40 billion through two banks.
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Friday, 1 December, 2023 | ISLAMABAD
FAUJI CEMENT EXPANDS PRODUCTION OF 6,500 TONS/DAY WITH NEW GREENFIELD PLANT
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President urges businessmen to ensure protection of workers’ rights ISLAMABAD
NEW PLANT HAS INCREASED TOTAL CEMENT PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF FCCL TO 10.6 MILLION TONS PER ANNUM, MAKING IT THIRD-LARGEST CEMENT PRODUCER IN THE COUNTRY PROFIT
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AUJI Cement Company Limited (FCCL) announced on Thursday that it has successfully commissioned its new Greenfield Cement Manufacturing Plant in Shadan Lund, District Der Ghazi Khan. The plant has a production capacity of 6,500 tons per day of clinker, which is a key ingredient for making cement, the FCCL informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange through a stock filing. The new plant has increased the total cement production capacity of FCCL to 10.6 million tons per annum, making it the third-largest cement producer in the coun-
Staff RepoRt
President Dr. Arif Alvi has urged the businessmen to ensure the protection of workers’ rights. Addressing an event of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Islamabad on Thursday, he emphasized the importance of honesty, ethics, and compassion in trade and business. He said women should also be encouraged and involved in businesses, stressing responsibility rests with the society to protect them from harassment. The President called upon the businessmen to prioritize environment protection. He said the affluent class should pay their taxes in order to deal with challenges faced by the country including those of out of school children and malnutrition.
try. The company also said the new plant has state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, emissions control features, and a waste heat recovery power plant. Capacity based market share of FCCL has increased from 10.5% to 13.1% in Pakistan. In North, capacity-based market share of FCCL has surged from 13.2% to 16.4%. After this expansion, FCCL’s capacity utilization to clock in at 59% and 62% in FY24 and FY25 respectively. FCCL said that the new plant will not only provide a livelihood to the locals, but will also help in the major uplift of the area. The company has initiated several corporate social responsibility projects, such as providing clean drinking water, healthcare, solar systems, and education to the deprived communities in Shadan Lund.
Police Khidmat Markaz inaugurated to improve policing services in Balochistan QUETTA
Staff RepoRt
The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have jointly inaugurated of ‘Police Khidmat Markaz’ in Kuchlak, Quetta. This collaborative venture with Balochistan Police marks a pioneering era in community-focused law enforcement, embodying a transformative approach that places a premium on accessibility, responsiveness, and community engagement. Funded through the EU’s Deliver Justice Project, a pivotal component of the broader Rule of Law Roadmap (RoLR) in Balochistan, this initiative supports reforms aimed at ensuring people-centered justice, equitable access to justice, particularly for women and marginalized groups, and enhancing the service delivery of the security sector in alignment with constitutional safeguards and international standards. The establishment of the Police Khidmat Markaz underscores the joint commitment of the EU, UNODC, and Balochistan Police to empower local communities through improved policing services, offering facilitation for all citizens through a unified service point. The inauguration ceremony of the Police Khidmat Markaz was presided over by Mr. Abdul Khalique Sheikh, PSP, Inspector General of Police, Balochistan, in the esteemed presence of Mr. Jeroen Willems, Head of Cooperation, European Union Delegation to Pakistan, and Dr. Jeremy Milsom, Representative, UNODC Pakistan. The primary objective of the Police Khidmat Markaz was to alleviate the workload on conventional police stations, enabling them to concentrate resources on the fundamental responsibility of crime prevention while simultaneously bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community. It is meticulously designed to provide seamless processes, guarantee prompt service for citizens, uphold respectful treatment of the public, and introduce a citizen feedback mechanism along with an online tracking system. Distinctive features include a gender desk, integrated IT software solutions, and CCTV cameras, differentiating it significantly from regular police stations in terms of structure, environment, and public interactions. The markaz facilitates easy filing of complaints, particularly in noncognizable offenses. This innovative center was poised to redefine the policing landscape in the region, bringing services closer to the people and establishing a collaborative framework that fosters mutual trust and understanding. The Police Khidmat Markaz exemplifies the shared vision of the European Union and the UNODC in creating safer, more secure environments through proactive community engagement in Balochistan. The delegation also visited the Library at Balochistan Judicial Academy (BJA), inaugurated earlier this year. Under RoLR, the Criminal Justice Institutions (CJIs) of the Government of Balochistan have received essential technical, operational, and infrastructure support. The Academy has been equipped with books and research materials, IT support for digitization, and comfortable furniture to ensure a conducive work environment.
Solangi underlines need of state media reforms at par with modern standards
Minister Planning reviews progress on water resource, National Water Policy ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
Caretaker Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Muhammad Sami Saeed chaired a meeting held in Islamabad on Thursday to review progress on the Water Resource Sector and implementation status of the National Water Policy framework. Member Infrastructure, Chief Water Resources and other relevant stakeholders attended the meeting, said a press release issued by the ministry. During the meeting, a comprehensive briefing was given to the minister over Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), the availability of water in the system, total sectoral water demand and challenges faced by the system due to population growth and inefficient uti-
lization of water resources. In addition, salient features of National Water Policy 2018, its strategic priorities and national targets set for 2023 were also discussed. During the meeting, it was informed that IBIS was the fourth largest Irrigation Network in the world. About 20.2 million hectares of land was cultivated through annual flows of 138.4 MAF in Pakistan. Pakistan has 6668 glaciers more than any country, anywhere on Earth while groundwater contribution was about 50 MAF. The Agriculture Sector was the major user of available water, 94% of irrigation water was utilized by the agriculture sector whereas domestic use is 5.2 and Industrial use is 0.8 percent. Furthermore, it was further informed that in order to cope with the challenges of water resources and cli-
ISLAMABAD
mate threats, the first ever National Policy was developed and approved by the Council for Common Interest (CCI) in 2018. The strategic priorities of the policy are Conservation and Efficiency, Storages, Renewable Energy, IWRM and Regulatory Frameworks. It was informed that out of 6 Planning Principles of policy, the key principle was “Equity and participatory decision-making; Water sector activities shall be participatory and consultative at each level and decisions will be taken by consensus.” The water Resource section highlighted the main targets of policy set for 2023 was increasing water use efficiency by 30%, reducing conveyance loss by 33% (Saving about 15 MAF), increase surface water storage by 10 MAF along with replacement of decade old infrastructure, improved Water Accounting, Mechanism for data collection.
Trade body declares closure of shops wrong way to control smog, pollution ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
The official trade body of the retail sector in the country has opposed the closure of markets and shops in view of controlling the rising smog, as the government is trying to control mitigate air pollution by reducing commercial activity. Addressing a ceremony on Thursday Chairman CAP Tariq Mehboob observed that heavy transport, burning of waste and crop residue and non-compliant factories contribute to smog the most, not the retail sector. “No other country or region is shutting down markets to control air pollution. As is the case in China and our neighboring countries, the focus must be on controlling movement of large vehicles which use low quality fuel and emit black smoke; cracking down on burning of waste and stopping factories that are polluting by
burning wood, tyres, etc. due to the absence of natural gas,” he pointed out. Speaking to media, Tariq Mehboob said, “Since the past one year, the retail timings are already restricted to 10 PM as per the orders of the Court. For the past few weeks, additional restrictions have been applied including late opening and full day closures which are resulting in huge losses to retail businesses and allied sectors, employment and tax generation.” Since the Covid-19 pandemic, shutting down retail has become the norm whenever any crisis emerges and it only has a superficial impact on the problem. Retailers have experienced over 30 prolonged bouts of restrictions on operating timings and days over the past four years, with compliant retailers being the worst affected every time. Less prominent markets seldom follow any restrictions imposed by government due to limited
enforcement capacity, as per CAP. “Recently, ad-hoc changes to notifications have resulted in confusion and abrupt disruptions for our businesses and employees. Moreover, restaurants and other service sectors have been allowed to remain open while shops must close, so movement of small vehicles still continues during closed period. We cannot support the closure of any commercial activity because it does not addressing the root causes of smog. Shutting down only one sector repeatedly will not create the desired results in smog reduction or electricity saving,” stated Asad Shafi, Vice Chairman CAP. On this issue, Tariq Mehboob explained that, “implementation of full retail shutdown in 6 major divisions of Punjab on last Sunday has resulted in an extraordinary loss of Rs. 10 billion for retail businesses, the domestic supply chain and tax revenues.
Careem launches Flexi Ride in bid to compete with Bykea, InDrive CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01
In an interview with Profit in 2022, Bykea’s CEO Muneeb Maayr said, “We are rolling out a hybrid between immediate matchmaking that we do today and a bid offer that inDriver does.” He added: “In a recession, we feel that the hybrid of both of these is going to be something that the market is going to accept. It is going to both allow drivers to send offers and even allow customers to send bids, even if they are low bids, especially the customers that want to save money and want to wait after bidding for low fares.” Bykea assumed that movement might not stop, but commuters might
have lowered expectations of quality and time. In essence, Bykea relied on the premise that the decline in disposable income, attributed to escalating inflation, coupled with the essential need to commute for work or school, will prompt individuals to trade waiting time for ride costs. This strategy seemed to open the door for the inclusion of less expensive, lower-quality vehicles, further reducing overall prices and positioning Bykea to seize a larger market share. Something similar might be in the play for Careem as well. Careem Pakistan seems to be shifting its focus away from segments which are not related to ride-hailing.
Just over two months ago, the company withdrew its electronic money institution (EMI) licence from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), ending its plans to launch a mobile wallet. Careem’s food delivery service also is nowhere to be seen, hinting that the food delivery segment might have succumbed to food delivery platform Foodpanda’s mammoth presence. Instead, changes at Careem, such as the introduction of Flexi rides, come on the back of a $25 million investment for the Pakistani market. The lower commissions on rides means that Careem’s focus has come back to ride-hailing. It has cash and is ready to spend it to regain its market share in car-hailing.
Staff RepoRt
Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Thursday urged the Senate’s Standing Committee to discuss and work out the plan for reforms in the state media institutions. Addressing the Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting, the minister underlined the need to carry out reforms in the state broadcasters to bring them at par with modern standards. Senator Fawzia Arshad presided over the meeting which was attended by members of the committee including Senator Maula Bakhsh Chandio, Senator Irfan-ul-Haque Siddiqui and Senator Naseema Ehsan as well as Federal Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Shaheera Shahid, MD Pakistan Television (PTV), Director General Radio Pakistan, and Managing Director Associated Press of Pakistan. During the session at Committee Room No. 1 of the Parliament House, the panel discussed the implementation of the recommendations, worked out in its meeting on October 9, 2023. The committee also took up the recommendations related to the appointment of 53 daily-wage employees during the meeting. The information minister said the caretaker government could not make permanent appointments or decide about the closure of any institution. He said services of different people were hired sometime back to mitigate the shortage of staff and run essential programmes, but hiring of daily wagers through advertisement, seemed to be a time-consuming process. Murtaza Solangi said the committee’s recommendations in this regard would be implemented in letter and spirit. The committee’s guidance on advertising for dailywage recruitment or any kind of hiring would also be followed, accordingly. He said the committee might also direct the ministry to conduct an investigation into any department for probing into the recruitment of daily-wage employees. He emphasized the importance of clear guidance to avoid recurrence of such issue in the future. The Information Minister highlighted the need for reforms in all state broadcasters, including PTV, and urged the committee to discuss a programme on reforms of the state media institutions. He pointed out that 76 per cent of Radio Pakistan’s overall budget was currently allocated to salaries and pensions, and there were still pending dues for numerous employees.
KP witnessed 563 terror incidents in 2023, reveals report PESHAWAR
Staff RepoRt
The Anti-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Thursday released a report on the terror incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2023. According to the CTD report, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) witnessed as many as 563 terror incidents this year. Out of 563 incidents, police were targeted 243 times. According to the report, the highest 132 incidents of terrorism were reported in Dera Ismail Khan, 103 incidents in Khyber and 89 terror incidents were reported in Peshawar? The report further revealed that 86 times terrorists attacked North Waziristan and 50 times South Waziristan? The report further said that as many as 837 terrorists were taken into custody. The highest number of arrested outlaws was from Peshawar 245.
Baltistan University in turmoil over VC’s controversial tenure extension ISLAMABAD
Ghulam abbaS
The University of Baltistan (UoB) finds itself embroiled in a heated controversy surrounding the extended tenure of its Vice Chancellor Dr Naeem Khan. The uproar intensifies as Senate members advocating against the prolonged extension face suspension, raising questions about the university’s integrity. The situation within Skardu’s sole public university escalated during a recent Senate meeting when two vocal members were suspended by Chairperson Batool Qureshi for challenging Dr Naeem Khan’s overstretched term. Despite the crucial issue at hand, discussions against the VC were abruptly halted with Chairperson Qureshi firmly stating, “I will not listen to anything against the VC.” The controversy stems from Dr Naeem’s tenure extension beyond his original term completion in May 2021. The Senate granted him extension under vague cir-
cumstances, citing an unwarranted situation until a regular VC could be appointed. However, Dr Naeem continued to occupy the position, influencing the recruitment process and even challenging the Search Committee’s recommendations in court, as his name did not make it to the merit list due to a lack of qualification in interviews. In a recent Senate session, members from Baltistan reiterated their concerns over the illegal tenure extension, persisting despite opposition and legal battles. Dr Naeem Khan’s interventions in the appointment of a new VC have sparked controversy, leading to delays and incomplete procedures, further complicating matters for the university. During the session, Senate members were taken aback by Chairperson Qureshi’s staunch support for the Vice Chancellor. This support resulted in the suspension of esteemed members Muhammad Hasan Hasrat and Nazeer Ahmed for the next two sessions after they raised objections regarding Dr Naeem’s extended term.
In response, the suspended members labeled Chairperson Qureshi’s actions as illegal and unethical. They have called upon the President of Pakistan, the university’s chancellor, to intervene and salvage the institution from potential collapse. Threats of legal action loom if their concerns remain unaddressed. Efforts to reach Chairperson Batool Qureshi for comment proved futile, as calls went unanswered and queries on WhatsApp were ignored. Amidst the chaos, the Higher Education Commission clarified that there’s no formal procedure or legal backing for removing a Senate member without specific clauses in Baltistan University’s statutes. However, recent actions suggest a clampdown not only on Senate members but also on senior faculty members who voiced dissent. The administration’s pressure tactics and removal of faculty members aim to sway opinions on Dr. Naeem’s appointment. This power struggle doesn’t end with the VC; the university Registrar Waseemullah Jan, was granted a
three-year extension on the post at the end of his tenure. With both heads wielding control, the institution teeters on the edge of potential destruction in their bid to shield each other.
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04 COMMENT
Racism made in the USA
Casting a long shadow
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The decision to set up performance monitoring units in DISCOs is a long-term one
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An uneasy ceasefire
HE proposal to set up Performance Monitoring Units in loss-making electricity distribution companies under a serving brigadier, with representatives from the FIA and the Intelligence Bureau is debatable. The caretaker government may have the legal right to take a decision on this proposal, but it should not. The purpose of caretaker governments are twofold; one, to conduct elections; two, to keep the motor of government chugging away in the interim between the dissolution of one assembly and the meeting of the new one. At the time, the extension in the powers of the caretaker government was justified as enabling it to take decisions allowing it to meet IMF conditionalities already agreed by the outgoing government. One of the concerns has been with the circular debt problem in the power sector, and the proposal is explicitly meant to tackle the circular-debt issue. The proposal is based on the experience of the Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation, which saw line losses reduced after a task force led by an Army officer identified wrongdoers. Apart from the dangers of imposing one-size-fits-all solutions to what are complex problems, it almost seems as if the caretaker government is in hurry to tie down the incoming government by actions which could not be easily reversed. It seems that the hybrid regime’ model is to be followed, with it not really mattering which party comes to power, so long as it follows whatever has been laid down for it, and perhaps more importantly, does whatever it is told. The DISCOs are not the only example. Caretaker PM Anwarul Haq Kakar was recently in the UAE and Kuwait where he inked a large number of MoUs in each country, which, if realised, would bring Pakistan billions of dollars from each country. It is not as if this was an event planned a long time in advance, and thus something the caretakers had to do. It seems more a case of the government trying to push through something, and thus present the incoming government with a fait accompli. The caretaker government has shown that the ‘hybrid’ experiment is not yet over. Whatever happens to the elected government that takes office, it seems that the elections are only being gone through for form’s sake, and there is little real choice offered to the electorate, especially in the realm of the economy.
at Penpoint M a NiaZi
HE world has won what it seems to think is a splendid victory. It has persuaded Israel to accept a ceasefire in Gaza. The way the process works is that the Palestinians release some of those they took captive on October 7, in exchange for the Israelis releasing Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. As expected, the process did not run smoothly. The first exchange, due on Thursday, occurred on Friday. The exchange which was supposed to happen on Saturday, started only on Saturday evening, when Hamas released 17 hostages. The Isaelis responded on Sunday with the release of 39 Palestinians. What is to happen when Hamas runs out of captives to release. To borrow a phrase much in vogue in current Pakistani politics, there isn’t a level playing field. It may not be of much comfort to PTI supporters, but they are in the company of the Palestinians rather than the Israelis. The Israelis have not been able to clear Gaza City as they would have wished. There are some indications that the task is beyond the Israeli Defense Forces. At the same time, the rhetoric coming out of Israel is twofold: it calls for genocide, and it says that the Palestinians are not human, and therefore not to be treated in a humanitarian fashion. It is eerie, but Israeli TV has played a song, sung by a chorus of four little girls, which says that there will only be a rest, a return, after the enemy’s land has been levelled. October 7 was obviously a great shock. However, the rhetoric of revenge emerging from Israel might well be that dealing with a slave rebellion, and here one gets a clue to the racist nature of Zionism and the current Israeli attack on Gaza. The Palestinians are not exactly slaves, but the economic relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians is definitely that of masters and servants. The low-paying low-prestige jobs that Israelis refuse to take are left to Palestinians desperate for work, any work. Zionists seems to have brought this racism over from the USA, from which so many Israelis have originated. Israel has been a client-state of the USA, and provides it a base in the oil-rich Middle East. Its support comes because American Jews have been active in politics generally in both parties, and while partisan differences exist, there is a bipartisan consensus on support for Israel. This support is extraordinary, extending to Israel being the only country with which the USA allows dual nationality. Then there are the Christian Zionists, mostly Evangelicals, in the USA, who believe the Second Coming will be preceded by the founding of a Zionist state. As the Evangelicals increased in infuence in the Republican Party, so did the Zionists. Similarly, the Zionists had made themselves part of the eft, because in one version, Jews were victims of racism, and thus were allied with African Americans. As a matter of fact, a lot of Russian and Ukrainian Jews first went to the USA, and then migrated to
Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami
Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
Yousaf Nizami
Israel. Not only were the Russian and Ukrainian Jews numerous, but Russian pogroms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had provided an impetus to Zionism. One result has been that US citizens were among the hostages taken by Hamas. Apart from the racism brought over from the USA, which was essentially anti-African, the founding myth of Israel involved the displacement of Palestinians from their land, and their replacement by Jews. This meant discriminating against Arabs by East European Jews. One manifestation of this was the discrimination faced by the Falashas when they were brought to Israel as an example of how the Israeli state would ensure the Right of Return for all Jews. The Falashas were a small community of Jews in Ethiopia. Like Jews everywhere, they had taken on the visual characteristics of the majority community, and looked more like their original Ethiopian hosts and nothing at all like the Russian- and Ukrainianorigin Israelis they found themselves amongst. They faced immediate and extreme discrimination, worse than that faced by Arab Jews, who found they were treated quite badly by the Ashkenazim, or European-origin Jews. This parallels the discrimination meted out to Jews and African Americans in the USA, which is no longer state-sanctioned, but which is practised underground. The Netanyahu government is right-of-centre and thus tends to the sort of racism, including antisemitism, practised by Republicans in the USA or Tories in the UK. Though themselves victims of racism, Israelis do not seem to have learnt. Instead, they have used their state to perpetuate the same sort of discrimination. Similarly with the Holocaust, wshich was the first attempt at ethnic cleansing. Instead of working to prevent it, Israel and the Zionists seem to have chosen the Palestinians as victims. There was one attempt in 1948, when there wasn’t a prior excuse like October 7, when Zionists either massacred or expelled Palestinians from their land, and took over most of Palestine to form Israel. Now the second attempt is being made. How have the victrims become guilty of the same crime? The flaw can be sought in the Zionist enter-
Schools for orphans in Turbat Editor Umar Aziz M. A. Niazi Joint Editor
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Executive Editor
Neglecting the orphans SaSSi NaSir ali
N the bustling city of Turbat, the second largest city in Balochistan, a heartbreaking reality persists: there are no schools specifically designed for orphans. These vulnerable children, without proper guidance and support, find themselves picking up garbage, begging on the streets, with some children in Turbat forced to pick garbage as a means of survival and lacking the opportunity to receive an education. Back in 2000, a ray of hope emerged for these orphaned children as a school was established to cater to their unique needs. The school served as a beacon of light, offering them a chance to shape their own futures. With dedicated teachers and a supportive environment, the school empowered these children to dream, learn, and build their own careers. Sadly, the school that once provided solace and education to orphaned children in Turbat now lies in ruins. A lack of resources and support has led to its closure, leaving these children with limited options for pursuing an education. As a result, they are left to roam the streets, begging for survival, and missing out on the transformative power of education. The fact that Balochistan has only 13 orphanages, despite there being 616 in the whole of Pakistan, is quite striking. Turbat being the second-largest city in Balochistan, it’s surprising that there is only one orphanage in the area. This raises important questions about the resources and support available for orphaned children in Turbat. When we compare Turbat to other cities like Quetta and Karachi, it becomes apparent that Turbat is in need of more orphanages. Quetta boasts 5 orphanages, while Karachi has an impressive 10. However, But when we look at Turbat, it only has one orphanage. That’s a big difference compared to Quetta and Karachi. It shows that Turbat might need more support and resources to provide for the orphaned children in the area. One possible reason for this disparity could be the lack of awareness and attention given to the issue. Orphanages require significant funding, infrastructure, and staff to provide proper care and support to the children. It’s possible that Turbat has not received as much focus and investment in this aspect compared to other cities. Education is a fundamental right for every child, regardless of their circumstances. It not only equips them with knowledge and skills but also fosters their personal development, confidence, and resilience. For orphaned children, education offers a lifeline, providing them with the tools to break the cycle of poverty, gain independence, and contribute positively to society. When orphaned children receive quality education, they have a greater chance of leading fulfilling lives. Education opens doors to various
opportunities, enabling them to pursue higher education, secure stable employment, and become self-reliant individuals. Moreover, education empowers these children to become active participants in their communities, fostering positive change and breaking the cycle of poverty. To address the urgent need for education in Turbat, it is crucial for government bodies, nonprofit organizations, and the community to come together. Efforts should be made to rebuild and reopen the Orphan School of Turbat, providing a safe and nurturing environment for these children to learn and grow. In addition to rebuilding the Orphan School, it is essential to establish more educational facilities specifically designed for orphaned children in Turbat. These schools should not only focus on academic education but also provide emotional support, counseling services, and vocational training to equip these children with the skills they need for a brighter future. The government, NGOs, and the community must collaborate to ensure the success of these educational initiatives. Financial support,
donations of educational resources, and volunteer involvement can make a significant difference in providing a quality education for orphaned children in Turbat. Raising awareness about the importance of education for orphaned children is crucial. Through social media campaigns, community events, and educational programmes, we can spread the word and garner support for this pressing issue. By highlighting the potential of these children and the positive impact education can have on their lives, we can inspire others to take action. Education is a powerful tool that can transform the lives of orphaned children in Turbat. By providing them with access to quality education, we can empower these children to break free from the cycle of poverty and create a better future for themselves. Let’s join hands, raise our voices, and work towards ensuring that every child, regardless of their circumstances, has the opportunity to receive an education and thrive. The writer is a freelance columnist
prise. Zionism sought to convert the Jews from what they were, a wandering people, into another nation. They were a little late on the scene, for by the time of the Zionist Congresses at the end of the 19th century, the German and Italian nations had come into being. The Zionists sought Palestine from the Ottoman Caliph Abdul Hameed II, but he quite huffily refused. Then came World War I, and the Sykes-Picot agreement, when France and the UK agreed on a division of the Middle East, as well as the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Germany meanwhile saw the rise of the Nazi party, which blamed its defeat on the ‘’stab in the back’ alledgedly dealt by the Jews. When the Nazis came to ower, they began a persecution of Jews, an introduction of laws of racial purity, which led Jews to begin migrating from Germany. They started going to Palestine, where they hoped to overturn the Palestinian majority there. This got the Palestinians worried. They were under European rule for the first time since Salahuddin Ayubi had reconquered it from the Crusaders, and now the British wished to set up a Jewish state when they left. Palestinians were agitated, and this was the time when the Grand Mufti of Palestine visited India,, and was hosted, among others, by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is because of this that it can be said that Pakistan’s support for the Palestine cause predates the creation of Pakistan. The Zionists present this episode as one more in the Jewish people’s struggle for survival. However, this conceals the almost uncanny resemblance to the suppression of a slave rebellion that it has, with the Israelis behaving as the white ‘massa’ in his brutal attempt to suppress it. The extension of the ceasefire only brings nearer the question of what happens when Hamas runs out of hostages. At present, the Palestinians have suffered extreme damage, but Israel has not yet been able to uproot Hamas. So long as it does not do so, it will not be able to claim victory. Unfortunately, that requires more violence. The writer is a member of staff
Editor’s mail
Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
Climate commitment
PAKISTAN urgently needs to address climate change. The country is highly vulnerable to climate variations, with significant environmental and societal impacts, mirroring trends seen across South Asia. The melting Himalayan glaciers have disrupted crucial rivers, intensifying heat, droughts, and extreme weather in certain regions. In a ranking of nations affected by climate-induced extreme weather (1999-2018), Pakistan claimed the fifth spot. The region faces various natural disasters, including cyclones, floods, droughts, and earthquakes. The catastrophic floods in 2022, linked to climate change, devastated infrastructure, displacing many and causing substantial loss of life. In May 2022, Pakistan experienced a severe heatwave, with temperatures soaring to 51°C—an event 100 times more likely due to climate change. The Lahore High Court’s recent decision to close educational institutions on Saturdays aligns with the provincial government’s efforts, making face masks mandatory in smog-affected districts. Both measures highlight a collective acknowledgment of the severity of environmental challenges, especially as Lahore consistently ranks among the world’s most polluted cities. The court’s proactive stance, emphasising work-from-home arrangements and scrutinising government and industrial units, reflects a comprehensive approach to combating the multifaceted impacts of environmental degradation. Collaborative efforts are crucial, and this commitment is essential for safeguarding citizens. Pakistan’s continuous vulnerability to climate change exacerbates existing challenges, potentially triggering a disastrous outcome, particularly when combined with political unrest and economic instability. The BBC Climate Asia survey underscores that a majority of Pakistanis recognize the adverse effects of climate change on floods, droughts, and resource availability. Urgent reforms, encompassing sustainable technology, scientific advancements, and behavioural shifts, are necessary for mitigating environmental impact. The reduction of fossil fuel dependency with cleaner energy sources is vital. Governments must lead by example, committing to uphold international agreements for effective reform. In the agricultural sector, climate factors significantly impact wheat production. Rainfall, sowing time, and temperature directly influence yield and quality. By adopting sustainable farming practices and promoting climate-smart agriculture, Pakistan can mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture, ensuring a sustainable future. ENGR. YAQOOB ALI BALOCH JAMSHORO
Health harmony
Education is a powerful tool that can transform the lives of orphaned children in Turbat. By providing them with access to quality education, we can empower these children to break free from the cycle of poverty and create a better future for themselves. LetÊs join hands, raise our voices, and work towards ensuring that every child, regardless of their circumstances, has the opportunity to receive an education and thrive.
Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965
Friday, 1 December, 2023
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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9
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Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545
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I’m writing to express concern about Pakistan’s current situation amidst the ongoing Congo Virus pandemic. While the global impact is evident, witnessing Pakistan’s growing challenges is disheartening. In recent months, Pakistan encountered obstacles in controlling the virus and providing healthcare. Addressing these concerns is crucial for citizens’ well-being and healthcare stability. Unequal vaccine distribution is a pressing issue. Despite progress, urban areas have better coverage than rural regions. Precautions include wearing protective gear, avoiding contact with infected individuals, and healthcare workers using proper infection control measures. Strain on healthcare facilities and personnel is a major concern. Workers, under challenging conditions, require support to maintain healthcare integrity. I urge immediate action from the government and policymakers. Priorities should include equitable vaccine distribution, intensified awareness campaigns, and adequate resources for healthcare facilities in battling the Congo Virus. As a nation, we must unite to combat this pandemic effectively, prioritising citizens’ health regardless of location or socioeconomic status. Collective effort and responsible governance are essential to overcome Congovirus challenges and protect our people’s well-being. FATIMA KHALID KARACHI
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Role of China Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan’s national security Friday, 1 December, 2023
CPEC must be secure first
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MoazaM ali
HE China-Pakistan Corridor (CPEC) has become a “game-changer” for both the Chinese and Pakistani economies. A major trade route used throughout their relationship, both see it as an opportunity for their own economies. In particular, Pakistan seeks to address issues with economic development, energy access, and social welfare, China to extend its global trade perimeter and construct future energy and commerce routes to expeditiously increase its economic footprint. CPEC helps to regionalize the global economy. It laid the groundwork for cooperation, prosperity, and harmony. CPEC is a step toward a brighter tomorrow. As a result of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s 2013 visit to Pakistan, the idea was finally put into practice. On 5 July 2013, the two countries signed a landmark agreement establishing the CPEC. In the same year, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited China and inked eight agreements, and in 2016, went again and signed 19 new agreements. In April 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Pakistan, with the signing of 51 agreements worth $46 billion, many related to CPEC. China’s original CPEC investment in Pakistan of $46 billion has grown to roughly $54 billion now. This exceeds the aggregate of all other FDI. Therefore, Pakistan has received far more help from China in recent years than from the USA. Security has been identified as a key barrier to CPEC’s success. There are both internal and external problems. CPEC is critical to Pakistan’s safety and stability. The internal and external security threat is a challenge for CPEC’s full implementation. Internal security is an issue in both China and Pakistan, although Pakistan
is hit worse by extremism and terrorism. From Xinjiang to Gwadar, a wide variety of terrorist groups are active, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Tehrik Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar e-Tayyaba, Lashkar eJhangvi, Daesh, the Baluchistan Liberation Front, and the militant wings of various political parties. Several groups are working to prevent the CPEC project. This project may be delayed due to internal security and political turmoil in Pakistan. The security situation in Gwadar has been exaggerated, unfortunately, by those pushing their own objectives. The country is now fighting a separatist uprising in Baluchistan. The Baloch Liberation Army has rebelled to win independence. Despite Gwadar port being touted as a game-changer for Baluchistan’s economic development, concerns have been voiced by its residents. They are concerned that the influx of Chinese and other non-Baloch into Gwadar would cause them to be outnumbered and prevent them from reaping CPEC’s benefits. In an effort to calm them, political leaders and security officials have repeatedly promised that CPEC would provide better economic opportunities. Assuring current inhabitants that they would not be forced to migrate is essential in dispelling the fear that such expansion will only benefit the already wealthy. Balochistan has been a hotbed of interethnic strife and bloodshed owing to political and economic issues. Militant leaders and the province’s political leaders have voiced their displeasure with its current state of development and resource management. Even after achieving independence, they have fought against federal development programmes. Also, rarely, they have bombed communication and public infrastructure and abducted Chinese labourers. India has a vested interest in CPEC’s failure. That China and India both have been vying for control of the region and security, especially concerning maritime interests in the Indian Ocean, supports this. With its importance to CPEC, Gwadar has been thrown into the spotlight of rising security concerns in the area. The situation has become more precarious due to India’s sponsorship of a port in southwestern Iran rivalling Gwadar. India needs Chabahar to have a direct marine connection with Central Asia and Afghanistan, both of which are landlocked nations, so it may avoid going via Pakistan. To the extent that Chabahar is developed, it will provide a competitor to the Gwadar-connected CPEC route for transporting energy and commercial commodities from the Gulf area to Afghanistan and Central Asia. For decades, Pakistan has been struggling with an Islamist uprising that gained momentum in the latter years under Musharraf. The TTP was in charge of the uprising. It has been held accountable for assaults on Chinese
How cash-for-votes could swing the Telangana elections The going rate this election is Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 for each vote
over, if anything, this number itself might be a significant underestimate given that the authorities have mostly concentrated on raiding the Congress. The ruling BRS, seen as having a significant lead when it comes to cash distribution, has largely been untouched.
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SCROLL
Shoaib Daniyal
HEN Scroll asked 24-year-old Madasi Sai, which party his village will vote for, his answer was immediate. “No clear favourite: half say they will vote TRS and half say Congress,” he said. Then the young man paused and smiled cheekily. “But on the last day, many will change their vote when cash is distributed,” he chuckled. “This is how it happens in Telangana.” Sai’s honesty was refreshing – and accurate. Travelling around rural Telangana for election coverage, Scroll came across between 10-15% of voters who argued that they had not yet decided who they would vote for. By itself, this is not remarkable. Except in Telangana, this invariably meant that the person was waiting for bribes in the form of cash from parties in order to vote. Several political leaders told Scroll, the leader in this game is the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, earlier known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. They claim the party has managed to put together a massive war chest using kickbacks from government schemes as well as by utilising soaring land rates in Hyderabad city. Its main contender, the Congress, lags behind in the game and needs to depend on wealthy candidates to stay in the bribing game, they added.
MONEY GAME: Chintakindi Shekhar is angry with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for underdelivering on welfare and cash transfers. “He only talks nonsense,” Shekhar argues. “He promised a lot but delivers very little. There are no two bedrooms [a scheme allocating a flat for poor citizens] here. He says he will do so much for Gouds [his caste, which traditionally taps toddy] but does nothing.” However, Shekhar soon mellows. “In the end, however, schemes don’t matter,” he explained. “Everything depends on how much money is given before voting.” Shekhar points out that the act of giving and taking bribes for votes is seen as completely normal in Telangana. “People think it is their right to get money,” he said. In Chinnakandukur village, Syed Jahangir is happy with the Congress but declines to say who he will vote for. “I will decide my vote in the end,” he said. Deciding ones vote in the eleventh hour is not uncommon in India. It often refers to some form of community decision-making, where a village or caste decides to vote en masse in order to increase their bargaining power with politicians. In many cases in Telangana, however, the reason is often baser: the voters are waiting to be bribed by parties with cash. Large scale cash distribution in exchange for votes is an open secret in Telangana. Its magnitude can be estimated from the fact that the Election Commission has seized significantly more cash from Telangana alone than all other states combined during this round of Assembly elections. More-
BRS LEADS: The root of this go back decades, when Telangana was part of Andhra Pradesh, K Keshava Rao, a Rajya Sabha member from the BRS, told Scroll. “NT Rama Rao [who first became chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1983] started this trend by giving [public works] contracts to private firms,” Rao explained. The kickbacks from these contracts were then funnelled back into buying votes for parties. A similar mechanism works for the BRS today too. “Around 12% of [the revenue of] major government contracts goes to the BRS,” a senior BRS leader told Scroll, citing examples such as the Kaleshwaram irrigation project and Mission Bhagiratha, the project to bring drinking water to every home in the state. The other source of funds for the ruling party is real estate in and around Hyderabad city, which has seen a boom ever since the state was formed a decade ago. Between 2018 and 2020, for example, real estate prices in the city have registered a 21% increase in prices, as per data from Housing.com. This is the highest of any major city in the country. Currently, real estate rates in Hyderabad are the second highest in India. Only Mumbai is more expensive. As a result, the BRS can afford to centrally distribute funds. Something the more cash-strapped Congress is unable to do. “We don’t have much money,” admits Syed Nizamuddin, spokesperson for Telangana Congress. “The election has become very expensive.” Unlike the BRS, the Congress struggles with central disbursement of funds and needs to depend far more on an MLAs own funds. “We also try to give a good amount to our MLAs but we don’t have much money,” a Congress leader told Scroll. He denied that the party unit in Telangana was receiving any significant infusion of funds from Karnataka, now that the neighbouring state had a Congress government, as alleged by the BRS.
MECHANICS OF THE TRANSACTION: Multiple political leaders, analysts and voters told Scroll that the going rate for this election was Rs 10,000 per vote. However, in case the constituency was a close contest, the figure could even go up to Rs 15,000. While cash is distributed among voters even in other states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, this figure appears to be unprecedented. While the cash distribution is concentrated in rural Telanagana, a leader of the All India Majlis-i-Ittehadul Muslimeen told Scroll that even rich residents of Hyderabad are offered bribes in the form of gifts. “Parties distribute crockery sets in housing societies,” he said, citing an example. How is the deal enforced given that the vote is, in theory, a secret ballot? A Congress leader explained that parties appoint one person for every village as a way to keep a check. Moreover, there is an informal sense of upholding the transaction. “Villagers, when they take money, they will [listen],” he said. Keshav Rao, however, argued that there is a conversion ratio, with a significant number of voters ignoring the bribe. In spite of that, he said cash still impacts 10-15% of votes. Nizamuddin, the Congress spokesperson, flagged this as a major concern for his party, given that the BRS’s wealth means it can easily beat other parties in this game. “Lots of anti incumbency is there, but this is why he is [the chief minister] coming close to Congress, because of the money he is spending,” Nizamuddin said. “Using bribes he will get 10-15 seats extra.”
labourers in Pakistan. Chinese experts are concerned about the security of Chinese tourists in Pakistan. Chinese authorities are especially concerned about radicals in Xinjiang who could collaborate with Islamist insurgents in Pakistan. Zarb-e-Azb was launched by the Pakistani military in 2014 in response to terrorist attacks on Karachi’s airport. Despite a considerable drop in terrorism-related violence in 2016, 2019 has seen an uptick in occurrences in Balochistan, where separatists still have some subversive capabilities. Chinese investors’ fears have been heightened by recent attacks on security personnel on the Makran coastal highway by the Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar and the Pearl Continental in Gwadar by the BLA in May 2019. Numerous military operations against terrorist organizations have greatly bolstered Pakistan’s domestic security. There are still significant security challenges to be overcome to ensure the successful completion of huge development projects falling under CPEC. Although a dedicated security force has been formed, the difficult terrain in Southern Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan remain major worries. The federal government formed the “Special Security Directorate,” an army-led command, to specifically handle security threats to the CPEC in response to major concerns about the best way to secure CPEC and its personnel. The Pakistani government has used counterinsurgency tactics to combat the TTP and ETIM. However, further steps might be taken to increase safety. It would seem that Pakistani national security organizations are now more concerned with internal politics than with eliminating terrorist threats. Increasing the number of security guards at a construction site, roadway, or structure is not the only way to show dedication. It also requires decision-makers to settle fundamental concerns at the policy level and then craft a workable strategy for implementation. In this aspect, Pakistan has completely failed. Pakistan’s 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) to tackle terrorism and extremism is a prime illustration. The TTP in Pakistan was an intended target of the NAP. The Afghan Taliban, purportedly Pakistan’s allies, have allowed the country to restore contact with the organization, which has set up safe havens there. Pakistan’s first National Security Policy (NSP), established very recently, calls for “dedicated political debate to establish a broad consensus on homeland safety that transcended deep divisions and is untainted by shifts in the national political landscape.” Pakistan’s national security worries are alleviated as a result of the programme. Though Gwadar port holds enormous potential for the development of Baluchistan’s economy, locals there are divided about its safety. Balochistan’s political leadership and security officials have repeatedly told the pub-
COMMENT 05
lic that CPEC would be to the region’s economic advantage. People there are hostile to the federal government and have kidnapped Chinese workers as a form of protest. Getting the people of Baluchistan on our side is crucial to the success of the CPEC project. They need to allow for the comfort of being rather than being afraid. Baluchistan should also beef up its national security to prevent any untoward incidents. A significant breakdown in CPEC may be directly attributed to India, Pakistan’s long-standing geopolitical foe. The situation has become more precarious due to India’s sponsorship of Chabahar, an alternative to the CPEC route. As a result, India would make every attempt to halt the CPEC initiative. Pakistan needs to deploy national ministries or military to the area around the CPEC corridor. It would ensure Pakistani defence against Indian aggression. In addition to being a huge threat to the CPEC project, the TTP is also a big obstacle. Chinese citizens first experienced a great deal of anxiety, but the 2014 operation was effective, and the number of terrorist strikes dropped dramatically in 2016. Chinese businessmen were already wary of Balochistan before the assault in 2019, but the situation is worse now. While the government of Pakistan has made beginning steps to combat terrorism, more long-term solutions are required. The federal government formed the “Special Security Division,” an army-led command, to specifically handle security threats to the CPEC in response to major concerns about the best way to secure CPEC and its personnel. It would seem Pakistani national security organizations are now more concerned with internal politics than with eliminating terrorist threats. For fast and effective response against potential threats to CPEC officials wherever they may be in the country, it is necessary to establish a distinct CPEC security cell command centre in Islamabad. For CPEC to proceed as planned, several intricate internal and external difficulties need to be resolved. Security-related hurdles remain despite assurances from the Pakistani government and armed forces. Practical and not security concerns may slow down the project’s progress due to its massive scale, Islamabad’s tense relations with India, Nepal’s unpredictability, and poor relations with Iran. The security situation is expected to deteriorate as the Project advances, largely due to the increase in jealous neighbours and external intervention. When it comes to countering the threats of extremism and terrorism, only a comprehensive approach will do. CPEC is expected to foster domestic and international economic development and stability. To ensure the CPEC’s security, many measures have been taken, from bilateral pacts to regional and international cooperation. As tensions rise between Pakistan and India, military trade between China and Pakistan is increasing, and protecting CPEC from terrorist acts is a top priority for both. Yet the swift response of the security forces in repelling attacks shows that Pakistan has the will to oppose any terrorist threats. The writer is a student of Strategic Studies at the National Defence University in Islamabad and can be reached at haijfaraz@gmail.com
Here’s a question Cop28 won’t address: why are billionaires blocking action to save the planet? It’s obscene that the super-rich can criminalise protest, while they burn the world’s resources and remain untouched by the law
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GUARDIAN
GeorGe Monbiot
ON’T they have children? Don’t they have grandchildren? Don’t rich and powerful people care about the world they will leave to their descendants? These are questions I’m asked every week, and they are not easy to answer. How can we explain a mindset that would sacrifice the habitable planet for a little more power or a little more wealth, when they have so much already? There are many ways in which extreme wealth impoverishes us. The most obvious is money-spreading across our common ecological space. The recent reporting by Oxfam, the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Guardian gives us a glimpse of how much of the planet the very wealthy now sprawl across. The richest 1% of the world’s people burn more carbon than the poorest 66%, while multibillionaires, running their yachts, private jets and multiple homes, each consume thousands of times the global average. You could see it as another colonial land grab: a powerful elite has captured the resources on which everyone depends. But this is by no means the end of the problem. Some of these pollutocrats also go to great lengths to thwart other people’s attempts to prevent Earth systems collapse. Billionaires and centimillionaires fund a network of organisations that seek to prevent effective environmental action. Many of the junktanks founded or funded by Charles and the late David Koch, owners of a vast business empire incorporating fossil fuel extraction, oil refineries and chemical plants, supply the arguments that disguise industrial self-interest as moral principle. So do their opaquely funded counterparts in the UK, in or around Tufton Street in Westminster. The multimillionaire Jeremy Hosking, who poured millions into Vote Leave and the Brexit party, is also the main funder of Laurence Fox’s Reclaim party, which claims there is no climate emergency and campaigns against net zero policies and low traffic neighbourhoods and in favour of fracking. Coincidentally, an investigation by openDemocracy last year found that his company, Hosking Partners, had $134m invested in the fossil fuel sector. Harder to explain perhaps are the oligarchs who are not heavily or directly involved in fossil fuels, yet foster opposition to environmental action. A recent investigation by the website DeSmog found that 85% of opinion pieces about environmental issues published in the Telegraph over the past six months either denied the science or attacked the measures and campaigns seeking to prevent environmental breakdown. The current owner, Sir Frederick Barclay, is not a fossil fuel baron. But if the newspaper is now sold, as seems likely, to a fund controlled by Abu Dhabi’s royal family, bankrolled by oil and gas, it could scarcely be worse. At the core of Elon Musk’s empire is Tesla, which makes electric vehicles. But he has turned his recent acquisition Twitter (now X, soon to be Ex) into an intensely hostile place for environmental discussion: research suggests that almost 50% of its environmentally oriented
users have either gone quiet or been driven off the platform since its emuskulation. Musk himself has contributed to the denial of environmental science that has boomed on X since he bought it. A broad coalition of interests – fossil fuel companies, billionaires and their newspapers and other members of the economic elite – has lobbied for and achieved the criminalisation of environmental protest in many parts of the world, including the UK. Here, as in several other countries, gentle environmental protests now attract long prison sentences, facilitated by silencing in court: campaigners in some cases are prohibited from telling the jury why they took their action. In the US, organisations funded by oil companies and billionaires draft laws including the most draconian and chilling penalties for protesters, then seek to universalise them across numerous states and nations. Entirely peaceful protesters are demonised as extremists and even terrorists. A widespread hostility towards environmental campaigners has been manufactured by dark-money junktanks and the billionaire press. It is obscene that those who seek to protect the living planet by democratic means are arrested en masse and imprisoned by the authorities, while the people and organisations trashing our life-support systems are untouched by the law. So why do oligarchs who do not have direct investments in environmental destruction appear so hostile to environmental protection? Part of the reason is that any opposition to business as usual is perceived as opposition to its beneficiaries. Those who are billionaires or centimillionaires today are, by definition, well-served by the current system. They correctly perceive that a fairer, greener world means curtailing their immense economic and political power. Even those who have invested in green technologies or who donate to green causes doubtless feel an instinctive sense of threat. Networks funded by fossil fuel companies deliberately aggregate the issues, connecting green policies with communism and violent revolution, while promoting political candidates who will clamp down simultaneously on environmental action, democracy and redistribution. The property paranoia often associated with extreme wealth – the sense that everyone is plotting to take it away from you – is easily triggered. But we cannot discount the possibility that some of these people really don’t care, even about their own children. There are two convergent forces here: first, many of those who rise to positions of great economic or political power have personality disorders, particularly narcissism or psychopathy. These disorders are often the driving forces behind their ambition, and the means by which they overcome obstacles to the acquisition of wealth and power – such as guilt about their treatment of others – which would deter other people from achieving such dominance. The second factor is that once great wealth has been acquired, it seems to reinforce these tendencies, inhibiting connection, affection and contrition. Money buys isolation. It allows people to wall themselves off from others, in their mansions, yachts and private jets, not just physically but also cognitively, stifling awareness of their social and environmental impacts, shutting out other people’s concerns and challenges. Great wealth encourages a sense of entitlement and egotism. It seems to suppress trust, empathy and generosity. Affluence also appears to diminish people’s interest in looking after their own children. If any other condition generated these symptoms, we would call it a mental illness. Perhaps this is how extreme wealth should be classified. So the fight against environmental breakdown is not and has never been just a fight against environmental breakdown. It is also a fight against the great maldistribution of wealth and power that blights every aspect of life on planet Earth. Billionaires – even the more enlightened ones – are bad for us. We cannot afford to keep them. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist.
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WIDESPREAD SEXUAL VIOLENCE USED AS ‘TOOL OF WAR’ IN SUDAN: UN EXPERTS
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KHARTOUM AGENCIES
IDESPREAD and in some cases ethnically motivated sexual violence is being used in conflict-ravaged Sudan as “a tool of war”, a dozen UN experts said on Thursday, demanding that perpetrators be held accountable. Since April, forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan — Sudan’s de facto head of state — have been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Over 10,000 people have been killed,
according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict and Event Data Project, and the UN says 6.3 million more have been forced to flee their homes. “We are appalled by reports of widespread use of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, as a tool of war to subjugate, terrorise, break and punish women and girls,” the independent United Nations rights experts said in a joint statement. The experts, including the special rapporteurs on violence against women and girls and sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, said RSF forces and their allies appeared to be behind most of the sexual violence seen in the conflict. They pointed to reports of rapes, sexual
‘Butcher of Gujarat’ ‘hires’ hitman to kill Sikh leader after Canada saga WASHINGTON AGENCIES
The BJB-led Modi government has continued its international ‘terrorism’ agenda to kill opponents on foreign soil as an Indian national has been charged with plotting to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader on US soil. This is the second such incident after Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in Canada by Indian government. The United States (U.S.) Justice Department said on Wednesday Indian government official was also involved in the planning. The Justice Department unsealed murder-for-hire charges against Nikhil Gupta, 52, “in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen” of Indian origin in New York City, it said in a statement. The man allegedly targeted in the killing “is a vocal critic of the Indian government and leads a US-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab,” a northern Indian state with a large population of Sikhs. An Indian government official, directing the plan from India, worked with Gupta and others based around the world, the US government said. Who is Pavan Kumar Rai? India’s diplomat kicked out of Canada Gupta, who lives in India, was arrested by authorities in the Czech Republic under US extradition orders. White House ‘warning’ to India The news comes after the White House said last week it was treating an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil with “utmost seriousness,” and had raised the issue with the Indian government. The Financial Times (FT) reported that same day that US authorities had thwarted a conspiracy to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US and Canadian citizen. After Wednesday’s news broke, Pannun said in a statement that “the attempt on my life on American soil is the blatant case of India’s transnational terrorism which has become a challenge to America’s sovereignty and threat to freedom of speech and democracy.” The Justice Department, which did not identify the target of the alleged assassination attempt on Wednesday, said that Gupta was recruited into the effort in May 2023. Canada and India had a major diplomatic row after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September linked New Delhi to the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, also a Sikh separatist, in June. New Delhi called the Canadian allegations “absurd.” But Trudeau said Wednesday that “the news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously.” “The Indian government needs to work with us to ensure that we’re getting to the bottom of this,” he said. Pannun said that “first by assassinating Nijjar in Canada and then attempting to assassinate me on US soil, India under [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi has extended to the foreign soils its policy of violently crushing the Sikhs movement for right to selfdetermination.” Modi govt and New York City target The US Justice Department said that after Nijjar’s killing, Gupta told undercover US officials that there was “now no need to wait” on killing the New York City target.
exploitation, slavery and trafficking, which “in some cases may have been racially, ethnically and politically motivated”. There had also been reports of forced prostitution and forced marriage of women and girls, they said. The violence appeared often to be used “as a means of punishing specific communities targeted by the RSF and allied militias,” the experts said, adding that in some cases non-Sudanese migrants, refugees and stateless persons had also been targeted. “These serious acts are reportedly no longer concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur, but have spread to other parts of the country, such as Kordofan,” they warned. They called for a newly established
UN fact-finding mission for Sudan to investigate in a bid to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable. The experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the UN, warned that the scale and seriousness of the sexual violence was “grossly underreported”. “The world must not turn a blind eye to the atrocities and large-scale sexual violence unfolding in Sudan,” they said. “The international community must send a strong and clear message to parties to the conflict that they will be held accountable for their actions and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law,” they added.
Five years on, China further advances integrated development of Yangtze River Delta SHANGHAI
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Shanghai’s two major strategic locations, the Hongqiao International Opening-up Hub and the new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), are regarded as important testing areas for the city’s opening up. Departing from the hub, the “Shanghai Express,” a China-Europe freight train, directly and indirectly serves more than 2,000 import and export companies in the Yangtze River Delta region, which encompasses the city of Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. As one of China’s most economically active, open and innovative regions, the Yangtze River Delta appeals to investors worldwide with multiple advantages, including a complete industrial chain, abundant talent and a sound business environment. While chairing a symposium on advancing the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta in Shanghai on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed efforts to make new major breakthroughs in the integrated development of the region and enhance the region’s leading and exemplary role in pursuing Chinese modernization. It has been five years since the integrated development of the delta region became a national strategy. Since then, the region has achieved practical results in
areas such as infrastructure connectivity, collaborative technological innovation and economic development. Between 2018 and 2022, the region’s GDP grew at an average annual rate of about 5.5 percent, accounting for 24 percent of the national total. The number of cities in the region with a GDP of more than one trillion yuan (about $139.28 billion) has increased from six to eight, accounting for about a third of the national total, the report recently released by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences showed. Meanwhile, the region has achieved new results in promoting the coordinated development of pilot FTZs. For example, the Nanjing area of the Jiangsu FTZ has focused on the integrated circuit innovation ecology in recent years and built a platform of collaborative innovation of industries, universities and research institutes, radiating to five cities, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Hefei, and providing services to more than 70 companies more than 4,600 times in 2022. The idea of introducing sci-tech innovation and advanced manufacturing enterprises along the G60 expressway, later known as the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, was proposed in Shanghai in May 2016. Today, the corridor covers nine cities and districts, including the cities of Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Huzhou and Jinhua in Zhejiang Province, the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, as well as the cities of Hefei, Wuhu and Xuancheng in Anhui Province.
Dominica, Blue Carbon unite for sustainable climate solutions DUBAI
AGENCIES
Dominica and UAE-based Blue Carbon have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on carbon trading aligning with Paris Agreement Article 6 objectives, focusing on climate change initiatives for carbon mitigation and removal across diverse sectors. The MoU signing marks a substantial stride in cultivating collaborative efforts to achieve climate targets, enabling increased ambition in mitigation actions while championing sustainable development and environmental integrity. The signing ceremony took
place in Dubai on Thursday, featuring the presence of Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, and Sheikh Ahmed Dalmouk Al Maktoum, Chairman of Blue Carbon. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement details the mechanisms for worldwide cooperation, involving the identification and assessment of prospects to generate tradable mitigation outcomes (MOs) known as International Transfer Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs). The agreement also paves the way for initiating bilateral negotiations on binding agreements, establishing the framework for the authorization of ITMOs and their transfers based on the provisions of Article 6.2 and preapproved methodologies of 6.4 of the Paris.
Friday, 1 December, 2023 | iSlAmABAD
Ambassador Amna Baloch holds e-court ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan Embassy in Belgium held an e-Kachehri. The event was conducted by Ambassador of Pakistan to European Union, Belgium & Luxembourg H.E Amna Baloch. Members of the Pakistani community residing in Belgium and Luxembourg had an opportunity to ask questions and share their views on various issues. The Ambassador also apprised fellow Pakistanis of various mechanisms of service delivery and other initiatives taken by the Embassy about strengthening bilateral ties and supporting Pakistani community. Ambassador assured that she would continue her engagement with the community for addressing their issues and encouraged them to actively participate in E-Kachehri. The community members lauded Embassy's outreach efforts.
Pakistan's history replete with PPP leaders' sacrifices: Mian Munir Hans LAHORE
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Gulf President Mian Munir Hans has said that the history of Pakistan People's Party is full of sacrifices made for the people of Pakistan. "There is no example of this. In his statements on the occasion of the 56th foundation day of the People's Party," he said, adding that the People's Party which was founded by the leader of the people, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, has become a tree today. Pakistan People's Party four It exists in the provinces and is equally popular. Nor did its popularity graph decrease, but after every hardship and excess, the PPP emerged with more strength and asserted itself. He said that whenever the PPP gets a government, negative forces try to topple it. Every time the government of PPP was tried with new tactics, the workers were tied up. They were flogged in jails and in public. Could not stop their intentions Pakistan People's Party is still strong under the leadership of Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. All the workers of People's Party are ideologues who have not forgotten the testimonies of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shahnawaz Bhutto, Mir Murtaza Bhutto and Ms. Benazir Bhutto who By giving his blood, he strengthened the roots of the People's Party and paved the way for democracy. Mian Munir Hans said that the Pakistan People's Party continues to support the poor even today. Despite internal and external conspiracies, the People's Party under the leadership of Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is fighting the situation and is determined to carry forward the mission of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Ms. Benazir Bhutto.
Henry Kissinger: A closer look at key moments in life of influential US diplomat NEW YORK
AGENCIES
Henry Kissinger, a prominent figure in American politics and diplomacy, passed away at the age of 100 on Wednesday, leaving the world with his decades-long career spanning academia, government service and international relations. After graduating from Harvard with a doctorate in political science, Kissinger initially pursued an academic path, becoming a leading scholar on foreign policy. However, his trajectory shifted when he joined former US president Richard Nixon’s administration in 1969 as a national security advisor. He later assumed the secretary of state role, retaining both posts. After Kissinger resigned, he stayed under US president Gerald Ford. Kissinger played a pivotal role in shaping US foreign policy during critical periods, notably the Vietnam War and the Cold War era, the Deccan Herald reported. Here’s a peek into some of the major moments in Kissinger’s controversial and influential US diplomatic career. Kissinger’s secret negotiations with then-Red China led to Nixon’s famous foreign policy accomplishment, which was intended to isolate the Soviet Union. This move paved the way for the complex relationship between the world’s largest (the US) and second-largest economies, which were intertwined yet constantly at odds as a new Cold War loomed. He initiated a dialogue that became known as detente, with the Soviet Union, resulting in the first major nuclear arms
Xi sends condolences to Biden over death of Kissinger
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday extended condolences over the passing of Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and an important figure in the icebreaking between China and the US in 1972, at the age of 100. According to the Xinhua News Agency, Xi sent a message of condolences to US President Joe Biden over the death of Kissinger. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in his own name, Xi extended profound condolences and expressed sincere sympathy to Kissinger’s family. In his message, Xi said Kissinger was a world-renowned strategist and an old friend and good friend of the Chinese people. Half a century ago, with an outstanding strategic vision, Kissinger made historic contributions to the normalization of China-US relations, which has not only benefited the two countries, but also changed the world, Xi said. Kissinger had made it his lifelong pursuit to promote the development of China-US relations and enhance the friendship between the two peoples, and his name will always be associated with China-US relations, Xi said. Noting that Kissinger will always be remembered and missed by the Chinese people, Xi said that China is ready to work with the United States to carry forward the cause of friendship between the two peoples and promote the sound and steady development of China-US relations, so as to benefit the two peoples and make due contribution to world peace and development, Xinhua reported. Kissinger Associates, Inc, a political consulting firm he founded, confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. AGENCIES
control treaties. His shuttle diplomacy weakened Moscow’s Middle East power but failed to achieve broader peace in the region. Over years of meetings in Paris, he negotiated the peace accords that ended the US involvement in the Vietnam War, an achievement for which he shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize. He called it “peace with honour,” but the war proved far from over, and critics argued that he could have made the same deal years earlier, saving thousands of lives. North Vietnam overran the Americanbacked South within two years, marking a humiliating end to a conflict that Kissinger had doubted the US could never win.
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Friday, 1 December, 2023 | ISLAMABAD
CORPORATE CORNER NTDC completes ‘Project for Enhancing Grid System Operation and Maintenance’ with JICA cooperation
The National Transmission and Despatch Company Limited (NTDC) has successfully completed the Project for Enhancing Grid System Operation and Maintenance through Strengthening NTDC TSG Training Center Lahore with cooperation of JICA Japan and AEC Japan consultants. This milestone has been achieved under the ongoing 3rd Technical Cooperation Grant Aid Project (June 2021 to December 2023) by JICA Japan with AEC Japan Consultants at the TSG Training Center New Kot Lakhpat Lahore.Speaking at the concluding ceremony, held at TSG Training Center NKLP Lahore, Managing Director NTDC, Engr. Dr. Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan thanked and appreciated the cooperation of Govt of Japan and JICA for providing training facilities to NTDC employees. He said that in addition to TSG's grid system operation Training Simulator, JICA has provided 32 PC simulators, which has enabled engineers to operate the power system safely and reliably. This is extremely useful for stable operation of the system. He also requested to support NTDC in human resource development. PR
Gas theft crackdown: Another 216 illegal connections cut in Punjab, KP and Islamabad
LAHORE: During the ongoing crackdown against gas pilferers, SNGPL continued raids in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad, disconnecting another 216 connections while 287 under billing cases processed ; Rs 69 million fine imposed In Lahore, the regional team disconnected 38 connections on illegal use of gas while another 14 on use of compressor and 21 under billing cases have been processed.The team also imposed fine of Rs 61.65 million against gas theft and under billing cases . The regional team of Rawalpindi disconnected 4 connections on illegal use of gas.The team of Islamabad disconnected 8 connections on illegal use.In Multan 4 connections were disconnected on illegal use of gas,109 under billing cases have been processed and 0.14 million booked against Under billing cases.The team also lodged two FIRs against gas theft cases.The team of Sheikhupura disconnected 43 connections on illegal use of gas while another five on use of compressor,46 under billing cases have been processed and fine of Rs 4.52 million imposed against gas pilferes.In Sargodha the team disconnected 5 connections on illegal use and 8 on use of compressor. PR
Zong 4G’s One-of-a-kind IR postpaid bundle for Continental Asia provides seamless connectivity across nine Countries
ISLAMABAD: Zong 4G, Pakistan's leading telecommunications provider, has exclusively crafted a one-stop international roaming solution for 9 countries in Continental Asia. This comprehensive offering empowers Zong 4G users to stay connected seamlessly across 9 prominent countries, including China, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Australia, and Sri Lanka. Zong 4G's IR Bundle for Continental Asia distinguishes itself with the unparalleled advantage of providing connectivity seamlessly. With a single network, users can enjoy hassle-free communication, uninterrupted data access, and reliable SMS services with 60 minutes of talk time, 60 SMS, and 1 GB of Data in multiple international destinations for a total of PKR 5000 + tax. PR
BoK partners with BPC to enable its 3-D Secure Access Control Server for cardholders
Bank of Khyber (BoK) has partnered with BPC to enable its 3-D Secure Access Control Server (ACS) for its cardholders. The official agreement was signed by Mr. Asad Mehmood Siddiqui, Divisional Head Digital Banking at BoK, and Furrukh Ali Baig, Managing Director Pakistan of BPC, with senior executives from both institutions in attendance including Asim Bashir, Group Head Digital Banking, Sheikh Mashhood Rahman, CIO, Jawad Hassan Khan, Divisional Head Alternate Delivery Channels, Shahzad Qureshi, Fauziah Mahmoud, Divisional Head Marketing and Shahzad Qureshi, Departmental Head Business Technology. BoK is set to launch secure transactions through the introduction of Mastercard Debit Cards with 3-D Secure technology in the new year. 3-D Secure ACS is an authentication protocol that protects online transactions by verifying the identity of cardholders during the payment process. This partnership will provide BoK's cardholders with an additional layer of security when making online transactions, ensuring that only authorized cardholders can complete online purchases. PR
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TRADE BODY DECLARES CLOSURE OF SHOPS ‘WRONG WAY’ TO CONTROL SMOG, POLLUTION NEWS
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ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
HE official trade body of the retail sector in the country has opposed the closure of markets and shops in view of controlling the rising smog, as the government is trying to control mitigate air pollution by reducing commercial activity. Addressing a ceremony on Thursday Chairman CAP Tariq Mehboob observed that heavy transport, burning of waste and crop residue and non-compliant factories contribute to smog the most, not the retail sector. “No other country or region is shutting down markets to control air pollution. As is the case in China and our neighboring countries, the focus must be on controlling movement of large vehicles which use low quality fuel and emit black smoke;
cracking down on burning of waste and stopping factories that are polluting by burning wood, tyres, etc. due to the absence of natural gas,” he pointed out. Speaking to media, Tariq Mehboob said, “Since the past one year, the retail timings are already restricted to 10 PM as per the orders of the Court. For the past few weeks, additional restrictions have been applied including late opening and full day closures which are resulting in huge losses to retail businesses and allied sectors, employment and tax generation.” Since the Covid-19 pandemic, shutting down retail has become the norm whenever any crisis emerges and it only has a superficial impact on the problem. Retailers have experienced over 30 prolonged bouts of restrictions on operating timings and days over the past four years, with compliant retailers being the worst
affected every time. Less prominent markets seldom follow any restrictions imposed by government due to limited enforcement capacity, as per CAP. “Recently, ad-hoc changes to notifications have resulted in confusion and abrupt disruptions for our businesses and employees. Moreover, restaurants and other service sectors have been allowed to remain open while shops must close, so movement of small vehicles still continues during closed period. We cannot support the closure of any commercial activity because it does not addressing the root causes of smog. Shutting down only one sector repeatedly will not create the desired results in smog reduction or electricity saving,” stated Asad Shafi, Vice Chairman CAP. On this issue, Tariq Mehboob explained that, “implementation of full retail shutdown in 6
Naval Chief Heads Command & Staff Conference at Naval Headquarters ISLAMABAD PR
Command & Staff Conference of Pakistan Navy concluded at Naval Headquarters, Islamabad. The Conference was chaired by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf. During the conference, matters related to national security, geo strategic affairs, combat readiness and training of troops were discussed. The conference assessed the evolving maritime situation in the region due to ongoing conflict in Middle East. Under the prevailing maritime situation in the Middle East, deployment of PN Ship for the protection of Pakistan’s merchant ships was discussed. Progress on PN projects including future plans was also reviewed and way forward was deliberated.
The Naval Chief emphasized on maintaining perpetual combat readiness to effectively thwart any aggression against Pakistan. The Naval Chief lauded the initiatives undertaken towards capability development through acquisition of state of the art platforms and emerging technologies. The Admiral expressed full confidence over high state of operational pre-
paredness of Pakistan Navy to meet maritime challenges while safeguarding the maritime frontiers of Pakistan. Command & Staff Conference is the apex decision making body of Pakistan Navy in which Chief of the Naval Staff along with all Principal Staff Officers and Field Commanders review the policies and plans of Pakistan Navy.
Smart School hosts 4th Bilingual Speech Contest 2023
LAHORE: The Smart School proudly announced completion of its 4th Bilingual Speech Contest 2023, showcasing the linguistic talent of its students. During the declamation contest, participants delivered speeches in English and Urdu at three levels, progressing from regional to national competition. On the occasion, Mr Khurram Shahzad Malik, Project Director Smart School, highlighted importance of linguistic diversity in the globalized world. Chief Guest Sajjad Ahmad Saquib, Director Women Development Department, emphasized upon effective communicational role in shaping future leaders. Ms. Seema Kaukab, Head of Academics The Smart School, commended students for honing their language skills. Ms. Saadia Sardar, General Manager Academics of Smart School, praised the organizing committee and participants. The success of the event reflects The Smart School's dedication to holistic education. PR
Launch of 2nd Edition of Gender Climate Award
PTA takes action to curb illegal issuance of SIMs
The Embassy of France in Pakistan and Agence Française de Developpement (AFD), in collaboration with The European Union Delegation to Pakistan, United Nations Development Program, and L'Oreal Pakistan has announced the commencement of the second edition of the Gender Climate Award (GCA). Applications for the 2024 edition are now open and will be accepted until December 31st, 2023.The Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change will serve as the implementing partner for managing all the GCA related activities. The Gender Climate Award 2024 aims to champion and support climate actions led by women, elevating their work and acknowledging their dedication. This award represents a significant stride towards fostering ambition, ownership. PR
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Zonal Office in Lahore, in close collaboration with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle, conducted successful raid against a sales channel of a mobile phone company in Kasur. The sales channel was found to be involved in the illegal activation of SIMs and the sale of pre-activated SIMs to criminals.During the raid, 53 active SIMs were seized and one person was apprehended by the FIA team. Furthermore, an illegal SIM supplier network was also unearthed. Earlier, PTA had filed complaint with FIA based on information regarding illegal issuance of SIMs by the sales channel. An FIR has been registered against the accused.The raid highlights PTA's ongoing efforts to curb illegal activation of SIMs. PR
KU likely to host wheelchair cricket series between Pak-Afghanistan
Pakistan Banks’ Association conducts trade-based money laundering training
The University of Karachi will likely host a wheelchair cricket series between the Pakistan and Afghanistan wheelchair cricket teams in the third week of January next year.An eight-member delegation comprised of the Pakistani Captain of the T20 Asia Wheelchair Cricket 2023 winner Zeeshan Taqi, Patron of the Pakistan Wheelchair Cricket Team Professor Dr Farhat Jafri, and others visited the University of Karachi and met the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khaild Mahmood Iraqi at the VC Secretariat on Thursday.The visitors informed the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi that wheelchair confined cricket team of Afghanistan is planning to visit Pakistan to play the T20 series and for the first time ever both cricket teams are also planning to have a one-day international match.They requested the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi to host the series on the campus and also look after the national and visiting team which he accepted and asked the visitors to pinpoint the location where they would like to play matches against the neighboring country. According to the visitors, wheelchair cricket teams only play T20 matches but for the first time, they are interested in having an ODI match to set a record of its own kind. They also requested the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi to become the patron-inchief of the Pakistani wheelchair cricket team. They expressed that the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi has twice organized special ceremonies for the specially-abled cricket team. PR
KARACHI: Delivering upon its commitment to further strengthen the financial sector against local and global trade risks, Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) successfully conducted a training session on Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) for member banks in Karachi. The TBML training at PBA is based on a training module of The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank Group. The objective of the training also aligns with the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) requirement for financial institutions to implement robust measures in accordance with the regulatory framework and international standards, including regular training for staff to monitor, identify, and report any suspicion of TBML to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). Commenting on the initiative, Tawfiq A. Hussain, CEO & Secretary General – PBA said, “Pakistan Banks’ Association remains committed to help build capacity of the banking industry. PR
major divisions of Punjab on last Sunday has resulted in an extraordinary loss of Rs. 10 billion for retail businesses, the domestic supply chain and tax revenues. This is in addition to losses already incurred over the past few weeks during related restrictions. November and December is the peak season for retail and businesses have allocated their investment several months in advance. While almost everything else remains open, the organized retail sector has continuously become the victim to abrupt decisions and knee-jerk reactions from the authorities. Our industry is structured to run 7 days a week and when we are restricted in timings or off-days, we take a hit as most of our costs continue for the closed period. Moreover, our suppliers and vendors also suffer because demand of their products and services are affected.
CPEC will elevate Sino-Pak strategic partnership to greater heights, contributing to regional peace and prosperity
KARACHI: The Chinese Consul General in Karachi H.E Yang Yundong highlited the promising future of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor ( CPEC). He emphasized that the CPEC’s focused on high quality development, will elevate the ChinaPakistan strategic partnership to greater heights, contributing to regional peace and prosperity. The Chinese Consul General, while visiting Export Processing Zones Authority Head Office along with high powered delegation. The Chinese envoy said that Industrial cooperation with EPZA has encouraged and increasing number of Chinese enterprises to come to EPZ and engaged multi-field industrial cooperation. Chairman EPZA Dr.Saifuddin Junejo in his introducing remarks extend to warm welcome to the visiting EPZA. He underscored the importance of Pakistan-China relations in the contemporary world and strategic significance of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for Pakistan’s economic transformation. PR
South Asia’s first-ever, AAA rated Gender Bond launched by InfraZamin Pakistan and Kashf Foundation
KARACHI: InfraZamin Pakistan, a licensed NBFI and credit guarantee provider, in partnership with Kashf Foundation, a not for profit and licensed microfinance institution, are proud to announce the closing of South Asia's and Pakistan’s inaugural ‘Gender Bond’ thereby revolutionizing financial empowerment and inclusion for women. The Bond, which holds a prestigious long-term AAA rating by PACRA, marks a significant leap in Pakistan’s capital market, establishing our commitment to market development and economic opportunities for women.The Gender Bond which was launched earlier this year to capital market investors has been fully subscribed to the tune of PKR 2.5 billion. The Bond was launched by Kashf Foundation and fully credit wrapped by InfraZamin Pakistan thereby safeguarding 100% of the principal as well as two interest installments of the Bond. Over 30+ institutional investors have subscribed to the Bond, showcasing strong crowding in of private sector investment. PR
BankIslami launches Tarjuman Call Center to enhance accessibility for differently-abled customers
KARACHI: BankIslami Pakistan Limited is proud to announce the inauguration of the Tarjuman call. This groundbreaking initiative, spearheaded by the HR and Phone Banking department, aims to provide unparalleled support and assistance to customers, with a particular focus on individuals who have hearing impairment.This is a dedicated facility designed to cater to the unique needs of differentlyabled customers, effectively. This facility is a testament to BankIslami's commitment to promoting inclusivity and accessibility in its services. "Tarjuman call center is a pioneering initiative that reflects our dedication to providing exceptional customer service," said Mr. Rizwan Ata, the CEO and President at BankIslami Pakistan Limited. "By leveraging technology and employing highly skilled representatives, we are breaking down barriers and creating an inclusive banking experience for all.". PR
Friday, 1 December, 2023
CCP GREENLIGHTS CHINESE COMPANY’S ACQUISITION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT NEWS
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UEP, WIND POWER FACILITY NOW TO BE OWNED BY CHINA’S CNNP RICH ENERGY PROFIT
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HINA’s CNNP Rich Energy Co. Ltd. trategically enters Pakistan’s renewable energy market through its wholly owned subsidiary, M/s. CRE International Co. Limited. As per details, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has
greenlit the acquisition of Super Success Investments Limited (SSIL) by CRE International Co. Limited, which is a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of CNNP Rich Energy. CNNP, the China National Nuclear Corporation is a largely state owned enterprise of the Chinese government dedicated to research, development and production of electric power. Rich Energy Company is the renewable energy
OGRA jacks up LPG price by Rs4/kg for December
makes this project a part of CNNP. Following an extensive review by the CCP, approval for the merger was granted, as it was found not to result in the dominance of the acquirer in the relevant market. Beyond reflecting substantial foreign investment in the country’s energy landscape, it signals the potential for collaborative advancements in the renewable energy domain.
FIA Karachi issues public notice in criminal case against Meinhardt executives PROFIT
ISLSMABAD
SHAHAB OMER
AHMAD AHMADANI
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has increased the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by approximately Rs4 per kilo gram for the month of December 2024 and issued a notification in this regard. According to the notification, OGRA has increased the LPG price by Rs3.82 per Kilo Gram and due to this price hike, domestic cylinder increased by Rs45 and commercial cylinder by Rs174 and new price of LPG per kg will be Rs254.86 from December 1. The new domestic LPG cylinder price has been fixed at Rs3,735, as per kg of LPG has increased by Rs3.82 paise. As per OGRA notification, now LPG will be available at Rs255 per kg instead of Rs251 per kg, domestic cylinder will be available at Rs3,007 instead of Rs2962, commercial cylinder will be available at Rs11,571 instead of Rs11,397. LPG Industries Association Pakistan Chairman Irfan Khokhar said that the crisis of natural gas has intensified across the country. In most areas of the country even cooking has become difficult. LPG is the only cheap fuel capable of meeting the shortage of natural gas. At present there is a daily production of 2000 metric tonnes of LPG across the country while the local consumption has crossed 5000 tonnes. 60% of domestic demand is dependent on imported LPG. Bad policies and high taxes have adversely affected the LPG industry, said Chairman LPG Industries Association Pakistan. LPG distributors pay billions of rupees in tax. LPG should be made tax free and unnecessary taxes on LPG should be abolished like LNG. If LPG industry is treated like LNG, we will provide LPG to every house at a lower price than to sui gas price, said Irfan Khokhar, Chairman LPG Industries Association Pakistan.
SHC issues notice to NADRA over registration of three women as mothers of a teenager KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
arm of CNNP, which in turn owns CRE International. The acquisition concerns the CCP because SSIL, headquartered in Mauritius, holds a 100% stake in M/s. United Energy Pakistan (UEP) Wind Power (Private) Limited. UEP operates a 99 MW wind-powered facility in Jhimpur, Sindh. With the acquisition of SSIL, CRE indirectly gains control of UEP Wind Power Pakistan, which in turn
The Sindh High Court has issued a notice to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) seeking its response for registering names of three women as mother of a 17-year-old boy as per its record in Karachi. The biological mother of the boy, Sadaf, filed an application in the court against the Nadra seeking remedy against such an illegal act. The court heard the plea on Thursday and issued orders. Petitioner’s lawyer Nasir Ahmad said in the petition that as per NADRA’s record, the boy, Umar Raza, has three mothers which is nothing but a blunder. The lawyer said the boy’s parents have separated long ago but the NADRA record now mentions names of grandmother, mother and stepmother as all his mothers, the lawyer added. The lawyer argued that this kind situation may create hurdles for Umar Raza and hinder his education. The biological mother of the boy, Sadaf, filed an application in the court against the Nadra seeking remedy against such an illegal act. The court heard the plea on Thursday and issued orders. Petitioner’s lawyer Nasir Ahmad said in the petition that as per NADRA’s record, the boy, Umar Raza, has three mothers which is nothing but a blunder. The lawyer said the boy’s parents have separated long ago but the NADRA record now mentions names of grandmother, mother and stepmother as all his mothers, the lawyer added. The lawyer argued that this kind situation may create hurdles for Umar Raza and hinder his education.
The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Commercial Banks Circle in Karachi has recently issued a critical public notice linked to a major criminal case. This case prominently involves Dr. Nasim Shahzad, Chairman of Meinhardt, along with his son Omer Shahzad, CEO of the same company, among other individuals. The notice details serious charges under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) 1947. These include sections 406, 409, 420, 34, and 109, which collectively cover allegations of criminal breach of trust, cheating, fraud, criminal conspiracy, and corruption. In a move reflecting the gravity of the situation, the FIA’s public announcement, known as “ISHTEHAR-E-SHORO
GHOGHA,” was initiated on the orders of a Special Court overseeing the case. Utilizing Section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CR.P.C), the court has empowered the issuance of this public notice, a critical step in tracking the accused who are currently evading legal proceedings. An FIA official conveyed the importance of these notices in cases of absconding accused, underlining the FIA’s commitment to justice. The agency is calling for public assistance to locate Dr. Nasim Shahzad and other involved parties, requesting anyone with information to contact the FIA Commercial Banks Circle’s Station House Officer (SHO). Significantly, Dr. Nasim Shahzad has been a pivotal figure in the Creek Marina Project at DHA Phase-VIII Karachi, a joint venture with Marina Services Private Limited (MSPL), another of Nasim’s companies. Despite its promise, the
project remains incomplete, leaving allottees seeking justice. Earlier in June, the FIA Commercial Banks Circle had issued notices to the owners and stakeholders of Creek Marina, as well as several banks. However, Dr. Nasim Shahzad is reportedly not in Pakistan. FIA sources suggest that neither he nor his son intend to return to face the charges, though the FIA continues its legal proceedings. Interestingly, the Creek Marina website remains active, with Dr. Nasim Shahzad prominently featured as “THE MASTERMIND” and Group Executive Chairman. The affected allottees, organized under the Creek Marina Action Committee (CMAC), have been vociferous in seeking redress. They have appealed to the Prime Minister, the Army Chief, and the Karachi Core Commander for justice and decisive action against those implicated in this sprawling case.
PTI makes Al-Qadir Trust deed public on Khan’s directions ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s lawyer Intazar Hussain Panjutha catogorically stated that Chairman PTI has no role in Al-Qadir Trust that is why it has been decided to make the Al-Qadir Trust Deed public on his intructions. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, PTI Chairman’s counsel said that the documents were being brought to the media under the direction of Imran Khan to keep the real facts in front of the nation regarding the false case made against him. He stated that the Al-Qadir University Project Trust did not set up for personal gains, as both Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi were the Board of Trustees. Panjutha said that Bushra Bibi’s role was only as a trustee, because the Al-Qadir Trust was being governed by its board and no one did any interference in its affairs, adding that whatever decisions were taken pertaining to running the institution was made by the board of trustee. The PTI lawyer weint on to say that the Al-Qadir Trust was also being governed in the style of Shaukat Khannum and NUML university, as Chairman PTI did not have any role in it. He contended that the land of Al-Qadir Trust was not for personal gain either, as Imran Khan established a religious and scientific educational institution, wherein quality education should
be provided to all sections of the society regardless of caste, creed, race, religion or linancial standing under one roof. PTI Chairman’s lawyer stated that the aims and objectives of the trust was to setup AI-Qadir university in various disciplines including Islamie studies and sciences. He sressed that it was clearly written in the trust deed that Chairman PTI or his wife could not get any financial benefit from the trust, as false, fabricated and politically motivated cases were filed against them only to damage their reputation. “The trustees shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration as Trustee but may reimburse themselves of all expenses actually incurred by them in connection with the Trust or their duties relating thereto,” he added. Morover, PTI lawyer disclosed that no Trust Property income and/or Trust Property shall be paid, transferred directly or indirectly by way of profit, dividend, bonus or otherwise to any of its trustees or their relatives.
Panjutha went on to say that it shall be within the competence of the Trustees to sell and convert into cash the Trust Property or any part thereof and hold the proceeds of such sale or sales after receiving payment of the expenses incidental thereto and the remaining may be used for either purchase of or investment in either immovable properties and/or Page-6 rust securilies, which shall become the Trust Property and be subject to the terms and conditions thereof. Clarifiying about the role of Bahria Town, he stated that the National Crime Agency in UK started an investigation and freezed Bahria Town’s accounts in accordance with the UK’s rules after considering the money suspicious. Panjutha said that this money did not belong to the government of Pakistan, this money belonged to the Malik Riaz family, who wanted to bring this money back to Pakistan after the NCA’s investigation, the government of Pakistan just facilitated the transfer of the money back to the country.
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Govt likely to hand over loss-making power companies to Pakistan Army g
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POWER DIVISION PREPARES A PLAN TO SET UP PMUS IN ALL DISCO TO BE HEADED BY A SERVING BRIGADIER, COMPRISING OFFICIALS FROM FIA, IB PROFIT
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The government has decided to hand over the management of loss-making power distribution companies (Discos) to the army and other law enforcement agencies to crack down on electricity theft and improve bill recovery. The News reported, quoting sources, that the Power Division has prepared a plan to establish Performance Monitoring Units (PMUs) in every Disco that is facing high losses and low recovery. The PMUs will be headed by a serving brigadier and will have officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) as part of their staff. The PMUs will have the mandate to identify and take action against the corrupt elements within the Discos and the consumers who are involved in stealing electricity or not paying their bills. However, the plan is yet to be approved by the higher authorities, but the Power Division is keen to implement it as a pilot project in the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), which has one of the worst performance records among the Discos. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s power sector is facing a huge financial crisis due to the high losses and low recovery of the Discos. According to the data for the fiscal year 2020-21, the recovery of electricity bills in HESCO was at 73.7 percent, in Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) at 64.6 percent, in Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) at 34.66 percent and in Tribal Electric Supply Company (TESCO) at 25.29 percent. The Power Division secretary confirmed that the plan was under consideration and said it would help reduce the losses and increase the revenues of the power sector. He said the plan was inspired by the successful operation of the army-led Task Force on Power in Karachi, which has brought down the losses of the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) from 40 percent to 18 percent in the last two years. The caretaker energy minister had announced a crackdown on electricity thieves on September 6, 2023, saying that the system was losing Rs589 billion annually due to theft and non-payment of bills. He had said that the Discos in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Islamabad had losses of 3 percent, while the Discos in Peshawar, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta and Azad Jammu and Kashmir had losses as high as 60 percent.
Naval Chief emphasizes perpetual combat readiness to thwart any aggression ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf has emphasized on maintaining perpetual combat readiness to effectively thwart any aggression against Pakistan. He was chairing the concluding session of Command & Staff Conference of Pakistan Navy at Naval Headquarters, Islamabad on Thursday. During the conference, matters related to national security, geo strategic affairs, combat readiness and training of troops were discussed. The conference assessed the evolving maritime situation in the region due to ongoing conflict in Middle East. Under the prevailing maritime situation in the Middle East, deployment of PN Ship for the protection of Pakistan’s merchant ships was discussed. Progress on PN projects including future plans was also reviewed and way forward was deliberated. Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf stressing the need of perpetual combat readiness to thwart any aggression against the country lauded the initiatives undertaken towards capability development through acquisition of state of the art platforms and emerging technologies. The Admiral expressed full confidence over high state of operational preparedness of Pakistan Navy to meet maritime challenges while safeguarding the maritime frontiers of Pakistan.
Zaradri says ‘some forces’ hinder progress of leaders with ‘progressive’ vision QUETTA
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday asserted that ‘some forces’ hinder the progress of leaders with a vision for advancing the country and expressed confidence in the people of Pakistan, saying he does not succumb to fear in the face of such forces. Addressing a rally in Quetta to mark the party’s 56th foundation day, he said that Balochistan was the heart of Pakistan, a term usually referred to Lahore, lamenting that Islamabad and other provinces fail to recognise it as such. Zardari affirmed his party’s commitment to rectifying this perception while acknowledging the significance of winning hearts of the people of Balochistan to achieve this goal. He stated that the PPP would empower the people of Balochistan, ensuring their ownership of the province’s resources, including gas, petrol, and minerals. He underlined that the rights to these resources belong solely to the people of Balochistan, with no claim by others.
The former president highlighted the challenges faced by Balochistan and emphasised the need to address the grief prevalent in the province. He pledged that the PPP would make Balochistan the master of its own destiny, ensuring that all resources, whether gas, petrol, or minerals, benefit the local population. Zardari promised equitable distribution of water resources across all provinces. Turning his attention to his son Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the veteran politician commended former foreign minister for elevating Pakistan’s dignity at a young age. He called for support for Bilawal, envisioning him as a leader of the youth, guiding the nation towards prosperity. Zardari concluded by asserting the need to groom Bilawal as a leader for today and tomorrow, saying that he would try to transfer his ‘wisdom’ to his son. BILAWAL FIRES BROADSIDE AT PML-N: Speaking on the occasion, Bilawal took aim at his political opponents, asserting that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had earned the moniker “mehangai [inflation] league”, calling the former coali-
tion partners a showbaaz (braggers) of Pakistani politics. Bilawal said that 70% of the country’s population comprises youth, highlighting his own youthful identity. In an apparent reference to former prime minister Imran Khan, who is considered popular among the youth, the former foreign minister said that he would represent the youth himself, not any khiladi (player). Bilawal credited his father Asif Ali Zardari for burying the politics of hatred and revenge, marking the beginning of a new era. He said that his party would bring a new “charter of economy” if brought to power, criticising the PML-N-led government in failing to curb inflation despite holding the finance ministry. Urging the youth to reject divisive politics, Bilawal expressed regret that Islamabad failed to recognise the significance of Balochistan in Pakistan. He called for a new vision and politics in Pakistan, signalling the PPP’s intention to initiate a fresh style of politics to empower the people in facing economic challenges. ‘CONSPIRACIES BEING HATCHED
AGAINST 18TH AMEND’: In his message on 56th founding day of the party, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday said that conspiracies were being hatched against the 18th Amendment. Bilawal Bhutto said that the centrifugal mindset to run the federating units as colony still persists, saying the PPP workers will not allow any harm to the provincial autonomy. “The PPP is a movement not a party, founded by Shaheed Bhutto over his political wisdom and vision,” Bilawal said in his message. “We are determined to implement the mission of Shaheed Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto,” he said. “We have to build a prosper and strong Pakistan,” Bilawal said. “The wisdom of Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto has been our vision and guiding light,” he further said. “Transfer of unbridled presidential powers to the parliament was the vision of Asif Zardari,” Bilawal said. “We will never forget that the People’s Party was founded over the Kashmir question and will continue support to the people of Kashmir until their freedom from the Indian occupation,” he added.
Published by Asad Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is set to commemorate its 56th foundation day with a rally in Quetta. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari will address rally. The local administration has made security arrangements in and around the public meeting venue while the security has been beefed up in the provincial capital. The PPP, founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on November 30th, 1967, ruled Pakistan for five times since its foundation. After 1965 war with India and the Tashkent declaration to end the war Gen, Ayub Khan’s Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto quit the government on June 16, 1966, as protest against the ceasefire deal. He chose to find his own political party. The PPP was launched at its founding convention held in Lahore on November 30 – December 01, 1967. At the same meeting, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was elected as its chairman. Among the expressed goals for which the party was formed were the establishment of an “egalitarian democracy” and the “application of socialist ideas to realize economic and social justice”.