Epaper_24-01-23 KHI

Ministry fails to Meet Power restoration deadline

aKiSTan experienced a massive power outage early Monday due to a fa ure in ts national electricity gr d Power was out in a l of the countr y s ma or c ties nc ud ng Karachi slamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar, conf rmed the energy ministr y

Though M n ster for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan gave a deadl ne of 10pm for full restoration of power supply the authorities fai ed to meet the dead ine and most cit es and towns of the countr y remained without power in a cold winter n ght

Though the power restoration process started n the federal cap tal around 7:34pm after a 12-hour-shutdown, other cit es of the countr y were sti l facing a complete b ackout by midnight

The ministr y in a statement, sa d that the gr d experienced a loss of frequency that caused a major breakdown, at around 07:30 am ocal time, and that work was under way to restore the system in an inter v ew, the m nister of energy Khurram Dastagir expla ned what happened “ in winter the demand for e ectricity reduces nat onw de, hence, as an economic measure we temporari y

close down our power generation systems at n ght But when the power plants were restarted on the morn ng of Januar y 23 frequency var ation and voltage fluctuat on were discovered in southern Pak stan, “ somewhere between Dadu and Jamshoro he said Consequently this led to the power generating units to shut down one by one

What is frequency?

When you turn on an appliance, such as your kettle or aptop charger, it

s powered by a ternating current This ndicates that the electricity alternates between posit ve and negat ve voltage This back-and-forth mot on or oscil ation is referred to as electrical frequency

Grid frequency measured in Hertz (Hz) s a techn ca term that refers to the number of times the alternation cycle occurs ever y second Currently, 50 Hz is the most prevalent frequency used in the bulk of the world ’s power systems, ncluding Pak stan s

Because the equ pment in your house factor y or off ce is designed to run at 50 Hz within a narrow tolerance, mainta n ng the frequency of our power supp y is critical This is the reason why ever yone turns their appl ances off when there s a fluctuat on in the voltage or frequency of e ectric ty if this isn t done there’s a possibi ity of equipment and appliances being damaged

The ssue is that frequency can be d ff cult to control; if the exact amount of electricity needed is not matched by generation the frequency of the e ectr city on the grid can be affected if there is more demand for electricity than supply for example frequency wil reduce When there s an excess of supply, frequency rises To make matters even more compl cated the margin of error is extremely narrow

What happens when frequency drops?

Wh le talking to Prof t sources from the power d vis on expla ned that, as per in tia f nd ngs the issue sur faced around 07:34 am due to d sruption n the frequency of the national grid which caused a ma or breakdown

The sources further elaborated that the frequency was reduced due to a fau t in Guddu-Quetta transm ss on line wh e other reasons and issues beh nd the fau t are be ng determined

The frequency reduces if we feed in

PM forms high-level committee on major power breakdown

ISLAMABAD

Prime M nister Shehbaz Shar f on Monday taking strong notice of the ma or breakdown of electr city across the countr y set up a h gh-level committee to find out the cause The prime minister also sought urgent report from Federa M n ster for Energy Engneer Khurram Dastag r on the matter He emphasized for finding the p tfalls that led to the electricity breakdown and stressed fixing the responsib lity Shehbaz Sharif ordered swift measures to restore electricity, say ng that nconvenience to the general public would not be tolerated

too little to meet demand To avoid power outages the automat c oad shedding strategy is activated when th s occurs This is due to the fact that f the frequency fal s too low the power plants shut down one by one until the grid complete y fai s

ShAhnAwAz ALI

T h e S t a t e B a n k o f Pa k i s t a n ( S B P ) n a m u c h a n t i c i p a t e d M P C m e e t i n g h a s r a i s e d t h e p o l i c y r a t e b y 1 0 0 b a s s p o i n t s T h e e f f e c t i v e p o l i c y ( t a r g e t ) r a t e n o w s t a n d s a t 1 7 % , w h c h s i t s h g h e s t l e v e l i n o v e r 2 5 y e a r s

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D e c i p h e r n g t h e M o n e t a r y Po l i c y S t a t e m e n t

T h e m o n e t a r y p o c y s t a t e m e n t s t a t e d t h a t i n f l a t o n a r y p r e s s u r e s h a v e b e e n o n t h e r i s i n g t r e n d d es p i t e a t g h t m o n e t a r y p o l i c y T h e i nf l a t i o n a r y p r e s s u r e i s s t a t e d a s “ b r o a d - b a s e d ” a n d “ p e r s i s t e n t ” a n d i t i s d e e m e d c r t c a l t o a n c h o r t h s p r e s s u r e o r l o n g - t e r m s u s t a n a b e g r o w t h T h e s t a t e m e n t a d d e d t h a t s h o r t-t e r m c o s t s o f b r i n g n g d o w n i n -

f a t o n a r e l o w e r t h a n t h e l o n g -t e r m c o s t s o f a l l o w i n g t t o b e c o m e e nt r e n c h e d T h e M P C s t a t e m e n t n o t e d t h a t c o r e n f l a t i o n h a d s t i l l b e e n o n a r si n g t r e n d T h i s m e a n s t h a t n o n - f o o d n o n - e n e r g y i n f a t o n, t h a t h a s t t l e t o n o r e l a t o n t o e x o g e n o u s s h o c k s, a n d s h o u d h a v e o t h e r w i s e s t a y e d w t h i n t h e t a r g e t c o u l d s t i l l n o t b e t a m e d a t t h e 1 6 % m a r k T h e s t a t em e n t a s o t o o k n o t e o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e i n f a t o n o u t l o o k w a s a s o o n t h e r s e c a u s i n g t h e r s k o f m o r e i n f l a t i o n T h e c o m m t t e e a l s o s t a t e d t h a t “ t h e g l o b a e c o n o m c a n d f i n a n c i a l c o n d t i o n s b r o a d l y r e m a i n u n c e r t a i n i n t h e n e a r - t o - s h o r t t e r m a n d a n e x p e c t e d e c o n o m i c s l o w d o w n a n d f a l l i n t h e g l o b a d e m a n d c o u l d m e a n e v e n w o r s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s f o r e x p o r t e r s

T h e M P C s t a t e m e n t, o n t s o u t o o k o f t h e r e a l s e c t o r n o t e s t h a t t h e “ d o w n s i d e r i s k s o n t h e S B P ’ s g r o w t h o u t l o o k f o r t h i s y e a r h a v e n c r e a s e d o w i n g t o s h u t t n g d o w n o f v a r i o u s p r o d u c t i o n c u t s a n d s u p p l y c h a i n c o n s t r a n t s f a c e d b y t h e n d u s t r i e s

T h i s m e a n s t h a t t h e l o w g r o w t h r a t e t a r g e t s e t b y t h e s t a t e b a n k m g h t e n d u p b e n g l o w e r t h a n a n t i c ip a t e d T h e M P C h a s n o t e d m o d e ra t e e c o n o m i c a c t v i t y i n r e s p o n s e t o p o l i c y t i g h t e n i n g a n d e x o g e n o u s s h o c k s ” ke t h e f o o d s T h e M P C s t a t e m e n t, i n t s a s s e s sm e n t o f t h e e x t e r n a l s e c t o r a l s o s t a t e s t h a t t h e “ e f f e c t i v e m p l e m e nt a t o n o f e n e r g y c o n s e r v a t i o n m e a su r e s a n d a p p r o p r i a t e p r c i n g o f p e t r o e u m p r o d u c t s i s c r t c a l f o r m u c h - n e e d e d r e d u c t i o n i n e n e r g y m p o r t s T h e s t a t e m e n t r e g a r d s t h e 6 0 % r e d u c t i o n i n C a D o v e r D e c e mb e r, a r e s u t o f t g h t p o l i c y a n d a no t h e r f a c t o r t h a t t h e s t a t e m e n t r e f e r s t o a s “ a d m n i s t r a t v e m e a s u r e s ” H o w e v e r, t h e M P C ( a l s o ) v i e w s t h a t t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e p e n d n g 9 t h r e v i e w u n d e r t h e i M F ’ s E F F ( t o b e ) c r i t i c a l f o r r e d u c i n g u n c e r t a i n t y a n d u n l o c k i n g m u l t i l a t e r a l a n d b i l a t e r a l n f l o w s ) T h e M P C a l s o s t a t e s t h a t t h e c u rr e n t f s c a s t a n c e i s i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h m o n e t a r y t i g h t e n n g ” T h e s t a t e m e n t p o i n t s o u t t h a t t h e F B r t a x c o l l e c t i o n

g r e w s o w e r t h a n t h e b u d g e t t a r g e t W i t h a m e d i u m t e r m n f l a t i o n t a rg e t o f 5 - 7 % f o r D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 4 t h e M P C a i m s t o c o n t r o l t h e i n f a t o n e x-

p e c t a t i o n s a f e a t t h a t i s n c r e a

Imran Khan unveils mass protest plan to resist Naqvi’s appointment

ISLAMABAD

P T I r E v E r s E s C o u r s E , r ET r a C T s r E s I g n aT I o n s o f r E M a I n I n g 4 4 M P s

decision on Monday, stating they had informed Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of the decision via email

In a surprise move, Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf (PTI) has decided to withdraw the resignations of its remaining 44 members of the national Assembly whose resignations have not been accepted by the speaker in a move which aims to retake the office of the leader of the opposition

Asad Umar secretary general of the opposition party, announced the party’s

The lawmakers who have decided to withdraw their resignations include

Muhammad Riaz Khan, Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh Shaheen niaz nasarullah Dareshar, Zulfiqar Ali Khan, nafeesa Inayat Khan, Malik Anwar, Saleh

Mohammad Jai Parkash Tahir Sadiq niaz Ahmed, Raza nasarullah, Javed Iqbal, Munaza Hasan, Lal Chand Malhi, Sajida Zulfiqar Sardar Muhammad Khan Uzma

Mar yam nawaz to return home on saturday evening: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD S ta f f r e P o r t

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Monday that Pakistan Muslim League (n) Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer Maryam nawaz would leave London on January 26 and would land in Lahore on January 28, Saturday night at 8 pm In a tweet, the minister said that with the prayers of the people, Maryam nawaz Sharif was returning home after recovering from surgery The minister thanked the people of Pakistan for their prayers and good wishes

arrangements under way for a two-day “gandhara festival”

RAWALPINDI a P P

Director of Punjab Arts Councils (PAC) Rawalpindi Waqar Ahmed on Monday said that arrangements were being finalized for a two-day “Gandhara Festival” to be held on January 29 at Taxila Museum Talking to APP, he said that the Gandhara art exhibition, Gandhara book fair folk dances documentary on Gandhara culture and traditional food stalls would be part of the event At the same time, Waqar informed that famous Lok artists Saine Zahoor and Hamid Ali Khan would perform in the Sufi musical night on January 30 He added that PAC would also organize an event from January 31 to February 4 connecting with the Gandhara festival The director informed that naeem Hazarvi would perform folk music on January 31; Mehfil-e-Samaa by Imran Aziz Mian on February 1; Musharia on Feb 2 Folk music night on Feb 3 Meanwhile, drama “Ashoka the Great would be performed on February 4 He said the event entry would be free of charge for the people

sepoy mar t yred in Bannu IED blast

RAWALPINDI S ta f f r e P o r t

A soldier of the Pakistan Army on Monday embraced martyrdom as an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in general area Jani Khel of Bannu district According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the martyred soldier was identified as Sepoy Gul Sher (age 24 years, resident of Khyber district) It added that the sanitisation of the area was being carried out to eliminate any terrorists in the area

Riaz, Tashfeen Safdar, Jawad Hussain, and nausheen Hamid

The party now aims to appoint one of its members as the leader of the opposition in the national Assembly, he said

Separately, Fawad Chaudhry, senior vice president of the party said the lawmakers had decided to withdraw their resignations to get rid of Raja Riaz Ahmad, who he called a “fake” opposition leader and prevent the group of “turncoats” from voting for Shehbaz Sharif in the vote of confidence

More than 120 MPs loyal to former

prime minister Imran Khan resigned en masse on April 11, two days after he was ousted following a contentious vote of noconfidence marred by unprobed allegations of military intervention

Former deputy speaker of the national Assembly Qasim Suri who was performing his duties as acting speaker after then-incumbent Asad Qaiser s resignation accepted the resignation letters on April 15

However, once Ashraf was elected as the speaker, he decided to verify the resignations by interviewing lawmakers individually but

instead decided in favour of stalling the entire process by blaming it on the lawmakers’ reluctance to step down

Such situations require a lot of thought process he had said declaring he will not accept the resignation letters until he was completely satisfied they were not stepping down under pressure

However, last week, after Khan hinted at testing the prime minister through a confidence vote in a tit-for-tat move similar to the one he himself had faced, Ashraf accepted 35 resignations from PTI lawmakers and sent the list to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for de-notification

To date, a total of 80 PTI MPs’ resignations have been accepted

Following the announcement on Monday, PTI lawmakers staged a sit-in outside the speaker s official house demanding that their requests should be immediately accepted

Election Commission directs to take back vehicles from former CM Punjab, ministers

The Provincial Election Commission on Monday directed to take back protocol and vehicles from former chief minister Punjab and former ministers The provincial election commissioner had written a letter to chief secretary Punjab inspector general of police Punjab and other officials concerned in this regard The letter further directed to get vacant official residences official hostels and guest houses from the former chief minister Punjab and former provincial minister said the commission’s spokesperson The spokesperson further said that the caretaker setup would continue the routine work The commission also banned postings and transfers in the province, besides new development projects, she added

Govt likely to remove SNGPL, SSGCL MDs due

The government is likely to show the door to the Managing Directors (MDs) of the Sui northern Gas Pipelines Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited mainly owing to their performance especially failing to meet the loss cutting targets

According to reliable sources Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken serious notice of the “poor performance” of MDs of SnGPL & SSGCL over their failure to achieve the assigned targets and failing to control gas losses worth billions of rupees And, Secretary Petroleum, on finding a directive from the PM Office has sought explanation from both the MDs on priority

Sources said that after receiving the required explanation from the two MDs, it is feared that a process to remove both the MDs (Ali Javed Hamdani of SnGPL and Imran Mainiar of SSGCL) from the top lucrative slots of the sui companies (SnGPL & SSGCL) through their respective Board of Directors (BoDs) will be initiated

Owing to “poor performance”, failure in meeting loss cutting target (Unaccounted for Gas) which resulted billion rupees worth losses, besides depriving Balochistan from the supply of gas in winter season have made the premier unhappy with the performance of MDs of SnGPL & SSGCL, they added

“Both sui companies have so far failed to meet the assigned targets while the two companies also fell short of UfG reduction target in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, said sources They added that PM Sharif is not satisfied with the performance of MD SSGCL and MD SnGPL and directed the petroleum division to hold the management of two companies accountable for failure to achieve the assigned targets

Sources further said that the petroleum division had earlier shared the data related to the loss cutting targets of the two gas companies (SnGPL &SSGCL) with the Prime Minister’s Office on 20-12-2022 And the PMO observed that SSGCL had achieved only seven out of ten

reported indicators while it fell short of the UfG reduction target by nearly 50 percent in the financial year (FY) 2019-20 Similarly, the SSGC, in FY 2020-21, achieved only three out of ten reported indicators and its UfG reduction target was surpassed by 25pc Furthermore, in FY 2021-2022, its (SSGCL) UfG loss instead of registering any decline was increased Besides similar data on SnGPL does not indicate targets, due to which achievements made on reported 13 indicators cannot be compared to any benchmark nor with SSGCL s performance, said the sources quoting observations of the PMO over the data submitted by petroleum division regarding loss cutting targets of SnGPL & SSGCL

As per sources, the petroleum division has furnished the data on 10 and 13 indicators of SSGCL and SnGPL respectively against a total of 30 Key Monitoring Indicators (KMIs)

They added that the petroleum division had furnished an incomplete data regarding loss cutting targets of SnGPL and SSGCL and due to this the PMO advised the division (petroleum) to furnish the final figures which should be duly verified by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA)

It is also learnt from sources that OGRA had earlier conducted a study in order to find the reasons behind gas sector’s losses and to give recommendations to curb the menace of gas losses which has been causing hefty losses to the country s economy and also to bind the sui companies to achieve certain targets if they wanted to get allowance for high UfG However, both the gas companies (SSGCL & SnGPL) so far remained far behind in reducing the gas sector ’s losses due to some known and unknown reasons Sources further said that SnGPL and SSGCL has desired from OGRA to approve 7 6pc UfG for them But the OGRA has approved only 5% UfG for the two sui companies and linked the remaining 2 6% UfG with 30 KMIs So far, both sui gas utilities failed to meet the 30 KMIs and OGRA allowed only 1 6pc UfG for them, said sources It is pertinent to mention that the KMIs include identification of UfG prone areas segmentation of UfG prone areas & installation of

to ‘poor per formance’

check meters for reconciliation segmented areas and identification of cause of UfG which may include pilferage, line leakages, measurement errors and corrective measures taken after indicating reduction in UfG due to the exercise carried out, for new areas, design of gas pipeline network may be made in such a way that the system segregation is possible and check meter can be installed for reconciliation for better system visibility, inspection and reconciliation of all industrial consumer meters/CMS’s across the network once every month (along with reconciliation seals verification and by pass checking), inspection and rectification of all commercial consumer meters /CMs’s over the network once every three months or quarterly number of defective industrial meters replaced as a percentage of total defective commercial meters reported/notified per annum, number of defective domestic meters replaced as percentage of total defective domestic meters reported/notified per annum, industrial meters replaced as a percentage of total industrial meters qualifying scheduled replacement criteria, commercial meters replaced as a percentage of total commercial meters qualifying scheduled replacement criteria, the company shall carry out an exercise by testing a batch of minimum billed replaced meters to ascertain the actual minimum billing cases vs defective meters and shall subsequently make all efforts to reduce the percentage in minimum billed consumers with reference to present 25pc of SSGCL and SnGPL 32pc, length of underground distribution network replaced (Kilometers) as % of total company’s annual network replacement target, reduce present level of leak rate from 2 2 & 4 9 underground leaks/kilometers in case of SnGPL & SSGCL gradually to less than 1 leak/km in 5 years, inspection and survey twenty % total domestic connections annually and rectification of defected aboveground leaks connections number of CP station installed/refurbished as a % of CP stations selected for installation/renovation, number of disconnection in respect of theft as a % of total consumer base of the period along with the pilfered volume detected and recovery achieved, re-inspection of 100% disconnected industrial consumers quarterly

S hauk at K hanum Trust: Real estate investments channeled towards c ancer c are

other individual

within the year in which it is collected

In response to the recent controversy surrounding comments made by Imran Khan in court the management of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) has clarified that a $3 million investment in an endowment fund for a real estate project in Oman was made solely for the purpose of providing quality cancer care

former prime minister Imran Khan, or any

An SKMT spokesperson said that all funds, including those invested in the endowment fund are used solely to support the mission of providing world-class care to cancer patients

The spokesperson also emphasized that the chairman does not make investment decisions independently and that the investment committee supervises all investments made by the fund

He also noted that only non-Zakat funds are invested in this manner, with all Zakat collected being used for direct patient care

The trust also confirmed that in 2008, $3 million was invested by the endowment fund in a real estate project in Oman and that the investment allowed for an early exit with a 100 percent capital guarantee

In 2015 the entire amount of $3 million was recovered by SKMT

The spokesperson also highlighted that the trust has shared details of this investment and recovery of funds with the public multiple times and that all investments made by SKMT and its endowment fund are audited and reported, with financial reports being made

publicly available on the SKMT website

He also noted that data of all contributions are held and audited by autonomous third parties to ensure compliance with all relevant laws in all jurisdictions where funds are collected on behalf of the SKMT or to support it

He emphasized that over the last 30 years, the trust has treated more than 45,000 to 50,000 cancer patients every year at its hospitals in Lahore and Peshawar, most of whom would have been unable to access highly specialized cancer treatment elsewhere

The spokesperson also added that allegations that aim to sow doubt in donors’ minds are equivalent to playing with patients lives and that the management of SKMT is committed to providing state-ofthe-art cancer treatment to all its patients and to maintaining an excellent reputation for financial transparency

ISLAMABAD

LAHORE

ISLAMABAD

LAHORE: Railway employees staging protest at Pakistan Railway Shed over non-payment of salaries P h oto b y z u ba i r M e h f o o z

s H a r I f s w E lC o M E n a Q v I ’ s a P P o I n T M E n T a s

I n T E r I M C H I E f M I n I s T E r o f P u n j a B

S ta f f r e P o r t

TH E family of Shehbaz Sharif the prime minister, congratulated Mohsin naqvi on Monday morning, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) unanimously decided to appoint the controversial media mogul as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab naqvi was one of the two names suggested by Punjab s opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz

Extending good wishes to naqvi, the prime minister said the appointment was made in line with the Constitution and law Sharif said he was pleased with the election commission’s choice, and anticipated the principles of transparency freedom and impartiality will be upheld during the election process

I wish Mohsin naqvi success in fulfilling his constitutional and public duties

five-member gang among four females busted

ATTOCK a P P

as president of Pakistan Muslim Leaguenawaz (PML-n) ” he said Sharif ’s son, Salman Shehbaz, also welcomed the appointment, declaring: He is a good man and man of principle ”

Ahmed, who made a statement via a video message posted on Twitter said the appointment was not only a question mark on the integrity of the commission but also a nail in the coffin for the country s elections He also criticised the 13-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance s attempt to suppress the decision of the country’s people, calling it an injustice and an affront to democracy Ahmed warned that the people Pakistan, and Islam will be victorious” and that those who sought to block the path of Imran Khan would ultimately be defeated

Considered a close friend and confidant of former president Asif Ali Zardari naqvi’s appointment is considered a win for the PDM government naqvi is also married into the family of outgoing chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his cousin Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain

Despite this relationship the appointment has rubbed Pervez Elahi and his political allies, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) the wrong way Fawad Chaudhry senior vice president of the party, rejected the appointment and said the tribunal “never failed to disappoint the opposition party

“We reject the decision to appoint a controversial person such as Mohsin naqvi as the chief minister he said while urging party workers to prepare for mass-scale protests led by their leader Imran Khan

Appointing naqvi as the caretaker chief minister is making a mockery of the Constitution The PTI will challenge the decision and protest against it said Asad

Armed struggle against state is tantamount to ‘rebellion’: Mufti Taqi Usmani

ISLAMABAD a P P

He proposed that the ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ should be given a constitutional cover by the parliament so that it should be implemented at the grassroots level

amnest y schemes ruin countr y: sC

ISLAMABAD

a P P

The national Highway and Motorway Police (nHMP) on Monday apprehend a five-member inter-district gang Among the accused arrested were four female members of the gang involved in highway robberies in Taxila, Wah, Hassanabdal, Attock and Haripur

According to Police spokesman the gang comprising women posing themselves as commuters offered lift to the passengers waiting for public transport on GT road After robbing them of gold ornaments cash cell phones and other valuables, the robbers would throw them out from moving vehicles On Monday, the gang traveling in a Suzuki van offered lift to two women identified as Mehreen Mumtaz and Aysia Bibi waiting for public transport near Burhan near Hassanabdal and on gunpoint snatched cash and jewelry from them and then threw them on GT road, near Lawrencepur After some passersby spotted them in distress, they made emergency call on nHMP helpline subsequently a patrolling police party spotted the van near Attock and rounded up the robbers and shifted them to police station Burhan for further legal action According to initial investigation by ASI Aqeel Ahmed, the arrested robbers were identified as Javaid Iqbal resident of Wah Mehal Bibi resident of Hafizabad Zartaj Bibi native of nowshera, Attiya Bibi resident of Taxila and nazman Bibi native of Taxila Police registered a case and launched further investigation against them

IHC rejects asad Qaiser's plea seeking quashing of fIr

ISLAMABAD

a P P

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday rejected the request of former speaker national Assembly and PTI’s leader Asad Qaiser seeking to quash an FIR against him registered under section 144 and misuse of a loudspeaker Justice Triq Mehmood Jahangiri heard the petition filed by the PTI’s leader The court said that the case challan had been presented and the matter was before the trial court now Asad Qaiser ’s lawyer read out the FIR content before the bench and said that his client was not present at the said place yet he was nominated in the FIR On query by the bench the state counsel said the PTI held a protest for the release of Shehbaz Gill and violated section 144

Renowned scholar Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani on Monday issued a Fatwa (decree) that any armed activity against the state of Pakistan was a “rebellion”, which was haram and proscribed according to the Islamic law The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who were fighting against the Pakistan Army and were involved in anti-state activities were rebels he said while virtually addressing the Paigham-e-Pakistan national Conference on ‘Countering Violent Extremism, Radicalism and Hate Speech, organized by the International Islamic University, Islamabad here at its Faisal Masjid Campus

The decree was also unanimously adopted by the Ulema and Mashaykh of all schools of thought present in the conference Mufti Taqi Usmani said during his meetings in Kabul while heading a delegation, the Afghan Taliban also expressed their resentment against the TTP elements who were carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan Fighting against national security agencies and carrying out anti-state activities come under mutiny and it has nothing to do with Jihad,” he added Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz said the sad incident of Army Public School had united the entire nation on one platform to cope with the menace of terrorism

With the help of Ulema, Mashaykh and religious scholars, he said, the government evolved a unified policy in the shape of “Paigham-e-Pakistan” to bridge the communication gap and remove the religious differences for peace and tranquility in the country

P r i m e M i n i s t e r ’s S p e c i a l R e p r e s e n t a t i v e f o r I n t e r f a i t h H a r m o n y a n d M i d d l e E a s t H a f i z M u h a m m a d Ta h i r M e h m o o d A s h r a f i s a i d p o l i t i c a l i n s t a b i l i t y w a s o n e o f t h e m a i n f a c t o r s c a u s i n g economic meltdown in the country

He urged the media to play a responsible role and avoid publishing or broadcasting fake news because it severely affected the business activities

He said there were certain elements who wanted to create chaos but the Ulema and Mashaykh had renewed their pledge to foil the nefarious designs of enemy against the peace and security Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad said the “Paigham-e-Pakistan” had united the nation and it was playing a constructive role in the country’s development and prosperity The Ulema and Mashaykh stood with the Pakistan Army and other security agencies, and they were countering the enemy’s agenda, he added

Former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said they had to make collective efforts to net the masterminds , who were polluting the minds of youth Allama Iftikhar naqvi said the “Paigham-ePakistan” was yielding positive results and there was need for concerted efforts to make the people at every nook and cranny of the country aware of it Criticizing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief, he said Imran Khan was promoting polarization in society in a bid to grab power

Mohsin Naqvi's appointment constitutional, to ensure fair elec tions: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD

i n P

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Monday that the appointment of caretaker chief minister Punjab was made according to the constitution and law and now there would be elections and not the selection in the province Imran Khan was worried over Mohsin naqvi’s appointment as caretaker chief minister because this

was not done by ‘witchcraft’ but according to the constitution and law, she said in a tweet on Monday She termed Imran a foreign agent who used $3 million funds of Shaukat Khanum hospital for business purpose She also criticized Tehreek-e-Insaf ’s Chairman for imposing Usman Buzdar on the people of Punjab The minister rejecting the PTI’s criticism over caretaker chief minister ’s appointment said now there would be elections in Punjab and no longer selection as done in 2018

The Supreme Court on Monday remarked that it was the authority of Parliament alone or the provincial assembly to approve amnesty schemes, but here, every institution was introducing these schemes on its own Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that it was the amnesty schemes which had ruined the country in an organized way One-time amnesty for the smuggled vehicles had been introduced for hundred times he added The court also expressed annoyance over the nonappointment of the attorney general of Pakistan Justice Faez Isa remarked that there were more than 5,000 lawyers of SC but the executive was still unable to choose the one for this post The court said that as per the law this important slot couldn’t be left vacant Whether a bargain was being made on the appointment of the attorney general, it asked A threemember bench headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa dismissed the appeal of Pakistan customs against the decision of the appellant tribunal for de-seizing of a smuggled vehicle on payment of duties Justice Isa remarked that the customs office was incompetent to stop the smuggling of vehicles due to which it used to announce the schemes He further said that the court could summon record from Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) regarding the number of amnesties to date How these schemes could be announced under the law of customs, he asked The court observed that the smuggling of gold and silver was understandable but how the vehicles could be smuggled Vehicles with strange number plates could be witnessed on the roads of the federal capital, Justice Isa observed, adding that the owners of these vehicles might be very influential Justice Faez Isa noted that the British prime minister was fined for not fastening his seat belt and he also rendered an apology for the conduct In Pakistan the institution was not as powerful to fine even an ordinary officer of CDA on a violation, he said

Expressing annoyance with the customs office the court remarked that no one smuggles a vehicle by hiding it in his pocket But once the vehicle reached here the department started to chase it he said Justice Yahya Afridi said the customs department should end up the dispute after taking its duties

Customs' lawyer adopted the stance that if a vehicle was smuggled here, then it fell in the jurisdiction of this department At this, Justice Isa said that there was no answer to the basic question that how the vehicle was smuggled into the country The court subsequently dismissed the appeal of Pakistan customs against de-seizing of a smuggled truck which was seized in 2018 by the department

N a q v i w a s d r a g g e d i n t o N A B ’s p l e a b a r g a i n c a s e : K h aw a j a A s i f

S ta f f r e P o r t M i n i s t e r f o r D e f e n c e K h a w a j a A s i f o n M o n d a y d e f e n d e d c a r e t a k e r P u n j a b C h i e f

“naqvi’s name was dragged into an issue of nAB plea bargain but the fact was he had taken some loan from the accused in Haris Steel Mill Case in the national Accountability Bureau (nAB), said the minister while addressing a press conference here

“naqvi provided a cheque with a letter during the probe and returned the loan to the

accused A few news articles erroneously reported it as a matter of plea bargain whereas one letter could not be considered as a plea bargain And if he has done anything illegal then we are not going to defend him, he added

The Minister said naqvi was the coalition government’s nominee and it was his right to defend him In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) he said it was propitious to have a unanimous nomination for KP interim Chief Minister

He said Imran Khan was heading gradually towards a complete political failure as all his decisions were proving wrong and miscalculated

Addressing a news conference here, the

minister responded to Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI)’s objections and criticism on the appointment of Mohsin Raza naqvi as interim Chief Minister Punjab and revocation of their resignations from the national Assembly

Asif in the prologue of his media briefing congratulated the interim chief minister for assuming his new responsibilities He wished that under his leadership free and fair elections would be held in Punjab

He also welcomed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision being taken as per law and said that the entire process was done according to the constitution The minister clarified that the

nominees presented by PTI and others did not have good exercise as one the nominee a serving government employee and the other was a dual national

“Their vetting was not good for these nominees So that s why they had to face humiliation in this case ” he added Moreover, the government’s nominees had one ex-civil servant and one media personality he said adding “PTI also gave the name of another honourable bureaucrat who himself apologised to take the task Hence the PTI s objection on naqvi s appointment is a fake cry ”

Berating former Chief Minister Punjab, A s i f s a i d H o w e v e r C h a u d h r y P e r v a i z Elahi and PTI had most of the objections

i

a

e s a n d m a y G o d b l e s s h i m w i t h a l o n g l i f e H e h a s g o n e a g a i n s t h i s e l d e s t brother Chaudhry Shujaat and naqvi is his son-in-law in relations He must do efforts to unite them

Commenting on the national Assembly (nA) situation, he said the PTI tendered resignations at the nA after hurling abuses on the Assembly and used foul language against the Parliament which was known to all Imran Khan used indecent language against the nA and now they all want to return to the same platform They (PTI) are demanding justice from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) whom they rebuked indiscriminately ”

ISLAMABAD

Umar the party s general secretary in a tweet Pervez Elahi also brought up his own relationship with naqvi, saying “how can a person I am related to be appointed caretaker

chief minister? We will approach the Supreme Court regarding the ECP’s decision,” he tweeted, also recalling that naqvi had struck a plea bargain in a graft case

ISLAMABAD

P u n j a b g o v t r e c o n s t i t u t e s

W a z i r a b a d at ta c k j i t y et a g a i n

Discipline Rules) 1973

gun attack on former prime minister Imran Khan in Wazirabad, a

a

n r evised its composition, removing four of its members on Sunday

Dera Ghazi Khan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Syed Khurram Ali Shah, Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Superintendent of Police (SP) Naseebullah Khan, Assistant Inspector General (Monitoring) Ehsanullah Chohan and Potohar SP Malik Tariq Mehboob were removed from the team after a fact-finding report recommended strict action under terrorism and other charges against them It also recommended departmental action against them under Government Servant (Efficiency &

The report was finalised by Punjab Prosecutor General Chaudhry Khaliquz Zaman, who was deputed as the inquiry officer soon after an official letter written by the officers carrying divergent views from the team head surfaced in the media regarding the number of shooters involved in the Wazirabad attack

The government replaced the four officers with Dera Ghazi Khan District Police Officer Muhammad Akmal, Punjab Highway Patrol SP Anjum Kamal, Jhang Crime Investigation Agency Deputy Superintendent of Police Nasir Nawaz and any other official co-opted by the JIT head A notification in this regard was issued

This is the fourth time that the composition of the JIT has been changed since its formation on Nov 9

JIT convener Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, had levelled allegations of non-professionalism misuse of office tampering with evi-

Fia investigates money laundering accusations against politician’s wife

LAHORE: In a sudden development on Monday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) launched an investigation into money laundering accusations against the alleged spouse of one Afzal Mahmood, said to a political personality from Punjab The agency has requested information on properties and vehicles registered in the name of Saira Anwar, including the dates of transfer and how they were acquired whether through inheritance purchase or as gifts It has also sent a letter to the director general of the provincial Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department warning that action will be taken if the information is not provided in a timely manner The agency also alleged that a blue-eyed official of the previous Punjab government Dr Asif Tufail, was deliberately delaying the provision of information about Anwar ’s assets S ta f f R e p o R t

india denies visa to 239 pilgrims for Moinuddin chisti’s annual urs

ISLAMABAD: The diplomatic mission of India in Islamabad has refused to issue visas to 239 citizens who had applied to attend the annual Urs celebrations of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti, a revered 13th-century Sufi saint, in Ajmer in the western state of Rajasthan Out of the 488 people who applied for Indian visas only 249 were granted permission to travel to seek blessings S ta f f R e p o R t

dence and leaking of confidential information about the investigation to the media against the four officers He had suggested initiation of an inquiry against them

The CCPO’s allegations followed a lett

t h e w a y h e had been trying to influence the investigation process, and also disputed claims that t h e r e w e r e m u l t i p l e s h o o t e r s i n v o l v e d i n the attack Sending the inquiry report to the home department, Mr Zaman proposed action against the officers under Section 21A (sub-section 6)(a) of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, Rule 14 8 of Police Rules, 1934, the r e l e v a n t p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e P o l i c e O r d e r, 2002 and others

In his findings, he has also recommended punishment of two to three years with fines under relevant provisions of the law against the officers found guilty of misconduct for releasing classified information to the media deliberate efforts to distort

facts damaging the investigation and disobeying the orders of their senior (JIT head) He has further asked the authorities to confiscate the mobile phones of these officers and send them for forensic analysis

On the other hand, the inquiry officer has also endorsed the findings of CCPO Dogar that multiple shooters were involved in the attack on Mr Khan in Wazirabad

T h e r e p o r t o f P F S A L a h o r e d a t e d 16 12 2022 concludes that 12x crime empties were fired from 30-bore caliber and 2x crime empties/cartridges fired from 7 62 x 39mm caliber Similarly, another report of P F S A L a h o r e d a t e d 0 3 0 1 2 0 2 3 c l e a r l y c o n c l u d e s o n t e s t b a s i s t h a t t h e 9 x c r i m e empties have not been fired in the item P1 pistol, which is pistol of accused Muhammad Naveed used in the crime, read the inquiry report

I t f u r t h e r s t a t e d t h a t t h e u s e o f t h r e e d i ff e r e n t w e a p o n s h a s b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d f r o m t h e P u n j a b F o r e n s i c S c i e n c e A g e n c y

Alvi decries desecration of Q uran in Sweden

incident

In a strong condemnation on Monday, President Dr Arif Alvi decried the desecration of the Quran in Sweden, calling the act senseless, provocative, and Islamophobic ”

H e e x p r e s s e d t h a t t h e i n c i d e n t , which has hurt the religious sensitivit i e s o f M u s l i m s w o r l d w i d e w a s a form of needless incitement and a serious provocation

T h e p r e s i d e n t a l s o e m p h a s i z e d that the act was in violation of international norms and principles of legiti m a t e e x p r e s s i o n a n d f r e e d o m o f s p e e c h , w h i c h p r o h i b i t h a t e s p e e c h and inciting violence

H e e m p h a s i z e d t h a t I s l a m p r omotes respect and reverence for all rel i g i o n s , a n d t h e d e s e c r a t i o n o f t h e Q u r a n i s a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e r i s i n g l e ve l s o f I s l a m o p h o b i a

The president urged the international community to stand in solidarity against such hate and work towards consolidating values of tolerance and coexistence and criminalize any form of hate speech or ideologies

LANZHOU

X i n h ua

Having lived in China for over 10 years, Muhammad Faisal from Pakistan experienced the Spring Festival travel rush in quite a special way Wearing a railway uniform and holding a detector Faisal conducted safety checks for travelers entering Tianshui South Railway Station Some travelers looked at him in surprise when realizing that he was a foreigner, and he responded with a warm greeting in fluent Chinese I feel lucky to participate in China s ‘chunyun’ in this way,” he said He works as a railway staff member doing safety checks answering inquiries and organizing boarding and disembarking The 29-year-old comes from Islamabad In 2012, he came to China to go to university After graduation, he found a job in Tianshui City in northwest China’s Gansu Province and decided to live there He likes shooting short videos about his daily life in China and has gained many fans on his social media account

As a fan of China’s high-speed railway, he has traveled to many Chinese cities by high-speed railway I ve been to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and some other cities High-speed railway trains

are fast and steady The railway stations are very modern,” he said Although he has spent a long time in China Faisal previously barely had the chance to fully experience “chunyun ” He described chunyun as “vigorous” and well-organized The Spring Festival travel rush, also known as “chunyun,” began on January 7 and will last until Feb 15 this year during which many Chinese people will travel to reunite with their families for the Chinese Lunar New Year which falls on January 22

According to an official media conference, the number of passenger trips during this year s Spring Festival travel rush is expected to surge by 99 5 percent compared with the same period last year to reach nearly 2 1 billion

Wang Qiang, deputy director with the passenger transport department of the China Railway Lanzhou Group Co , Ltd , said that a total of 11 measures aimed at ensuring efficient services were implemented during this year s Spring Festival travel rush, including environmental adaptation for the elderly, online catering booking, and a code scanning service providing more transport information Seeing people carrying bags and travling to their homes, Faisal could not help thinking of his family

r e p o r t s , w h i c h c l e a r l y r e v e a l e d t h e r e w e r e t h r e e s h o o t e r s a t t h e s i t e , s o t h e o p i n i o n formed by the four former members of the J I T i n t h e i r w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t t h a t t h e r e w a s “ n o c r e d i b l e / i n d e p e n d e n t e v i d e n c e h a s c o m e o n t h e r e c o r d w h i c h s h o w s t h a t t h e r e w e r e m o r e t h a n o n e f i r e r s / a ss a i l a n t s ” w a s a g a i n s t t h e f a c t s a n d a v a i la b l e e v i d e n c e

“This way, they have tried to damage the veracity of the evidence, which amounts to misconduct as well as a crime, the inquiry report said, adding: “The four members of JIT have demonstrated criminal misconduct in not showing due service interest in discharging their legal duties by violating the disciplinary rules, destroying evidence and incorrect reporting, based on mala fide intents and ulterior motives ”

It further alleges that the officers acted illegally by leaking confidential and sensitive information to the media and made “deliberate efforts” to derail the investigation

I am of the view that sufficient evidence has been found in the record that they have exceeded their powers and acted in the way not provided in the law and rules, Mr Zaman wrote in the report

The report recommends “punishment with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years or with fine, or with both” for framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save a person from punishment or property from forfeiture the inquiry officer recommended

Financial struggles push Lahore man to attempt suicide with children in tow

A financially-stricken man in In Lahore’s Raiwind neighbourhood attempted to take his own life along with that of his three children on Monday by consuming poisonous pills Emergency services were able to transport the man and his children, aged 8 to 15, to a hospital where they are currently in critical condition The man who was struggling to make ends meet due to rising inflation and its effects on the cost of living, reportedly cited financial and mental stress as the motive for his actions The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) recently reported that weekly inflation has risen 31 83 percent in the past year, leading to increasing difficulties for the 80 million Pakistanis living below the poverty line The World Economic Forum (WEF) has listed inflation and economic instability as among the top risks facing the country

Man kills

teenage

daughter

at karachi cit y cour t over ‘honour’: police

KARACHI

A 19-year-old girl was shot dead over ‘honour ’ by her father at the gates of Karachi City Court on Monday for marrying of her free will according to City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shabbir Ahmed Sethar The incident left Head Constable Imran Zaman 40 and another person 20-yearold Wajid Kaleem injured Both the injured were taken to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi along with the girl s body the SSP told media SSP Sethar said the suspect behind the firing Ameer Jan Mehsud, 65 was arrested and a weapon recovered from him Pirabad Station House Officer (SHO) Mukhtiar Ahmed Panhwar said that the medical condition of Zaman was out of danger A first information report (FIR) of the murder was not filed by the time this story was published Panhwar said the investigators including Zaman had brought the girl to the court to record her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (recording of confessions and statements) when the incident occurred

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

‘ immoral

’ Ac ro s s C h i n a : S p r i n g Fe s t i va l t r ave l r u s h i n t h e eye s o f a Pa ki s t a n i

SC ExPrESSES diSPLEASurE OvEr GOvT’S

FAiLurE TO APPOiNTMENT AGP

deputy AG is acting as if the court has asked a very difficult constitutional question”

TH E Supreme Court on Monday expressed its displeasure over federal government s failure to appoint a new attorney general During a hearing, Justice Qazi Faiz Isa asked who is the AGP in the country at the moment?” and wondered if the government was so ‘incompetent’ that it was unable to appoint a new AGP

On not getting a satisfactory answer from the deputy AG, Justice Isa said that the

“ I s t h e g o v e r n m e n t n e g o t i a t i n g w i t h anyone on the appointment of the attorney g e n e r a l ? ” a s k e d J u s t i c e I s a a d d i n g t h a t t h e t o p c o u r t h a s 5 , 5 0 0 l a w y e r s , b u t t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s u n a b l e t o p i c k o n e

J u s t i c e I s a a l s o s t a t e d t h a t t h e g o v e r nm e n t i s “ v i o l a t i n g t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n b y n o t a p p o i n t i n g t h e A G

D u r i n g t h e h e a r i n g t h e a p e x c o u r t a l s o n o t e d t h a t t h e o r d e r s o f t h e S C w e r e n o t f o l l o w e d , a d d i n g t h a t t h e a d d i t i o n a l and deputy AGs are only bound to take in-

s t r u c t i o n s f r o m t h e A G J u s t i c e I s a f u r t h e r s t a t e d t h a t i t i s a g a i n s t t h e l a w f o r t h e d e p u t y a n d a d d it i o n a l A G s t o a p p e a r b e f o r e t h e c o u r t w i t h o u t t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s o f t h e A G P

The comments by the apex court come a s M a n s o o r U s m a n Aw a n r e c u s e d h i m s e l f f r o m b e c o m i n g t h e n e w A G P d u e t o “ u na v o i d a b l e p r o f e s s i o n a l c o m m i t m e n t s ”

A f t e r Aw a n s r e f u s a l , t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s a g a i n s t a r t e d l o o k i n g f o r a n e w A G P s o u r c e s s a i d , a d d i n g t h a t t h e i n c u m b e n t r e g i m e i s c o n s i d e r i n g a L a h o r e - b a s e d l a w y e r f o r t h e p o s t

Federal govt constitutes JIT to probe Wazirabad attack c ase

LAHore

FM arrives in Tashkent for 26th ECO Council of Ministers meeting

tASHkent

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to attend the 26th meeting of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Council of Ministers (COM) The theme of the conference is “Year of Strengthening Connectivity” The minister will address the council and will separately hold bilateral meetings with participating ministers of member states and other dignitaries on the sidelines of the event The COM is the policy-making forum of the ECO that approves the decisions and annual work plans of the organization The 25th COM was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in November 2021 As a founding member Pakistan remains strongly committed to ECO, which aims to promote effective regional cooperation, with a special focus on communications trade culture and connectivity

Effor ts under way to provide uninterrupted telecom ser vices: PTA

ISLAMABAD

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Monday said that it was working with operators to provide uninterrupted telecom services to the consumers across the country “Due to countrywide power outage, users may face service disruptions,” the PTA said in a series of tweets The country saw a power failure which continued for over 12 long hours The power failure started around 7:30 in the morning However, the authorities were able to restore power partially and in a phased manner around 7:35pm During the entire day the services remained suspended and the mobile telephony was also disconnected It said Cellular Mobile Operators had been instructed to inform their respective subscribers accordingly and make optimal efforts for refueling of the gensets on maximum number of sites

The federal government on Monday also constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the Wazirabad attack on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Chairman Imran Khan

Inspector General (IG) Railway Police Rao Sardar Ali Khan has been appointed as the convener of the JIT while DIG Kamran Adil along with representatives of Military Intelligence (MI), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have also been made part of the team

After the approval of the federal cabinet, the Ministry of Interior issued the notification for the formation of the JIT The team will investigate the case registered in Wazirabad and submit its report to the home ministry

The development comes a day after the Punj a b H o m e D e p a r t m e n t i s s u e d a n o t i f i c a t i o n f o r the replacement of four members of the JIT probi n g t h e g u n a t t a c k o n P T I c h i e f I m r a n K h a n o n Nov 3 last year

The move came after differences emerged between Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar who is leading the investigation and the other four members of the team

As per the notification all four members have

Moreover,

the

SNGPL reduces gas losses by 23,348 MMCF in three years

ContInueD froM BACk pAge

Physical vigilance of domestic and commercial consumers is underway As a result of these measures the company was able to detect 325,978 cases of gas theft thus booking a volume of 5,282 MMCF which translates into Rs 4,543 million

The company also recovered 3,868 MMCF which is equivalent to Rs 2,402 million SNGPL also highlighted the fact that the company has been keeping a strict check on gas leakage During FY 2019-20 to FY 202122, SNGPL replaced 2,645 kilometres of leaking lines under the System Rehabilitation Program (SRP) Furthermore, 97,984 underground leakages and 2,935,842 above the ground leakages were rectified To improve measurement accuracy, around 2,097,608 metres have been replaced, resulting in booking of 21,418 MMCF under billing charges Gas meters are replaced on account of being suspected, defective, scheduled replacement etc said the SNGPL

Naveed, who allegedly

premier, had filed an application before the Interior Ministry, claiming that the JIT was showing political malice

The application added that differences among members of the investigation team were confirmed in official correspondence

Ministr y fails to meet power restoration deadline

ContInueD froM pAge 01

This is what seems to have happened in the case of the recent power black out The demand was higher than the generation of the grid which led to a domino effect causing power plants to trip and disconnect from the grid to save expensive power generation equipment

At the same time some sources on the basis of anonymity claimed that the issue arose when the government made an effort to increase the contribution of thermal power into the grid since the generation from hydel electricity was falling W h at t h e g o v e r n m e n t d i d?

Initially all the provinces are experiencing power outages Areas including Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Shore Kot, Pir Mahal Mukran DG Khan were facing a power breakdown

To summarise it, the entire provinces of Sindh and Balochistan had no power or have it intermittently Regions in south Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are also experiencing blackouts

The national regulator was making efforts to reassume uninterrupted power to consumers According to a statement from the National Electricity

Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), “[It] has taken serious notice of the country-wide power breakdown and has directed National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) to submit a detailed report in this regard ”

Furthermore in its statement the regulator ensured that the blackout was not its fault since, “[It] has previously imposed fines on similar tripping, partial/full blackout(s) system collapse(s) tower collapse(s) in the year 2021 & 2022 and has consistently issued directives and recommendations on mitigating such events as well

Additionally, the power division also issued a statement saying that, “work on restoration of electricity has been initiated and at present it is in full swing as few grid stations of IESCO and PESCO are being restored in phase wise to avoid more losses Even though the energy minister has claimed that energy will be restored within 24 hours, sources say that that is unlikely given the magnitude of the issue, adding that it might take up to 48 hours to ensure uninterrupted electricity supplies to all areas While talking to Profit, the source also stated that the government s efforts to restore the supply of electricity is facing unprecedented issues which are aggravating the situation further

It added that SNGPL has been able to produce extraordinary results owing to technological operational and physical interventions undertaken during the current regime

Under the supervision of Managing Director SNGPL Ali J Hamdani, the company has been transformed into a vibrant and innovative technology-based energy provider, reads the SNGPL statement

Top cour t fumes at reinstatement of policemen suspended for robber y

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

T h e S u p r e m e C o u r t e x p r e s s e d i t s d i s m a y o v e r t h e r ei n s t a t e m e n t o f t h r e e d i s m i s s e d p o l i c e m e n w h o w e r e i n v o l v e d i n a r o b b e r y a t a d i p l o m a t ’s h o u s e a n d s o u g h t a r e p o r t f r o m t h e c h i e f o f I s l a m a b a d p o l i c e w i t h i n t h r e e w e e k s T h e c h i e f j u s t i c e , w h o h e a d e d t h e h e a r i n g , q u e s t i o n e d t h e I G P o n w h y a t i m e - e x p i r e d a p p e a l w a s f i l e d a g a i n s t t h e d e c i s i o n t o r e i n s t a t e t h e d i s m i s s e d p o l i c e m e n J u s t i c e U m a r A t a B a n d i a l a l s o h i g h l i g h t e d t h a t t h e d i p l o m a t i n v o l v e d i n t h e c a s e h a s i m m u n i t y a n d t h a t t h e s t o l e n v a l u a b l e s f r o m t h e d i p l om a t ’s h o u s e w e r e r e c o v e r e d f r o m t h e p o l i c e e m p l o ye e s J u s t i c e A t h a r M i n a l l a h e m p h a s i z e d t h a t t h e t o p p o l i c e m a n s h o u l d b e h e l d a c c o u n t a b l e f o r t h e m a t t e r a n d J u s t i c e Ay e s h a M a l i k s t a t e d t h a t t h e t i m e - e x p i r e d a p p e a l w a s t h e r e s u l t o f a c o n n i v a n c e w i t h i n t h e d ep a r t m e n t T h e t h r e e p o l i c e e m p l o y e e s A s i f A l i L a l S h a h b a z a n d Ta r i q M e h m o o d , w e r e d i s m i s s e d i n 2 0 1 7 f o r t h e i r i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e r o b b e r y

President for creative solutions to enroll 100pc children, promote preventive health treatment

a p p

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said creative and out-of-the-box solutions must be adopted to ensure 100% enrolment of children in schools

He also stressed upon promotion of preventive health mode of treatment for ensuring accelerated socio-economic uplift of the people, and the progress and development of the country

The president expressed these views during a meeting with National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) Chairman Col (retd) Dr Amirullah Marwat who called on him here at the

Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release Dr Nasim Ashraf, Chairman of the Pakistan Human Development Fund, and senior members of the NCHD were also present during the meeting

Talking to the NCHD chairman, President Alvi said as per estimates only 68% of the country’s children were enrolled in schools at the primary level, which was alarming, and observed that 100% enrolment of children must be ensured by instituting out-of-box solutions like using mosques from Fajr to Zohar (morning to afternoon) as schools and using hybrid modes of learning wherever possible

He highlighted the need for adopting

innovative information and communication technology tools for imparting education at the grassroots level and imparting marketable skills to the youth through nonformal and formal education and skill development programmes

The president said there was a need of creating a comprehensive system in the country to retain professionals, which included doctors, engineers, IT specialists and persons with high levels of skills in other sectors so as to utilize their intellect knowledge and expertise within the country and take tangible steps to stop the brain drain of precious human resources

He said the Pakistani diaspora, which was contributing to the growth and

development of their host countries, should be engaged to transfer their expertise, skills and knowledge to Pakistan through various online and hybrid platforms

The president said the large family size, especially in the poor segments of society, could be substantially reduced by meeting the need for contraceptives with longer efficacy by making them readily available to people, besides providing them with education and improving their economic status which would contribute to bringing down the population growth in a reasonable timeframe

He lauded the NCHD’s role in the capacity building and training of teachers and health workers, its efforts for poverty

alleviation, conducting research studies and data collection, and global resource mobilization to fund its operations

He noted that the NCHD was playing a pivotal role in the critical fields of literacy and non-formal education, promoting universal primary education, and improving the condition of primary healthcare which were essential for human resource development and for creating a quality workforce in the country He also appreciated the NCHD for its role in promoting human development with the support of the government and nongovernmental organizations and assured the Commission of his full support in their efforts for the national cause

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

ISLAMABAD

been changed for developing differences with the Lahore CCPO The notification was dated back to Jan 14, whereby the new members were appointed under the chairmanship of the CCPO

the prime accused in the alleged assassination attempt on Imran Khan also challenged the JIT probing the matter

shot

former

S ta f f R e p o R t

A n o t h e r h i k e

IF all you have is a hammer, all problems will look like nails And the central bank does seem to have a hammer in the shape of interest rates hikes In its latest Monetary Policy Statement, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced a 100 basis point hike in the policy rate to 17 percent, citing persistent inflationary pressures and the need to anchor inflation expectations however, it’s important to note that the recent bout of inflation is mainly driven by cost-push factors such as rising commodity prices and a depreciating rupee, rather than demand-pull factors

The SBP’s decision to increase interest rates in the face of these cost-push inflationary pressures may not be effective in bringing down inflation in the long term It’s also worth noting that the interest rate hike may come at the cost of further slowing down economic growth The SBP’s statement acknowledged that economic activity is already moderating in response to policy tightening and exogenous shocks, such as the recent floods The production of automobiles, POL, and cement has declined significantly, and the largescale manufacturing output has decreased by 5 5 percent in November 2022

In light of these developments the SBP should consider alternative policy measures that address the underlying causes of inflation, such as exchange rate stabilization and increasing exports, rather than relying solely on interest rate hikes to curb inflation

The SBP’s decision to increase interest rates is understandable given the current inflationary pressures, because it seeks to ‘anchor ’ inflation around a particular range of percentage It seeks to exercise power of that end of the problem that it does have agency over And, as some economists point out, even cost-push inflation can lead to demand-pull inflation: consumers stock up on some purchases in anticipation of price hikes Neoclassical economics centres around the management of expectations; the central bank’s interest rate hikes aren’t as hamfisted as they appear

Still, it is crucial to remember that it may not be the most effective solution in the long-term The government should focus on addressing the root causes of inflation and supporting sustainable economic growth

T appears that the creature that is likely to go extinct next is man himself (Man, as in human, not the homo sapiens who appears to be thriving like never before ) For never was there a more alarming shortage of real men than is the lot of the world today And never have the consequences been so devastating Manliness becomes crucial when a boy leaves the comfort of his father s house and faces the world on his own; and even more so when he gets married and has children to raise The preparation for it must start right from his boyhood if he is not to find the transition to manhood impossible This preparation leaves much to be desired, hence the crisis at hand So, what exactly does it mean to be a man? For starters being a man is much more than being above a certain age and having XY chromosomes

It is easy to mistake pumping iron driving fast fascination for beauty and rock or a certain brand of in-your-face machismo for being a man What really separates men from boys however is the realization that the world owes them nothing What it means to be a man then is to rid oneself of any semblance of notions of entitlement A man knows that he must pay life’s rent, and do so in good cheer It all boils down to taking responsibility for his actions As the man of the house for example it means understanding that the buck must stop with him – there is nobody else to blame apart from himself – and, if he has not been negligent in his decision making or implementation then accepting the results Like a man!

It is beneath his dignity to be a scheming and plotting individual, all the time indulging in games of double-dealing and intrigue To be a man is to be frank, neither wanting praise for what he is not, nor being afraid of criticism for what he is Whatever else a real man thinks of life, it is not a perpetual popularity contest for him It is all the better if people around him appreciate him But his primary motivation for doing whatever he does is never to please anybody but God

To be able to say ‘No’ is an important part of being a man especially when it comes to saying it to family To conform to anything and everything merely for the sake of his peace of mind is a cop-out unworthy of a man Flexibility is without doubt a crucial ingredient in successful human relationships es-

regionalism is still a dream in South Asia and South Asia remains one of the poorest and least integrated regions in the world There are number of factors that are becoming hindrance in way of pursuing common larger goals and objectives of SAARC

To being with, the attitude of SAARC states shows t h e i r n a t i o n a l i s t i c i n c l i n a t i o n s S i n c e t h e e n d o f t h e World Wars even the most patriotic and nationalistic e u r o p e a n s t a t e s s t a r t e d d i s c u s s i n g t o c o l l a b o r a t e W h i l e r e g i o n a l o rg a n i s a t i o n s s u c h a s t h e e u r o p e a n U n i o n ( e U ) a n d t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f S o u t h e a s t A s i a n Nations (ASeAN) have integrated the states which include even the past enemies, this blueprint has not succeeded in South Asia It is primarily because SAARC n a t i o n s , c o m p r i s i n g o f h i n d u s , M u s l i m s , a n d B u ddhists, do not belong to the same civilization The cult u r a l r e l i g i o u s a n d i d e o l o g i c a l l a n d s c a p e s i n S o u t h Asia are complex There is no sense of belonging to one region among SAARC states and they are reluctant to let go of their individual identity States that are part of successful regional organizations, like eU and A S e A N , m o s t o f t e n r e f e r s t o t h e m s e l v e s a s ‘ T h e ASeAN and The europeans however SAARC nations do not ow n their organization s ince it’s highly unlikely that people from India and Pakistan will ever introduce themselves as SAARCIANs hence lack of common identity leads to failure of SAARC

Being a man

Easier said than done

pecially close ones A man can easily be too rigid; but there is a very real danger of erring on the opposite extreme as well One can easily be too flexible for anybody’s good including those loved ones who might in the short run be extremely pleased with one s acquiescence It is an indispensable pat of a man’s JD to protect his family from not only the external threats but (as will more often be the case) also from the consequences of their own desires Watching TikTok videos for hours on end indulging in non-stop small-talk, being partial to soaps replete with family politics and petty love affairs, following silly celebrity gossip and badmouthing relatives and friends are hardly the activities one would associate with a man worth his salt One need not have a degree in Data Analytics to know how short the average modern man has fallen from the ideal when it comes to such matters

To be a man is to waste no time complaining or whining about things and people he may have any number of issues with others; and on appropriate occasions he may even voice those concerns, and try and get them sorted out But without the expectation that the problem will necessarily be resolved as a result of the dialogue he will not make himself miserable when the other party still fails to see eye to eye with him (which he knows will happen nine times out of ten) he understands that there is way too much stupidity and evil inherent in the very design of the universe for that to happen more often than that Of course he may regulate his own conduct according to the response he gets, but in no case will he allow himself to play the victim or give the impression of a bitter failed reformer Neither will he be disillusioned with the whole of humanity, nor let the experience alter his conduct towards the world at large The stigma that has come to be associated with masculinity has been one of the most devastating consequences of feminism Feminists supplant the manly man with a politically-correct, compliant specimen who

is keen not to offend or displease anybody The problem with such compliant beings is that they can hardly be expected to protect their families from any threat, external or internal A real man does not allow himself to be intimidated and moulded in any which way

Kindness and courtesy are without doubt hallmarks of a real man But he knows when it is time to be gentle and when the use of force is called for he is not a one-trick pony: he is varied in his response to various circumstances If might is called for he will be up to the task; but ensuring not to use more than the minimum necessary amount

Things in life have a way of going wrong at the most delicate of times, sometimes all at the same time In such a situation, a real man perseveres undaunted, without making a big deal out of it he also realizes that the race is not necessarily to the swift Therefore, he does not allow himself to plumb the depths of despair when things go awry; nor to behave like a braggart when something good happens to him he tries and accepts both the good and the bad with equanimity To be a man is to be reliable, but not necessarily predictable he understands that there are occasions when the only fitting response is anger, even if they are less frequent than what is often believed he realizes that not having the capacity to show anger in such circumstances is a severe limitation on his part So, while he controls his temper in most situations, he is certainly not entirely incapable of flying off the handle once in a while

Finally, while a real man opts to be beneficial for all, he is far from being harmless For without the potential for harm there is no possibility of good either: A harmless man is about as useful as a dull knife that cannot cut anything

however

Unfor tunately, even after four decades of its formation, regionalism is still a dream in South Asia and South Asia remains one of the poorest and least integrated regions in the world.

have not

with an objective

cooperation

mutually set goals South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985 with the object i v e o f b r i n g i n g e c o n o m i c , s o c i a l a n d c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t , i n t e g r a t i n g S o u t h A s i a n c o u n t r i e s a n d promoting the welfare of the people of South Asia Unfortunately, even after four decades of its formation,

L i k e w i s e , S A A R C h a s s u ff e r e d b e c a u s e o f t e nsions between India and Pakistan particularly over the disputed territory of Kashmir India-Pakistan relations are filled with security challenges, arms race, energy deficits and water disputes SAARC summits have also b e e n p o s t p o n e d b e c a u s e o f t h e s e b i l a t e r a l p r o b l e m s which is a big setback For instance, there was summit to be held in Pakistan in 2016, but it had to be called o ff a s I n d i a b o y c o t t e d i t a n d u n d e r t h e I n d i a n i n f l uence, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal also refused to come It is quite improbable that SAARC will be successful until relations between India and Pakistan are mended The irony is that Article 10 (2) of SAARC does not allow the discussions of bilateral and contentious issues at its forum Inclusion of bilateral p r o b l e m s i n t h e S A A R C c h a r t e r w o u l d g i v e o t h e r members a chance where they may work together to apply pressure on India and that is not acceptable to

I n d i a T h e r e f o r e , t h e a b s e n c e o f c o n f l i c t r e s o l u t i o n mechanism and presence of constant rivalries are the obstructions in way of SAARC’s progress M o r e o v e r, I n d i a s h e g e m o n i c a s p i r a t i o n s h i n d e r r e g i o n a l c o o p e r a t i o n i n S o u t h A s i a C o m p a r i n g I n d i a t o i t s S A A R C n e i g h b o u r s , t h e r e i s a t r e m e n d o u s g a p i n t e r m s o f b o t h r e s o u r c e s a n d p o w e r t h a t t r a n s l a t e into a heightened sense of uneasiness among SAARC s t a t e s I n h i s b o o k , T h e Tr a g e d y o f G r e a t P o w e r P o li t i c s , M e a r s h e i m e r s t a t e s t h a t i n a n a n a r c h i c i n t e r n at i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t g r e a t p o w e r s m a x i m i z e t h e i r p o w e r t i l l t h e y r e a c h t o t h e l e v e l o f h e g e m o n I n t h e c o n t e x t o f S o u t h A s i a , a s I n d i a i s a p o we r f u l s t a t e , i t s e e k s t o c o e r c e m e m b e r s t a t e s o f S A A R C i n t o a l i g n i n g t h e m s e l v e s w i t h I n d i a n n a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s I t c o n s i d e r s i t s e l f t o b e a r eg i o n a l h e g e m o n ; h o w e v e r, t h i s v i e w p o i n t i s n o t s h a r e d b y t h e o t h e r S A A R C s t a t e s F u r t h e r m o r e , I n d i a i s a l s o p r o m o t i n g s u b - r e g i o n a l i s m i n South Asia to isolate Pakistan i n t h e r e g i o n , w h i c h i s d i l u ti n g t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f S A A R C To m a i n t a i n i t s h e g e m o n y, i t i s m o v i n g f r o m S A A R C t o o t h e r g r o u p i n g s like Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Techn i c a l a n d e c o n o m i c C o o p e r a t i o n ( B I M S T e C ) ; Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are part of i t w h i l e P a k i s t a n i s l e f t o u t I n d i a w a n t s t o t a k e d e c is i o n s w h i c h s u i t s i t s n a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s a n d i t d o e s n o t t a k e i n t o a c c o u n t t h e r e s e r v a t i o n s a n d c o n c e r n s o f o t h e r n e i g h b o r i n g s t a t e s T h e a p p r o a c h o f I n d i a n p o l i c i e s i s e i t h e r a i m e d a t d o m i n a t i n g t h e s m a l l e r S A A R C c o u n t r i e s o r a t d i v i d i n g t h e m i n t o s u bgroups Neither of these goals promotes collaboration a m o n g t h e S A A R C n a t i o n s

SAARC members are focusing on their vested interests and politics when there are common issues that n e e d t o b e a d d r e s s e d b y t h e c o u n t r i e s c o l l e c t i v e l y

in s i g n i f i c a n t t r a d e P r e s e n t l y, t h e i n t r a - r e g i o n a l t r a d e among SAARC members is less than 5%; lower than all other regional organizations States can take notes that despite of differences and clashes, trade between I n d i a - C h i n a a n d U S - C h i n a i s a t o p t i m u m l e v e l I f t h e s e s t a t e s c a n d o t r a d e S o u t h A s i a n s t a t e s c a n a l s o normalize their trade relations w h i c h w i l l u l t i m a t e l y r e d u c e the tensions and lead to cooperation in other fields In addition environmental crisis in S o u t h A s i a i s a m a j o r i s s u e for countries as South Asia is h i g h l y v u l n e r a b l e t o c l i m a t e c h a n g e B o t h P a k i s t a n a n d I n d i a a r e a l s o f a c i n g s m o g ; a n d g l a c i e r s i n B h u t a n M a ld i v e s a n d P a k i s t a n a r e m e l ti n g B e s i d e s , t h e r e i s l o w literacy rate child labor over p o p u l a t i o n , g e n d e r d i s p a r i t y, youth bulge etc in South Asia which demands the collaborative approach Cooperation in these fields would surely open a window to resolve other bilateral issues States must learn from the eU and ASeAN to form a single identity Any attempt to forge regional integration without cultivating this identity would be doomed to failure Regionalism is impossible without the resolution of bilateral issues So, it is the need of hour that India should stop thinking of itself as hegemon of South Asia; and SAARC nations must put an end to their mutual hostility, heal old wounds, and work together for a better future

The writer is graduate of International Relations from National Defence University, Islamabad He can be contacted at imaz virk@gmail com

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

There is huge economic potential in the South Asia, but SAARC countries have failed to utilize it South A s i a F r e e Tr a d e A g r e e m e n t ( S A F TA ) a n d S A A R C Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) were materialized;

its members

engaged

Things in life have a way of going wrong at the most delicate of times, sometimes all at the same time.

H A S A N A F TA B S A E E D

Yousaf Nizami Editor

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

M A Niazi Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Joint Editor

Iran’s human rights violations

Indescribable and violent

erupted Contrary to international law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran ratified in 1994, the country continues to sentence minors to death with at least 160 such individuals facing execution, according to the UN

Dr AloN BEN mEIr

R i g h t i n g t h e W R o n g: Iran’s theocratic government is violating every grain of human rights to an extent that transcends the pale of barbaric and beastly behavior in brazen defiance of Islam s teachings, which the government cynically claims to uphold Its rulers are drowning ever deeper in the blood of ordinary Iranians who dare to resist this oppressive theocracy This is evident in a recent spree of executions of Iranians accused of participating in nationwide demonstrations against the regime in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini a 22-year-old of Kurdish descent killed by the morality police The hangings, the incomprehensible torture, the cruel lashings the routine persecution and the widespread incarceration of innocent people know no bounds

The regime s cruelty and hypocrisy makes a mockery of the Quran with its despicably violent crackdown and these spurious trials that take no account of due process The Quran (6:151) explicitly forbids the killing of anyone without the due process of law: “Whether open or secret; take not life which Allah has made sacred except by way of justice and law,” and there is no exception to the prohibition on the killing of children, even those belonging to an enemy force

The list of the Iranian government’s atrocities against its own people is hard to numerate, but even a perfunctory glance at some of the egregious crimes the clergy is committing represent a new moral low to which historically only few despotic regimes have descended

The group human Rights Activists in Iran reports that at least 517 protesters have been killed since mid-September and over 19,200 people have been arrested Scores of young women are among the dead Iran does not simply hang its protesters, but displays their lifeless bodies suspended from cranes

To demonstrate their utter shamelessness, in 2021 they even hanged a dead young woman who was on death row but died from a heart attack while waiting for sixteen others to be executed before her, a psychological torture that she could no longer endure her corpse was hung from the neck, on display for thousands of people If this is does not debase Islam, I don t know what does

The authorities have been killing children in a bid to crush the spirit of resistance among the country s youth and retain their iron grip on power at any cost A recent report notes that “Children represent 14% of overall deaths of protesters and bystanders recorded by Amnesty International which exceeds 300 since the protests

The Iranian police are known for their cruelty and disregard for human life even in regards to children, and the families of their underaged victims, unlawfully gunned down or beaten to death by security forces face arbitrary arrest, intimidation, and harassment They expose their inconceivable brutality through their sinister attempt to cover up their crimes by warning the relatives of the deceased child to remain silent or else face the death penalty even though the Quran places immense value on every single human life – and in fact it states (5:32) that “ if anyone slew a person it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people” – the government casually ignores the Quran s teaching which is tantamount to blasphemy

Thousands of people have been arbitrarily arrested and indicted since protests erupted; they are denied access to lawyers of their own choosing, and not even permitted to see the evidence against them Amnesty International has stated that the trials “bore no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding

Since the protests began in September, the Iranian government has passed dozens of death sentences with the accused having faced “rapid, closed-door trials ” Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, observed: “The executions are aimed at creating a republic of fear in which the people don’t dare to protest The rate of executions has skyrocketed – 330 people in the first half of 2022 a 25 percent increase from the previous year ethnic minorities in Iran in general are disproportionately convicted of vague capital charges such as “enmity against God ” As Amnesty International documents, over 60% of the children killed were from Iran s oppressed Baluchi and Kurdish minorities ”

Most Iranian prisons are unfit for human habitation The prisoners at one prison in particular, Rejaei Shahr, where most executions take place, are subject to the most horrific torture that can be imagined From drinking contaminated water, many prisoners contract intestinal, eye, and liver diseases with little or no medical care Many of them die without having seen a doctor Violence and discrimination, including flogging and the death penalty, are commonly perpe-

trated against LGBT+ persons They are viewed as subhuman, often forced to live a life of desolation and despair until their dying day The clergy who supposedly believe in God s creations without any reservation, conveniently forget that these people are also God’s creation, and that treating them like animals defies God s will

Many of those who have been sentenced to death have been charged with “waging war against God (known as hirabah) and causing “corruption on earth ” The Arabic term ‘hirabah’ is derived from ‘harb,’ which literally means war It is taken from the Quran (5:33) which classified hirabah as ‘waging war against God’: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against God and his Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or that they be exiled from the land ”

Nearly all early (8th century) and later commentaries on the Quran explain that the verse originated “in response to a crime of extreme violence, torture, and murder committed against a group of innocent villagers ” Iran, however, is a “prime example” of how various Islamic governments, including the Taliban in Afghanistan, have broadened and manipulated the definition of hirabah as a means of silencing political opposition ”

The Iranian government is simply irredeemable every Islamic country, religious institution, and Imam be they Sunni or Shiite, must make their voice heard and condemn Iran s criminal Mullahs in the strongest terms for disgracing Islam and debasing its virtues for the sake of clinging unchallenged to power

Regardless of what measures the Iranian clergy takes however to suppress the people, the government s days are numbered As Spinoza observed in his Theologico-Political Treatise tyrannical governments will always be “in as much danger from their own subjects as from external enemies ”

Indeed, although the government may well succeed in quelling, by whatever means, the current unrest it is only a matter of time before the Iranian people will rise up again against this autocratic and ruthless regime Khamenei and his criminal gang have lost every claim to legitimacy by terrorizing the people, slaying its children, and holding on to power through fear and intimidation

Smog-free-Lahore

W h e N people think of taking a morning walk for starting off their day with some fresh air the only thing that stops them nowadays is the SMOG out in the nature destroying thousands of reasons to motivate a person to rise early, sit outside and begin to think on a positive aspect among close circle Lahore and several other cities have been seeing an increase in air pollution With an estimated around 110 million inhabitants, Punjab is the most populous province in Pakistan The situation in Lahore right now, however is particularly concerning as the city's fine particle count has been climbing steadily well beyond the WhO's air quality guideline values Numerous health issues, such as asthma, lung damage, bronchial infections strokes heart issues and a shorter life expectancy are brought on by frequent or prolonged exposure to hazardous air Lahore, which is ironically referred to as the "city of gardens," has been miserably strangling on toxic air in the lack of comprehensive and consistent attempts to tackle air pollution To alleviate the suffering of smog for the people of Punjab, particularly Lahore, all efforts should be commended Certain measures should be taken with regard to eco-friendly actions which would assist the improvement in environment and reduce the amount of smog in this season along with the measures to be taken against the violators, and the measures to deter farmers from burning stubble to be enforced These regulations undoubtedly aided the cause, as Lahori’s desire for a season of winter that is safe, free of smog and allergies, and one that can be enjoyed Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) the ongoing project of Government of Punjab takes the responsibility to protect the ecosystem around our city with the help of the inhabitants RUDA, at the same time, is taking preventive measures in disposing off the waste responsibly to protect the environment from polluted air, as the Authority believes that every citizen of Pakistan should take a stroll through the city of gardens brisk streets while taking pleasure in the dwindling temperatures and a variety of delectable delicacies

SYEDA FIZZA LAHORE

Teaching English the wrong way

I T is a classic humdinger of intellectual and educational myopia we suffer from as a nation that we teach english as a subject, not as a language, to our students The consequence of the approach is that a majority of students with a master ’s degree in english cannot pen down an article or essay on their own in that language

Students are initiated in the subject right from the playgroup level They reach secondary or higher secondary level without being able to paraphrase a stanza of a poem or explain a prose paragraph It is an irony that these students are taught to translate a prose paragraph into Urdu (a question reserved for Urdu medium students) instead of explaining it in english (a condition exclusively for english medium students)

Whenever there is a question related to translation of a Urdu passage into english, or vice versa, there is always an alternative question available exclusively for english medium students to translate or explain an englishlanguage paragraph in english The majority prefers to take the former option because they have not been taught english as a language

When an educational institution claims to have english as the medium of instruction it should ensure that the whole teaching and learning process is conducted in that very language But it cannot happen because the teachers themselves do not have the capacity to do that even the elite schools and colleges struggle on this count Compared to our traditional examination system, the Cambridge system teaches english as a language Students’ creativity is encouraged and they are motivated to write on their own For instance, in the traditional system, students are asked to write stories on the given proverbs or axioms Teachers make them parrot readymade stories, mostly and roughly based on Aesop’s fables On the contrary, students in the other stream write stories creatively based on their own observations, experiences and imagination Students in traditional educational system perform poorly at the university level because they are not groomed properly at the preceding levels where the syllabus is so cumbersome that it leaves no time for students to enjoy random reading

Besides, the evaluation of answer sheets in the traditional system is another factor that forces the students to answer in strict accordance with the textbook and any attempt at being creative means less marks and poor grades

M NADEEM NADIR KASUR

A CSR oppor tunit y

R e C e N T LY, I took my grandson to Clifton’s urban forest in Karachi where he had planted a tree some eight months ago The purpose was to help him develop love for nature and trees This unique place for naturelovers is in the heart of Clifton along the beach

This man-made forest now has some 83 types of trees, including fruitbearing ones About 700 000 trees are thriving and out of them mangroves have started generating seeds Some 115 types of birds visit this little paradise and 15 of them have even adopted the place and have started breeding there Black-winged stilt moorhen lapwing and birds like scalybreasted munia, plain prinia and Indian silver bill can be seen these days There are several beehives in the forest Following the Miyawaki method, the trees have been planted close to each other in the urban forest

The sewerage water, which was previously being dumped on the Clifton beach, caters to the watering needs of this green land Three lakes are also created with this water and an artificial wetland is taking shape right there in front of our eyes hundreds of birds are seen in this wetland enjoying the sunset This segment of the Clifton beach is the cleanest, with no plastic bags, cans or bottles We were shown our native peelu tree which had black and green berries that tasted real nice The branches of peelu are commonly used as miswaak Now did anyone know that we have our own edible berries in Karachi? The urban forest has been developed with love by passionate environmentalist Masood Lohar This has been done on land that was once a garbage dump Only a few moons ago, he made his office in a tent, removed trucks and trucks of garbage brought in fresh soil and planted trees with his own savings and support from the provincial government We need to support this effort towards creating space for nature and nature-lovers Corporate entities can support the dream using their respective corporate social responsibility (CSR) platforms The schools can bring children to plant one tree each and naturelovers can donate plants, seeds, soil and grants to keep the project moving

S NAYYAR IQBAL RAZA KARACHI

Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Centre for Global Affairs at NYU He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies alon@alonben-meir com

That the government considers itself a devout Muslim regime is sacrilegious and makes a mocker y of Islam

iT is simply astonishing how many western journalists including normally cautious BBC reporters, are shamelessly fawning over young women building Molotov cocktails on the streets of Ukrainian cities like Kyiv It’s suddenly sexy to make improvised explosives – at least, if the media consider you white, European and civilised

That might surprise other more established resistance movements, especially in the Middle East They have invariably found themselves tarred as terrorists for doing much the same Western journalists difficulty containing their identification with, and support for, Ukraine’s civilian “resistance” must be maddening to Palestinians in tiny Gaza for example who have been locked into a metal cage by an Israeli military occupier for decades Palestinians in Gaza make their own Molotov cocktails But because they can t get close to the Israeli army they have to pack them into balloons that drift over the steel barrier surrounding Gaza and into Israel, sometimes setting fire to fields No one from the BBC has celebrated these “incendiary balloons” as a small act of resistance They are reflexively blamed on Gaza’s governing group Hamas the political wing of which was recently designated a terror organisation by the British government DOUBLE STANDARDS: Palestinians in Gaza have also suffered a trade blockade by Israel for the past 15 years one designed to put them on a “starvation diet” Protesters, including women, children and people in wheelchairs, have regularly turned out to throw a stone in the direction of distant Israeli snipers, hidden behind fortifications, as a symbolic way to demand their freedom These protesters have often been shot by the Israeli army in response

The western media offer occasional anguish at the lives lost or the legs amputated of those targeted by the snipers But none of them cheerlead this Palestinian resistance” as they do the Ukrainian one More usually, the protesters are treated as dupes or provocateurs of Hamas Gaza, unlike Ukraine, does not have an army, and its fighters, unlike Ukraine’s, are not being armed by the West

The Guardian newspaper even censored its cartoonist Steve Bell when he sought to depict one of the victims of Israel’s snipers, a nurse, Razan al-Najjar, who had been trying to help the wounded The paper implied that the cartoon – of Britain s then prime minister, Theresa May, welcoming her Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to London, with al-Najjar a sacrificial victim behind them in the fireplace – was antisemitic

Assuming the media has in the past been reluctant to encourage ordinary people to confront well-armed soldiers – so as to avoid civilian casualties – then why has that policy suddenly been ditched in Ukraine?

The double standards are glaring and everywhere It is impossible to claim that the journalists doing this are ignorant of reporting conventions elsewhere They are mostly veterans of Middle East war zones, well used to covering Gaza, Baghdad, Nablus, Aleppo and Tripoli

FUELLING THE FIRE: Britain and other European states have chosen to fuel the fires of resistance in Ukraine by sending it weapons that can only lead to greater loss of life especially of civilians caught in the crossfire One might have expected the British media to examine the ethical implications of such a policy, and the hypocrisy But not a bit of it

In fact, much of the media have not only been acting

The WesTern media have abandoned all reporTing norms in Ukraine

as lobbyists for more weapons to be sent to the Ukrainian army, they have whipped up support for civilians in the UK to get more involved in the fighting

That has been the case even after No 10 distanced itself from comments by Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, that Britons should be encouraged to volunteer for Ukraine’s so-called “international legions”, supposedly to defend Europe

Her position was in conflict with usual government practice, which has treated those heading off to fight in war zones in the Middle East as terrorists Shamima Begum who went to Syria aged 15 has been stripped of her British citizenship and denied the right to return for doing what Truss has proposed in Ukraine

Nonetheless that did not dissuade the BBC from travelling to Essex to meet “Wozza”, a supplier of surplus British army kit he has been selling cheaply to Ukrainians in Britain so they can head off to the battlefront Wozza was shown tearing off Union Jack insignia from uniforms so Ukrainian militiamen could use them

Compare that with the treatment of an entirely peaceful form of resistance by westerners in solidarity with the Palestinians, the international Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement It has been treated as barely better than terrorism, with bans on support for BDS across Europe and the US

COMPROMISED ‘IMPARTIALITY’: It is hard to remember in all the media agitation over Ukraine that this sympathetic coverage flies in the face of its reporting conventions It is inconceivable, of course, that Britain would ever send arms to help, for example, Gaza liberate itself For that reason, the media will never have the opportunity to exercise their vocal chords in outrage at such a development In fact, the western media more typically echo western government opposition to any support for Gaza, even construction materials like cement to rebuild the enclave after one of Israel’s intermittent wrecking sprees That is because reporters treat uncritically Israeli claims that humanitarian aid will be repurposed by Hamas and bolster “terrorism” Back in 2010 for example a BBC Panorama programme failed to mention that an Israeli naval attack on a humanitarian aid convoy to besieged Gaza was conducted illegally in international waters Nine activists trying to deliver aid items like medicine to Gaza aboard the Mavi Marmara ship were killed by Israeli commandoes but the interviews with these masked men were largely uncritical There was very little sympathy from the BBC for that act of resistance against a brutal occupier

A year earlier the BBC broke with tradition and refused to broadcast a long-established aid appeal because on this occasion it was to provide food and shelter to Gaza following an Israeli assault that destroyed swaths of the enclave The BBC justified the decision on the grounds that it would compromise its impartiality –something it seems entirely unconcerned about in Ukraine The BBC had not responded to questions about these inconsistencies by the time of publication FOG OF WAR: The battlefield is well known for becoming quickly enveloped in the fog of war That is one reason why inexperienced journalists are cautioned by their editors to wait for evidence and to be alert to propaganda In practice, however, one can assess where the media’s sympathies lie – concealed behind flimsy claims of objectivity – by noting when and for whose benefit these caution rules

are abandoned, and which side’s narratives are accepted quickly and uncritically In the Middle East, it is clear that US European and Israeli claims are all too readily amplified, even when their veracity is in doubt

Such media-fuelled lies have been manifold That Israel urged the Palestinians it expelled in 1948 to return home That Saddam Hussein’s troops ripped babies from incubators in Kuwait, and that the Iraqi leader colluded with his arch-enemy al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks That Muammar Gadaffi’s soldiers in Libya took Viagra to rape civilians in Benghazi That Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan These deceptions and fabrications grabbed headlines when they were useful as propaganda, only to be quietly withdrawn much later on In the case of Ukraine a similar pattern appears to be emerging There were widespread, inciteful and entirely fictitious reports in the western media of Russian troops butchering a contingent of 13 Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island, in the Black Sea A fake audio tape was released of the Ukrainians supposedly cursing the Russian invaders Ukraine s government promised each of them a Hero of Ukraine award

But in fact, it was Russian media reports that were true There were 82 Ukrainian soldiers and they had surrendered All were alive and well In another example, a clip from a video game was widely promoted as a heroic lone Ukrainian fighter pilot – dubbed the Ghost of Kyiv – shooting down Russian planes and helicopters Misinformation has been shared even more aggressively on western social media accounts, and most of it is designed to evoke sympathy for Ukraine and hostility to Russia

SOFTENING-UP OPERATION: But what we are seeing is more than just an appetite in the media for evidencefree stories and falsehoods so long as they are directed against Russia And it is about more than the media’s sympathy for Ukrainian resistance denied other groups battling their oppressors, when those oppressors are the West and its allies The media is chock full of commentators far more rabidly tribal than even western governments and military generals The media chorus for “more war” seems to be serving as an ideological softening-up operation, clearing the path for governments as they prepare for more extreme propaganda and undemocratic measures

Along with many others, Mail on Sunday commentator Dan Hodges has been calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine that even Boris Johnson has rejected for very obvious reasons It would lead Europe into a direct confrontation with the Russian airforce and risk confrontation with a nuclear power

Nonetheless, Hodges has described any rejection of this idea as an act of appeasement no different to our appeasement of Hitler in 1938” Russia’s invasion came after nearly a decade of goading by the US using Nato as cover to forge ever tighter military relations with its neighbour

Rightly or wrongly Moscow interpreted Nato’s behaviour as an aggressive move by the US and its allies into its “sphere of influence” The idea that no concession could and can be made to Russia – that the only “moral choice”, as Hodges calls it, is risking a potential nuclear war – should be understood as the belligerent provocation it clearly is NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, tweeted out what he saw as a “risk calculation” and moral dilemma : should the West bomb a convoy

of Russian tanks on their way towards Kyiv? Apparently concerned by current inaction, he asked: “Does the West watch in silence as it rolls?

UTTER HYPOCRISY: Condeleeza Rice, an architect of the criminal invasion of Iraq, has not been challenged by the media over her utter hypocrisy in agreeing that “When you invade a sovereign nation, that is a war crime ” If that is the case – and international law says it is – then Rice herself should be on trial at the Hague

Or what about the media’s horror this week at the shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, where dozens were reported killed? Compare that to the media’s breathless excitement over the “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign that likely killed thousands in the opening hours of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003

What about the media’s mostly complicit silence over many years of Saudi bombing – using British planes and bombs – of civilians in Yemen leading to a barely imaginable humanitarian catastrophe there? Those in Yemen who resist the Saudis are not heroes to our media, they are simply dismissed as puppets of Iran?

Veteran BBC journalist Jeremy Vine, meanwhile, expressed the view that conscripted Russian soldiers “deserve to die when they put on a Russian army uniform “That’s life,” he told a shocked caller to his show Did Vine think British and US troops – professional soldiers, unlike Russia s conscripts – also deserved to die when their armies illegally invaded Iraq? And if not, why not?

The racist undertones and overtones of much western coverage – with commentators and interviewees regularly stressing how Ukrainian refugees are “European”, “civilised”, “blond haired and blue eyed”– is hard to miss STATE PROPAGANDA: And in the midst of this rampant, often unhinged western war propaganda, much of its coming from the British state broadcaster, Europe has banned Russia s state broadcaster RT from the airwaves, while Silicon Valley scrubs its presence from the internet There is no doubt that RT generally promotes an editorial line largely sympathetic to Moscow s foreign policy goals – just as the BBC can invariably be relied on to promote an editorial line largely sympathetic to Britain s foreign policy goals The problem for western audiences is not their exposure to Russian state propaganda It is their constant exposure to relentless western state propaganda

If we seek peace – and there are few indications of that at the moment – then we need the western media held to account for its mindless jingoism, its exaggerations its credulity its double standards and its deceptions But who is going to act as a watchdog on the supposed watchdog of the Fourth Estate?

Right now we need voices from Russia to understand what Putin thinks and wants, not what the BBC’s chief international correspondents think he wants We need information sources ready to quickly challenge both western and Russian “fake news”

And most of all we need to stop with our racist view of the world in which we are always the Good Guys and they are always the Bad Guys, and in which our suffering matters and the suffering of others doesn’t

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

US President Joe Biden recently signed an order to free up $7 billion in Afghan assets now frozen in the U S splitting the money between a fund for victims of the 9/11 attacks and a trust fund to help the people of Afghanistan

The order, upon its adoption, brought about heated discussions in the international community, with the hashtag The United States is stealing Afghanistan s money having become a heatedly debated issue on Twitter

Ajmal Ahmady, former head of Afghanistan’s central bank revealed on social media that Afghanistan has some $9 billion in foreign reserves and that the majority of that amount – some $7 billion – is being held in banks on U S soil

Before the U S completely withdrew its forces from Afghanistan, the U S government announced plans to freeze the foreign reserves held by Afghanistan s central bank Among the frozen reserves, there are rescue funds Afghanistan had received from the international community as well as the savings of ordinary Afghan people The bank has claimed that the money belongs to the

Afghan people not any government organizations political parties or any other organizations

The White House explained that families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks had filed lawsuits against the Taliban, which they held responsible for the death of their beloved ones, having also sought compensation from the assets of Afghanistan s central bank in the U S The Biden administration has since indicated its support for such appeals

However what the White House said has not been consistent According to a report by the New York Times, what makes the White House’s statement complicated and self-contradictory is that the U S has never recognized the Taliban as a legitimate government in Afghanistan, so if the frozen funds do not belong to the Taliban how can they possibly be used as compensation for the victims of the 9/11 attacks?

In 2001, U S -led military forces invaded Afghanistan having inflicted suffering on the Afghan

people More than 30 000 innocent civilians were killed during the Afghanistan War and about 11 million people became refugees

In 2021 the U S decided to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan The 20 years of war in Afghanistan destroyed the peaceful lives the Afghan people could have otherwise enjoyed bringing devastation and desolation to the country Statistics from the UN World Food Programme showed that 22 8 million Afghans now face lifethreatening food shortages and about 3 2 million Afghan children under five years old suffer from malnutrition

At this critical moment, the U S did not shoulder its due responsibility to help the Afghan people alleviate their humanitarian crisis Instead, it openly plundered the country’s assets, while further aggravating the suffering of the Afghan people What the U S has done by arbitrarily freezing Afghan assets and even taking the assets as its own, is tantamount to stealing money from Afghanistan These assets are considered life-saving money for

the Afghan people, and yet they are now being used as nothing but a tool of the U S to create political benefits for its own country According to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a U S think tank, Biden’s decision to freeze and then redistribute Afghanistan s reserves was a political move designed to show his Republican opponents how tough he can be on the Taliban

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin noted that the behavior of the U S has testified to the essence of the so-called rules-based international order as touted by the Americans U S behavior has revealed just what order it actually is – an order of power politics devised for the purpose of maintaining U S hegemony

As a matter of fact, not all the relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks had sought compensation, with some of them having expressed the hope that the Biden administration could retract the relevant decisions it has since made

We can t bring our loved ones back Barry Admunson, who lost his brother in the 9/11 attack, told the media “But we can save the lives of people in Afghanistan by advocating that the Biden Administration release this money to its rightful owners: the Afghan people ” The blood debt the U S owes to Afghanistan is too enormous to count

MiDDle east eye J o n at h a n C o o k

Jonathan Cook is the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism

CO N D E L E E Z A R I C E, A N A R C H I T E C T O F T H E C R I M I N A L I N VA S I O N O F I R A Q, H A S N OT B E E N C H A L L E N G E D B Y T H E M E D I A O V E R H E R U T T E R H Y P O C R I S Y I N A G R E E I N G T H AT “ W H E N Y O U

I N VA D E A S O V E R E I G N N AT I O N , T H AT I S A WA R C R I M E.” I F T H AT I S T H E C A S E – A N D I N T E R N AT I O N A L L AW S AY S I T I S – T H E N R I C E H E R S E L F S H O U L D B E O N T R I A L AT T H E H A G U E

PeoPle’s Daily online C h e n Z

S unridge acquires Unifood; forays into confec tioner y segment

K a r a c h i: Sunridge foods Pakistan s premier staple food company, acquires Unifood Industries limited in its bid to establish itself as a truly national brand The move is considered a major expansion by the staple food giant which offers flour, rice, sugar, salt and pulses and signals its intentions of entering the FMCG sector with value-added products The move is part of management s plan to aggressively expand the production capacity of Sunrdige’s Foods and reduce distribution costs in central and northern parts of the country It also intends to add new products to the portfolio The move is intended to capitalize on the operational benefits of economies of scale, and product diversity Resultantly the company expects substantial increase in its profitability The forward integration move allows Good Goodies the flagship confectionary brand of UFIL to operate more efficiently as it would capitalize on Sunridge’s premium quality flour, oil, sugar and salt products Additionally, Sunridge’s strengths of innovation, technology, health & hygiene and nutrition-focused fortification would add considerable value for the consumers of Good Goodies products The company plans to increase its product offerings to include a wide range of appetizing delicacies aimed at improving consumer experience and satisfaction The move to acquire UFIL started in June last year when Unity Foods announced its acquisition plans to the Pakistan Stock Exchange The process is completed after the execution of a definitive agreement and compliance with all applicable statutory and legal requirements, Uni-Foods Industries Limited was established in Pakistan as a public limited company in September 2016 It was a consortium/Joint Venture between Faran Sugar, Habib Sugar and Mehran Sugar The company's main activity is manufacturing, selling, and distributing food products, mainly cupcakes and plain cakes P R

COMMANDER U.S. AIR FORCE CENTRAL COMMAND CALLS ON AIR CHIEF

floods and appreciated the efforts put in by Pakistan Air Force for relief and rehabilitation of the flood victims

The Air Chief highlighted that both the countries enjoy cordial relations and reiterated his resolve to further enhance the existing bilateral cooperation between the two strategic partners Chief of the Air Staff also shared h i s v i s i o n o f m o d e r n i z i n g PA F t o meet the evolving security and geopolitical challenges

D u r i n g t h e m e e t i n g m a t t e r s p e r-

taining to regional security situation, enhanced bilateral and defence coope r a t i o n w e r e d i s c u s s e d T h e v i s i t i n g d i g n i t a r y l a u d e d t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m o f PA F p e r s o n n e l a n d t h e e x c e ptional progress made by Pakistan Air

F o r c e o v e r t h e y e a r s , e s p e c i a l l y t h r o u g h i n d i g e n i z a t i o n H e a l s o a p p r e c i a t e d P a k i s t a n ' s e ff o r t s i n p r o m o t i n g r e g i o n a l p e a c e

a n d v o w e d t o e n h a n c e c o o p e r a t i o n i n v a r i o u s f i e l d s T h e A F C E N T C o m m a n d e r o f-

Punjab governor attends annual degree show at NC A

Speaking on the occasion, he said, "Students are our asset and the future of the country " He said that the art education given in NCA was in accordance with international standards in every way He said that educated youth with a positive mindset were the asset of the country, adding, With positive thinking, we can create a beautiful Pakistan "

The governor said that it was a unique experience to study in a prestigious institution like NCA He said that after viewing the projects of students in the degree show, he was more convinced that talent and creativity were at their peak here He said that as a chancellor he was trying hard to improve higher education He added that consortia had been formed in seven important fields in the universities

Earlier, the governor along with Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Murtaza Jafari and senior faculty members also visited the degree show and appreciated the displayed projects of students

Later, while talking to the media, in response to a question regarding announcing the

date

f e r e d h e a r t f e l t c o n d o l e n c e s t o t h e p e o p l e o f P a k i s t a n o v e r t h e l o s s o f l i f e a m i d s t d e v a s t a t i o n c a u s e d b y

The Air Chief further said, "Pakistan values its strong diplomatic, economic and defence relations with United States of America which are based on convergence on all important issues relating to regional peace, security and stability” B o t h s i d e s a g r e e d t o f u r t h e r o p t i m i z e m i l i t a r y t o m i l it a r y t i e s p a r t i c u l a r l y

Ar ts council inaugurates Pakistan youth festival- 2023

KARACHI

A P P

Pakistan Youth Festival 2023 was grandly inaugurated by the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi on Monday in which a large number of youth participated in the festival The festival was inaugurated by the well-known intellectual and writer Anwar Maqsood President of the Arts Council Muhammad Ahmad Shah and Vice-Chancellor of University of Karachi Khalid Iraqi also accompanied by him Ahmad Shah while addressing the opening ceremony said that due to Covid the youth festival could not be held for the last five years Vice Chancellor of University of Karachi, Khalid Iraqi, expressed his gratitude to the Arts Council for inviting him to the Youth Festival He said Anwar Maqsood is a great name of Pakistan, and he has been listening and readings of Anwar Maqsood since he was studying in matriculation

to the constitution and law, he added

Meanwhile, Punjab Governor Muhammad Balighur Rehman strongly condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden, saying: "I strongly condemn the despicable act of desecration of Holy Quran in Sweden Desecration of the Holy Quran is a deplorable act The incident has hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims around the world under the guise of freedom of expression "

President pays tribute to mar tyred soldier

ISLAMABAD

A P P

P r e s i d e n t D r A r i f A l v i M o n d a y e x p r e s s e d sorrow over the martyrdom of Pakistan Army Sepoy Gul Sher in Janikhel area of Bannu

T h e p r e s i d e n t p a i d t r i b u t e t o t h e a r m y j a w a n f o r e m b r a c i n g m a r t y r d o m i n t h e l i n e o f d u t y a n d p r a y e d A l l a h A l m i g h t y t o e l ev a t e h i s r a n k s i n J a n n a h a n d g i v e f o r t i t u d e t o h i s b e r e a v e d f a m i l y t o b e a r t h e l o s s

Waheed Baloch wins 12th Rashid D. Habib Memorial

Golf Tournament

Last year’s defending champion Waheed Baloch from KGC with gross of 277, 11 under par reclaimed the trophy The runner-up this year is Muhammad Shehzad who scored 278, 10 under par Pakistan s Ace golfer Muhammad Shabbir is holding third position with 279 9 under par The two-day Junior and Senior Categories were played through Saturday and Sunday On first day of junior category competition, 14 years old Ashass Amjad while teeing off at 13th hole of Blue Course achieved a hole-in-one The

spectively Nooruddin won trophy in the KGC Professionals category, with Iqbal Masih as runner-up A trio of Abdullah Jalil and Zubair is holding third position jointly in this category In the KGC Caddies category, Tariq Kamal carded 11 over par and became new title holder The runner-up Sabir Akbar is three points behind him Third position in this category is a three-way tie between M Javed, Nabeel Khan and Zakir Ali with 15 over par The aggregate Prize Money of the tournament this year was PKR 10 million that was paid according to Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) regulations Amount included PKR 7 95m for Best Performers in National Professional Category, PKR 1 4m for KGC Professionals Caddies and Senior Pros, as well as Appearance Money of PKR 650,000

On the opening day of the ongoing Pakistan Youth Festival, auditions of four different categories were held in which thousands of male and female students participated Audition of the remaining six categories will continue till 28 January While the closing ceremony of the festival will be held on 29 January The famous singer Asim Azhar, Kashmir Band, Jambrooz, Mustafa Baloch stole the festival with their performances

Balochistan Minister meets GM of Gas Company for improving gas pressure

QUETTA

A P P

Balochistan Minister for Planning and Development (P&D) Haji Noor Muhammad Dummar met the General Manager of Sui Northern Gas Company for improving gas pressure in the province He also apprised the concerned officials about the issue of low gas pressure faced by domestic consumers The minister made it clear that the low pressure of gas in the province, especially in Ziarat, would not be tolerated under any circumstances He said that the improvement projects of the gas delivery system in the province should be completed as soon as possible to ensure uninterrupted supply of needle gas to domestic consumers in winter General Manager assured the Minister that the low gas pressure problem would be solved on a priority basis He assured that in the next two to three days, there would be a significant improvement in the supply of gas to domestic consumers and the problem of low gas pressure would be solved The Gas official said that a central control room has been established for immediate redressal of customer complaints related to low gas pressure which has worked 24 hours a day

ISLAMABAD s tA f f R e P o R t

LI E U T E N A N T General Alexus Grynkewich, Commander of Ninth Air Force (U S Air Forces Central Command), called on Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force in his office today

i n t r a i n i n g a n d o p e r a t i o n a l d o m a i n s

LAHORE

A P P

Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman attended the annual degree show at National College of Arts as a special guest, here on Monday

of Punjab Assembly elections, Governor Punjab Muhammad Balighur Rehman said that adherence to the constitution and law was his priority The constitutional process was ongoing, he added He said that so far nothing had been done against the constitution neither would be done In the future, all matters would be handled according

KARACHI s tA f f R e P o R t

Final Round of Bank AL Habib’s 12th

Rashid D Habib Memorial National Professional Golf Tournament 2023 was played on Sunday, 22nd January at the Karachi Golf Club (KGC)

leader in this category is Muhammad Sahil Ashass Amjad stood runner-up in Junior category leaderboard Bank Al Habib rewarded a brand new Toyota car to Ashass The Senior Professional Category trophy went to Muhammad Tariq with Muhammad Akram as the runner up As usual, with the aim to support and develop professional golf at KGC

a two-day match for local KGC Professionals, Senior Professionals and KGC Caddies, the 22nd edition of Rashid D Habib Memorial Golf Tournament, was played during 17th and 18th January

Abdul Waheed, Latif Khaskheli and Saleem Inayat took top three positions in the KGC Senior Professionals category They scored 78, 81 and 82 re-

Co-Chairman Pakistan People’s Party and former President, Asif Ali Zardari discussing the political situation of Rawalpindi with Managing Director PBM Amir Fida Paracha Malik Anjum Farooq Paracha and Sajid Paracha, during his visit to Paracha House in Rawalpindi PR

C a l i f o r n i a s h o o t e r k i l l s h i m s e l f a f t e r a m a s s a C r e at d a n C e C l u b

MONTEREY PARK Ag e n c i e s

a72-year-old gunman killed himself when approached by police on Sunday, about 12 hours after he had carried out a massacre at a dance club during Chinese New Year celebrations that left 10 people dead and another 10 wounded

The gunman tried to carry out another shooting at a separate club just minutes after the first one on Saturday night but authorities said two bystanders wrestled the man’s weapon away from him before any shots could be fired He fled that scene

T h e m a s s a c r e s e n t a w a v e o f f e a r t h r o u g h A s i a n A m e r i c a n c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h e r e g i o n a n d c a s t a s h a d o w o v e r f e s t i vi t i e s n a t i o n w i d e T h e s h o o t i n g w a s t h e n a t i o n ’s f i f t h m a s s k i l l i n g t h i s m o n t h , a cc o r d i n g t o A P I t w a s a l s o t h e d e a d l i e s t a t t a c k s i n c e M a y 2 4 , w h e n 2 1 p e o p l e w e r e k i l l e d i n a n e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l i n U v a l d e Te x a s

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna identified the man as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran and said no other suspects were at large Luna said the motive remained unclear for the attack Speaking at a Sunday evening news conference the sheriff said he didn t have their exact ages of these victims but

former british secretar y straw spills beans over Gujarat’s inquir y

ISLAMABAD Ag e n c i e s

Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has testified to the fact that the British government had conducted an investigation on its own into 2002 Gujarat riots in India after the large-scale violence created ripples in the UK He said the investigation was carried out after citizens of Gujarati Muslim origin in the UK were worried about their loved ones in India and were making representations to that effect to the then Tony Blair s government During an interview with ‘The Wire’ an Indian media outlet, regarding BBC’s documentary about the 2002 Gujarat riots, the former British diplomat said that the simple fact was that in Britain, including in his constituency, there were hundreds of thousands of people from the Indian State of Gujarat, mainly Muslims There was a lot of concern and there were also people that he knew whose families were affected by these inter-communal riots directly and they were making representations to them, he added Jack Straw further elaborated that the ripples of the Gujarat riots were felt in the UK and that as a result, the then British High Commissioner (Sir Rob Young) ordered an investigation The 29-minute interview with Straw was conducted days after BBC aired a documentary India: The Modi Question , which revealed that the British authorities had ordered an inquiry into the riots as they had found the extent of the violence alarming

that all of the people killed appeared to be over 50

The suspect was carrying what Luna described as a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine and a second handgun was discovered in the van where Tran died

Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese said Sunday evening that within three minutes of receiving the call, officers arrived at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park There they found carnage inside and people trying to flee through all the doors

The Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park California where a gunman shot and killed 10 people and injured 10 others, January 22, 2023 /CFP

The Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, where a gunman shot and killed 10 people and injured 10 others, January 22 2023 /CFP

About 20 to 30 minutes after the first attack, the gunman entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in the nearby city of Alhambra But people wrested the weapon away from him and witnesses said he fled in a white van, according to Luna

Monterey Park is a city of about 60,000 people on the eastern edge of Los Angeles and is composed mostly of Asian immigrants from China or first-generation Asian Americans The shooting happened in the heart of its downtown, where red lanterns decorated the streets for the Chinese New Year festivities

The celebration in Monterey Park is one

of California’s largest Two days of festivities which have been attended by as many as 100,000 people in past years, were planned But officials canceled Sunday’s events following the shooting

Tony Lai, 35, of Monterey Park, was stunned when he came out for his early morning walk to learn that the noises he heard in the night were gunshots He had thought it was fireworks because the community is really safe

California Governor Gavin Newsom vis-

World leaders send New Year greetings to C hinese nation

World leaders, officials and heads of international agencies have been sending New Year ’s greetings to the Chinese people as China celebrates the Year of the Rabbit, which runs from January 22 2023 to February 9 2024 according to the Chinese Zodiac Managing Director of International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgiev extended her warmest greetings to everyone who celebrates the Year of the Rabbit saying the rabbit embodies calm, peace and prosperity and that she hopes the good implications of the rabbit will translate into the world community together to address our common challenges and put us on the part to prosperity for all ” World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala wished China and all Chinese people “a very happy New Year of the Rabbit ”

Maimunah Mohd Sharif the exe c u t i v e d i r e c t o r o f t h e U n i t e d N at i o n s H u m a n S e t t l e m e n t s Programme (UN-Habitat) extended h e r N e w Ye a r ’s g r e e t i n g s t o C h in e s e p e o p l e , s a y i n g l a s t y e a r h a d

w i t n e s s e d U N - H a b i t a t ’s c o o p e r at i o n w i t h C h i n a a n d t h a t S h a n g h a i h o s t e d t h e 2 0 2 2 Wo r l d C i t i e s D a y G l o b a l H o m e E v e n t w h i c h h a s yielded fruitful results

“ I n t h e Ye a r o f t h e R a b b i t , I , r e p r e s e n t i n g U N - H a b i t a t e x t e n d m y w a r m e s t g r e e t i n g s t o t h e C h in e s e p e o p l e a n d m y f r i e n d s , w i s hi n g t h e Ye a r o f t h e R a b b i t a u s p i c i o u s n e s s , h e a l t h a n d h a p p iness,” Sharif said

Aside from heads of international organizations, world leaders and officials also extended greetings to China and Chinese people for the Year of the Rabbit Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau extended his New Year s greetings to the Chinese people, wishing them good health, happiness, joy and peace in the Year of the Rabbit

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles also sent Chinese New Year greetings and wished the people of China and the world all the best in the new year

Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrili ț a wished the Chinese people happiness and health in the Year of the Rabbit Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said she

of 2023

F o r m e r J a p a n e s e P r i m e M i n i ster Yasuo Fukuda extended his New Year ’s greetings to the Chinese people while attending a Spring Festival gala held by the local Chinese, s a y i n g h e h o p e s C h i n a - J a p a n t i e s c a n d e v e l o p s t e a d i l y a n d t h e t w o countries can maintain friendly relationship

P a k i s t a n i F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r w i s h e d t h e C h i n e s e p e o p l e h a p p in e s s i n t h e Ye a r o f t h e R a b b i t a n d expressed his hope that the relations h i p b e t w e e n C h i n a a n d P a k i s t a n can reach a new height this year Heads of the international affairs committee and the economic policy committee of the Russian State Duma also sent New Year s greetings to the Chinese people and wished them health, prosperity and happiness Thailand s ministers of culture and labor each expressed their New Year ’s greetings to the Chinese people, wishing them health, prosperity, happiness and auspiciousness

ited Monterey Park on Sunday, meeting with victims and their families as well as local officials President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland were briefed on the situation aides said Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were thinking of those killed and wounded

Locals lay flowers and electric candles at the corner of Garvey Avenue and Garfield Avenue in Monterey Park, California, January 22 2023 /CFP

Locals lay flowers and electric candles at the corner of Garvey Avenue and Garfield Avenue in Monterey Park California January 22, 2023 /CFP

The Star Dance Studio’s website said it was hosting an event Saturday called Star Night” from 8 p m to 11:30 p m The studio is a few blocks from city hall on Monterey Park s main thoroughfare of Garvey Avenue which is dotted with strip malls of small businesses whose signs are in both English and Chinese Cantonese and Mandarin are both widely spoken, Chinese holidays are celebrated and Chinese films are screened regularly in the city

Mass shootings are regular occurrences i n t h e U S , t

tom hanks nominated for three ‘raz zies’

His

was

’s

“celebrate”

the

his roles as Presley s manager in rock n roll biopic “Elvis,” and Geppetto in Disney’s critically slated live-action “Pinocchio” remake A press release from organizers of the Razzies dubbed Hanks’ “Elvis” role as “2022’s most widely derided performance,” and piled on a further nomination for worst screen couple to Tom Hanks & His Latex-Laden Face (and Ludicrous Accent) ” While “Elvis” and its star Austin Butler have generally received acclaim, Hanks appearance as his exploitative manager Colonel Tom Parker was panned by many critics A New York Times review said Hanks appears with a mountain of prosthetic goo a bizarre accent and a yes-it’s-really-me twinkle in his eyes,” and portrays Parker as “part small-time grifter, part full-blown Mephistopheles ” “Disney’s Pinocchio” was among five “worst picture” nominees for the annual Golden Raspberry or Razzie awards, as was the controversial Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde ” Also in the running were regular Razzies punching bag Jared Leto, and his Spider-Man spinoff Morbius ” Just last year Leto was named worst supporting actor for his flamboyant performance complete with a campy Italian accent and heavy prosthetics in House of Gucci

The women who lived as sex slaves to an Indian goddess

tude but with no education she earns around a dollar a day toiling in fields

Dedicated to an Indian goddess as a child, Huvakka Bhimappa’s years of sexual servitude began when her uncle took her virginity raping her in exchange for a saree and some jewellery

Bhimappa was not yet 10 years old when she became a “devadasi” girls coerced by their parents into an elaborate wedding ritual with a Hindu deity many of whom are then forced into illegal prostitution

Devadasis are expected to live a life of religious devotion, forbidden from marrying other mortals, and forced at puberty to sacrifice their virginity to an older man, in return for money or gifts

“In my case, it was my mother ’s brother,” Bhimappa, now in her late 40s, told AFP What followed was years of sexual slavery, earning money for her family through encounters with other men in the name of serving the goddess

Bhimappa eventually escaped her servi-

Her time as a devotee to the Hindu goddess Yellamma has also rendered her an outcast in the eyes of her community

She had loved a man once, but it would have been unthinkable for her to ask him to marry “If I was not a devadasi, I would have had a family and children and some money I would have lived well, she said

Devadasis have been an integral part of southern Indian culture for centuries and once enjoyed a respectable place in society

Many were highly educated, trained in classical dance and music, lived comfortable lives and chose their own sexual partners

“This notion of more or less religiously sanctioned sexual slavery was not part of the original system of patronage, historian Gayathri Iyer told AFP

Iyer said that in the 19th century, during the British colonial era, the divine pact between devadasi and goddess evolved into an institution of sexual exploitation

It now serves as a means for poverty-

stricken families from the bottom of India s rigid caste hierarchy to relieve themselves of responsibility for their daughters

The practice was outlawed in Bhimappa’s home state of Karnataka back in 1982, and India’s top court has described the devotion of young girls to temples as evil Campaigners, however, say that young girls are still secretly inducted into devadasi orders Four decades after the state ban, there are still more than 70,000 devadasis in Karnataka, India’s human rights commission wrote last year ‘I was alone’

Girls are commonly seen as burdensome and costly in India due to the tradition of wedding dowries

By forcing daughters to become devadasis, poorer families gain a source of income and avoid the costs of marrying them off

Many households around the small southern town of Saundatti home to a revered Yellamma temple believe that having a family member in the order can lift their fortunes or cure the illness of a loved

one It was at this temple that Sitavva D Jodatti was enjoined to marry the goddess when she was eight years old

Her sisters had all married other men, and her parents decided to dedicate her to Yellamma in order to provide for them

When other people get married, there is a bride and a groom When I realised I was alone, I started crying,” Jodatti, 49, told AFP

Her father eventually fell ill, and she was pulled out of school to engage in sex work and help pay for his treatment

By the age of 17, I had two kids, she said

Rekha Bhandari, a fellow former devadasi, said they had been subjected to a practice of “blind tradition” that had ruined their lives

She was forced into the order after the death of her mother and was 13 when a 30year-old man took her virginity She fell pregnant soon after

“A normal delivery was difficult The doctor yelled at my family, saying that I was too young to give birth, the 45-year-old told

AFP I had no understanding

‘Many woMen have dIed’: Years of unsafe sex exposed many devadasis to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV

“I know of women who are infected and now it has passed on to their children,” an activist who works with devadasis, who asked not to be named told AFP

“They hide it and live with it in secrecy Many women have died

Parents are occasionally prosecuted for allowing their daughters to be inducted as devadasis, and women who leave the order are given meagre government pensions of 1,500 rupees ($18) per month

Nitesh Patil, a civil servant who administers Saundatti told AFP that there had been no “recent instances” of women being dedicated to temples

India’s rights commission last year ordered Karnataka and several other Indian states to outline what they were doing to prevent the practice after a media investigation found that devadasi inductions were still widespread

h e c o u n t r y w i t h t h e h i g h e s t rate of private gun ownership in the world T h i s l a t e s t v i o l e n c e c o m e s t w o m o n t h s after five people were killed at a Colorado Springs nightclub

cHINA s tA F F c o r r e s P o n d e n t

wishes all Chinese people a happy new year and all Chinese around the world can hear blessings from their Serbian friends She also wishes China to be more prosperous and stronger in the year

LOS ANGELES

A F P

recent hit film “Elvis” is an Oscars frontrunner, but Tom Hanks was left all shook up Monday as he earned three nominations from the Razzies, which

the year

worst films Hanks

short-listed by

tongue-in-cheek awards for

NEW DELHI

A F P

N a j a m S et h i p i c kS h a r o o N r a S h i d a S c h i e f S e l e c t o r , m i c k e y a r t h u r l i k e ly t o b e h e a d c o a c h

PAKISTAN FTP COMMITMENTS FROM NOW UNTIL JUNE 2024:

NAJAM Sethi has said that Mickey Arthur will most likely be returning as the head coach of Pakistan men’s cricket team Earlier PCB had announced that the negotiations with former coach Mickey Arthur couldn’t materialize, owing to his long-term contract with Derbyshire

However, in a press conference on Monday in Lahore, Sethi revealed that he is in direct contact with Arthur and the negotiations are moving in the right direction I had not closed the chapter of Mickey Arthur I am personally in negotiations with Mickey and we have resolved 90 percent of issues Hopefully, we will very soon give you the news that Mickey will be joining us,” Sethi said

“When Mickey comes back, he will make his own team and will tell us how much we need to pay them We will resolve the rest of the issues in next 1 or 2 days Mickey will come back, he added Sethi also heaped praise on Arthur ’s achievements as a coach and his close association with Pakistan players

13 Apr-7 May NZ to Pakistan ` (5 T20Is & 5 ODIs)

July Pakistan to Sri Lanka (Two Tests)

August Pakistan to Afghanistan (Three ODIs)

September

October/November

ACC 50-over Asia Cup in Pakistan

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023

December/January Pakistan to Australia (three Tests)

February/March West Indies in Pakistan (two Tests, three T20Is)

May Pakistan to Netherlands (three T20Is), Ireland (three T20Is) and England (five T20Is)

June ICC Men’s T20 World Cup USA / West Indies 2024

“Arthur has won us the Champions Trophy He is now a highly regarded coach No other coach knows Pakistan more than Mickey,” he added HaRoon RaSHId aPPoIntEd CHIEf SELECtoR, PCB: Najam Sethi also appointed former Pakistan batter Ha-

roon Rashid as Chair of the men’s National Selection Committee, while other members of his panel will be announced in due course

Haroon played 23 Tests and 12 ODIs from 1977 to 1983 and last held this position in 2015-16 Most recently, he was the

ICC withdraws demerit points slapped on Rawalpindi C ricket S tadium

KaraChI

S ta f f R e p o R t

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Monday rescinded the demerit points slapped on Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after Pakistan vs England Test there last month

The ICC has also revoked the “below average” rating given to Rawalpindi s wicket

The move comes after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management committee led by Najam Sethi had appealed against ICC’s verdict

Following an appeal by the Pakistan Cricket Board

pursuant to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, the demerit point handed to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium for a below average pitch rating for the first match of the ICC World Test Championship series between Pakistan and England from 1 to 5 December last year has been rescinded,” the ICC said in a statement

“There were several redeeming features – including the fact that a result was achieved following a compelling game, with 37 out of a possible 39 wickets being taken As such the appeal panel concluded that the wicket did not warrant the below average

rating,” it stated Andy Pycroft, the match referee, last month had rated the stadium’s pitch that was used for the first match of the ICC World Test Championship series between Pakistan and England as below average” and the venue was then given one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process

Ramiz Raja, then-chairman of PCB, had termed the wicket embarrassing However, Sethi who had replaced Raja a few days after Rawalpindi Test went to ICC and appealed against the decision

Convener of the Interim Selection Committee after having previously served in administrative and coaching roles with the age-group and national sides

“I want to congratulate Haroon Rashid and hope he will use his cricket knowledge understanding and background while picking squads for the upcoming international assignments

Haroon Rashid on his appointment said : “I am honoured to have been entrusted with this responsibility and look forward to working very closely with the team management and the National High Performance Centre so that we have clear pathways and can work collectively to select best available players for what will be a busy and high-profile year of cricket, including the ACC Asia Cup, ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the tour of Australia for three Tests

“One of the key aspects I will like to focus on my time will be improving communication This is a critical area as the players need to have absolute clarity on why they have been selected or not selected, which, in turn, will help them to deliver the desired results work harder on their skills and remain motivated ”

Shadab Khan announces Nikah with S aqlain Mushtaq’s daughter

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan Monday announced his Nikah with the daughter of Saqlain Mushtaq, the team’s incumbent head coach and veteran cricketer Taking the microblogging website, the 24-year-old cricketer shared a tweet updating fans about the major development in his life accompanied by a note “Alhamdulilah, today was my Nikkah

It is a big day in my life and start of a new chapter Please respect my choices and those [of my] wife, and our families Prayers and love for all,” he tweeted Meanwhile, Khan s note read that he was becoming a part of his mentor Saqi bhai s family” The young pacer shared about his choice to always keep his family life separate from work highlighting that his family also opted to stay out of public life My wife has asked for the same, she wants her life to remain private | would kindly request everyone to respect her choice and our family’s choice,” the note further read The cricketer jokingly wrote about welcoming salaamis

flawless djokovic dismantles de minaur to storm into quar ter-final

MelBoUrNe R e u t e R S

Novak Djokovic steamrolled local hope Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-1 6-2 on Monday to ease into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a statement win in his quest for a 10th title at the Grand Slam that has only been threatened by a hamstring issue It was Djokovic’s 38th consecutive win on Australian soil and the fewest number of games he has dropped in a match at the year ’s first major since he lost four against Lucas Pouille in the semi-finals in 2019 Asked after the match why he beat De Minaur the way he did, Djokovic replied: “Because I wanted to Djokovic drew first blood after a breathless start to the match when De Minaur crashed a forehand into the net to allow the fourth seed to go up 4-2 and the Serbian consolidated the break and struck again to claim the first set Having never lost at Melbourne Park since the fourth round in 2018 the 35-year-old was in no mood to give De Minaur a sniff of a chance on Rod Laver Arena, as he raced out of the blocks and dominated his opponent with blistering shots on both wings I can t say I m sorry you ve not watched a longer match ” Djokovic told fans “I wanted to win in straight sets Once on the court, you have to deal with a lot of things the first four five games were close and after the break, I started feeing more loose and more aggressive He was a bit more nervous and that was my opportunity to capitalise Tennis is a quick, dynamic sport, so things change in a matter of moments but I was able to play my best match of the year ” Djokovic also said that he did not face any issues with his hamstring for the first time in the tournament “I’ve been taking a lot of pills to mask the pain, not those kinds of pills guys he said to laughs Anti-inflammatory I don’t want to go too deep into it, but today was the best day of the tournament Up two sets to love and with his heavily-strapped hamstring cooperating after scares in the last two rounds Djokovic moved in for the kill by taking the first four games of the third and finished in style to gear up for fifth seed Andrey Rublev next He s an established top-five player,” Djokovic added “He has incredible fire power from his serve and forehand explosive a lot like De Minaur so hopefully the result is the same ”

R iz wan, Harris picked in ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year 2022

ination by winning the T20 World Cup thus holding both the Men’s senior World Cup titles at the same time

The ICC Team of the Year recognises 11 outstanding individuals who have impressed one and all – be it with the bat the ball or their all-round exploits in a calendar year Here, we take a look at 11 players who make the cut in the shortest format of the game for men’s cricket

1 Jos Buttler (c, wk) (England)

Jos Buttler had an incredible year both as a player and captain In 15 matches, Buttler accumulated 462 runs at an explosive strike rate of 160 41, often batting oppositions out of the game in the opening exchanges

Following Eoin Morgan s retirement in June 2022, Jos Buttler was appointed limited-overs captain of England and in his very first ICC tournament, he went all the way to get his hands on the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022

He led by example and was England s highest run-getter at the tournament with 225 runs in six games at a strike rate of 144 23 Buttler solidified England s white-ball dom-

2 Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)

Mohammad Rizwan continued his form from 2021 into 2022, amassing 996 runs in the year second only to India dynamo Suryakumar Yadav on the list for most Men’s T20I runs

Rizwan smashed 10 half-centuries for the year in the shortest format and finished as the joint-highest scorer for Pakistan at the T20 World Cup with 175 runs Enhancing his reputation as a high-quality anchor at the top, Rizwan holds on to the opening slot alongside Buttler in the ICC T20I Team of the Year for the second year in a row

3 Virat Kohli (India)

2022 was the year Virat Kohli once again showed glimpses of Virat Kohli of old He took the Asia Cup by storm, finishing as the second-highest run-getter with 276 runs in five games He also brought an end to his century drought of close to three years with a magnificent century against Afghanistan

Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 53-ball 82* to help India secure an opening victory

against Pakistan in their ICC Men s T20 World Cup 2022 encounter

The form carried over to the T20 World Cup where Kohli played one of the greatest T20I innings in the heist against Pakistan in Melbourne The 82* set the tone for the rest of the tournament where he scored three more fifties and finished as the highest runscorer with 296 runs

4 Suryakumar Yadav (India)

Suryakumar Yadav had a sensational 2022 in T20Is, becoming just the second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year in the format He ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164, including two hundreds and nine half-centuries while striking at a stunning 187 43, SKY displayed his majestic prowess at the T20 World Cup as well, scoring 239 runs while going at a strike rate of 189 68 He finished the year as the No 1 batter in the MRF Tyres ICC Men s T20I Player Rankings

5 Glenn Phillips (New Zealand)

Batting, bowling, fielding – there’s nothing Glenn Phillips can t do on the cricket field The 26-year-old displayed remarkable consistency once again in the shortest for-

mat aggregating 716 runs in 21 matches at a strike rate of 156 33 6 Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe)

Sikandar Raza had a stellar year with the bat and also contributed significantly with the ball in T20Is He was at the centre of all things good that happened for Zimbabwe Cricket during the year, with the all-rounder putting in one brilliant performance after another in the shortest format

Not only was he the leading scorer for Zimbabwe with 735 runs but he also led the wickets chart for them, scalping 25 wickets at an excellent economy rate of 6 13

He was the Player of the Tournament at T20 World Cup Qualifier B in July and carried his form into the marquee event, winning the Player of the Match thrice, including Zimbabwe s epic win over Pakistan in Perth

7 Hardik Pandya (India)

In 2022, Hardik Pandya came into his own as the all-rounder India have wanted him to be, contributing heavily both with the bat and the ball He enjoyed his best year by numbers in the Indian colours scoring 607 runs while also picking up 20 wickets

8 Sam Curran (England)

The Player of the Tournament at the 2022 T20 World Cup, Sam Curran added another dimension to his bowling by becoming a solid death-overs specialist in England’s title-winning campaign He stepped up in the absence of several key bowlers picking up 13 wickets from six matches

He recorded figures of 5/10 against Afghanistan during the tournament, which was the first five-wicket haul by an England bowler in men’s T20Is Curran saved the best for last, with his spell of 3/12 in the final breaking the back of the Pakistan batting line-up

9 Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka)

Wanindu Hasaranga continued to be Sri Lanka’s talisman in a year where they reigned supreme as the champions of the Asia Cup He picked up nine crucial wickets in six games at the Asia Cup but at the same time, showed that he can do the damage with the bat stroking a brilliant 27-ball 37 in the final against Pakistan to rescue his side

The wrist-spinner weaved his magic at the T20 World Cup as well picking up 15 wickets in eight games

lahore

lahore S ta f f R e p o R t

M o b i L e P o L i C y At t r A C t S 3 6 C o M PA N i e S t o M A N u FA C t u r e S M A r t P H o N e S i N t H e C o u N t r y

ISLAMABAD

the auto industry in Pakistan, the mobile phone industry has also attracted at least 36 companies to manufacture/assemble smartphones under the policies introduced by the government in 2020 According to officials, the ‘Make in Pakistan’ policy introduced by the previous Imran Khan government has resulted in the establishment of 31 companies which manufacture a great number of renowned international mobile phone brands in the country

r e d t o j u s t 1 3 7 m i l l i o n c o m m e r c i a l l y i mp o r t e d p h o n e h a n d s e t s D a t a p r o v i d e d b y t h e P a k i s t a n Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n A u t h o r i t y ( P TA ) r e v e a l s t h a t t h e l o c a l m a n u f a c t u r i n g p l a n t s a s s e m b l e d 1 5 6 m i l l i o n m o b i l e p h o n e h a n d s e t s i n N ov e m b e r 2 0 2 2

Despite the increase in local production, the country imported mobile phones worth $ 290 57 million during the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year 2022-23 However, this was a decrease of 66 08 percent when compared to the imports of the same period last year at $ 856 73 million

To r e v i e w f u r t h e r e x p a n s i o n a n d i s -

s u e s r e l a t e d t o t h e n e w l y f l o u r i s h i n g i ndustry, the Ministry of Industries & Prod u c t i o n ( M o I & P ) w i l l h o l d a m o b i l e device manufacturing summit on Tuesday (today) As per the officials of the Engin e e r i n g D e v e l o p m e n t B o a r d ( E D B ) , t h e r e l e v a n t d e p a r t m e n t o f t h e M o I & P i s jointly organising the summit in collabor a t i o n w i t h t h e P a k i s t a n M o b i l e P h o n e Manufacturers Association

The summit will be addressed by the Federal Minister for Board of Investment, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, and will also include an exhibition of technology and products by the members of association including Xiaomi, Realmi, Infinix, Tecno, Itel, Alcatel, G-Five, Oppo, Vivo, Premier Code etc The exhibition will be open for

targeted general public

A c c o r d i n g t o o f f i c i a l s , t h e p u r p o s e o f o r g a n i s i n g t h i s s u m m i t - c u m - e x h i b it i o n i s t o g e t i n p u t f r o m a l l t h e r e l e v a n t s t a k e h o l d e r s w h i c h i n c l u d e s m o b i l e d ev i c e m a n u f a c t u r e r s , g o v e r n m e n t o f f ic i a l s f r o m M o I & P P TA M i n i s t r y o f C o m m e r c e , N a t i o n a l Ta r i f f C o m m i ss i o n , B o a r d o f I n v e s t m e n t , M i n i s t r y o f I T & Te l e c o m F e d e r a l B o a r d o f R e ve n u e a n d a c a d e m i a t o b o o s t l o c a l a s s e mb l y o f m o b i l e d e v i c e s t h r o u g h e n h a n c i n g i n v e s t m e n t a n d e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n t h i s s e c t o r

The summit will focus on the localisation of parts and components used in mobile manufacturing, localisation of allied equipment like laptops and tablets, targeting ex-

port of mobile phones and promoting ease of doing business in Pakistan The mobile device manufacturing sector is expected to benefit from this summit as it will facilitate further collaborations with international counterparts which can enhance the competitiveness of the sector

The mobile device manufacturing policy was formulated by EDB in 2020 with the aim to promote local manufacturing of mobile devices in Pakistan and to provide an attractive environment for investors under the Make in Pakistan policy of the government

According to data by PTA, 55 percent of the mobile devices in the country are smart phones while the remaining 45 percent are on 2G Pakistan network a

SNGPL reduces gas losses by 23,348 MMCF in three years

ISLAMABAD

their international suppliers and vendors In this case, Authorised Dealers are to ensure the acceptance of receipts of deferred payments from the suppliers’ banks abroad for at least 180 days and release the shipments held at ports

issue of imported goods stuck at ports or in transit due to the closure of L/Cs

State Bank has received representations from relevant stakeholders, including various trade bodies and chambers of commerce that a large number of shipping containers having various imported goods including perishable items, have piled up at the ports, due to delays in release of the shipping documents by the banks,” read the letter

This decision came after several industries had been rendered dysfunctional or staggering on the cusp of shutting down due to the shortage of raw materials in lieu of import restrictions and non-clearance of L/Cs In order to ease the clearance process of imported goods that have already arrived at ports or are in transit since or before January 18, 2023, SBP proposed some concessions to importers

These concessions are two-fold whereby;

The extension of payment terms is to be granted if importers are able to negotiate payment extensions with

The second condition declares importers eligible for arranging funds from abroad in order to settle their pending import payments Hereby, Authorised Dealers are to process import transactions once they have received confirmation of payment from the suppliers’ bank

The letter further clarified that this is a temporary relief and not a long term decision This one-time facilitation is only available to importers till March 23, 2023 Moreover, it does not apply to goods imported after January 18 2023

What does this mean?

Before importing goods and raw materials, importers have to get Lines of Credits (L/Cs) authorised by banks, so they can process the transaction When Authorised Dealers or banks fail to clear these L/Cs, the imported goods cannot be cleared at the ports However, in the current relaxation offered by SBP, importers can defer their payments if their suppliers agree and have their shipments cleared This works like any other credit purchase, however in this case the payment can be delayed beyond the initially agreed upon date if both parties are on board

As for the second clause of the letter, importers can

make payments from means other than the state bank and local banks Hereby, if importers are able to clear their payments through international sponsors or sources, the State Bank can preserve its foreign reserves The whole issue began due to the lack of dollars in the country and this concession offers importers a loophole to proceed with their transactions without hurting the remaining dollar reserves of the country

Questions for the SBP

Profit has asked the following questions from the SBP but no response has been given up until now, perhaps because of the communication problems that have arisen because of the power breakdown in the country: Does the letter imply that only the companies that can get their lines of credit extended for 180 days by suppliers will have their cargos cleared?

What will happen to companies that can’t do the above or if the suppliers refuse to grant payment extensions?

How long will it take for companies to get their cargos cleared if they are able to do the above?

Is the state bank authorising importers/companies to arrange dollars on their own accord to make the payments?

Will the sbp be absolved from the responsibility of facilitating these transactions (transactions dated Jan 18 or before) since they are authorising importers to arrange funds from abroad?

Half a decade of probe leads to Anwar’s acquittal in Naqeeb murder

KARACHI S ta f f R e p o R t

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi Monday acquitted Rao Anwar Ahmed, former senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Malir, and 16 other suspects in the highly publicised murder of young Naqeebullah Mehsud The verdict, which was previously reserved on January 14, took the court five years to conclude The killing of Mehsud 27 a garment trader and an aspiring model from South Waziristan residing in Karachi, in January 2018 on the outskirts of the provincial metropolis in a police encounter led by Ahmed sparked nationwide peaceful demonstrations about Pashtun rights, from which Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) emerged, and the state s failure to arrest the suspects PTM was founded in January 2018 in protest against alleged extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and “disappearances” of young Pashtun men Leaders of the emerging movement have blamed the military for these abuses, without providing sufficient evidence Ahmed along with his team were charged with the killing of Mehsud and three others after dubbing them militants linked to the “Islamic State and Taliban” The court had indicted Ahmed and his team in March 2019 for the killing of four men on the outskirts of Karachi In November 2020, the former policeman had recorded his statement, alleging that he had been framed in the case due to departmental rivalry, but failed to name any officer in the police The court heard the testimony of 51 witnesses including medico-legal, forensic, and ballistics experts, nine private witnesses, and police officials produced by the prosecution

Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of appointing media mogul Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as caretaker chief minister to ‘rig’ the upcoming elections in Punjab Mohsin Naqvi has been appointed by the same people who redlined us Now they will make all-out efforts to defeat our party in the elections through rigging, he said in a televised news conference on Monday

The PTI chairman’s statement comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appointed Naqvi as the caretaker after the ruling party and the opposition in the province failed to reach consensus on any name for the post

In his address, Imran asked his supporters and party workers to stage protests outside ECP offices against Naqvi’s appointment

“I am inviting all of you to take to the streets from tomorrow for your future If we accept his appointment then there would be no difference between us and sheep,” he remarked

He accused the ECP of causing irreparable damage to the country, saying that he is going to challenge the appointment of the caretaker CM in court

“I have never seen such a dishonest elec-

tion commission They always give verdicts against us The names that we gave for caretaker chief minister were honest people ”

Imran said the role of caretaker set-up is like that of a neutral umpire , adding: The appointment of Mohsin Naqvi proved the partiality of the election commission ”

Mohsin Naqvi will appoint police officers and other bureaucrats who will rig the elections,” he alleged

Key player in regime change operation

The former premier alleged that the newlyappointed interim chief minister was a key player in the regime change operation allegedly hatched in collusion with the US to topple his government in April last year

The man who made all-out efforts to topple our government was Mohsin Naqvi He would meet the former army chief and Nawaz Sharif Neither is he impartial nor morally fit for the position he remarked

Calling Naqvi a “bitter enemy” of his party, Imran said his TV channel ran propaganda against the PTI claiming that he held meetings with his political rivals to convince them to topple the PTI-led government

If free and fair elections are not held the situation will spiral out of control and the country can face a Sri Lanka-like situation,” he reiterated Imran said that the incumbent rulers know that they cannot defeat his party in the elections “that is why they do not want to hold elections

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has reduced Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) losses by 23,348 MMCF (Million Cubic Feet) against the assigned task of reducing it by 18,240 MMCF within a period of three years The SNGPL, in a statement, said that the government in a letter dated October 31, 2019, had assigned the task of reduction in UFG losses by 18,240 MMCF within a period of three years ending on June 30, 2022 The SNGPL exceeded the assigned target by reducing by 28%, the company said “The targets as well as achievements against all 30 UFG control measures (KMIs) have been shared with the prime minister ’s office through the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division),” said the SNGPL According to it, in order to achieve the assigned targets the SNGPL has focused on controlling gas theft, leakage and measurement errors Real time monitoring of all industrial consumers through the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is being carried out on a regular basis Cyber Locks at suspected industrial connections have also been installed to restrict unauthorised

After the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, former chief minister Parvez Elahi had proposed Ahmed Nawaz Sukhira and Naveed Akram Cheema for the post of caretaker chief minister, while opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz had suggested the names of Ahad Cheema and Mohsin Naqvi

KARACHI

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

Naqvi’s name was agreed upon in an ECP meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja and attended by four members of the commission, besides ECP secretary and special secretary and ECP director general law

The Lahore-born and US-educated Naqvi is a journalist by profession He was made the CNN regional head upon his return to Pakistan Naqvi founded a local media network in 2009 and now owns six news channels and a newspaper according to some media reports