Epaper_24-03-26 LHR

TCour t issues production order for Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi

S C s e e k s d e t a i l s o f t r i a l s i n m i l i t a r y c o u r t s

F I A a s s u r e s

S C o f w i t h d r aw i n g c a s e s a g a i n s t j o u r n a l i s t s

ISLAMABAD

S TA F F R E P O R T

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) assured the Supreme Court on Monday that it will withdraw cases filed against journalists amidst allegations of harassment The cases were registered over a malicious campaign that allegedly targeted the judiciary and other state institutions on social media

The case was presided over by a bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)

Qazi Faez Isa

The CJP remarked that the court had also taken notice of journalists being harassed in 2021 “If action had been taken promptly perhaps we would not be facing this today – that matter was more severe than a mere FIA notice,” observed the chief justice He also highlighted the apparent reluctance of some to take a firm stance before the court

the same in his petition “It is my request to the court to urge the SC committee to constitute a ninemember bench ” he said At this point during the hearing the KP government urged the court to allow it to withdraw its appeal against the Oct 23 verdict, presenting a resolution passed by the provincial cabinet “We want to withdraw the intra-court appeal ” the KP AAG said at which the court noted that the plea could not be withdrawn based on a cabinet resolution and told the lawyer to file an official application During the hearing, the petitioners challenging the military trials also objected to a private counsel pleading the matter

Faisal Siddiqui said the AGP had filed five ICAs and certain ministries had sought the services of private counsels

The AGP himself has filed the appeals so why should the public s money be spent on private counsels? he asked Ex-CJP Khawaja’s counsel urged the court to refer the case back to the judges’ committee to reconstitute the bench Ahmed recalled that his petition had sought the same earlier

The legal counsel representing the journalists drew attention to Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) flagging its frequent misuse as a concern The court responded that the FIA has committed to withdrawing cases against journalists Amir Mir and Imran Shafqat FIA officials also confirmed that applications will be submitted to retract the charges against the aforementioned individuals formally

The court then adjourned the hearing till March 27

Earlier this month, the SC had castigated the FIA for harassing media personnel while noting that authorities issued notices to journalists under the guise of investigating an online campaign against the superior judiciary an investigation that the SC never ordered

SIFC

CDNS attains Rs1200b target in fresh bonds

TThree companies represent Pakistan at Motorbike Istanbul 2024

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has demanded the European Union (EU) report on the February 8 general elections to be made public The EU report on the elections should be made public, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad

Recalling the EU delegation’s visit to Pakistan before the polls Hasan said that the intergovernmental body has confirmed handing over its report on the country s

general elections to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)

The EU report is very sensitive and important, he added

The PTI spokesperson s demand comes as the party has time again complained of wide-scale rigging and election result manipulation in last month s general elections claiming that its mandate was stolen

The former ruling party s founder Imran Khan had also written to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling on the global lender to hold an audit of the election results before approving any new loan for Islamabad a demand excused by the Washington-based lender citing its narrow mandate on economic issues saying that it does not comment on domestic political developments It is pertinent to know that following the February 8 polls the EU’s Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Se-

M ar wat confident of positive outcome in K han’s c ase

a mandate recovery campaign starting March 30 targeting alleged electoral malpractices particularly in the aftermath of the February 8 election Marwat emphasized the trust placed by the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in PTI, highlighting the party’s historical significance in the region He also expressed intentions to discuss the inclusion of Ahmed Ghani and Mushtaq Ghani in the cabinet aiming to uphold justice and representation for the populace Echoing Marwat s optimism, Ali Muhammad Khan, another PTI leader, projected Imran Khan’s release from jail before the 25th of Ramadan

He voiced confidence in the judiciary s ability to deliver justice swiftly in the cipher case questioning the legitimacy of the allegations and implicating foreign involvement Khan referenced the involvement of the American ambassador and called for scrutiny of statements made in foreign forums particularly in relation to the case Furthermore Khan underscored the need for accountability, advocating for the application of Articles 63 and 62 against political opponents, notably Shahbaz Sharif and his government He urged a response from diplomatic circles regarding statements made by Donald Lowe emphasizing the potential pressures faced by key diplomats

PM hurries Petroleum Division into kickstar ting 14-year old gas pipeline projec t to avoid penalties

PM, German ambassador discuss ties

business delegation to visit Pakistan soon and assured the German Ambassador that the delegation would be facilitated in every way to ensure a successful visit He also extended an invitation to the German Chancellor to undertake an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience The Ambassador assured the Prime Minister that Germany was keen to work closely with Pakistan to strengthen bilateral ties especially in trade and investment

P o l i t i c a l c h a l l e n g e s f o r a t e c h n o c r a t

FI N A N C E Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will have had a confusing first couple of weeks in office The former banking CEO took over the finance ministry on the 11th of March and hit the ground running in his negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

His first success in office was securing the last part of the Standby Agreement Pakistan was party to with the fund and he was also quick to announce Pakistan would have to go to the fund again for a significantly larger bailout package

His entry into office was marked immediately by relief from the country s economic observers, a sentiment that was made audible by how markets responded to his appointment One might say that the positive reaction had more to do with Ishaq Dar not becoming finance minister than with anything else But Aurangzeb does bring a degree of competence that has otherwise been missing over at Q-block

Yet it might have been difficult for him to adjust in his new role considering he was basically snubbed by the prime minister when he decided to maintain chairmanship of the Economic Coordination Committee and also allowed Ishaq Dar who is supposed to be managing the country s foreign relations, into matters such as privatisation

Since then, following plenty of backlash, Mr Sharif has given his finance Czar control of the ECC once again which is the all important cabinet committee that handles day to day affairs For now it seems that he has once again asserted his place in the cabinet The challenge that lies ahead for Mr Aurangzeb is managing politics as a non-politician

While he does have some degree of political pedigree, his father having been Attorney General of Pakistan on two different occasions he has positioned himself as a professional minister He has also submitted nomination papers to the upper house of parliament as a technocrat

Mr Aurangzeb should be well aware that his predecessor and cabinet colleague Ishaq Dar does very much still care about having a say in how the economy is run While Pakistan is facing a myriad of challenges tackling Mr Dar will be as big a challenge as any It seems that Mr Aurangzeb is backed to be in office by those that matter But he must hold his nerve in the face of internal challenges as well if he has any chance of doing any good with the office he is now the custodian of

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit

M u s l i m s u n d e r s i e g e

Insaf alI Bangwar

IN the anthropological essence the band system provided a social framework egalitarian to all and sundry with no sign of any superiority or inferiority over one another, or simply, discrimination The later forms, including tribes, chiefdoms and nation-states turned out to be the type of societies slightly in favour of antiegalitarianism ergo catalysing an upsurge in discrimination due to their hierarchical structure Throughout millennia humans enjoyed life having boons in every nook and cranny unless a transition influenced by the agrarian revolution, the emergence of various ideologies and the technological specifications that accelerated the societal norms favourable to some and discriminatory to others

In effect as time evolved the exercise of various political models were experimented and failed, none provided a footing based on the egalitarian modus operandi Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality made the egalitarian dream shattered as time passed by Practically better compared to bygone ones democracy prevailed in most of the countries due to its distinguished characteristics including equal treatment of all regardless of race ethnicity gender and sexuality However, notwithstanding this trait, the minorities, especially Muslims are still victims of discrimination in democratic states India is a strong example among others Initially a secular state which is a negation of religion India evolved more in favour of Hindus than any other religions like Muslims Sikhs and Christians As a secular state, India s Constitution enshrines egalitarian treatment of all other religions living in India, including Muslims too However, the RSS-driven Hindu Rashtra overrides the rights of one of the largest minorities in the world the Muslims

The scale of brutality is: every street road sign stature scripture structure and historical site representing Islam is renamed erased destroyed and converted into Hinduism by different status quos The Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP accelerated the process of directing India into a Hindu state track than any preceding parties did That in effect gains Narendra Modi an upper hand over other parties to rise to power

Every political leader falling into the BJP party contributed to their mission according to their power The creatively crafted project to repress the Muslims

and more of the same will be in queue if he rises to power for the third time

Directly located just north of India China plays various tactics to repress another Muslim ethnicity Uighurs living in the northeast of China in Xinjiang province The Chinese government in supremacy of the Communist Party Of China under the veneer of “Social Credit System” monitors the population including the Uighur Muslims China implemented a series of projects installing face recognition cameras all over China to measure the acts and deeds of Chinese

In 2014, an estimated two million Communist Party members visited the Uighurs in Xinjiang, as The Narrow Corridor authors write: “to visit the people benefit the people and bring together the hearts of people” One more wave of visits of around ten thousand people was paid in 2016 and followed by another in 2017 with the theme of United as One Family campaign to even closely look after and ensure there is no practice of Namaz, no recitation of the Quran or a copy is kept in secret and no Islamic greeting like Assalamualaikum The re-education camps are yet another sign of discriminatory and prejudiced reality of the Chinese Communist Party Re-education is a series of campaigns to implement Chinese rites rituals and even religion for the Muslims This, in effect, makes Uighurs daily life miserable given the monitoring of their actions, thus, the shadows of discrimination, persecution and prejudice remain persisted

Ironically though never in decades the Uighurs problem came under limelight The Muslim world’s response in this mayhem aggravates the injuries since despite being a religion second highest in numbers and consisting of 57 plus countries, Muslim countries lend a deaf ear to this problem Shouldn t it be the prime purpose of the world, especially Muslims countries, to take appropriate measures against prejudice and discrimination?

The story does not conclude here The Rohingyas a Muslim ethnicity tagged by the government as outsiders in hand with buddhist extremists in Myanmar (Burma), the restrictions on veil in France for Muslims and post 9/11 incident induced discrimination of Muslims in the U S has no end in sight exemplifying the dysfunctionality of regional and international human rights organisations including the UN too Thus catalysing egalitarian dreams into prejudiced reality

To preserve the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights charters, the international and regional powers must attempt to commence comprehensive combatting campaigns aiming at providing deliverance to the prejudiced minorities living in different places on the globe Eliminating prejudice on the Muslim minorities would help the egalitarian dream revisit first paragraph reign supreme

The writer is a freelancer He can be reached @insafalibangwar98@gmail com

Directly located just nor th of India, China plays various tactics to repress another Muslim ethnicity Uighurs living in the nor theast of China in Xinjiang province . The Chinese government in supremacy of the Communist Par ty Of China under the veneer of „Social Credit System‰ monitors the population including the Uighur Muslims.

theory that could explain recurrent patterns in international politics, particularly cycles of war and peace and the formation of balances of power among great powers Waltz’s quest for the right theory of international politics set the stage for the development of neorealist theory as a system theory Neorealism evolving into a balance of power theory, clarifies the implications of the system-level theory for real-world international politics The Cold War ’s bipolar system was the setting when the Theory of International Politics was written Waltz thought the Cold War was surprisingly stable even though the superpowers had tense moments Neorealist theory focuses on how the shift from a multipolar world before 1945 to a bipolar one during the Cold War, and later to a new system after the Cold War, affects the chances of peace and stability The theory also needs to be understood in the context of the declining power of the U S compared to the economic growth of Europe and Japan after the 1970s In this system, where power is spread out among countries, they act in a way that tries to find a balance of power They might do this by building up their military or making alliances with other countries This idea mostly applies to the big powerful countries Neorealism focuses on these powerful countries because they have the most impact on how things work internationally Less powerful countries usually join the weaker side in conflicts, not because they want to be the strongest, but because they want

to balance power If they wanted to be the strongest, they would join the stronger side This approach is based on the belief that in international politics, the structure of the system pushes countries to follow a practical and realistic approach The system encourages countries to adopt a practical approach called Realpolitik where the methods and reasons for foreign policy are influenced by the system s structure This structural influence explains why certain methods are used repeatedly despite

Protests in universities

Wedding woes

Traffic

not in individual or state behavior He aimed to create a general

IWhat Gadapur said can only be said by a person like him who sounds so uncouth and has a demeanour of a gangster rather than a

and

politician He has an aura of

t i n a s t a t e m e n t h e r e m i n d e d t h a t F I R s h a d b e e n r e g i s t e r e d a g a i n s t P M L ( N ) l e a d e r N aw a z S h a r i f , P u n j a b C h i e f M i n i s t e r a n d P r e s i d e n t A s i f A l i Z a rd a r i i n D I K h a n a n d h e m i g h t s e n d p o l i c e t o t h e i r h o m e s i n c a s e t h ey d i d n o t c h a n g e t h e i r a t t i t u d e T h a t cl e a r ly s o u n d s r ev e n g e f u l a c t i o n by h i m a s b e i n g t h e C h i e f M i n i s t e r h e c o u l d h av e f a l s e F I R s r e g i s t e r e d a g a i n s t h i s p o l i t i c a l o p p o n e n t s H e a l s o d a r e d t h e f e d e r a l g ov e r n m e n t t o a r r e s t h i m B y d o i n g t h i s h e i s c h a l l e n g i n g t h e w r i t o f t h e s t a t e

Moscow attack proves Russia — and US have lost sight of priorities

Tlies in Europe

This confusion of priorities has also profoundly affected U S policy and U S media analysis in the Middle East Russian analysts of my acquaintance simply could not understand how after causing disasters in Iraq and Libya the U S and its allies could have desired to overthrow the Baath state in Syria, and ensure chaos and a very likely victory for IS (as indeed the CIA warned President Obama)

Russians asked how when in early 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can have urged continued support for the brutal dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on the grounds that otherwise Islamist extremists might triumph and then later that year described Russian support for the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al Assad as “despicable,” though it took place for exactly the same rea-

sons The only explanation they could find was that much of the U S establishment was possessed by a pathological hatred for Russia and they were not wholly wrong about that

Before and during the second Chechen

War beginning in 1999, motivated by blind hostility to Russia many Western commentators tied themselves in knots trying to avoid acknowledging the growing role of Islamist extremists in Chechnya and to avoid describing their actions as terrorism Today although IS has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow, President Putin is seeking to blame it on Ukraine

Unless he can provide real evidence for it the Russian elites should reject this charge Otherwise once again they will be failing to defend their fellow citizens against the real threats facing them Similarly, it is to be hoped that no Western analyst will pay attention to the Ukrainian suggestion with no evidence at all that this disaster for Russia was the work of the Russian authorities themselves

Finally there is the issue of responsibil-

a

Maula Jutt about him There are stories galore about his criminal activities No wonder that he is allegedly also one of the main PTI leaders who are responsible for attacks on military installations and monuments of martyrs on 9th of May a crime against the state Such a person does not deserve to be the Chief Minister of a province but unfortunately our system of governance and electing public representative is such that people like him find it easy to reach the corridors of power Gandapur has not only advanced this bizarre suggestion of people taking the law in their own hands but he has also adopted a confrontational posture against the federal and Punjab

P T I h a s i nva r i a b ly d i s p u t e d e l e c t o r a l r e s u l t s w h e t h e r by - p o l l o r g e n e r a l p o l l s T h a t i s t h e fo r t e o f t h e p a r t y a n d i t s fo u n d i n g c h a i r m a n H e r a i s e d t h e b o g ey o f r i g g i n g i n 2 0 1 3 g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s p r e m i s e d o n a l l e g e d 3 5 p u n c t u r e s , s t a g e d a s i t - i n o f 1 2 6 d ay s a n d a l s o d e m a n d e d j u d i c i a l p ro b e i n t o i t B u t w h e n t h e j u d i c i a l c o m m i s s i o n i n i t s f i n d i n g r e p u d i a t e d t h e a l l e g a t i o n s a b o u t r i g g i n g I m r a n K h a n i s o n r e c o rd t o h av e s a i d t h a t i t w a s o n ly a p o l i t i c a l t a l k .

false FIRs registered against his political opponents He also dared the federal government to arrest him By doing this he is challenging the writ of the state Probably he is not aware of the fact that confrontation with the federation can be harmful for him as well as the province because if he does not mend his ways and continues to tread the same path then governing the province will become difficult for him and it ultimately might go to the imposition of governor ’s rule

One would have appreciated if he had said that he had faith in the judiciary and was ready to face the law and prove himself innocent of the charges against him That would have been the most

it is pertinent to mention that in a few NA and provincial constituencies where recounting has been done PML(N) candidates declared unsuccessful against the PTI backed candidates have been declared the real winners The development does indicate that there might have been counting errors or some irregularities in some constituencies due to the incompetence of the polling staff but there is certainly no evidence of mass level rigging as alleged by PTI If recounting in all the constituencies of KPK is undertaken it might surprise many people and expose the mantra of rigging by PTI PTI has invariably disputed electoral results whether by-poll or general polls That is the forte of the party and its founding chairman He raised the bogey of rigging in 2013 general elections premised on alleged 35 punctures staged a sit-in of 126 days and also demanded judicial probe into it But when the judicial commission in its finding repudiated the allegations about rigging Imran Khan is on record to have said that it was only

a political talk Somebody had told him about it and he agitated the issue The fact is that the party was itself found involved in rigging the by-election in NA-75 in which Firdaus Ashiq Awan and the district administration played a significant role and consequently had to face legal action by the ECP

The PTI seems to have adopted the same strategy to dispute the results of the elections It is better advised to have faith in the institutional arrangement to deal with such complaints and also stop inviting foreign intervention in the internal issues

The country needs political stability to wade through unprecedented economic crisis The party must give preference to national interests over its narrow political agenda and play its role in stabilizing the economy and propelling its path to sustained development It is a now or never opportunity

Mismeasuring corruption is no mere technicality

IFundamentally, it reinforces the illusor y, hypocritical and often Eurocentric message that high-income countries have achieved a lasting state of ethical purity In reality, corruption did not necessarily disappear as countries grew richer, rather, it evolved, becoming more sophisticated and imperceptible

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

than real As a blistering 2020 exposé by the New York Times revealed, half of UK government contracts for medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic went to “companies run by friends and associates of politicians through a special VIP Lane How then did the CPI rank the UK as the 20th least corrupt country? The score is based not on surveys conducted internally

Transparency International, but on a combination of various third-party polls Almost all of these come from Western organizations such as the Economist Intelligence Unit and they tend to rely heavily on responses from Western business executives Moreover, the wording in these surveys is often vague For example, the World Competitiveness Yearbook, one of CPI’s sources, presents business executives with a crude binary choice: “Bribery and corruption: exist or do not exist No wonder the CPI shows that rich countries are very clean year after year even as their ordinary citizens disagree Recognising that there were no alternatives to these

try s total UCI score appears at the top and is broken down into the four categories of corruption, with a colored box representing the most dominant type Now we can compare not only aggregate levels of perceived corruption but also the type and configuration of corruption across countries One illuminating comparison is between the US and China The US is less corrupt than China overall, but the gap is narrowest in the category of access money, the dominant type of corruption in both countries Notably America’s accessmoney score is higher than that of lowerincome countries like Thailand and Ghana If we relied solely on bundled scores, we would conclude that the US is clean But once the scores are disaggregated, we can explain the appeal of populist promises to “drain the swamp”

Even more interesting is that different forms of access money prevail in the US and China In a comparison based on a vignette about bribe-taking through politicians personal networks, China clearly dominates Yet, when we turn to “revolving door” practices and regulatory capture through lobbying the US takes the lead In short access money in the US is primarily institutional whereas the problem in China is still enmeshed within personal relationships involving bribery and piles of buried cash China is not necessarily more corrupt than the US, but its corruption certainly has a different quality Mismeasuring corruption is no mere technicality Fundamentally it reinforces the illusory hypocritical and often Eurocentric message that high-income countries have achieved a lasting state of ethical purity In reality, corruption did not necessarily disappear as countries grew richer rather it evolved becoming more sophisticated and imperceptible We must continue to fight corruption of the poor But, by unbundling corruption, capitalist democracies can also direct urgently needed attention toward some of their most pressing problems, including rising inequality declining public trust in government and what USAID administrator Samantha Power calls modern corruption (such transnational networks of illicit finance) Overcoming these challenges re-

STATE RESPONSIBILIT Y FOR

RIsrael besieges two more Gaza hospitals, Palestinians say

North Korea says Japan PM requested summit with Kim Jong Un

SEOUL A

Un s powerful sister said on Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio

Kishida has requested a summit with her brother, adding a meeting was unlikely without a policy shift by Tokyo Relations between the two countries are historically strained, including by a long-running kidnapping dispute and North Korea’s banned weapons programmes but Kishida has recently expressed a desire to improve ties which Pyongyang has hinted it is not opposed to Last year, Kishida said he was willing to meet Kim without any conditions , saying Tokyo was willing to resolve all issues, including the abduction by North Korean agents of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s which remains an emotive issue in Japan Kishida conveyed his intention to personally meet the President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People s Republic of Korea as soon as possible, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency Kim Yo Jong who is one of the regime’s key spokespeople had hinted last month at a possible future invitation for the Japanese leader to visit North Korea But she said the history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, without a substantive policy change on Tokyo’s part

C hina strongly opposes Blinken’s criticism of Ar ticle 23

Foreign Ministry voiced strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition on Monday to US’ repeated slander and smear of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance that just took effect on Saturday in Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region following the latest statement from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticizing the legislation

The ministry’s spokesperson called the statement “nothing but blatant political manipulation and hypocritical double standards ”

The ordinance strikes a balance between maintaining national security and safeguarding rights and freedoms as well as economic development, which fully draws on the legislative experiences of other countries, especially those

with common law systems, fully respects and protects rights, clearly defines the elements of crimes, and distinctly delineates what constitutes a crime and what does not Lin Jian the spokesperson of the ministry told a press conference on Monday

The law effectively protects the legitimate business activities and international interactions of foreign institutions, organizations and individuals in Hong Kong It does not affect Hong Kong s high degree of autonomy, nor does it change Hong Kong’s capitalist system and way of life, Lin said It is beneficial for Hong Kong to better leverage its unique position and advantages deepen exchanges and cooperation with other countries and regions and further consolidate its status as an international financial shipping and trade center, the spokesperson added

In a statement released on Friday local time, Blinken

that, unlike the West, China’s approach is characterized by long-term commitment equality and genuine support for their development rather than driven by geopolitical competition Xi said China welcomes Nauru as another country to sign the Belt and Road cooperation document with China He said China is ready to expand practical cooperation with Nauru in trade investment and infrastructure construction and provide assistance to Nauru for its independent and sustainable development without political strings attached Adeang said that Nauru highly appreciates China’s consistent adherence to the principle of equality among all countries and is willing to abide by the oneChina principle continuously deepen cooperation with China take the resumption of diplomatic relations between Nauru and China as an important opportunity, observe mutual respect with China enhance understanding

is based on mutual respect and support is likely to serve as a model for the Pacific Island Countries (PICs)

M o r e o v e r , the reason why the PICs have preferred deepening their r e l a t i o n s h i p with China is

said the US expresses deep concern over Hong Kong authorities enactment of national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law

This law will have broad implications for the people in Hong Kong as well as US citizens and companies operating there and threatens to further undermine the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong, which includes vaguely defined provisions regarding sedition, state secrets, and interactions with foreign entities that could be used to curb dissent, according to the statement

The US has an impervious national security system with an unparalleled number of laws and extensive extraterritorial reach yet it points fingers at and meddles in the issue of Hong Kong s enactment of the ordinance This is nothing but blatant political manipulation and hypocritical double standards, Lin said

KP, Punjab Health Ministers disc uss combating counter feit medicines, bilateral cooperation

PESHAWAR S TA F F R E P O R T

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah and Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir on Monday discussed combating counterfeit medicines and cooperation in health sector

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister paid an unofficial visit to the Primary and Secondary Health Care Department in Punjab during which he was warmly welcomed by Punjab Health Minister and his team

During the meeting the health ministers exchanged views on matters of mutual interest, including combating counterfeit medicines and utilizing each other’s best practices in primary health care management Punjab Health Minister briefed Syed Qasim Ali Shah about various departmental affairs and conducted an introductory tour of various divisions of the department Both ministers agreed on the necessity of inter-provincial communication to establish a coordination mechanism to tackle natural disasters, epidemics, and other emergencies The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister highlighted the importance of learning from each other s best practices in handling epidemic situations such as vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria, and leishmaniasis, as well as floods Discussions also ensued regarding the exchange of experts to develop specialization in various health sectors Minister Shah was briefed on the ongoing reforms and digitization efforts in the Punjab Health Department Syed Qasim Ali Shah emphasized the desire to adopt the health system prevalent in Western countries in progressive nations for which ground realities are not entirely conducive He further explained the importance of leveraging the experiences and research of different provinces to enhance the existing system continuously ensuring a journey of ongoing improvement Minister Shah extended a formal invitation to the Punjab Health Minister and his team to visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

KP Food Authority initiates crackdown against food adulteration mafia

C hairman CDA Initiates Modern IT D rive: Pakistan's L argest IT Park S et to M aterialize in Islamabad's S

OGRA holds public hearing at Lahore on SNGPL petition

Senate poll: Appellate tribunal over turns rejection of A zam Swati, Murad Saeed’s nominations

O pposition moves PHC over oath-taking on KP reser ved seats

No leniency for accused of releasing girls’ objectionable photos: IHC

Dar,

Cameron discuss early resumption of PIA’s flights to

The remark came during the hearing of a plea seeking bail of a man, Muhammad Haseeb, who is accused of sharing objectionable pictures of a girl on social media site Facebook and her father and husband on WhatsApp The court rejected the bail plea stating that such offences have become very common in the society for the reason that girls send their objectionable pictures to boys or friends when in a relationship, which are later shared on social platforms in case of a breakup

The court termed the sharing of private pictures a very heinous crime [ ] as these pictures become stigma throughout the life of girls and in many cases their family life has destroyed; the girls have

] Facebook; FIA collected sufficient incriminating evidence against him Technical analysis expert report is available on record which shows that the petitioner has committed aforementioned crime ” the order stated It further stated that the petitioner ’s request for bail has been rejected but it is a tentative assessment which will not affect the case s trial

Aitchison College Principal resigns citing 'rampant politic al inter ference'