Epaper_24-04-19 ISB

heat” he emphasised reforms to promote good governance and turn challenges into opportunities

President Zardari said that by embracing the visions of the great leaders Quaid-eAzam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto “we can effectively tackle challenges and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and political reconciliation

The president emphasised that in order to align the country with the requirements of the 21st century, it was imperative to move forward on reforms with good governance for the provision of optimal social entitlements to the citizens

He said that besides working on economic reforms, spurring jobs, reducing inflation, and expanding the tax net, the federal government should also promote positive working relationships and effective coordination within the constitutional framework with the provinces

“We have little time to waste The country needs us to move on from the polarisation so common now to contemporary politics

he remarked and sought the joint house s role in rebuilding public confidence in the parliamentary process Calling for resetting the political atmosphere and reflecting “more light than

social welfare, women empowerment and foreign policy to Kashmir and Palestine as well as climate change Zardari said that having given away his powers to the Parliament his role was as a unifying symbol of a joint robust federation where all people and provinces should be treated as equal before the law As a new beginning, he said that the country needed to build its strengths by investing in people focusing on public needs and harnessing its resources to create pathways to inclusive growth

This is absolutely essential for promoting an inclusive national development agenda and rolling out policies that execute tangible action on the ground ” Zardari stressed the government

Iran supported ISIS activities in Pakistan So I would obviously disagree with your characterisation I m not going to get into a long rebuttal about something we’ve spoken to a number of times, but no I do not have information to suggest that he told the questioner during his regular press briefing

10,728 units in July-March FY24 from 15,994 units in the same period last year Hyundai Elantra and Sonata sales fell by 59% and 43% to 778 and 611 units respectively from 1 886 and 1,066 units in 9MFY23

In the 1,000cc category, Suzuki Cultus and WagonR sales dropped by 55% and 47% to 2 803 and 2 752 units from 6 233 and 5 022 units in 9MFY23 Suzuki Bolan and Alto sales in the below 1,000cc category decreased by 55% and 26%

Pthe high-level inquiry initiated by the government of Pakistan into recent terrorist attack in which five Chinese personnel were killed was progressing smoothly, hoping that it will pave the way safeguarding the safety of the CPEC-projects and the Chinese workers He noted that the incident was widely condemned by all sections both at the government and the public level Following this tragic mishap, the government and the security agencies took immediate steps to expose the culprits and bring them to book The Ambassador said the Chinese government is willing to work with Pakistani security agencies to achieve the security objectives To ensure consistent progress of CPEC the government will have to ensure the safety of those who are engaged in the development work at various locations of the country Ambassador Jiang congratulating the new government in Pakistan said that it showed its seriousness in maintaining the depth of Sino-Pak decades old strategic partnership

Xi attaches great important to the

Makkah, modern day Saudi Arabia It takes place during the same time each year, in the sacred month of Dhul Hijjah – the twelfth month in the Islamic Calendar Hajj begins on the 8th of Dhul Hijjah and lasts approximately five to six days depending on the sighting of the moon When the new crescent moon is sighted, Muslims around the world welcome in the four-day festival of Eidul Adha 14-member Balochistan cabinet takes oath today

QUETTA S tA f f r e p o r t

A-14 member Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid

IMF predictions

TH E real interest in the IMF’s latest Economic Outlooks predictions for Pakistan lie in the fact that Pakistan is about to begin negotiations for a fresh package, spread over a longer term and involving more money than the Stand-By Arrangement about to expire Even though the second review by the IMF concluded successfully, it has still not placed the release of the tranche on the IMF’s Board of Directors, which must accord approval before the money can be released It should therefore be somewhat of a relief for Pakistan, that the IMF has maintained its prediction for GDP growth this fiscal year at 2 percent in its latest World Economic Outlook the same as it predicted in January, with that a downgrade from the 2 5 percent predicted earlier For the next fiscal year, the IMF now predicts growth of 3 5 percent, down from the 3 6 percent forecast in October

Though the IMF was more pessimistic than the State Bank, which has projected growth this year at between 2 and 3 percent, or the Pakistan government, which has a target of 3 5 percent it is still more optimistic than the World Bank prediction early this month of 1 8 percent The IMF prediction was probably the one Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb used in his meeting with World Bank President Sanjay Banga in their meeting on Wednesday This kind of growth is anaemic, not being able to keep pace with the number of new entrants into the job market

The inflation projections by the IMF is that this year it will come down from last year s 29 2 percent to 24 8 percent, and will slow further to 12 7 percent next year In other words the IMF sees Pakistan as trapped in a stagflationary cycle, with even next year showing low growth combined with an inflation figure beyond what the consumer can bear A question which arises from these projections is to what extent are they factoring in a new IMF package It would be helpful to see how much the economy would grow and prices rise according to the IMF it it was to give a new package and how much if it was to In short, how much difference a package would really make That would not only help clarify the choices before the public but help the government as it enters negotiations But perhaps the IMF prefers holding its cards close to its chest

IIs the ground moving?

S there a deliberate effort to make the government stumble from crisis to crisis, or is that how things are just happening? More significant, is the visible difficulty of ruling Pakistan the result of not following the logic of the result of the February 8 election?

Perhaps the most pressing problem facing the government is economic The problem is twofold because not only does the government have to negotiate a new deal with the IMF, but it also has to put a cap on the inflation that is making the life of the common man so difficult Unfortunately for the government the IMF has laid conditionalities in the past and is likely to do in future which will lead to hikes in the electricity fuel and gas prices both fuelling inflation across the board and acting as a dampener on growth

The government has found that the attack on Chinese engineers in Dasu, which killed five, has combined with an escalation of the tension with Afghanistan with the killing of four soldiers including a colonel in Tirah the result of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan action The government responded with the bombing of a TTP camp in Afghanistan It has also tried to mend fences with China Then there is the mysterious affair of the letters At first, there was only the letter which had been sent by six judges of the Islamabad High Court to the Chief Justice of Pakistan about interference by an intelligence agency in their work That led to a meeting of the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of Pakistan the appointment by the Cabinet of a judicial enquiry commission–followed swiftly by the recusal of the person appointed, and then the Supreme Court took up the matter in its suo motu jurisdiction This was followed by the arrival at the Supreme Court the Islamabad High Court and the Lahore High Court of letters to various judges all containing a white powder labelled anthrax though forensic testing later showed

ceiving mail that does not seem to be security-oriented It showed that the various registry departments which actually received mail were vulnerable to booby traps, even if the judges seemed to be safe They were saved not by attention to security, but by the administrative convenience which has all mail delivered to one place with further distribution to the judges from there after the mail was opened It seems that boobytraps are possible The government should be interested, not just because it needs to ensure the independence of the judiciary, but because the mails were used It should also be noted that there was no CCTV footage available to the post office located in a business centre not because there were no cameras but because they

were out of order Either the Safe City Authority was falling down on the job, and those posting the letters were powerful indeed The letters, both from the judges and to them, were still the subject of great speculation, when the confrontation at Bahawalnagar occurred It appeared that the police s attempt to arrest the brother of an Army officer was fiercely resisted with the ISPR noting that the colour of a confrontation between the police and the military was being created on social media A Joint Investigation Team has been set up

It should be noted that if the police raiding party was subjected to violence its previous attitudes have been to blame The police have a reputation for throwing their weight around Under the Raj when they were the steel framework of the Empire their purpose was not so much the protection of the citizens as the preservation of the Raj The British realised that this required the provision of justice, which it did through the police They were allowed to use methods which violated fundamental rights After Independence the process of converting into free citizens is still not complete and the police are now acquainted with the concept of fundamental rights and due process

However, acquaintance does not mean observance The third degree is still practised Policing universally and historically involves policemen trying to avoid observing due process of law Pakistan’s police forces are no exception They also enjoy government patronage not just from politicians but military rulers They are not only still the steel framework of the state, but are relied on to deal with political opponents Anyone who has ruled in Pakistan has relied on the police Because of that, they continue to ignore fundamental rights with the result that anyone who can claim a group solidarity will resist arrest When the military is involved there is a flurry of concern that there is an institutional clash When the Islamabad police attempted to arrest journalist Mohsin Baig in February 2022, there was a gun fired, but he was arrested However, it did not become a press-versuspolice issue though it could well have One reason is that press bodies are not strong or united enough Perhaps that is a good thing for there are people within the press who would exploit this power It might be noted that the Baig case occurred because the police were being pressed by the execu-

e r v i c e i n t h e s h a p e o f t h e P M L ( N ) , i t s h o u l d b e n o t i c e d t h a t t h e P M a n d P u n j a b C M a r e e n t i r e l y n e w I f a t a l l h i s t o r y i s t o r e p e a t i t s e l f , i t w i l l b e a f t e r t h e y a r e a l l o w e d a f r e e r u n . A n d i t i s n o t

l i k e l y t h a t a nyo n e w i l l b e n e f i t , u n l e s s i t i s s o m e o n e w h o i s a t p r e s e n t n o t i n t h e f ro n t r a n k .

with his rhetoric of a rising and a strong India suggests that his approach towards Pakistan is unlikely to undergo significant change

But there exists an extremely remote chance that the victory of PM Modi in the upcoming elec-

chauvinism, and Hindutva ideology has all but cemented his victory in the upcoming elections But to attribute the dominance of BJP’s electoral machine only to Hindutva would not be entirely correct Much like far-right nationalist leaders like Mussolini and Hitler

Narendra Modi in the upcoming election is likely to mean continuity in its India-Pakistan relations, with the continuation of the status quo modus vivendi that has characterized their interactions in the past This modus operandi has typically involved periods of intermittent dialogue interspersed with escalations in border tensions particularly in Kashmir Modi s fierce Hindu nationalist underpinnings coupled

e t a k e s p l a c e t h a t d e m a n d s r e c a l i b r a t i o n o f r e l a t i o n s .

India s current approach toward its smaller neighbours which is characterized by the assertion of its economic and military might while occasionally infringing upon their sovereignty This trajectory has been evident in India’s dealings with countries like Nepal, where the construction of infrastructure projects such as dams along the border has stirred ten-

They make a desolation and call

disease, and harsh conditions

In addition to the casualties inflicted by Hamas, attacks by armed groups in Israel on the same day led to the deaths of over 1 200 people

Furthermore 330 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then As of the latest estimates by UNRWA about 75 percent of Gaza s population, including more than half of its children, have been displaced

Residents of Gaza describe life as a grim choice between facing death or being forced to leave their homes

The future of the besieged enclave remains uncertain with ongoing debates about what lies ahead It is unclear whether the estimated 1 9 million Palestinians who fled to the southern parts of Gaza will ever be able to return and find their homes intact or if they now lie in ruins

Continued political instability could lead to further conflict between Gaza and Israel exacerbating the already dire circumstances for the people of Gaza Additionally developments in neighbouring countries and their relations with Gaza and Israel may influence the situation Changes in these relationships could either improve or worsen conditions for Gaza in the future

370 which granted special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir was seen by many Kashmiris as a symbol of their distinct identity and political rights The abrogation of this article effectively centralized power in the Indian government, leading to a sense of disenfranchisement and marginalization among Kashmiris who felt their political voice and autonomy were being undermined

a peaceful resolution remains elusive The plight of Kashmir serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and peace in our world

The problems in both Kashmir and Palestine date back to 1947 Israel maintains its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, while on the other side, Kashmir is still an unresolved and disputed issue between India and Pakistan The whole world is aware that the situation in Palestine is worsening day by day

The October 7 attack by Hamas exposed vulnerabilities in Israel s defense prompting efforts to restore its military dominance The Israeli Defense Forces have been responsible for the deaths of approximately 30,000 Palestinians a significant portion of whom are children and have caused extensive destruction in Gaza The ongoing conflict has resulted in a daily toll of around 250 Palestinian lives with many more facing threats from hunger

Both Palestine and Kashmir have suffered under occupation global political manoeuvring, humanitarian crises, and the neglect of human rights by supposed advocates While the origins of the ongoing conflicts in Palestine and Indian-administered Kashmir differ how people in both regions are fighting for freedom highlights a shared similarity between these globally recognized disputed areas Kashmir has witnessed a cycle of spontaneous pro-Palestine protests and shutdowns during the past couple of years

Talking about the current situation, India claims that four years after the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on 5 August 2019 the restoration of peace and developmental activities taking place, compared to the past, stand out as its most significant achievements It is after more than three decades that public and social life in the erstwhile state, in general and the valley in particular are back to normal routine without disruption While 124 civilians were killed at the hands of police and security forces during protests and there were stone-pelting incidents from 5 August 2016 to 5 August 2019, not a single such incident was reported in the last four years,

The revocation of Article 370 also had economic repercussions It led to uncertainty and disruption in various sectors, including tourism, trade, and real estate, which are crucial for the economy of Kashmir The region experienced restrictions on movement communication blackouts and a decline in business activities affecting livelihoods and economic stability The question of whether Article 370 signifies India s colonization of Kashmir depends on how one views the situation While Kashmir has been viewed through a colonial lens before the revocation of Article 370 suggests that a settler-colonial perspective might be more appropriate Settler colonialism involves the recruitment of a settler class whose aim is not only to occupy indigenous land but also to eradicate the indigenous people who resist them Consequently, as non-Kashmiris migrate to the region as new residents India’s identity as a settler state becomes increasingly evident

The suffering of Palestinians and Kashmiris is undeniable yet there s a heated debate about the world s ostrich-like policy, which has turned a blind eye to these enduring atrocities for decades The recent failure of the UN to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza vividly illustrates how power dynamics and military dominance continually overshadow the principles of a fair and just order It s no understatement to say that the UN, both as an idea and in practice, is deeply flawed, especially when it comes to maintaining peace The images and reports from Gaza depict the tragic plight of the Palestinian people raising poignant questions about the whereabouts of Muslim rulers and those who profess to be advocates of conscience The barbarity and mercilessness endured by Gaza s inhabitants demand urgent intervention and support from Arab Muslim leaders As Martin Luther King once said, “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends It s crucial to acknowledge the role of Western leaders in exacerbating the situation in Gaza and to question their commitment to human rights, especially considering the massacres perpetrated by the occupying forces, which claim the lives of innocent children women and elderly individuals

The deafening silence of world leaders echoes through the plight of our Muslim brethren in Palestine and Kashmir where lives hang in the balance While the Palestinian issue has garnered widespread attention and advocacy from various quarters, the suffering of Kashmiris remains largely unnoticed shrouded in the shadows of neglect and indifference Indian authorities paint a rosy picture of Kashmir s transformation boasting of eradicating terrorism and restoring peace

The rich culture of the Valley has been buried by the forceful practices of the occupiers Yet beneath this facade lies a harrowing reality one where Kashmiris find their voices stifled their dissent crushed and their

The inauguration date seems to have been chosen carefully to overshadow Republic Day on Jan 26 which commemorates India s adoption in 1950 of a socialist secular democratic Constitution Those values are fiercely in opposition to what Hindu nationalism has ushered in The temple inauguration date, which will be celebrated annually, reduces the republic to secondary status next to Mr Modi’s Hindu utopia

A similar effort has been underway to diminish the importance of Aug 15 marking Indian independence in 1947 In 2021, Mr Modi announced that Aug 14 would henceforth be Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, referring to the bloody division of the country into Hindu-majority India and an independent Muslim Pakistan in 1947 a murderous affair for Hindus Muslims and Sikhs alike

This was sold to the Indian public as underlining the need for unity, but it was also a reminder from Hindu nationalists that a section of Muslims broke off to form their own nation and that the loyalties of India’s remaining 200 million Muslims were suspect Given that Hindu rightists participated in massacres rapes and forced displacement during the partition Mr Modi s weaponization of the suffering seems particularly reprehensible I was born to a Hindu family, and my father, a refugee from the partition never blamed Muslims his entire life

There have been countless other such stratagems with the Hindu right in power The old Parliament building whose design features refer to India s syncretic history Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian was replaced last year by a new structure that explicitly reduces India’s past to a monochromatic Hindu one

In the new Parliament the lotus flower common in Hindu iconography and the symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party runs amok as a motif A statue atop the building of four back-to-back lions India s national symbol and a look back at its Buddhist past has been altered so that the lions are no longer serene and meditative as in the original but snarling hypermuscular Hindu beasts Everywhere in India roads and cities have been renamed to sever connections to centuries of Muslim history in favor of a manufactured Hindu one On new highways through the state of Uttar Pradesh, where I traveled last summer, gleaming signboards pointed toward concocted Hindu sites but almost never to-

even the prime minister and his party can sense this Their crackdowns on opposition political leaders, manipulation of electoral rolls and voting machines and freezing of campaign funds for opposition parties are not the actions of a confident group In January of this year a wave of Hindu euphoria swept the nation as the temple I had watched being put together with cement and lies (there is no conclusive evidence supporting Hindu claims that Ram was a historical figure or that a temple to him previously stood there) was about to be inaugurated Newspapers devoted rapturous front pages to the coming occasion and when I flew to my former home Kolkata on the eve of the big day my neighbors there declared their anticipation by setting off firecrackers late into the night The next morning, on Jan 22, loudspeakers and television screens tracked me through the city with Sanskrit chants and images of the ceremony taking place at the temple Mr Modi as usual was at the center of every visual Friends in Delhi and Bangalore complained about insistent neighbors and strangers knocking on their doors to share celebratory sweets Courts, banks, schools, stock markets and other establishments in much of the country took a holiday

ward the state’s rich repository of Muslim mosques, forts and shrines Knowledge and culture are being attacked along similar lines Bollywood Indian television and the publishing industry have become willing accomplices of Hindu chauvinists churning out content based on Hindu mythology and revisionist history In the news media, the few journalists and institutions unwilling to shill for the Hindu cause face legal threats and police raids

In education government institutions are run by ignorant functionaries of the ruling party, and from school textbooks to scientific research papers, the Hindu nationalist version of India is pushed forward, myth morphing into history In the private universities that have begun to crop up in India Mr Modi’s government keeps a close eye on classes panels or research that might be construed as criticizing his government or its idea of a Hindu India

This cultural shift and the accompanying reduction of Muslims to alien intruders has been made possible by Mr Modi delivering on his party’s three main promises to Hindu nationalists

In 2019 he repealed the notional autonomy enjoyed for decades by the disputed Muslimmajority state of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which the Hindu right had assailed as favoritism toward Muslims and victimization of Hindus Later that year, Mr Modi delivered on a second promise by introducing a law that ostensibly opened a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted minorities from neighboring countries but whose true motive lay in that it pointedly excluded Muslims In the northeastern state of Assam, a registration process had already been underway to disenfranchise Muslims if they could not provide elaborate documentation of their Indian citizenship The Bharatiya Janata Party s declared intention to establish a similar registration system nationwide hangs the threat of disenfranchisement over all of India s Muslims

The inauguration of the Ram temple delivered on the third and most important electoral promise It announced triumphantly the climax of the battle to turn India into a Hindu nation And yet after 10 years under Mr Modi s government India is more unequal than it was under colonial British rule In 2020 and 2021, it surpassed China as the largest source of international migrants to O E C D countries

Many of the undocumented migrants to be

Indian voters ought to think hard about giving Narendra Modi another popular mandate

It can’t be a coincidence that all the leading Indian politicians arrested by enforcement and tax authorities belong to the opposition and none to the ruling par ty

Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata par ty has received about £1 25bn from wealthy donors, more than all other political par ties combined Most voters say corruption has got worse under Mr Modi’s rule

TH E world s largest elections begin this weekend in India amid claims that the race to lead the country has already been won If Narendra Modi were to secure a third term with a big parliamentary majority his achievement would match that of the country s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru Whatever the outcome, the loser has been Indian democracy Unlike Mr Nehru, who anonymously criticised his own leadership, Mr Modi has little time for his opponents Democracies run best when there is a contest of ideas and equal treatment of citizens in everyday administration These are in short supply in Modi s India The main opposition Congress party found its bank accounts frozen It can’t be a coincidence that all the leading Indian politicians arrested by enforcement and tax authorities belong to the opposition and none to the ruling party Weaponising India s prosecutorial apparatus seems unnecessary, as Mr Modi can massively outspend his rivals Since 2018, Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party has received about £1 25bn from wealthy donors more than all other political parties combined

One is tempted to ask whether Mr Modi needs elections that inevitably invite repudiation After 10 years in power, voters may be in a mood to surprise him Polls suggest that Indians are most worried about unemployment inflation and income insecurity On these issues Mr Modi

Cand sustainable access of humanitarian supplies

to Gaza Wang China s top diplomat also called on relevant parties to maintain calm and restraint, avoid escalation of the situation and prevent spillover of the conflict China supports the UNSC in discussing and accepting Palestine’s full UN membership as soon as

Committee, met

Joko Widodo and

successor Prabowo Subianto on Thursday Widodo and Wang expressed their desire for regional peace and stability and repeated calls for a de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza the Jakarta Post reported Thursday Wang, during the meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the two sides are highly vigilant against the formation of various small cliques in the region and oppose any attempts by certain groups to create camp confrontation We shall cherish and maintain the hard-won peace and stability in the region according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry China is willing to

continue working with other ASEAN members to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea accelerate the negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the Global Times on Thursday that Wang s remarks in Indonesia represent the consensus and sincere hope of most countries in the region for peace and stability, amid the US continuous attempts to reshape regional geopolitics against China with the Philippines as an auxiliary, Xu said Being a wheeler-dealer will isolate the Philippines its former president Rodrigo Duterte said in a recent exclusive interview with the Global Times adding that if the Philippines identifies itself with America then everything becomes blurry with our relations with China and the rest of the ASEAN countries For the Philippines, using the South China Sea as a bargaining chip to introduce an external major power and rashly getting involved in major power competition brings the risk of burning itself Xu warned The US and the Philippines have been enhancing military ties with the latest move being the deployment of the Typhon (Mid-Range Capability) missile system Iranian commander says Tehran could review

s

Japanese

located at the Avari Towers

which was introduced by the late Mr Byram D Avari in January 1987 laying the foundation of Fujiyama s journey of evolution and excellence The city s landmark eatery reopened its doors to fans of Japanese cuisine on the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr after extensive renovations

Avari s two flagship restaurants

Fujiyama and Dynasty were closed during the covid lockdown when Dynasty was revamped On opening its revival it surpassed all expectations Similarly, Avari has emphatically announced its return with the new Fujiyama better than ever before poised to exceed its own well acknowledged dining experience The vision and dedication of Mr Byram D Avari lie at the heart of Fujiyama with his insistence on

uniqueness The revamped restaurant embodies his vision of bright and happy decor, with meticulous attention to detail It's a tribute to our working relationship honouring tradition while embracing creativity using natural stone marble and real rosewood with each element contrasting harmoniously with the other," stated Tariq Alexander Qaiser, the architect behind the new look of Fujiyama Japanese Consul General Mr Masaru Hattori inaugurated the renovated restaurant with a ribboncutting ceremony, marking the official reopening of the establishment The special tasting event was a celebration of dining excellence and innovation On entering the restaurant one is immediately awed by the transformed ambiance and

X says it is work ing with Pak govt to ‘understand concerns’ as latter admits ban in place

access to information but to regulate social media platforms in line with national laws similar to the earlier ban on TikTok, which was reinstated after compliance with local regulations

S ta f f R e p o R t Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lashed out at the fake Punjab government for filing a reference against an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge of Rawalpindi for not accepting dictations of the secret state agents to unlawful target PTI leaders and workers, adding that Chief Justice of Pakistan was responsible for this open harassment of judges ranging from the Supreme Court to the High Courts of the country Reacting to the unfortunate development PTI Spokesperson said that the power-wielders and their puppet political elites were working jointly to put a last nail in the coffin of justice system of the country He said that the courts were being turned into kangaroo courts by openly harassing judges at all levels; however even then the CJP remained unmoved, which was alarming PTI Spokesperson stated that the judges hearing the cases of PTI leaders and workers who were being subjected to political revenge were being targeted in an organised manner who gave decisions on merits and in the light of the law rather than on whims and dictations of the secret agents of the state He condemned the dirty practice of recording secret audio, videos, filing references running malicious state-sponsored campaigns of accusations and defamation along with kidnapping and torturing judges family members and relatives, which were being used as weapons to instil fear in the judges PTI Spokesperson said that instead of taking a decisive action on the very serious and alarming letter written by six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the matter was being unduly delayed that provided

PR OFIT M o n i to R i n g D e S k The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated Pakistan’s fiscal deficit a gap in the income of a government as compared to its spending at 7 4% of GDP for the current fiscal year 2023-24 exceeding almost 1% from the government s target of 6 5%

This forecast comes amidst expectations of steady tax-to-GDP ratios over the next five years

The IMF also predicts a gradual decrease in the debt-to-GDP ratios and general government expenditures over the medium term The primary fiscal balance is expected to range between 0 4% and 0 5% of GDP annually contrasting with last fiscal year s 0 9% deficit

However the IMF had previously projected a higher deficit of 7 6% in October, which has been adjusted to 7 4% based on recent data

Initially the government had projected the fiscal deficit at Rs6 9 trillion (6 53% of GDP), counting on a Rs 600 billion surplus from the provinces to reduce the deficit

During its spring meetings in Washington with the World Bank, the IMF released its fiscal monitor which forecasts the fiscal deficit to decline to 7 3% of GDP in FY25 before gradually reducing to 5 8% in FY26, 5 1% in FY27, and stabilizing at 4 6% in the following years