Epaper_24-06-8 KHI

PM, PRESIDENT XI AGREE TO UPGRADE CPEC, ADVANCE DEVELOPMENT IN SECOND PHASE

phasised the critical role CPEC plays in Pakistan s development, asserting Pakistan s commitment to fostering synergy between the development strategies of the two countries through close coordination

The meeting took place at the historic Great Hall of the People with both leaders accompanied by federal ministers and senior officials This was PM Shehbaz s first meeting with President Xi since assuming office in 2024 The encounter was marked by traditional warmth reflective of the strong friendship and close strategic ties between the two nations

the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the timely completion of ongoing projects They also agreed on upgrading CPEC and advancing its second phase

The prime minister briefed President Xi on Pakistan s policies for economic reform, industrial development, agricultural modernisation, and regional connectivity He em-

The prime minister thanked President Xi for the warm welcome extended to him and his delegation He recalled President Xi’s historic visit to Pakistan in 2015 which marked the formal operationalisation of CPEC ushering in a new chapter in bilateral relations

The leaders reaffirmed the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership and ex-

pressed their resolve to deepen cooperation across diverse domains, including political, security, economic, trade, and people-topeople exchanges They also discussed regional and global developments including the situations in Afghanistan Palestine and South Asia particularly the human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)

Both sides reiterated their longstanding support for each other ’s core interests Commending President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Development Initiative (GDI) Prime Minister Shehbaz highlighted CPEC s significant contributions to Pakistan s socio-economic development as the flagship project of BRI He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to ensuring the safety and security of Chinese nationals projects and institutions in Pakistan

The prime minister also noted that Pakistan s agenda for people-centric socio-eco-

J C P r e c o m m e n d s n a m e s o f t h r e e j u d g e s f o r e l e v a t i o n t o S C

Sindh High Court Chief Justice Aqeel Abbasi and LHC Justice Shahid Bilal have been proposed the sources said CJP Isa had, last month, convened the JCP meeting for deliberations over the appointment of three judges in the SC The JCP was constituted under the 18th Constitutional Amendment mandated to appoint judges in the superior judiciary It was tasked to consider names of nine judges, including LHC chief justice and SHC chief justice, for filling the three vacant posts in the apex court Chaired by the CJP the meeting was to be attended JCP members Justice Syed

Mansoor Ali Shah Justice Munib Akhtar Justice Yahaya Afridi Justice Aminud Din Khan Justice (retd) Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazir Tarar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan and Pakistan Bar Council representative advocate Akhtar Hussain As per the Constitution the actual strength of judges of the Supreme Court is 17 while at present the apex court only has 14 judges including the CJP The three posts are to be filled after the retirement of former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial and resignations of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi

E i d u l A z h a t o b e c e l e b r a t e d o n 1 7 t h a s Z i l h a j m o o n s i g h t e d

KARACHI

S TA F F R E P O R T

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee on Friday announced sighting of Zilhaj moon saying the Eildul Azha will be observed on June 17 in Pakistan The meeting took place at the Pakistan Meteorological Department building in Karachi with simultaneous zonal meetings in the provincial capitals and Islamabad Officials from the Peshawar zonal meeting said the moon was spotted but the official announcement would be made by the central committee Addressing a press conference in Karachi later Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad said Eid will be celebrated on June 17 after testimonies of moon sightings were received from various cities all over the country, including Peshawar, Attock, Kohat Mianwali Taxila Murree Narowal and Lahore You know this is a very blessed month and the merits of these 10 days [of Haj] have also been explained, he said and urged people to spend the days in worship Maulana Azad said the country was moving forward and called on the nation to unite to foil the schemes of its enemies He also said the nation s prayers were behind law enforcement agencies working to ensure the country’s security A day ago Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court announced the sighting of the Zilhaj moon with the last month of the Islamic calendar beginning today

BEIJING/ISLAMABAD

Pakistan and China on Friday reiterated their commitment to protect

nomic development aligns with China s concept of shared prosperity President Xi Jinping hosted a banquet in honour of Prime Minister Shehbaz during which another round of discussions on matters of mutual interest took place

PM DIRECTS OVERHAUL OF NET METERING SYSTEM

billion in held funds severely affecting cash flows The refunds are delayed by bureaucratic processes further straining the industry s finances IFEM Disruption: Funds are held up in the Inland Freight Equalization Margin (IFEM), with significant delays in audits stretching over eight years This has led to a substantial decrease in

t s b e l i e v

r

o m e n t u m

P a k i s t a n c o u l d a c h i e v e t o t a l r e m i t t a n c e s o f U S $ 2 9 5 t o U S $ 3 0 b i l l i o n f o r F Y 2 4 r e f l e c t i n g a n 8 - 1 0 % y e a r - o n - y e a r g r o

Centre, provinces finally agree

on food quality

enforcement. Why did it take them six years?

product label approval and registration status

Like the issue of multiple taxation systems in the country, the enforcement of quality standards was also an issue for manufacturers and industry With most food companies having their manufacturing base in a province operating nationwide they were at a loss to understand how two different agencies/organizations

In 2021 following a CCI decision it was agreed that there should be a single food standard nationwide to facilitate harmonization The food industry had long demanded the elimination of multiple standards imposed by various federal and provincial authorities which complicated compliance and hindered business operations

PSQCA due to the associated revenue Historically, PSQCA struggled with enforcement due to corruption and inefficiency, leading provincial authorities to assume de facto control This dual regulatory burden on manufacturers created significant disruption particularly in interprovincial trade and food manufacturing

reached by the CCI is in jeopardy after the Punjab Food Authority’s (PFA) recent decision to implement a QR coding system to help its food safety officers track and trace the

PSQCA s initiative to reform and harmonize standards aligns with the government s aim to improve the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Despite a clear directive from the Prime Minister ’s Office, provinces were initially reluctant to cede enforcement powers to

The Ministry of Law tasked with resolving the legal ambiguities, referred the issue to the CCI The lack of consensus delayed the development of national standards and the registration and licensing of manufacturers and trading houses Consequently CCI intervened to address constitutional and legal ambiguities review Provincial Food Authorities Acts and suggest a mechanism for enforcing technical regulations The agreement between PFAs and PSQCA marks a pivotal resolution, promising streamlined food quality enforcement and better regulatory coordination across Pakistan

IPeople must be given a livelihood

T was almost a classic example of an irresistible force moving an immovable object No one will allow anything to interfere with his livelihood No state allows its highways to be blocked The Chaman protesters probably punched above their weight when they tried to block the local highway to protest the arrest of their leaders That the law enforcing agencies were bound to clear the road was inevitable and that they did so with only 40 persons injured on both sides speaks well of the commanders’ restraint and it is singularly fortunate that there were no fatalities The credit for there having been no exchange of fire probably goes to the protesters, though it is hardly much to boast about The seriousness of the situation can be assessed from the fact that the offices of the DC Chaman were blocked Apart from the sanctity of highways, there is also the issue of smuggling The issue at stake is the new rule that those crossing at Chaman into Afghanistan need a passport and a visa The old free-and-easy way of allowing crossings on ID cards (issued by either country) is no longer allowed however the protesters are not mainly irate tribesmen trying to defend free and easy old ways against the numbing paperwork of the modern bureaucratic state but carriers of smuggled goods Chaman is one of the points where goods are smuggled in from both Iran and Afghanistan, through carriers, who do not like the sort of record-keeping that is implied by passports and visas That the Taliban state has stayed out of the matter so far has prevented a complex situation becoming even more complex, but the Taliban can be trusted to take the smugglers’ side, as theory have done in the past They have not objected to the fencing of the Durand Line because it prevents the free movement of tribesmen but because it is a barrier in the path of smugglers The issue is not that smuggling must stopped because it must as the smugglers must be given alternative employment especially at Chaman smuggling provides the only livelihood for many Trying to save livelihoods explains both the persistence and volatility of the protesters The authorities must remember that the prospect of starvation makes people desperate Unless the authorities find some means of providing people a way of making an honest living, there will continue to be trouble at the border

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late)

M A Niazi

The Afghan people must be put first

by the end of the year This is due to prolonged droughts sporadic floods and the influx of Afghan refugees from neighbouring countries The combination of these factors has

the

Th e leaders of the Afghan Taliban are set to attend a two-day conference (30 June-1 July 2024) in Doha-Qatar, to be hosted by the UN with the aim of facilitating and coordinating international cooperation with their country Since UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres started the process in May 2023 this international conference will be the third with an emphasis on Afghanistan to take place in the capital of Qatar The agenda items for the third Doha format conference include examining alternative revenue streams for poppy growers, assessing the impact of climate change on the country, and addressing banking and financial concerns in Afghanistan Afghanistan has served as the hub of hostilities wars and bloodshed ever since the USSR invaded the country in 1979 The Afghan economy has been adversely affected by civil conflicts, and the US-Afghan war, the costs amounting to approximately $2 trillion for the USA The situation deteriorated further following the US withdrawal in 2021 leading to escalating prices of food medicine and fuel Today 22 8 million people are at risk of famine and 3 2 million children suffer from malnutrition The crisis is exacerbated by a prolonged drought, limited access to water, unpaid officials, insufficient fuel, electricity, a collapsed healthcare system, suspension of Afghanistan’s Central Bank from the international system and the US government freezing $9 5 billion in assets The UNDP Director for Asia and the Pacific found that 69 percent of Afghans are subsistence insecure with an economy shrinking 27 percent since the Taliban regained power Unemployment has increased, with SMes and farmers

food security situation in the region Long-term droughts have desiccated agricultural lands, while sporadic floods have destroyed crops and infrastructure The influx of Afghan refugees has further strained resources placing immense pressure on Afghanistan’s food supplies and infrastructure This crisis demands immediate and concerted action from the international community to prevent further suffering and loss of life A study highlights the need for assistance as half of the population lives in

Let

S u p e r s e d i n g t h e s u p e r p o w e r ?

s long term goal is to surpass America as the world s preeminent superpower So does Graham Allison propose the Thucydides Trap, that war is highly likely if one power tries to overtake the other implying Chinese growing hegemony even Barack Obama acknowledged the Chinese rise in times of his reign Predictions and arguments emphasise on the Chinese dominance in the coming decades while negating the undertones in inclusion of Russia And rightly so, because the Russian regime is akin to dictatorial, or autocratic, given Putin’s return to office for a staggering fifth time Since 1999 the time he ascended to power Vladimir Putin has been reigning supreme in the largest land on the earth with just four years out of office(2008-2012) (And he was PM then ) Although Andrew heywood allocated the 21st century for Asia europe especially the european Union (eU) emerges as a real competitor on the condition it is considered as a single entity Given its large land inclusive institutions diversified social frameworks, supranational federations, and common currency, it is a real actor in liberal lens to influence, and at times, supersede other powers ergo, the eU’s exclusion from the race for superpower status is farcical

As Thucydides Trap suggests superseding the superpower is a herculean task with the

mighty (the USA) playing every tactic to forestall the compromise on its hegemonic nature and in case of escalation what may come war is highly likely Nuclear Armageddon!

The US struggle of reaching the threshold she is currently standing on, was an unprecedentedly pupil-dilating journey hence its replacement would cost an arm and a leg Within this century much is predicted to change Chinese rise fluctuations in the world order and the coming of anarchy in global affairs are foreseeable realities The missing mentions so far are I) the panacea for institutional extractiveness and segregated public-private relationship in Chinese case II) the likely rise of BRICS members India as a top actor III) the integration of China and the USA as unalienable strategic partners as a saying goes if you cannot beat them, join them

The nature of history and its exclusive characteristic is that it is unpredictable If hosni Mubarak had known the reachability of the Arab Spring to his country he would have made economic concessions to make sure of no harm to his reign Same goes for the American Revolution itself along with the French Revolution and the fall of the mighty Roman empire

A single critical juncture would hit the nail on the head for China and that will mark the final nail on the coffin of US hegemony

The writer can be reached @insafalibangwar98@gmail com

The nature of histor y and its exclusive characteristic is that it is unpredictable If Hosni Mubarak had known the reachability of the Arab Spring to his countr y, he would have made economic concessions to make sure of no harm to his reign Same goes for the American Revolution itself along with the French Revolution and the fall of the mighty Roman empire

Universit y’s apathy

Literar y woes

InSaf alI Bangwar

Dr Zafar Khan SafDar

Will China surpass the USA? Can it?

Plantation only hope of sur vival in Pakistan

nuZaIr ahMeD JaMro

Those

Modi’s

dom as reported by ND-GAIN s overall rankings 2023 Research concluded that deforestation can heat a local area by as much as 4 5℃

Moreover it can even raise temperatures in undisturbed forests up to 6km away As the forests store vast amounts of carbon But the deforestation releases this carbon approximately 5 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, back into the atmosphere In tropical countries such as Indonesia, Brazil and Congo rapid deforestation had contributed up to 75 percent of the observed surface warming between 1950 and 2010

As of April and May 2024 the recent deadly heat wave in the Sahel and West Africa with temperatures above 45°C had hit hard

The scientists found that both, the daytime and nighttime heat waves would have been impossible if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels like oil coal and gas and with other activities specially deforestation

Similarly, developing countries like Pakistan is going to hardly survive under the dark cloud of extreme heat wave every coming year every passing day the media comes up with breaking news to shock people with temperatures rising at an alarming rate According to the Global Climate Risk Index Report, Pakistan is the fifth most affected country by climate threats from 1999 to 2018 In the country, the summer, which is the season of enjoying school vacations tourism and mouth-watering fruits gives the shadow of hell as a result of Big-No for

Plantation at governance level as well Since its birth on the map of south Asia the country has been combating multifarious security issues After a crippling of the economy, rampant corruption, severe drought, extreme poverty and the population bomb, finally the deadly disease of climate change has left no stone unturned to attack the country badly It is one of the ramifications of increasing deforestation Regretfully, In Pakistan, the forestation has been given a dead end by every common man and state in the wake of growing urbanization The country where population is exploiting at rapid rate at one end and life survival is declining at other hand due to speedy replacement of forest space into to Luxurious housing schemes At present the entire country is under the dark cloud of life threatening heatwave and unexpectedly prolonged monsoon rainfall The country has been going through wave after wave of extreme heat in the past few years It has become the fate of the Pakistani nation beginning with spikes above 50°C in 2010 Furthermore, another severe heat wave struck in 2015, peaking at 49°C in Larkana, and gradually topped by 50 2°C in Nawabshah in 2018 Now the research has found that climate change could make some parts of Pakistan too hot to live in by 2070 Soon the country would face heat waves in night time too like West Africa if the plantation drive would not gear up at the right time even though the situation is bleak, every dark cloud has a silver lining The nation has witnessed the ray of hope to cope up with deadly consequences of Climate change In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Billion

It is the need of the hour to stop rising urbanization in the name of so-called mega housing schemes on installments It had led to rapid deforestation ever ywhere in Pakistan Such menaces of rising population and turning forests into cheap housing businesses are no less than a safe haven for heat wave and scorching sun

unravelling has

begun

Modi ’s domestic priorities will need to foc us on poorer Indians creating jobs, increasing access to educ ation, rejuvenating farms, tackling the climate crisis, and making it easier for people to run businesses

Tsunami was started in 2014 One billion trees were planted on

The death of Western values

Tjecting invincibility and fear who claims credit for almost anything that happens in India the blame for anything that goes wrong must also rest with him Instead of campaigning on how he would tackle challenges such as rising inequality, growing hunger among the poor, and rising temperatures and its worst effects he stoked fears among voters That included claiming that the opposition would take away Indians wealth and distribute it to infiltrators (coded language for Muslims) and suggesting he was divinely chosen to lead India

The domestic agenda is daunting, and it includes precisely the issues Modi did not address during the campaign Governing a parliamentary coalition is an art which requires compromises and respecting alliance partners As a septuagenarian it is difficult to imagine Modi navigating that well Modi has antagonized many people across a wide spectrum over the years not least by threatening rivals with raids and jailing opposition politicians Without a majority in parliament, he is vulnerable like no previous point Indian politics has suddenly become more interesting

The values that once defined the West liber ty, transparenc y, and the right to dissent have been eroded in favour of security, secrec y, and ideological conformity Big Tech companies, which once championed the free flow of information and connec tivit y, became enforcers of state polic y

is defeated Modi’s victory is Pyrrhic; the 73-year-old’s decline now seems inevitable That may be why Modi s post-election speech sounded subdued he had made the campaign all about him, as if it was a personal referendum he toured across the country, and the BJP had a triumphalist (and now hubristic) slogan, Ab ki baar, charso paar (“This time, beyond 400”), which referred to his goal of winning a supermajority in parliament It s a prospect that alarmed many who feared Modi might introduce amendments to the constitution changing India s secular character In the end, voters chose otherwise Many BJP leaders were defeated, and the party lost support in key states such as Maharashtra Worse, given the BJP’s openly hindu nationalist campaign it lost Faizabad the constituency where Modi inaugurated a controversial grand temple in Ayodhya in January this year on the ruins of the Babri Masjid his margin of victory in his own constituency, Varanasi, dropped sharply; Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Party leader Modi has repeatedly ridiculed, won both his seats handsomely All of this has major consequences for India and its voters To be sure Modi’s personal popularity has not disappeared: 75% of Indians approved of him in a February poll But for a leader who rules by pro-

To his credit Modi has pushed major investments in infrastructure over the past decade More highways toll roads and bridges have been built Faster trains are being made There is an aviation boom and airports are getting an upgrade More malls are emerging in cities There are more universities and hospitals And the metro network has grown But many of these projects improve the lives of the wealthy the upper-middle class and the aspirational middle class While India has 1 4 billion people the percentage of Indians who can afford a modern middle class lifestyle is pitifully small At 432 million, the Indian middle class appears bigger than the U S population But the threshold of high income for that estimate begins at a mere salary of $17 a day Modi’s domestic priorities then will need to focus on poorer Indians creating jobs increasing access to education rejuvenating farms tackling the climate crisis, and making it easier for people to run businesses

As Modi begins what may be his final term as Prime Minister on June 8, he will have to move away from his baser instincts which are to divide people with contentious policies driven by religious and cultural practices and maintain a personality cult around him Whether he is capable of that shift will

Ke N N e T h Griffin a billionaire investor recently urged harvard University his alma mater to reaffirm its commitment to Western values But I ask, do Western values still hold sway in 2024? The answer is unequivocally, resoundingly, and lamentably, no here’s why

The West once prided itself on being the bastion of freedom a place where the individual’s rights and liberties were sacrosanct where various viewpoints weren t just tolerated but encouraged The events of Sept 11 2001 however, ushered in an era of unprecedented state surveillance, governmental overreach, and a pervasive culture of ideological conformity that would have appalled the very architects of Western democracy

The enactment of the Patriot Act was ostensibly a necessary response to the terror that had just been unleashed upon American soil however it marked the beginning of a slow but steady erosion of civil liberties in the name of national security The state, empowered by this draconian legislation, granted itself the authority to spy on its citizens, to delve into their private communications without due process and to create vast databases of personal information all under the pretext of safeguarding the homeland Surveillance became the new norm The revelations by whistleblowers such as edward Snowden revealed the extent of the government s intrusion into the lives of ordinary citizens The National Security Agency s (NSA) metadata collection program, indiscriminately swept up information about billions of phone calls, effectively making every citizen a suspect in a never-ending hunt for the invisible enemy This omnipresent surveillance apparatus has done little to enhance security but has significantly curtailed the freedoms that were once taken for granted

Yet, the state s overreach did not stop at surveillance

It extended into the realm of information, where a culture of deceit and obfuscation became standard practice Government officials sworn to protect and uphold the truth were caught repeatedly lying to the public From the fabricated weapons of mass destruction that justified the invasion of Iraq to the systematic cover-ups of military and intelligence failures, the trust between the governed and the governing eroded to a perilous low This pattern of deception was not limited to the halls of power It permeated the media landscape, where the distinction between fact and fiction became increasingly blurred The once vaunted Fourth estate meant to serve as a check on power became complicit in propagating the state s narrative often at the expense of truth and transparency In February of 2003, U S Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations Security Council with a forceful declaration he asserted that intelligence conclusively demonstrated Saddam hussein’s possession of

and the individual shifted alarmingly Big Tech companies which once championed the free flow of information and connectivity became enforcers of state policy These corporate behemoths in collusion with government agencies began to monitor and censor the masses with a fervor reminiscent of Orwellian nightmares Social media platforms,

Truce effor ts in limbo as Israeli forces esc alate attacks in G aza

The relationship between the two countries goes far beyond the bilateral context and is of exemplary significance to the promotion of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries as well as to the promotion of peace and stability in the world, Xi said Xi said China is willing to consolidate cooperation in traditional areas and expand cooperation in emerging areas such as green economy digital economy and innovation

China will strengthen the strategic alignment between the Belt and Road cooperation and Brazil’s re-industrialization, he said, adding that China is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in fields such as legislative bodies political parties culture education tourism and youth China supports Brazil to play a greater role in the international arena, and is willing to communicate closely with parties of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), including Brazil to promote the further development of China-LAC relations in the new era he added For his part Alckmin welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest in Brazil and called for strengthening cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture, minerals, new energy vehicles and addressing climate change

approval of an estimated $300 million in arms sales to China s Taiwan region, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry said that the U S violated the one-China principle and the three China-U S joint communiques especially the August 17 Communique seriously undermined China s sovereignty and security interests, and severely jeopardized peace and stability

He said Brazil and China are comm i t t e d

CORPORATE CORNER

The Chinese People s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy s maritime border defense forces stationed in Nansha Qundao (also known as Nansha Islands) in the South China Sea recently conducted a maritime response exercise amid repeated provocations by the Philippines in the region

The exercise was held by a patrol boat unit affiliated with the PLA Navy s Nansha Qundao garrison, which is stationed at the frontier of the South China Sea responsible for the defense of China’s southern maritime border China Central Tel-

between China and the U S , and by emboldening “Taiwan independence” separatist forces the U S is gradually pushing Taiwan into a dangerous situation which will hurt itself eventually China urges the U S to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three joint communiques, immediately withdraw the arms sales plan and stop arming Taiwan in any form, Zhang said, adding that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army continues to intensify its military training and preparedness to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity

evision (CCTV) reported on Wednesday During the exercise, a patrol boat equipped with a machine gun at its bow cruised at a fast speed and performed tactical maneuvers including small radius turning It carried eight PLA Navy personnel who were armed with light weapons including QBZ-95 assault rifles which had grenade launchers as attachments, the CCTV report shows In a drill session the troops issued a verbal warning to an unidentified vessel through the open radio channel while closing in on the target: Unidentified vessel, this is the Chinese Navy You are approaching our military exercise area Please state your intention and leave imme-

diately!

The exercise was held at a time when the Philippines has been repeatedly conducting provocative activities on Chinese islands and reefs in Nansha Qundao in the South China Sea such as Ren ai Jiao (also known as Ren

CCP RECOVERS RS5M PENALT Y FROM APNS

TH E Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has enforced an order against the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), recovering a penalty of Rs 5 million imposed for anti-competitive conduct As per details shared by CCP on Friday Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) filed a

ISLAMABAD S TA F F R E P O R T A delegation led by Dr Aishath Shehenaz Adam Vice Chancellor Maldives National University (MNU) and Dr Raheema Abdul Raheem, Deputy Vice Chancellor, visited the Islamabad Campus of COMSATS University on Thursday and called on the varsity Rector Prof Dr Sajid Qamar In a presentation held on the occasion, Head of CUI International Office, Dr Hammad Omer informed that the collaboration between the two universities has been flourishing since 2016 which was inked in a memorandum of understanding for scientific and educational cooperation and has furthered with exchange visits in 2016 and 2018 For future

Global study repor ts high- quality of pediatric emergenc y rooms in Sindh Government Hospitals The latest research conducted by US-based PALISI Global Health has revealed results highlighting the quality of pediatric Emergency Rooms (ERs) in Sindh Government hospitals operated by ChildLife Foundation This study underscores the remarkable impact of ChildLife Foundation s initiatives in reducing pediatric mortality rates in resource-constrained settings The one-year point prevalence study, conducted from 2021 to 2022, evaluated pediatric ERs at Sindh Government’s Civil Hospital Karachi and Sheikh Zayed Children Hospital Larkana The mortality rates associated with critical illness in children in these hospitals stand at 1 2% compared to the average of 6 3% across 46 sites in 19 low-income countries The study measured the burden of pediatric acute critical illness in resource constrained settings and revealed the importance of increasing access to high quality, basic critical care services to improve outcomes for children worldwide It emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive multi-sectoral approach to tackle acute critical illness in children within resource-constrained settings Key components identified for success include well-trained and dedicated healthcare professionals, adequate medical supplies and equipment, properly designed and equipped medical facilities, efficient healthcare systems and protocols continuous support and collaboration from various sectors By strengthening healthcare infrastructure providing extensive staff training and optimizing resource allocation ChildLife Foundation, in collaboration with the Sindh PR

IMRAN REITERATES HE WOULD ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE

Punjab CM announces ‘ historic pack age’ for farmers, direc ts completion of RUDA projec ts

old, stay young and up-to-date ” Bukhari replied he was old now Justice Irfan Saadat remarked “In a

programme you had said your friends don’t let you grow old Bukhari told the court he had no contact with Qasim Suri The chief justice said in his remarks that the next hearing will be held in July, and the next date will be fixed in the court order Later, the court adjourned the hearing till next month

Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif under a historic package for the farmers has announced, Punjab Kisan Bank, Green Tractor Scheme, manufacturing of harvesters and agricultural tools at a local level along with Oil Seed Promotion Program CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif and President PML-N Muhammad Nawaz Sharif presided over a meeting in which a comprehensive briefing on the ‘Kissan Package’ was given It was principally decided to establish a Punjab Kisan Bank for granting loans to the farmers on soft terms Approval was also granted for CM Punjab Green Tractor Scheme” for the farmers The CM turned down the proposal with regard to disbursement of mere Rs 6 lakh subsidy on a tractor The Chief Minister directed to give 70 percent subsidy on a small tractor and 50 percent subsidy on a big tractor On the proposal of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the number of tractors under Punjab Green Tractor Scheme has been enhanced by 10 thousands

CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif di-

rected to complete first phase of Punjab Green Tractor Scheme within one year It was principally decided to increase the number of tractors under the Punjab Green Tractor Scheme every year It was apprised during the briefing that owners possessing land from 6 acres to 50 acres will be eligible to apply in the Punjab Green Tractor Scheme The CM also approved high tech mechanisation programme being prepared at a local level International companies in collaboration with the local companies will manufacture harvesters and others tools in Punjab The proposal to grant incentives to the international companies for manufacturing latest agricultural tools was reviewed in the meeting Approval to launch oil seed promotion programme in Punjab was