PPP demands briefing on Pak-Saudi strategic defence agreement
judiciary and parliament by refusing to appoint a lawful Director General of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) despite a categorical court order and strong recommendations of the Senate Standing Committee on Food Security The Sindh High Court, in its ruling on September 18 2025 set aside the appointment of Mr Tahir Abbas a BS-19 Customs cadre officer declaring his posting as DG DPP illegal due to lack of the required qualifications and expertise The court directed that the senior-most technical director, be appointed as Plant Protection Adviser and DG in line with departmental rules However officials confirm that Mr
Abbas continues to operate from the DG’s office and remains active in official matters When asked Secretary MNFSR Ameer Mohyuddin admitted that Abbas does not hold the post as per court order,” but in a startling admission added: “He was with me in the PM House yesterday ” The secretary offered no explanation as to under what authority the removed officer was accompanying him to meetings with the Prime Minister The Senate Standing Committee on Food Security, chaired by Senator Syed Masroor Ahsan, expressed outrage last week after discovering that the ministry had not complied with the court order Senators were stunned when Mr Abbas appeared in the committee room introducing himself as DG DPP in open contempt of court The Chairman immediately ordered him to leave the meeting and report to his parent department Lawmakers denounced the ministry’s
conduct as a direct challenge to both judicial authority and legislative oversight The order is crystal clear Any further defiance may invite contempt proceedings against those responsible, warned Senator Aimal Wali Khan, waving a copy of the judgment Senator Saleem Mandviwala alleged that senior technical directors had been made scapegoats to protect favorites and demanded a subcommittee to investigate forced retirements and irregular appointments
The DPP, Pakistan’s National Plant Protection Organization under the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) requires its DG to be a qualified technical expert in pest management quarantine and sanitary and phytosanitary measures Yet for decades, successive governments have posted non-technical bureaucrats to the position, a practice widely blamed for inefficiency corruption and the decline of agricultural trade
Sources within MNFSR claim that a group of officials at the ministry who enjoys
constituencies of the Punjab Assembly to be held on November 23
The Senate seat became vacant after PTI s Shibli Fraz was disqualified when a district and sessions court convicted him in a case related to the May 9, 2023 riots According to the ECP notification polling for the Senate by-election will be conducted on October 30 inside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly building A public notice regarding the election will be issued on October 7, formally initiating the electoral process According to the notification, nomination papers can be filed from October 8–9 while the list of candi-
President Asif Ali Zardari has reaffirmed Pakistan s unwavering support for China, declaring that Islamabad stands with Beijing “in good times and in bad ” In an interview aired on Thursday by Chinese broadcaster CGTN the president who visited China earlier this month said his visits to the neighbouring country were always meant to convey goodwill “China is the future, and all of the East will work with China ” he remarked Speaking on Beijing s Global Governance Initiative Zardari underscored
respect for sovereignty as its central principle “Global governance means I cannot walk into any other country nor can any other country walk into mine They have to respect my territory and I shall respect theirs, he said
The president stressed that Pakistan’s ties with China were beyond transactional “We are all-weather, ironclad brothers joined at the hip
That is how close we are and that is an opportunity he observed adding that wherever he traveled internationally his first position was to advocate respect for China, its people, and its technology
On future cooperation, Zardari said the two countries did not need a “mar-
shal mindset” but an “economic mindset” to ensure peace and development Discussing the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) he described the project as a futuristic gift to coming generations He emphasized the strategic importance of Gwadar Port, calling it China’s closest access point to the Arabian Sea and global trade routes “One day generations will thank both the Chinese and Pakistani people for thinking about that port he said He added that economic growth was key to national unity and stability, noting that ensuring security in Balochistan was essential for maximizing the benefits of CPEC and regional connectivity
dates will be published on October 10
Scrutiny of papers will be completed by October 13 with appeals against acceptance or rejection to be filed by October 15 and appeals will be decided by October 17
The ECP has appointed KP s Provincial Election Commissioner Saeed Gul as Returning Officer for the Senate election, while senior officials, including Muhammad Farid Afridi (Joint Provincial Election Commissioner) Muhammad Nadeem Khan (Director Elections) and others have been designated as polling officers to supervise the process
PUNJAB ASSEMBLY BY-ELECTIONS: The ECP also scheduled polling for three Punjab Assembly constituencies PP-115 and PP-116 Faisalabad and PP-269 Muzaffargarh on November 23 The seats fell vacant following the disqualification of MPAs Shahid Javed and Muhammad Ismael The commission said
all necessary arrangements are being made to ensure free, fair, and transparent polls As per the schedule public notices will be issued on October 10 Nomination papers may be filed between October 13–15 with the preliminary list published on October 16 Scrutiny will conclude by October 20, while appeals may be filed until October 24 Final decisions will be announced by October 31 and the final list of candidates will be published on November 1 Withdrawals will be allowed until November 3 with election symbols allotted on November 4
The ECP notified that for constituencies PP-115 and PP-116 Faisalabad Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad Capt (r) Nadeem Nasir will act as District Returning Officer
PP-116: Returning Officer – Imran Asmat Pannu, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue); Assistant Returning Officers –Zahid Gill (Tehsildar City Faisalabad) and Muhammad Nabeel Iftikhar (Assistant Education Officer M-5)
For PP-269: Muzaffargarh, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Usman Tahir will act as District Returning Officer, while Khizer Zahoor Assistant Commissioner Muzaffargarh has been designated as Returning Officer Abdul Rehman (Deputy Director Colleges) and Muhammad Shahid Ali (Deputy Director LG&CD Muzaffargarh) will serve as Assistant Returning Officers
istry later announced on X that all detainees were safe and in good health and would be deported to Europe It dismissed the mission as a “HamasSamud provocation” adding: “None of the yachts succeeded in entering an active combat zone or breaching the lawful naval blockade One last
AZ A D Jammu and Kashmir s eruption into violence was extreme with the deaths of both sides indicating that violence could grow The death of nine people on Wednesday in Muzaffarabad followed the killing of a shopkeeper on Tuesday; that six people were killed is bad enough but the death of three policemen by shooting shows that there was firing on both sides Some of the protesters were prepared this time This is a bad marbinger for the future, especially for the future negotiations which are the only way out of the impasse which seems to have developed between the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee The federal government, which deputed two Ministers, Engineer Amir Muqam and Tariq Fazal Chaudhary to help with the negotiations said that it had agreed to all but two points of the JKAAC demands Those relate to placing a limit on the size of the Cabinet, and the election of the refugees member to the AJK Assembly which is presently done by a separate all-Pakistan ballot and which is used to create a majority according to the will of the Islamabad government than the will of the people of Azad Kashmir As pointed out by Mr Chaudhry placing a limit on the size of the Cabinet is something only the Assembly can do Abolishing the refugee seats would be opposed by the federal government, as those are the only representatives of those areas of Kashmir under Indian occupation Any change in their number or nature would require an amendment in the AJK Constitution
This unrest has lasted for some time, and can be attributed to the long domination of AJK by the federal government It is an uncomfortable truth that the AJK government is always of the same party hue as that in Islamabad The June appointment of 27 ministers (taking the total to 29) as well as seven special assistants to the PM breathed new life into the JKAAC protests The appointments may have been necessary to shore up the government s majority, but seems to have fuelled public resentment However that also seems one
Dedicated
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
The Israeli state has followed no one so closely as the Nazis in their genocide in the Gaza Strip It is almost as if they have learnt the history of the Holocaust so as to apply it to Gaza
However the latest example the imposition of a blockade and the starvation of the population resembles the techniques adopted by the German Wehrmacht in its siege of Leningrad rather than anything done to Jews specifically
One of the best-known tropes of the Holocaust is the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 The IDF has converted the Gaza Strip into a ghetto where the Palestinian population is isolated It could be argued that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank had already become ghettos since 1967, when they were first occupied, but they had never been subjected to such tight control as now
The Nazi concept of Lebensraum of empty lands in East waiting to be occupied by Germans seems eerily like the basic Zionist slogan of Palestine being a land without a people for a people without a land Just as the Nazis declined to acknowledge that the Slav inhabitants, Russians, Poles and Ukrainians, were people, the Zionists refuse to acknowledge the humanity of the Palestinians The Nazis blamed the Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I but Israel had no similar historical catastrophe to explain away Zionists did teach children that Arabs wanted to kill them something which the Nazis did not claim about the Jews
This is the reason why the tenuous evidence that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin Al-Hussaini, learnt of the Holocaust from Hermann Goering before the West did has been converted into the Zionist belief that Al-Husseini somehow played a part in instigating the Final Solution
Another strange echo has been the book-burning by some Israeli soldiers Before World War II the Nazi student organization, the German Students Union organized burnings of the books of various writers, including Jews but generally of anyone disagreeing with Nazi ideology It is interesting that Israelis are burning Palestinian books and papers because Israelis have claimed that Palestine is a recent artificial construct not a national identity This ignores the large number of references to Palestine in pre-Mandate and in Ottoman literature and documents Therefore, the destruction of Palestinian printed and written material is of essence
However the main adoption of Nazi tactics is seen in the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the starvation of the population in it That does not seem merely an exigency of war, but something borrowed from the Nazi tactics used against Leningrad, and for the same motives It is worth noting that the Nazis did not use starvation in the prison camps, or the ghettos including the WarsawGhetto The food’s quality or adequacy were poor No one says prison camp prisoners were well-fed
However, when the Wehrmacht invested Leningrad, the former capital of Russia and still its main port there was a dellibrtsyr decision to starve the populace to death and not to accept a surrender if one was offered The logic was that the city was to ser4ve as the capital of a Nazi Government General and would be best denuded Germany also did not want the responsibility of feeding the population, which consisted of Slavs anyway The city, however, did not fall The siege was imposed in September 1941 and lasted until January 1943 However the corridor that had been opened up by the meeting of relieving armies remained dangerous for it remained within range of German artillery which continued to punish supply convoys until January 1944, when they were finally swept away A million people starved to death Among the attempts at survival came cannibalism but there were also a spate of murders for ration cards reported No less than 1216 such murders were reported in the first six months of 1942 Food was rationed so if one murdered someone else and obtained his or her ration card, one could obtain those rations for oneself Leningrad was relieved by two Fronts (Army Groups) simultaneously, commanded by Generals Govorov and Mertskov both of whom were subsequently promoted to Marshal Similarly Stalingrad was blockaded with the same intention of starving the population for the same reason However here casualties were not so horrendous Perhaps one reason was that the blockaders werethemselves blockaded, and the German, Italian and Rumanian forces also suffered from shortages of supplies including food Like the besiegers of Leningrad the Israeli Defence Force suffers no shortage of food Israel wishes to obtain more land for settlement Lebensraum, in short The Zionist entity still has steps to take There are none of the horrible experiments’ carried out on Palestinians, such as were carried out on prisoners (and not just Jews) These included altitude experiments freezing experiments and seawater drinking experiments There were concentration camp experiments to find a method of ster-
Unlocking strategic minerals
the resistance against Indonesia They remain one of the most mobilized constituencies in the country unafraid to confront authority Their message is clear: if leaders cannot align governance with public needs, they will face the wrath of the streets East Timor ’s democracy is functioning, but fragile On paper it is one of Southeast Asia’s most open political systems with competitive elections freedom of expression and an active civil society In practice however it suffers from chronic weaknesses Political fragmentation means unstable coalitions and slow reforms Institutions such as the courts remain underfunded and vulnerable to pressure, while corruption erodes public trust Oil revenues though vast have created the paradox of a country rich in resources but poor in outcomes A generation of youth sees little benefit from national wealth, and their discontent is not only economic but existential The question of leadership deepens the uncertainty The icons of independence such as Ramos-Horta and Xanana Gusmão are aging while younger politicians have yet to earn comparable legitimacy
The protests in Dili echo broader historical lessons Democracies rarely collapse from a single event; they corrode when leaders treat symbols of excess as entitlements France’s ancien régime fell not only because of famine but be-
cause privilege was flaunted in the midst of suffering In Tunisia in 2010, the self-immolation of a street vendor triggered an uprising because it symbolized decades of corruption and neglect East Timor is not France in 1789 or Tunisia in 2010 But it does face a warning: in poor societies symbols of extravagance can prove explosive What should East Timor s leaders do? The first step is humility Canceling the SUV plan was not merely a concession but an acknowledgment that legitimacy rests on public trust Ending lifetime pensions for MPs was another step in the right direction Such reforms should not be episodic but systemic Institutions must be strengthened so that courts function independently and public services health education infrastructure take precedence over perks for politicians Youth discontent, meanwhile, demands urgent attention Investments in job creation, vocational training and entrepreneurship are not luxuries but necessities A generation that sees no future within the system will continue to take to the streets as it did in September Finally the political class must prepare for generational transition The leaders of independence cannot govern forever Their successors must inherit not only offices but also the ethic of sacrifice that defined the liberation struggle
The clashes in Dili are about far more than cars They are about a fragile democracy wrestling with the ghosts of its past and the challenges of its future They are about a people unwilling to accept that public office is a ticket to privilege rather than a mandate for service East Timor has endured occupation violence and crisis It has also shown resilience building democratic institutions where many predicted failure The SUV scandal is not the end of its democratic journey It is, however, a warning flare
For East Timor s leaders, the message is unmistakable: public patience is wearing thin If they do not align their priorities with those of their citizens the streets of Dili will continue to remind them that in a democracy especially a fragile one legitimacy comes not from privilege but from accountability
The writer can be reached at: writetomahossain@gmail com
Dates with potential
M A HossAIN
longer there Workers will be required to deposit 10 percent of their pay into a personal account with the government contributing the remaining 12 percent Private pension fund managers will invest the funds, and the ultimate distribution will be solely based on the performance of those investments The pension may be sufficient if the markets perform well That s the retiree s problem if they don t Furthermore, the changes don t end there Even for those who are currently employed, benefits are being subtly reduced by changes to the West Pakistan Civil Services Pension Rules 1963 which were announced along with the new programme Instead of using final pay which
elimination of additional benefits for new hires, like group insurance and the Disparity Reduction Allowance It creates a two-class system in which
are treated is even more painful Low-paid employees are told to make sacrifices for the sake of fiscal restraint, while lawmakers continue to enjoy lavish benefits and allowances Discussing shared hardship is challenging when the burden is so unequally divided
In
reaction has
of their colleagues who were protesting
He needs to be in The Hague, not in charge of the
Except this fresh hell being imposed on Palestinians is not a movie And B lair ’s par ticipation
imperial solution to the genocide, it would include provocative buzz words like development plan and technocratic And it would include Tony Blair These would be in place of Palestinian self-determination freedom and autonomy All in the name of cruel irony Except this fresh hell being imposed on Palestinians is not a movie And Blair s participation is all too real Netanyahu and Blair sharing the same sentence should be in reference to a judgment handed down at The Hague not in reports about the future of Palestine But we’re not that lucky Instead we got bland headlines about the news Netanyahu backs Trump peace plan for Gaza as role for Blair revealed, read a Sky News headline Warmongering butcher of Middle Eastern children backs latest colonial venture, as other warmongering butchers of Middle Eastern children light up at the prospect of inflicting yet more misery in the region would have been more apt For his part Blair hailed the news President Trump has put down a bold and intelligent plan It offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering,” he wrote in a statement If the tone sounds eerily like that of a man who sees human beings like pieces on a chessboard that can be moved spoken for and have their fates dictated from above, then it s because that is precisely the reality It s a reality anyone who’s lived through the other horrors Blair inflicted on the world will be all too fam i l i
issue Instead, Blair looked at history, saw the sinister legacies of Sykes-Picot and Balfour, saw lines being drawn and ideas being implemented without consent of the local populations and decided that there is no time like the present to emulate the rotten past Blair is if anything overqualified when it comes to condemning Middle Eastern countries to despair But he s severely underqualified when it comes to even remotely understanding the dynamics of Palestine and the struggle for liberty from Israel’s colonial orbit When he left office in 2007 Tony Blair served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers (the US, EU, Russia, and the UN) He was tasked with bringing economic development to Palestine and creating the conditions for a two-state solution He left this post in 2015 Those eight years were characterized by passivity as the two-state solution only drifted further out of reach and Israel s one-apartheid reality was entrenched, its occupation and choking of Palestinian freedom escalating Illegal settlements multiplied across Palestinian land, and the settlers the very agents of Israel’s relentless land theft grew in number
Meanwhile Gaza was subjected to three different destructive campaigns of bombardment during this period in 2008, 2012, and 2014
These failures on Blair s watch are synonymous with the advancement of Israel’s ethnonationalist strategic objectives Even if his CV were unreadable its pages drenched in blood that alone should disqualify him from helping decide the fate of a people who have endured genocide
resolution mechanism provided in the original deal reveals how some countries can distort procedural rules to justify their coercion
As some observers warn, placing Iran again under Chapter VII of the UN Charter gives sweeping enforcement authority, potentially legitimizing greater coercion and heightening risks of confrontation under the auspices of the UN China rightly contests this arguing that peaceful rights under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons and the JCPOA must be respected and that sanctions should not be wielded as tools of political coercion China s position is coherent, consistent and constructive As Geng Shuang, China s deputy permanent representative to the UN, put it, the current moment is “critical”, and all parties should “exercise calm and restraint continue dialogue and engagement handle the current predicament prudently and avoid escalating tensions”
in an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (With characteristic humility Trump described it as potentially one of the great days ever in civilization ) Part of the plan involves Gaza being placed under a temporary technocratic Palestinian committee tasked with running daily public services and municipalities It also includes Gaza becoming a de-radicalised terror-free zone and promises that an economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East ” This is alongside a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) that will immediately be deployed in Gaza in coordination with
threat we face will be diminished The best defence of our security lies in the spread of our values Those were Blair ’s words in 2004, as he justified the illegal invasion of Iraq He spoke obnoxiously then for an entire population claimed to know what s best for them and the
The only state Tony Blair played any part in sustaining for the Palestinians is the state of perpetual torment The omnipotent words of Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani ring louder today than ever: “You don’t mean peace talks you mean capitulation and surrender ” Palestinians in Gaza have been on the receiving end of an operation of annihilation and it is they who must apparently concede and cede the stage while external powers cynically prescribe their bitter medication They will be promised statehood and some sort of “political horizon ” but only when
China also calls on the United Kingdom France and Germany the three European parties to the Iran nuclear deal to abandon coercive pressure and fully respect Iran s rights, while urging a genuine collective return to the negotiating table under the principles of equality and mutual respect That China frames its diplomacy in principled multilateralism aligns with its vision of a global order based on fairness, not force The international community must also consider the broader context of instability in the
RaHman maLik
R OME ag e n c e s
ISRAELI forces have intercepted 39 boats carrying aid and foreign activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza, leaving only one vessel still sailing towards the Palestinian enclave, the flotilla organizers said on Thursday
Various governments of countries with citizens on board expressed their concern at the arrests Türkiye s foreign ministry called Israel s attack on the flotilla an act of terror that endangered the lives of innocent civilians But Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni repeated her criticism of the attempt by those on board the flotilla to reach Gaza Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats independently verified showed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled together in life vests with their hands up A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed Thunberg the most prominent of the flotilla s passengers sitting on a deck sur-
rounded by soldiers According to a tracker on the organizer, Global Sumud Flotilla s website, one boat was still sailing “Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port the Israeli foreign ministry said on X Greta and her friends are safe and healthy The flotilla, which set sail in late August, is transporting medicine and food to Gaza and consists of more than 40 civilian vessels with about 500 parliamentarians lawyers and activists It s the highest-profile symbol of opposition to Israel s blockade of Gaza
The flotilla s progress across the Mediterranean Sea garnered international attention as nations including Türkiye, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back The Istanbul chief prosecutor s office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels on charges including deprivation of liberty, seizure of transport vehicles and damage to property Türkiye’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported
Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the expulsion of Israel s entire diplomatic delegation on Wednesday following the detention of two Colombians in the flotilla and terminated Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned Israel s actions and said Israeli forces had detained 23 Malaysians Israel s interception of the flotilla sparked protests in Italy and Colombia, while demonstrations were also called in Greece Ireland and Türkiye Italian unions called a general strike for Friday Israel s navy had previously warned the flotilla it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful blockade, and asked organizers to change course It had offered to transfer any aid peacefully through safe channels to Gaza The flotilla is the latest seaborne attempt to break Israel s blockade of Gaza much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war In a statement, Hamas expressed support for the activists and called Israel’s interception of the flotilla a “criminal act” calling for public protests to condemn Israel
The boats were about 70 nautical miles off Gaza when they were intercepted, inside a zone that Israel is policing to stop any boats approaching The organizers said their communications, including the use of a live camera feed from some of the boats had been scrambled Greece said it has been informed that 39 boats from the flotilla are sailing to the Israeli port of Ashdod and that everyone onboard is safe, no violence was
Over 150,000 US federal workers quit in mass exit
The
ferred
for
who
that
through September The buyouts are a cornerstone of President Donald Trump s push to shrink the federal workforce, combining financial incentives with threats of dismissal for those who declined the offer
Many left their agencies months ago, according to the federal government’s HR office and have effectively been on paid leave Don Moynihan a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said the biggest impact of this week’s exodus will be the brain drain of so many experienced civil servants a loss of talent he says will be hard to reverse It takes years to develop deep knowledge and expertise to deliver the government programmes that these people run Now much of the knowledge is walking out the door,” Moynihan said The loss of expertise is making it harder for many agencies to carry out their work and serve the American public according to interviews with a dozen cur-
rent and former government employees and union officials The buyouts have adversely impacted a wide range of government activities including weather forecasting food safety health programmes and space projects according to the people who spoke to Reuters At the National Weather Service, nearly 200 people took buyouts, causing a loss of technical staff who maintain forecasting equipment and many experienced meteorologists It has caused massive disruption in offices throughout the country said Tom Fahy, legislative director of the National Weather Service Employees Organisation Jasmine Blackwell, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which oversees the weather service said jobs were being offered as needed to ensure both the safety of Americans and the responsible use of taxpayer dollars Democratic former President Bill Clinton holds the post-World War Two record for government employment reduction but that was over the full eight years of his two-term presidency Clinton oversaw a federal workforce reduction of more than 430,000, or about 20% At the same time, though, a red-hot economy and tech boom produced more than 22 million private-sector jobs during Clinton’s term and his federal workforce cuts left no visible imprint on the overall job market
Nearly 4,000 NASA employees took the two buyouts the Trump administration offered in January and April, said Matt Biggs president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical En-
gineers, a union that represents 8,000 NASA employees
“The agency is losing some of the most brilliant engineers and aeronautic scientists in the world and they are not being replaced Biggs said Cheryl Warner a NASA spokesperson, said the agency is pursuing a golden age of exploration and innovation, including to the moon and Mars
“The agency will continue to assess the types of skills and roles needed to meet our priorities she said
The buyouts which have been taken by 154,000 workers, were part of a broader push by Trump, a Republican, and his billionaire former adviser Elon Musk who argued that the federal workforce had become too big and too inefficient Opposition Democrats say the cuts have been indiscriminate
The US government spent $359 billion on civilian employee pay and benefits in the 2023 budget year, according to the most recently available published figures Through a combination of buyouts firings and other incentives for workers to quit the Trump administration will likely shed around 300 000 workers by the end of this year, its human resources chief said in August, which would amount to a 12 5% decrease in the federal workforce since January
The buyouts will produce an estimated $28 billion in savings annually said McLaurine Pinover a spokeswoman at the Office of Personnel and Management, which handles federal human resources matters Reuters could not independently verify whether that figure is accurate
The Deferred Resignation Programme delivered incredible relief to the American taxpayer,” Pinover said The exit of so many workers from the federal payroll at once is unlikely to affect the national unemployment rate as the federal workforce accounts for less than 1 5% of all payroll employment, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics
At the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service roughly 1 200 employees took resignation offers about 17% of the agency s staff
One of those was a scientist who specialised in rapid detection of fungal toxins in grain elevators, which helps farmers and grain processors assess whether crops are contaminated said Ethan Roberts president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3247 a union which represents some ARS employees Without the scientist s highly specialised knowledge, there is no one to carry forward that work, Roberts said Contaminated grains can severely sicken or even kill people and livestock according to the World Health Organisation A USDA spokesperson said the agency will maintain all its critical functions despite the departure of more than 15,000 workers through the resignation programmes
The buyouts have also taken a toll on health agencies including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr announced in March that the department would cut 10 000 employees through a combination of layoffs and buyouts
President Xi Jinping char ts course for China’s 15th Five -Year Plan
BEIJING
s
Drafting is underway for China’s 15th Five-Year Plan the latest in a series of strategic documents that have been guiding the country s medium- to long-term economic and social development since the 1950s At a reception held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People s Republic of China Chinese President Xi Jinping urged sound planning and implementation of the goals, tasks, and strategic measures of the five-year plan to ensure decisive progress toward basically achieving socialist modernization
Since the start of this year Xi also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has been providing strategic guidance for the plan’s formulation During an inspection tour to east China s Shanghai in April Xi presided over a symposium on China s economic and social development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period and delivered an important speech
We must unswervingly manage our own affairs well and stay committed to expanding high-standard opening up, Xi told the symposium while stressing the need to adapt to the changing global landscape and grasp strategic priorities for China’s development
and
CORPORATE
Khanum Hospital Celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Day
CM MARYAM NAWA Z ATTENDS GRAND CEREMONY TO HONOUR
408 POSITION HOLDERS OF 09 BOARDS ACROSS PUNJAB
hormonal therapies She reassured attendees that advancements in medicine have improved side-effect management Dr Ahsan Mumtaz Rao, Consultant in Breast and Oncoplastic Surgery, emphasised breast-conserving lumpectomies over mastectomies, enhancing quality of life He stressed the importance of biopsies for accurate diagnosis and smaller surgical interventions because of early detection
BU hosts 4th Int’l Conference on Communication, Computing, Digital Systems
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t Bahria University organized the two-day 4th International Conference on Communication, Computing and Digital Systems (C-CODE’25) at E-8 Campus Islamabad on Oct 1-2 2025 Conference Chair Dean Engineering Sciences Dr Faisal Bashir welcomed the participants and highlighted the Bahria University commitment to research, innovation, and the role of C-CODE in fostering knowledge exchange Rector Bahria University, Vice Admiral Asif Khaliq HI(M) (Retd) graced the ceremony as the Chief Guest In his address he expressed gratitude to the distinguished gathering of scholars innovators and professionals He emphasized Bahria University s commitment to promoting research, innovation, and global collaboration, adding that C-CODE is a proud reflection of the University’s mission to bridge theory with practice and prepare youth to become future leaders and innovators The International Conference featured strong global participation from Gebze University Istanbul Türkiye Istanbul Medipol University Türkiye, Coventry University (UK), Macquarie University (Australia), Prince Sultan University Riyadh Saudi Arabia
LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t
Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bokhari, reacting strongly to Sharmila Faruqui’s statements said that despite 17 years of rule in Sindh the Pakistan Peoples Party cannot even count 17 public welfare projects, while Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has started 90 projects in just one and a half years out of which 50 have already been completed She said that Maryam Nawaz has introduced many revolutionary projects of public service, which include 90,000 houses under the Apni Chhat Apna Ghar scheme, 80,000
ern
Faruqui should come and show the nation ” Azma Bokhari said that even the people of Karachi praise the roads and cleanliness of Lahore which is what worries the leaders of the Peoples Party She further said that Maryam Nawaz is going to distribute relief cheques of Rs 1
P&G to Transition to Distributor Model in Pakistan
PAKISTAN JOINS GLOBAL OUTCRY
ISLAMABAD
Justice Jahangiri challenges SHC ruling on law degree in apex cour t
ISLAMABAD S ta f f r e p o r t
Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on Thursday challenged the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) ruling on his law degree in the Supreme Court seeking to have the verdict declared “null and void ” In his petition Justice Jahangiri argued that the SHC had dismissed my application to become a party to the case and maintained that passing a one-sided order without hearing the affected party is contrary to law
On September 16, the IHC had already restrained Justice Jahangiri from performing judicial functions after a two-member bench issued an interim order on a writ petition filed under Article 199 of the Constitution Justice Jahangiri then moved the Supreme Court requesting the restraining order be set aside The petition further stated that the SHC ignored the question of maintainability of the petition It requested the apex court to grant leave to appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution and “set aside the impugned order ” The province of Sindh and others have been named as respondents while Dr Mohammad Usman Mirza has been appointed as defence counsel Fake Degree Controversy The controversy stems from a letter circulated on social media last year, purportedly issued by the University of Karachi’s (KU) examinations department regarding the validity of Justice Jahangiri s LLB degree The letter was reportedly a response to a query under the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2016
According to the letter, candidate Tariq Mehmood obtained his LLB degree in 1991 under enrolment number 5968, but another student, Imtiaz Ahmed, had already been enrolled under the same number in 1987 Meanwhile transcripts for LLB Part-I were issued under the name Tariq Jahangiri and records also showed Tariq Mehmood enrolled under enrolment number 7124 The university clarified that while the degree was not outright bogus, it was invalid since a single programme cannot be completed under two separate enrolment numbers
On July 10 2024 the IHC described the campaign against Justice Jahangiri as scurrilous holding that it was intended to malign the judge and prima facie amounted to contempt of court Later, lawyer Daud filed a writ petition seeking to bar Justice Jahangiri from judicial work until his degree was verified Then-IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the plea Around the same time the SC registrar s office raised objections arguing Daud was not an aggrieved party and that the issue was already before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)
PM S hehbaz c alls for c alm, promises
personal oversight as govt, JAAC hold talks to resolve A JK unrest
o r t
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday announced that he would personally oversee negotiations between the government s committee and the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) upon his return urging protesters to remain peaceful and assuring them that their issues would be resolved without delay
The premier expressed deep concern over recent violence in AJK, reiterating that while peaceful protest was a constitutional and democratic right no one should resort to actions that disrupt public peace or create instability He directed law enforcement agencies to exercise restraint and patience, stressing that public sentiments must be respected and unnecessary harshness avoided
Shehbaz also ordered a transparent inquiry into the incidents of unrest and immediate assistance for the affected families He under-
Mohsin Naqvi
ISLAMABAD S ta f f r e p o r t
lined that the government was committed to addressing the grievances of its Kashmiri brothers and urged the JAAC to cooperate with the dialogue process
Expanded Committee
To strengthen efforts for reconciliation the prime minister announced the expansion of the government s negotiation committee, which now includes federal ministers Sardar Muhammad Yusuf and Ahsan Iqbal Senator Rana Sanaullah former AJK president Masood Khan and Qamar Zaman Kaira The body was instructed to proceed to Muzaffarabad without delay to find an immediate and lasting solution ”
The premier said he would personally monitor the process upon his return and called on JAAC leaders to extend full cooperation He stressed that the committee s recommendations and proposed solutions must be submitted to the Prime Minister ’s Office at the earliest for prompt action Talks Begin in Muzaffarabad
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has ordered an investigation following a police raid on Islamabad s National Press Club, where officers reportedly mistook journalists for protesters resulting in violence and vandalism
On October 2 police personnel stormed the Press Club assaulting media workers and damaging the cafeteria
The incident sparked outrage after videos of the police baton charge and assaults went viral on social media
Naqvi immediately took notice of the incident and instructed the Inspector General of Islamabad Police to submit a report He condemned the violence against journalists and vowed that such actions would not be tolerated Naqvi also directed that disciplinary action be taken against the involved officers Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry apolo-
Later in the day, a high-level federal delegation reached Muzaffarabad and began formal dialogue with JAAC representatives in an effort to end the unrest that has paralysed AJK for three consecutive days
A high-level delegation from Pakistan has started formal dialogue with representatives of the Joint Action Committee of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Muzaffarabad today,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry posted on X as the talks commenced
The protests erupted after earlier negotiations collapsed over demands relating to elite privileges and reserved refugee seats in the AJK assembly The breakdown triggered widespread strikes a communications blackout and violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies
On Wednesday, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, along with federal ministers, invited the JAAC for fresh dialogue, paving the way for Thursday’s breakthrough in restarting talks
gized on behalf of the government and Islamabad police, stating that the police had been pursuing protestors who allegedly mishandled officers and ended up confronting journalists at the Press Club Chaudhry assured that an internal inquiry had been initiated and emphasized the government s commitment to accountability The police crackdown has drawn strong condemnation from various media organizations, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) both of which called for immediate action against the responsible officers The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also condemned the use of force against journalists and demanded an inquiry
This incident highlights growing concerns over press freedom in Pakistan, with journalists and media bodies uniting to demand justice and the protection of their rights
of the Practice & Procedure Committee remains valid in law and cases related to the 26th Amend should only be heard by a full court Khokhar posted on X The appeal, moved through Advocate Shahid Jamil Khan, requested the SC to set aside the Sept 19 order of the registrar and “register and entertain the petition in accordance with law” Citing Rule 3 of the SC Rules the plea named the registrar’s office as a respondent arguing that the registrar has no jurisdiction to determine maintainability of petitions under Article 184(3) a question that only the court, in its judicial capacity, could decide Even if a petition appeared nonmaintainable, the appeal maintained, the issue “must be placed before the court for adjudication” rather than being decided administratively The filing also recalled that CJP Yahya Afridi had disregarded an earlier decision of the Practice and Procedure Committee
