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aJk premier says he was 'hurt' by sedition Charges
SAYS HE‘WILL ARRIVE IN MY GOVERNMENT CAR WITH HANDCUFFS ON’FOR PROBE
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MUZAFFARABAD STAFF REPORT
aZAD Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Sunday said that he was ‘hurt’ by the sedition charges in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him and other leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
“I was hurt when I got to know about the [sedition] FIR, ” he said at a local news programme. “If three-fourths of the PDM’s [Pakistan Democratic Movement] representatives are [Narendra] Modi’s agents, then a question is raised on Pakistan’s existence. ”
“This FIR is evidence of moral bankruptcy and enmity against the state, ” he
added. “Even the Mader-e-Millat (Mother of the Nation) was declared a traitor. ” The AJK premier further said on Twitter for Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships apthat incidents like this weaken a nation, but that he would not give up on Pakistan.
Farooq claimed that his spirits are still high and that his affiliation with the country would only improve. The AJK prime minister said that his future is connected to Pakistan’s future and that he would live and die here.
Farooq said that he had not asked anyone to exclude his name from the FIR, adding that the development was ‘ unfortunate’ . “If I am summoned for the [sedition] probe, will arrive in my government car with handcuffs on, ” he said.
“They did not even have the courtesy to apologise to me over a telephone call, ”
he said.
Farooq claimed that theAJK government would always respect the PM Office, regardless of which person carried the title, but added that such FIRs are a result of Prime Minister Imran Khan saying that the opposition is backed by India.
The AJK premier also said that all plans made at theAll-Parties Conference (APC) last month were in accordance with the law.
Haider said that he has not decided yet about participating directly in the PDM against the government. “The government of Pakistan has not taken steps according to the people’s expectations after Modi’sAugust 5 move, ” he said.
NEWS 03 pakistan condemns unabated indian state terrorism in kashmir
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Pakistan has strongly condemned unabated Indian stateterrorism and extrajudicial killings of innocent Kashmiris in fake encounters and so-called cordon-and-search operations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). In a statement issued on Sunday, the Foreign Office (FO) called upon the international community, including the United Nations, human rights organisations and the global media, to take full cognizance of the consistently aggravating situation in the occupied Kashmir. It also called for holding India accountable for the egregious human rights violations and war crimes in the occupied territory. The FO urged the world community to work for peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people for durable peace and stability of the region. Four young Kashmiris were martyred in Kulgam and Pulwama districts of the occupied valley on Saturday.A14-year-old boy was seriously injured in the illegal and inhuman military crackdown. Over 300 Kashmiris, including women and children, have been martyred by the Indian occupation forces during the last one year.
samples of 65 taken for dna test in Charsadda rape case
CHARSADDA
Samples of 65 more suspects were taken for a DNAtest on Sunday in the rape and murder case of a two-and-ahalf-year-old girl Zainab. Police are investigating the arrested suspects but have not yet been able to find a clue about the culprits behind the felony.Apolice official said that the police are taking the investigation forward on the basis of evidence collected from the crime scene. The police said that they have not yet received a DNAreport of the minor girl. Sources said that they will present the suspects before the court after receiving DNAreports of the suspects. The medical report of the body of the minor victim has confirmed that she was sexually assaulted before being stabbed to death. Earlier, on October 6, the mutilated body of Zainab was found dumped in the fields in the Daudzai area of Peshawar, close to Charsadda. The incident sparked an outcry in the area with the family of the victim demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. Charsadda police have registered a case under abduction, sexual assault and murder sections.
ISLAMABAD: A masked police official stands altert in a street sealed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as the authorities imposed 'mini' smart lockdowns in various parts of the federal capital. ONLINE
pakistan moving towards non-elite health, education system: president alvi
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday said that Pakistan was moving towards a non-elite health and education system, as both sectors are key in poverty reduction and national development. He said this while retweeting Ehsaas Programme head Dr Sania Nishtar’s call TLTP
plications from students with family income less than Rs45,000. The scholarship, covering tuition fee and living stipend, will provide deserving students an opportunity to study in any of 125 public sector universities. The portal ehsaas.hec.gov.pk is open for applications till October 30, 2020. “All students must spread this so that deserving apply for scholarships in time. More than 50,000 scholarships given last year, ” the president remarked.
Imran tasks Tiger Force to check commodities’prices daily
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the volunteers of the Tiger Force to regularly check the prices of basic commodities like flour, sugar, ghee and lentils in their localities.
In a tweet on Sunday, the prime minister asked the volunteers to post the prices onTiger Force Portal. He said that he will meet with the Tiger Force volunteers on next Saturday at Convention Centre in Islamabad. He added that he will provide guidance and tasks to youngsters according to the government’s action plan.
The premier said that his government will use all the resources at disposal of the state to bring down skyrocketing prices of essential food items in the country from Monday. According to the details, the government has decided to use all resources against inflation in the country.
PM Imran has decided to once again use the services of volunteers ofTiger Force for the identification of hoarders and consultations with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs (SAPM) Usman Dar have been completed.
Bilawal accuses govt of discrediting country, demolishing economy
KARACHI STAFF REPORT ordination Committee at Bilawal House, the PPP chief said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) public meeting on the anniversary of 2007 Karsaz bombing in Karachi would be a referendum against the “puppet regime” .
“The Imran [Khan] regime imposed on the people through stolen mandate has destroyed everything in the country and people are fed up with its anti-people policies of promoting unemployment, inflation, diplomatic ISLAMABAD: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Sunday said that the opposition was following international agenda to create unrest in Pakistan. In an interview with a private TV channel, he said that the opposition was working on an international agenda for creating instability in the country. Expressing his serious concerns over the agenda of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said that opposition’s motives behind public meetings were very dangerous. The minister said that launching protest was the right of every citizen but violating law and order situation anywhere in the country, would not be tolerated. Admitting the facts of high inflation being faced by the common man, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the only leader who could address the issue of inflation. He assured that all-out efforts would be made to control prices of daily use items. Responding to a question about public gatherings, the minister said that opposition wanted to hold public meetings which could cause the spread of coronavirus in the country. He added that any terrorist activity could also occur in public gathering being called by opposition parties in the next few days. APP
isolation and the economic assassination of Pakistan, ” he said.
Bilawal claimed that the PTI regime has no roots among the people, and has been “selected” to demolish and discredit the country and discourage meritocracy in every field. He asked the Karachi Coordination Committee to facilitate the people of the port city in reaching the venue of the public meeting without any hindrance and to organise the democratic workers of PDM for better arrangements.
Karachi Coordination Committee Coordinator Waqar Mehdi, PPP Karachi Division President Saeed Ghani, MNAQadir Patel, Lal Bux Bhutto, NajmiAlam, MPASajid Jokhio, Khalid Lateef, Ghulam Mohammad Samoon and others were present during the meeting.
PUNJAB PUNCH SHAHAB OMER
THE Punjab Excise,Taxation and Narcotics Control (ET&NC) department has always been an attractive office for the provincial and federal bureaucracies, and a big reason for this is the extensive powers of the officers here and the excellent opportunities for corruption.
Sources in ET&NC even claim that the illicit income of a junior officer circulates to the bureaucracy of the department and even the staff of the ministry. The officers of this department collect taxes from various businesses, including motor vehicle tax, property tax, marriage hall tax and deposit billions of rupees of revenue in the public treasury annually.
While appointments and transfers of senior officers in the department used to take place routinely, there is a sense of unease among the officers of the ET&NC regarding the recent appointment of Saleha Saeed as director general of the department.
Saleha was appointed as the DG on September 30 by the Punjab government. Earlier, she had served as assistant commissioner of Lahore Cantonment, deputy commissioner of Hafizabad and deputy commissioner of Lahore. Sources in the Municipal Corporation Lahore (MCL) believe that Saleha had been stationed as Lahore DC for less than a year and that a major reason for her dismissal was her failure of controlling dengue spread and poor waste management in the provincial capital. During her tenure as Lahore DC, she used to hold regular meetings with the officials of LahoreWaste Management Company (LWMC) and also conducted field surveys to control dengue, but it seems that the government was unsatisfied with her performance.
Some sources in the MCLalso believe that there was no specific reason for removing Saleha, but added that she was removed due to routine transfers, claiming that she is an honest officer and even from the structure of district administration, she did her best to eradicate corruption.
Saleha’s appointment as ET&NC DG was challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) just a few days after her appointment and the petitioner had taken the position that the Punjab government had removed Masoodul Haq, a BPS-20 officer, and appointed Saleha who is a BPS-19 officer on On Pay Scale (OPS) basis, which was an illegal actAccording to Punjab Government Civil Servants Act, 1974, and Punjab Government Civil Servants Rules, 1974, a junior officer cannot be promoted to a higher post on OPS basis.
According to the petitioner, the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan had also made it clear that no authority could appoint a junior officer to a senior post on OPS basis. Not only that, but the ET&NC Service Rules state that the post of ET&NC DG is of BPS-20 and a BPS-19 officer cannot be appointed to this post.
The petitioner also stated that Saleha was a BPS-19 officer and nine directors of ET&NC were already working on regular basis in BPS-19, so how could those nine officers work under their counterpart Saleha?
On the other hand, some sources in ET&NC said that Saleha had started giving a tough time to Provincial Secretary ET&NC Wajihullah Kundi and Provincial Minister for ET&NC Hafiz Mumtaz from the first day of her appointment. On her first day in charge, she withdrew the order of posting of Excise and Taxation Officers (ETOs) which were made a day before her posting.
According to the sources, Saleha was posted on September 30, 2020, while the former ET&NC DG Masoodul Haq had issued transfer postings and promotions of ETOs before leaving the position under the direction of the provincial government. The transfer postings also included 34 officers who were recently promoted from assistant ETOs to ETOs and that was their first promotion as regular ETOs. However, all the field staff, especially the promoted officers, were discouraged after the withdrawal of orders of their promotion by Saleha.
Sources said that the withdrawal of orders by Saleha was illegal and a violation of service rules and those orders had sent a negative message to field staff and subordinates across Punjab from the DG.
On October 2, the provincial secretary ET&NC had issued an order to reinstate all the employees working in senior positions under OPS basis to their original posts. However, while enforcing the orders, action has also been initiated against inspectors, clerks and ETOs across the province. Sources revealed that after these orders, junior officers working on senior posts in the department on OPS basis have been given exemption while officers working OPS will be given promoted grade after the promotion committee meeting.
Interestingly, Saleha is also working on OPS basis and the department staff is waiting to see if Saleha will also be reverted or the operation will be limited to junior employees only.
In ET&NC, appointments and transfers of various DGs have taken place before this, but with the posting of Saleha, reservations are being found among the junior staff. During her tenure as Lahore DC, Saleha had not been able to take any significant steps to eradicate the munshi culture from the Patwar Khanas, but since she is a promising officer, this time she is expected to eradicate the culture of corruption in the ET&NC.
Economic indicators reflect stability, development: Aleem
LAHORE: Punjab Senior MinisterAbdulAleem Khan has said that economic indicators are a clear reflection of the country ’s stability and development. In a statement issued on Sunday,Aleem said that Pakistan, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has successfully faced various challenges and the country has been put on the path of development and prosperity. He said that increase in exports and the reduction in imports is a welcome development while the uplift of the industrial sector is also increasing, which would increase employment opportunities as well.Aleem said that the prime minister wants to develop the country on a solid basis for which concrete policies with far-reaching results are introduced. He said that despite all the difficulties, the present government is implementing its manifesto expeditiously and the shortcomings of the previous rulers are being addressed. The minister said that there is no importance of negative propaganda and the present government, under the leadership of PM Imran, will complete its term. He asked the party workers to intensify their contacts at the public level and play their full role in solving the problems of the people. He said that the government is using all its resources to solve the local problems of the people and God-willing the development work would be completed rapidly in the next three years. STAFF REPORT
Merit, transparency must be ensured in recruitment of govt employees: KP CM
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed the provincial Public Service Commission (PSC) to expedite recruitment process of government employees and to ensure merit and transparency in the process. The chief minister issued the directives while presiding over a meeting in Peshawar on Sunday. Khan directed the administrative heads of all departments to send requisitions to the commission on time for speedy recruitment of the employees. The chief minister stressed the need for using Information Technology in the recruitment process to ensure transparency. INP
BRT service to resume from Oct 25: Bangash
PESHAWAR: SpecialAssistant to Chief Minister on Information Kamran Bangash on Sunday said that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service will resume operation from October 25 after removal of hardware flaws.Addressing a press conference, he said that repair of buses had no financial implications on the government as the concerned Chinese company is bound by contract to provide the services. He said that BRT was suspended for the safety of passengers after fire eruption incidents on the buses. Bangash said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has finalised strategy for smooth supply of wheat flour to the people and defeat the flour mafia. He said that development projects have been launched at unprecedented pace in the newly-merged districts (NMDs) to bring them at par with other districts. He also said that government is giving top priority to reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, education and heath to facilitate the local people. He added that opposition was unnerved to see developmental schemes being completed rapidly for public welfare. Bangash said that opposition had nothing left for politics expect gimmicks and propaganda. APP
47 profi teers arrested in Punjab as crackdown continues
LAHORE STAFF REPORT
To ensure the availability of essential commodities at the prices fixed by the government, a crackdown on profiteers is underway in Punjab and during the current month, 47 persons were arrested and 42 cases were registered, besides the imposition of a fine of about Rs6 million on violators.
This was stated during a briefing at a meeting chaired by Punjab Industries Minister MianAslam Iqbal at Chief Secretary ’s Office. The chief secretary, administrative secretaries of relevant departments and Lahore commissioner attended the meeting while all the divisional commissioners participated through video-link.
The meeting reviewed the prices and availability of essential commodities, especially flour and sugar, the performance of price control magistrates, and strategy to contain prices of eatables.The meeting decided to take unconventional and innovative measures to overcome the issue of price-hike.
Speaking at the meeting, the provincial minister said that providing relief to the common man is a priority of the government and no compromise can be made on this important issue. He said that the administrative officers would have to ensure the implementation of the fixed rates.
He directed that the prices of vegetables and other commodities, including tomatoes and onions, should be closely monitored and the agriculture department must play an active role in ensuring the availability of these items.
The chief secretary said that as per the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, steps would be taken under a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem of artificial price-hike, adding that no laxity on part of government officials would be tolerated in this regard.
He ordered the officers to step up crackdown on profiteers, hoarders, and those creating artificial dearness across the province.
The chief secretary directed that in order to ensure the availability of flour at fixed prices, the process of supply of subsidised government wheat to the flour mills, its grinding, and supply in the market be fully monitored and action be taken against the mills which do not use for grinding whole wheat provided to them under the government quota.
He also issued instructions regarding the display of rate lists at shops and utilising services of Tiger Force for price control measures.
Buzdar urges people to follow SOPs amid pandemic
LAHORE STAFF REPORT
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has said that precautionary measures are necessary to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, and appealed to the people to follow precautions such as wearing masks in public places, besides maintaining social distance.
In a statement on Sunday, the chief minister warned, “Covid-19 can return back if we do not follow the SOPs [standard operating procedures]. ” He said that violation of anti-coronavirus SOPs at educational institutes, offices and crowded public places will not be tolerated.
He said that during the last 24 hours, 11,185 coronavirus diagnostics tests were conducted in Punjab.
“In the last 24 hours, five coronavirus patients died whereas 203 people were found to be infected with the virus. Out of 100,687 coronavirus patients, 9,6561 have recovered. So far, 1,363,398 coronavirus diagnostics tests have been conducted in Punjab, ” he added.
Meanwhile, Buzdar also took notice of the shocking incident, wherein a minor girl was molested in the area of Sadar Pindi Bhattian Police Station and sought a report from Gujranwala RPO.
The chief minister directed immediate arrest of the accused and ordered initiating legal action against him, besides ensuring justice to the affected family at every cost.
Govt to spend Rs18bn on tackling urbanisation challenges
ISLAMABAD APP
The government will spend around Rs18 billion during the current fiscal year for physical planning and housing sector programmes, which would be implemented by various ministries, divisions and departments to address the increasing urbanisation issues and challenges.
Pakistan has the highest rate of urbanisation in South Asia and as per the population census of 2017, urbanisation had increased from 32.52 per cent to 36.38 per cent during 1998 to 2017, according to an official document available withAPP.
However, based on a modified definition of urban settlements, the ratio of urban to rural population could be 40 per cent and even higher, therefore, it was estimated that, by 2025, nearly half of the country ’s population would be living in cities, it added.
The document said that rapid urbanisation was already stretching cities’resources in the country.
The tremendous challenge of absorbing such a massive number of people in urban areas and providing them with shelter, food, employment, healthcare, education, municipal services and recreation facilities was made more difficult, causing a shortage of urban facilities and resources, skilled manpower and good governance.
Despite the challenges, urban areas demonstrate the immense economic potential to generate growth in the country.
The federal government has also announced relief packages for construction and agriculture sectors and a subsidy of Rs30 billion under Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme. The provincial governments also announced relief packages for vulnerable people and exemption in taxes.
In addition, the Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NAPHDA) had been established for undertaking prime minister’s programme for construction of five million affordable houses to the general public. Special relief package for construction industry had been announced by the government to boost construction activity besides, Establishment of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to facilitate the construction sector as well as to strengthen the regulatory framework.
Besides, the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) has launched two new projects in Islamabad and Rawalpindi for provision of apartments to the federal government employees under PM’s Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, it said.
FirSt LoNdoN-LahorE FLight oF BritiSh airwayS to LEavE today
LAHORE STAFF REPORT
tHE British Airways is all set to operate its first direct flight to Lahore from London on Monday. According to details, a flight carrying 300 passengers on board will fly for Lahore from London’s Heathrow airport. The flight will land at Lahore airport on Tuesday morning. Arrangements at the Lahore airport have been finalised, whereas UK diplomatic staff and the CivilAviationAuthority (CAA) officials will welcome passengers of the flight. According to a schedule, the airline will operate direct flights from Lahore, Pakistan to London four days a week.All flights will be operated by a Boeing 787 departing from Heathrow Terminal 5, landing into Lahore’s International Airport, according to BritishAirways. It is pertinent to mention here that Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday last allowed the British Airways to operate direct flights from Lahore to London. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted permission to British Airways to land at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, according to a notification. “The approval is stipulated with the condition to review the schedule/slot upon resumption of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operation to the UK, ” the notification said. The aviation authority ’s air transportation department has issued a certificate to the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom (UK). It is pertinent to mention here that BritishAirways had resumed flight operationstoPakistaninJune2019.Flightoperationsthatweresuspendedagainduetothe coronavirus pandemic resumed inAugust. The airline already flies from Islamabad.
Fawad addresses SCCi, says govt all out to promote industrial sector
SIALKOT APP
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that the government is focusing on advanced technology to give boost to industrial sector in the country by taking the business community into confidence. He was addressing a meeting of exporters, held at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Sunday. SCCI President Qaisar Iqbal Baryar, Senior Vice President (SVP) Khurram Aslam Butt, Vice President (VP) Irfan Azizpuri and Executive Committee members also attended the meeting. Fawad said that the government was fully aware of the problems being faced by the business community, saying that all-out sincere efforts were being made for early solution to these problems. The federal minister stressed the need for use of advanced technology to meet the global trade and industrial challenges. He said that the government wanted to boost trade, industrial and export sectors through advanced technology in active collaboration with the business community. "The government will support business community in every matter, " he added. He said that effective economic development oriented positive policies were bearing fruit and leading the national economy towards the goal of national economic stability as well. The minister said that Sialkot is an important economic hub and totally export-oriented city of the country. He said that the surgical industry of Sialkot had enough potential to double the surgical exports from existing $400 million. He highly hailed the spirit of Sialkot exporters for establishing mega project of Sialkot international airport on self-help basis. We will facilitate them so that exports can be significantly increased, he added. Fawad hailed the pivotal role of Sialkot exporters in strengthening the national economy by earning foreign exchange to the tune of $2.5 billion annually. SCCI President Qaisar Iqbal Baryar said that Sialkot exporters were the backbone of the national economy, as they had been playing a pivotal role in strengthening national economy by earning precious foreign exchange of $2.5 billion annually. He stressed the need for establishing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Sialkot.
272 trucks carrying onions await clearance at Torkham border
MONITORING REPORT
As many as 272 trucks loaded with onions from Afghanistan were awaiting clearance at the Torkham border for entering into Pakistan on Saturday, a local media outlet reported on the same day. According to the details, a few trucks reached the outskirts of Peshawar after travelling a distance of 54km from the Torkham border; however, 272 trucks full of onions were stuck over a distance of four kilometres from theTorkham border gate to Michani Customs Post which was recently made into clearance post to facilitate the clearance of transit goods. The average weight of onions per truck is 35 tonnes, suggesting that some 9,520 tonnes of onions are loaded on these vehicles.
When asked, Customs officials seemed clueless about the hiccup in movement. “We don’t know the reasons for the long queue, ” an official told Dawn. “Majority trucks are loaded with onions while some are carrying tomatoes; there are also trucks with onions bound for transit to India via the Wagah border. ” “The delay may also be because of non-availability of the required amount, ” the official added. According to Customs, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made a payment system under which agents or importers are required to have a sufficient amount in their accounts for duty payments. At the same time, the Customs department has not removed the provision of additional sales tax of three per cent which was waived for importers despite the Peshawar High Court’s order (PHC). The importers will have to apply individually and the Customs official will process their cases manually for tax exemption, causing undue delay in clearance. The government charges 17pc sales tax and 2pc income tax on import of onion, while there is 2pc income tax on the import of tomatoes. The only justification that came from the Customs was that Afghan government allowed export of onion cargo trucks in great number on Saturday which lead to congestion on the Pakistani side. It is pertinent to mention here that the shortage of vegetable in the wholesale market has pushed up the price of onion from Rs50 to as high as Rs100 per kg in some cities.
NEWS 05 Setting up 13 SEZs to bring industrial revolution in Punjab: CM Buzdar
LAHORE INP
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has said that setting up of 13 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will bring industrial revolution in Punjab, and employment opportunities will be generated especially in south Punjab as there is huge potential for industry and trade in the backward areas. He was talking to former president of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) and newly-elected of DG Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industries President Kh Jalaluddin Roomi who called him on Sunday. Matters regarding promotion of industries and trade in south Punjab besides generating employment opportunities were came under discussion during the meeting. The chief minister congratulated Roomi for being elected as the president of DG Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industries. Roomi said that he will promote industries and commerce in DG Khan. Buzdar said that a business-friendly environment has been provided for the business and industrial community. He said that plans have been chalked out to establish a largest industrial zone of the country in Muzaffargarh which will change the economic destiny of the region. The chief minister further stated that land would be provided for the building of chamber of commerce and industries in DG Khan and Punjab Small Industries Corporation will soon be inaugurated in the region as well. Backward areas will bring at par with the developed ones through small and medium industries, he added. Roomi lauded the vision and efforts of the Punjab government for the promotion of industries and trade. He said that exports are being increased due to the provision of business-friendly environment in Punjab. The business community appreciates the coronavirus relief package and other economic initiatives of the Punjab government, he added. Roomi said that DG Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industries will extend full cooperation with the government for the development of social sector in the backward areas of south Punjab. Trader community will also cooperate in the health and education projects of Punjab government in the border areas of Baluchistan in Koh-e-Suleman, he added.
Construction of two more lanes of N-55 starts
KARACHI INP
The addition of two lanes to National Highway, N-55, Ratodero-Shikarpur road was formally kicked off early this week, Gwadar Pro reported on Saturday. The project is owned by National HighwaysAuthority (NHA) and contracted by a Chinese enterprise, TIEC (Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation Limited), one of the top 250 global contractors of ENR in 2020. Located in Shikarpur, Sindh, N-55 is about 43.4 km long. It is the first road infrastructure project in Sindh during the epidemic and the first project to be implemented by the NHAin 2020. Meanwhile, it is reckoned as an important part of the CentralAsia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) plan.At the end ofAugust, TIEC won the bid for this project, and it is expected to be completed in 24 months. Xu Wei, the manager of TIEC, said earlier in an interview that during the construction period of this project, TIEC will establish a joint venture with the cooperative enterprises for project management and implementation, and the labour force will mainly be Pakistani local employees. “As a Chinese enterprise which attaches great importance to CPEC, we adhere to localised operation mode.
Imran should have got a Nobel
CITy NOTES
M A NIAzI
tHE politics of the United States is getting stranger with each passing day. Let us ignore how President Donald Trump caught the coronavirus or how the medicines he is been given have possibly made him unfit to perform his duties. Let us just not say that the far-right group of Trump supporters in Michigan have tried to kidnap the governor, and harm her for interfering with their freedoms in the hope that other militias would rise up. And then what? Launch a civil war? The last time the US had a civil war, it was on relatively clear geographical lines, North versus South. This time, it is not so easy to guess. Will the armed forces split, as they did then? Some generals should decide to preserve the national interest, and stop politicians from damaging the country in the face of the threat from Russia/China/Whoever. And while they are at it, they should hold strict accountability. I wonder who will emerge as the leader of the nation? No baseball player or football player has built a cancer hospital yet, so the job is up for grabs. Meanwhile, there has been discrimination against Pakistan in the awards of the Nobel Prize. I mean, the physics prize went to the persons who developed the black hole theory.Yet no prize was given to Dr Hafeez Shaikh for supervising the black hole that is the Pakistani economy. The award of the medicine prize to the doctor who discovered the hepatitis-C virus was positively insulting. After all, is Pakistan not entitled to the prize by virtue of the number of citizens that are infected? What with the coronavirus, dengue and polio, we seem to have forgotten Hepatitis B and C, which are really scary diseases. So, if you have escaped Covid19, there are a lot of other diseases just waiting to happen to you. Then there’s the surprise of the Literature Prize going to anAmerican woman poet named Glück. The Swedish Academy, which gives the prize, did not do so last year because one of its members was sexually harassing the staff. In a sort of mea culpa, they have given the prize to a woman. Well, I am sure Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent were disappointed, along with other rappers. Rappers have their hopes raised after Bob Dylan got the prize. In its struggle to stay relevant, there was no prize for an African-American, which just goes to show that the Nobel people do not think ‘Black Lives Matter’ . The failure of the Swedish Academy to give Imran Khan the Literature Award is disappointing to his opponents. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) probably thinks he should have got the award for telling the biggest whoppers. Perhaps they believe he should have got it for his United Nations (UN) speeches, which they feel are unforgettable pieces of literature. Actually, those UN speeches should have got him the Peace Prize. If it had not been for Modi, India would have scurried out of Kashmir the next day, while the map should have made the Indian occupying forces just roll over. The Peace Prize was given instead to the World Food Programme as if Imran has not done enough for world hunger already. And then there is the Economics Prize, which has been given to neither Dr Hafeez Sheikh nor General Qamar Javed Bajwa, whose address to the businessman’s delegation last year was previously overlooked. The Indian authorities are as guilty as the Nobel people of ignoring Pakistan. I mean, who has nobody called the Lahore CCPO to investigate the Hathras gang-rape, which provoked many protests in India. According to the Indian government, Amnesty International tried to misuse these protests to damage India’s standing in the comity of nations, so they banned it. Encouraged, Pakistan banned TikTok, doing what the US did not do. The Hathras case was one of a Dalit girl being assaulted by a gang of upper-caste men, who then killed her. The CCPO Lahore must be lost in admiration at the UP Police, who have got the CM joining them in saying that the girl was not raped. But the UP Police has not explained why the girl made so many mistakes that she was bound to be murdered. For that, they need the personal touch of the Lahore CCPO.
06 COMMENT Price of food
Why the acknowledgement only at a time of impending crisis?
PRIME MINISTER Imran Khan’s announcement that the government would take all necessary steps to bring down the price of food prices is at least an acknowledgement that there is a problem. However, when he said in his Tweet on Saturday that the government would seek the cause, the acknowledgement lost value and became sinister. It lost value because it has become only too clear that the cause of the wheat and sugar price hikes lies at the door of the government itself, because those commodities were exported, causing a shortage in the country, which the government tried strenuously to blame on ‘mafias’ whose hoarding was causing the shortage. The enquiry by the FIArevealed that the sugar shortage had been caused by sugar barons who included Cabinet ministers and advisors. It may well be that Mr Khan’s acceptance that something is wrong, has something to do with the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) protest movement which is about to take off. The PDM is relying on the common man’s unease at rising food prices, not to forget the very real suffering that this causes, to make him take part in the protests, which have as their aim the toppling of the government. If there had been a more genuine concern on Mr Khan’s part, he would have shown it earlier, when the situation was easier to control. As it is, there is the well-founded fear that Mr Khan might try to come down with a heavy hand. Hoarding is not the problem, for hoarders have not been brought forth. Even though both commodities are being imported now, prices are still not coming down. Prices may stabilize, but it will be at the present high levels, and the imports will probably not bring prices down.At a time when the World Bank is pressing for an end to remaining price controls, the government cannot very well do the only thing it has not tried, and introduce controls at the retail level. But rationing was a bad idea before, and would be bad today.
Ban on Tiktok
When will the PM learn?
PRIME MINISTER’S concern over ‘immoral content’on social media has boiled over into the ban slapped on Tiktok, the popular videostreaming platform. Is it purely a coincidence that this concern with the morals of the nation has coincided with the preparations to launch an anti-government movement by a religious party, and another that is right of centre, if not rightist? Giving Mr Khan credit for the purity of his sentiments, it still leaves behind the question of how effective will this ban be. The recent ban on PUBG had to be lifted, and the YouTube stand-off has not yet faded from memory. In short, Tiktok will not reform itself in the image that Mr Khan wants, which is not even cultural, let alone religious: it is middle-class morality being imposed on the social media. It should also concern not just Mr Khan but the entire PTI that the government of a party that portrayed itself as media-savvy and attuned to the young people of today, should be so active in solving matters by banning them. It should also concern Mr Khan that he has chosen just this moment, when India has also banned Tiktok. This is not because Tiktok has also violated Indian moral sensibilities, but in pursuance of the USA, which has already banned it because of its trade war with China, and while trying to force the company to sell its US operation to anAmerican company.Apart from a needless needling of China, Imran should not forget three sterling contributions of Tiktok: it provided some an income, and that too in these pandemic times; it helped the country get through the pandemic; and it provided a platform to countless young people outside the metropolises who would otherwise have no opportunity to showcase their talents (or to just plain goof off). Social media cannot be untrammelled, but those who want a check on it should seek a solution likely to work, not one that has been shown to fail every time, all the time.
No Army, No Country
Army bashing helps only the enemy
Humayun GauHar
Aworrisome trend is now to revile the armed forcesinPakistan.Thisiscutelycalled, “fifth generation warfare” or as the Army Chief calls it, “hybrid war. ” Recall what Ghazi Salahuddin Ayubi, the Kurd anti-Crusade general of the Muslim armies, said, “The best way to destroyanationistomakeitspeopledisenchantedwith their own army. ” Was it Churchill who said that if a country doesn’t have an army there will be someone else’s army in your country? This is how the British East India Company crept into India and finally occupied the entire country by exploiting the petty rivalries of local princelings, one against the other.Acompany for God’s sake! A firm conquered India, dethroned its king and charged him with treason. Treason against whom, one might ask? Why it was treason against the Company, which doesn’t even begin to make sense. It causes complete revulsion. So remember, if you weaken your army or destroy it, you will not have a country. There is much wisdom in what Ayubi and Churchillsaid.Thiswarfareisbeingconductedagainst us by India and other entities. Some of us are luckily livetothisthreat,butnotenough.Theyhavemadedeep ingress into Pakistani society. Many of our politicians and top leaders sing India’s tune. Many journalists do sotoobothinprintandelectronicallyasalsodothesocalled scholars with their pockets full ofAmerican and British scholarships. They create a subtle resentment against the Army blaming it for all the ills in society and refusing to acknowledge that a lot of them have beencausedbybadpoliticalmanagementandevenbad political intent. The speech that Nawaz Sharif made to theAll Parties Conference was, to some, treason. The Army does not clarify its position that the businesses conducted in its name are by the two welfare organisations – the Fauji Foundation and the Army Welfare Trust. The former was started by the BritishIndianArmyandtheybothwereseededbythe welfare accounts of the soldiers whose proceeds are meant to help military widows, veterans and what have you. They are very profitable and the profits go to the trusts to work for the widows, veterans, etc. None of it goes to generals or the Army itself. They are not taxed say the Army ’s enemies. Which trusts and welfare organisations, civilian or military, are taxed? Even if they were taxed, let’s face it, they have done a damn sight better job than civilian organisations. Now the Army has realised that competent CEOs are not cut from the same cloth as CEOs from civilian organisations, so it has changed tack and for thefirsttimeappointedaretiredcivilianCEOofcompetent companies like ENGRO and ICI to head the Fauji Foundation. As too their military subsidiaries like Mari Petroleum. Let us hope and pray that these gentlemen do as well if not better than their Army Dr. Omer JaveD ‘Governments can, and should, restore demand and Roger Farmer a The Financial Times article published in 2013, and is talking about restoring aggregate demand that estimated consequence on economic growth now recession of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the petus, especially when private investment has been the chapters ‘policymakers should ensure that the predecessors, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Because wherever you go, corruption raises its ugly head even in civilian organisations. Corruption is not the preserve of politicians alone. So let’s not play the Indian game ofrevilingeverythinggoodthatthemilitaryhasdone. Talking of Indian games and bowing to the Indian agenda is best left to political leaders. The PML(N) honcho has a sedition case instituted against him precisely for working on the Indian agenda. We will know the merits of this accusation only if the case proceeds, if it does at all. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman was also accused of such sedition in theAgartala Conspiracy Case and look where it got us. So we have to The same approach is needed in developing countries, where aggregate demand has also been in these countries are also on the lower side at the market presence and have delayed expansionary plans in many sectors in these uncertain times–proactive in making investments; especially of the strength into aggregate demand, and in turn, aggretread very carefully and we have to learn to defeat the enemy with sugar rather than bullets. TheArmyisblamedforusurpingpowerfromtime to time and ruling from behind the curtain while there isaciviliangovernmentinofficeelectedafterafashion. They forget that a vacuum caused by political failures isperforcefilledbytheArmybecausepoliticsdoesnot tolerateavacuumandtheArmyisalsoaccusedofcausingthispoliticalfailure,whetheritistrueornot.Ifyou want to rule successfully and rule well, you have to do thejobthatisassignedtoyouaspoliticians,deliverthe needsofthepeople,begoodincrisismanagement(like when Karachi is inundated with rainwater), ensure the supplyofessentialfoodstuffandthewherewithaloflife like gas, water, electricity, fuel and so forth, and the Army could not think of intervening. In any case, we havetounderstandaveryimportantthing:thePakistan Army is our army and not a foreign army. It is charged inthefinalanalysis,tosavethecountryfromanythreat that it faces from without or within. The Army is accusedofinterferinginforeignpolicy.Well,ourforeign policy has improved markedly since Imran Khan became prime minister and if the credit for that goes to theArmy,thenIsaythreecheersfortheArmy.Butlife is not so simple. Crafting foreign policy, or any policy for that matter, is a multi-institutional exercise and its consequences affect many institutions. Foreign policy isactuallyapeacefulwayofconductingwarfare.What do you think President Trump is doing with China through his foreign policy? He is fighting a trade war. He did the same thing with NATO and threatened to pull out if every country didn’t pay its due. That’s foreign policy. He doesn’t call Putin names because he knowsthattheUSAandRussiahavetolivetogetherin their own spheres. He may also be beholden to Russia but we don’t have proof of that. Lookatourtrackrecord.Ourfirstcoupin1958was actuallyorderedbyacivilianPresident.Beforethat,the Governor-General had been beseeching General Ayub Khan to take over. He finally did in 1958 after the then civilianPresidentimposedmartiallaw.Thecivilianshad created many problems, the worst of which was that it took them nine years to fashion a constitution in 1956, which was fundamentally anti-democratic. They took so long because they were trying to find a formula by which to deprive the Bengalis of East Pakistan of their majority.Andintheendtheyfoundit.Denyingthewill ofthemajorityiswarontheconceptofdemocracyand it had to come unstuck. Ayub’s 1962 Constitution had manygoodfeaturesinitbuthisbiggestmistakewasan ElectoralCollegeof80,000peopleforelectingthepresident. The politicians mainly latched onto that and launched a successful agitation against Ayub. Yahya Khan overthrew theAyub government by encouraging the insurrection to no small extent. Came the second coup in 1969 when GeneralYahya Khan took over. He didsomegoodthingsinitially,likeendingtheElectoral College and the One Unit, giving the four provinces of West Pakistan their identity back. But he was an alcoholic and alleged womanizer which led a major British newspaper(Ithinkitwas The Observer)tosaythatPakistanisacountryrunbypimpsandprostitutes.Whilsthe wasstillArmyChief,hetoldClaireHollingworth,acorrespondent of a British newspaper, that he is the next President of the country.Adrunken stupor was blamed forthatbutactuallyhewasspeakingthetruth.Yahyaalso made a beeline for Pakistan’s most popular politician at that time and former foreign minister, Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He probably felt that he needed Bhutto’s popularityinWestPakistantocounterbalancethemajorityof EastPakistan.Thistheorywasbasedontheassumption that Bhutto’s huge vote bank in the four provinces of West Pakistan would counterbalance the huge majority of Mujeeb-ur-Rahman in East Pakistan and he, Yahya, wouldactas‘honestbroker’andremainpresidentinthe newconstitutionthatwastobeforgedbythenewassembly. He was half right. But he was misled into making thisassessmentbyhisincompetentintelligenceagencies, particularly thecivilian IntelligenceBureau. Mujeeb did sweep the elections in East Pakistan andBhuttowonamajorityonlyinthePunjabandSind. But in Pakistan as a whole, he was a poor second and should have been leader of the opposition.The elected assemblywasactuallyaConstituentAssemblycharged with making a new constitution, which enabled both Yahya and Bhutto to play their Machiavellian games. Bhuttomadetherarestatementthatthecountryshould havetwoconstitutions,twoprimeministersandshould be jointly ruled by him and Mujeeb, else he would not lettheNationalAssemblymeetinDhaka.Thiswasjust the fly in the ointment that Yahya Khan and Bhutto needed. In the meantime, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and his lieutenantshadalreadymadeapactwithIndia.Incredible propaganda was launched against the Pakistan Army which was ruling. Bhutto stopped theAssembly from meeting and East Pakistan revolted. Civil war started and the propagandists exaggerated the human rights abuses by the Army grossly, causing hatred against it. Millions of refugees from East Pakistan descended on India, which gave it the excuse to attack EastPakistan,separatedbyathousandmilesfromWest Pakistan.Thesupplychainwasajoke.It’salongstory. East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Bhutto was installed as chief martial law administrator and President of West Pakistan by Yahya Khan and his treacherous junta of generals. He called it “the New Pakistan” (haven’t we heard this before?). The rest is history, which I do not have the space to repeat here. But what happened reinforces SallahuddinAyubi’s point of a nation coming to an end when its people are disenchanted with their army. Pakistan’s enemies both without and within are trying to make history repeat itself. But now Pakistan is another country as indeed is India. It will be a huge catastrophe if anybody is stupid enough to launch such an adventure. I know Imran will never fire the first shot unless he has to do so in defence.The world has seen the madness of Modi, and in his craze he might wish to outdo Indira Gandhi herself. Now India is trying to create more Agartalas in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan andAzad Kashmir. So we have to be they do not cave in to the glitter of gold.
Humayun Gauhar is a veteran columnist Pakistan and editor of Blue Chip magazine.
Covid-19, public investment and institutional quality
Government must spend to get out of this crisis
engineer a smooth return to sustainable growth. ’ –‘Confessions of A Keynesian Heretic ’ by
WHILE the above statement appeared in shrunk as a consequence of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the current pandemic has hurt aggregate demand even more, with greater than at the time of the GFC. Therefore, in the spirit of the Keynesian recipe of a greater role of government that resurrected economic growth from the deep current recessionary current needs a similar approach. Alimited role of government propounded in decades of neoliberal assault will not provide the needed imshell-shocked by the deep uncertainty, and a severely deflated aggregate demand caused by the pandemic. TheneedforasimilarapproachhasalsobeenrecognizedbytheIMF,whererecentlyunlikeitsprevious stance of pre-pandemic era, the International Monetary Fund (IMF or simply the ‘Fund’) called on governments in advanced countries to take advantage of exceedingly low interest rates, and enhance public investment. In the October edition of semi-annual ‘Fiscal Monitor’report of the Fund, it indicated in one of amount and quality of public investment are such as not to pose risks by overly worsening debt dynamics. ’ Moreover, a recent Financial Times article, ‘IMF callsonrichnationstoboostpublicinvestment’byChris Giles,quotedtheFund’sdeputydirectorofthefiscalaffairs department, Paolo Mauro, where he favoured the movetowardsgreaterpublicinvestment,andunderlined theprimacyofmakingpublicexpenditureininfrastructureas‘Yougetabiggerbangforyourbuckfrompublic investment because investment by private firms is extremelylow.Theplacetostartismaintenance,whichis very labour intensive and can address crumbling infrastructure. Investment provides an asset for the country and is not wasteful. Right now, we are not at the point of literally trying to stimulate aggregate demand. ’ badly affected by the pandemic, and many countries here as well have moved into recession. Interest rates back of lower inflationary trends.Yet unemployment is high, and while businesses privately have curtailed where, God forbid, significant possibilities of a second wave of the pandemic in winters remain likely–it is indeed important that government becomes more sort that are labour intensive, to infuse much-needed extra vigilant especially with the enemy within so
gate supply, and overall economic growth. Here, while sovereign debt crisis is important to watch out for and avoided, by emerging and frontier economies– where the debt burden of frontier economies has increased from $1 trillion in 2005 to $3.2trillionrecently–butshortofthatsituation,public investmentenhancementmakessenseevenintermsof borrowingwhereassociatedcostshavebeenquitelow. Inthisregard,arecentIMF-publishedarticle‘Public investment for the recovery ’ by Vitor Gasper, among others,highlightedtheimportanceofpublicinvestment in these uncertain and recessionary times, in both advancedandemergingeconomies,saying, ‘Publicinvestmenthasacentralroletoplay.OurnewFiscalMonitor showsthatincreasingpublicinvestmentinadvancedand emerging market economies could help revive economicactivityfromthesharpestanddeepestglobaleconomic collapse in contemporary history. It could also createmillionsofjobsdirectlyintheshorttermandmillions more indirectly over a longer period. Increasing publicinvestmentby1percentofGDPcouldstrengthen confidence in the recovery and boost GDP by 2.7 percent,privateinvestmentby10percent,andemployment by 1.2 percent if investments are of high quality and if existingpublicandprivatedebtburdensdonotweaken the response of the private sector to the stimulus. ’ Having said that, while pilferage of public expenditure is quite low given strong public institutions and relatively more efficient regulatory oversight, a big challenge for developing countries is to improve the qualityofinstitutionssothatpublicinvestmentwastage couldbereduced.Inthisregard,arecentlyreleasedreport of the IMF ‘Well spent: how strong infrastructure governance can end waste in public investment’highlighted the need for improving the efficiency of public expenditureintermsoflossesfromhappening,saying, ‘Losses and waste in public investment are often systemic.Onaverage,morethanone-thirdoftheresources spentoncreatingandmaintainingpublicinfrastructure are lost because of inefficiencies. These inefficiencies are closely linked to poor infrastructure governance–definedastheinstitutionsandframeworksforplanning, allocating,andimplementinginfrastructureinvestment spending.Estimatessuggestthat,onaverage,betterinfrastructure governance could make up more than half oftheobservedefficiencylosses. ’Inthatsense,thepandemic could be used an opportunity to fast-track institutional reforms, which are indeed much needed for enhancing the efficiency of public investment.
