Epaper – April 26-2022 LHR

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 I 24 Ramzan, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 298 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

Miftah rules out iMMediate hike in fuel prices g

MiniSter droPS hint of SPiKe in PriceS after due ProceSS

g

SayS will have to review ‘SubSidieS given to rich’

ISLAMABAD

f

Staff RepoRt

inance Minister Miftah ismail on Monday said that the prices of petroleum products would not be increased “immediately” but hinted the hike sooner than later. “if there is a surge in fuel prices, it will be done after consideration of multiple factors including the summary submitted by the ogra,” said Miftah while speaking in a talk show. ismail said the public should not worry about any impending price hike in the next three to four days. “if there is a surge in fuel prices, it will be done after consideration of multiple factors including the summary submitted by the ogra.”

Miftah’s statement comes a day after he, during his washington visit, told uS think tank atlantic council that the government will have to increase the price of petroleum products to get Pakistan’s economy back on track and to revive the stalled bailout programme with the iMf. the iMf, in 2019, approved a $6 billion loan over three years for Pakistan but disbursement has been slowed by concerns about the pace of reforms. in the interview today, Miftah said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would also question him about measures being taken to insulate the poor when he eventually does got to him recommending a petrol price hike. “thus, i also have to make that plan, which i haven’t yet.” “we will have to review subsidies given to the rich segment in order to ease inflationary pressure on the poor,” the minister added. when asked whether the legislation on SbP autonomy will be reversed as the PMl-n had strongly opposed it while in opposition, ismail said he still believed there was still much to be reviewed on the

matter. “the government does not plan to reverse the State bank (amendment) bill, 2021; however, the government will see after the iMf programme is completed next year,” he said. “however, i am not allowed to be distracted at the moment. i am totally focused on the iMf programme. currently, the government has no plan to make changes to the SbP autonomy that might affect our ties with the iMf.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Nawaz Sharif issued passport to help return home ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

the federal government on Monday issued a new passport to former prime minister nawaz Sharif, enabling him to travel to Pakistan. according to media reports, the PMl-n supremo was issued a passport with a 10-year validity on april 23 and it was made in the “ordinary” category on urgent basis. earlier on tuesday, Minister for interior rana Sanaullah had said that a diplomatic passport is nawaz Sharif’s right and will be issued to him soon. he had regretted that “it is unfortunate that a person who has been prime minister three times is being deprived of national citizenship.”

Moreover, the islamabad high court (ihc) had also declared a petition challenging the issuance of a diplomatic passport to former premier as inadmissible, and imposed a fine of rs5,000 on the petitioner. the petitioner had contended that nawaz should not be issued a passport on the grounds that he is an “absconding convict”. it is pertinent to mention that the Pti government had refused to renew nawaz’s passport after it expired in february last year. however, former interior minister Sheikh rasheed had said that if the PMl-n supremo wants to return, he can be issued a special certificate. nawaz was barred by the Supreme court in 2017 from holding public office and subsequently went abroad for medical treatment after serving just a few months of a 10year jail sentence on corruption charges. he has lived for the last two years in london since being let out of jail. the former prime minister’s new passport is valid for 10 years — till april 2032. the passport’s status is “active” as per the evidence shared by a trusted source. a credible source said that nawaz’s appointment for fingerprints at Pakistan high commission was set for april 23, at Pakistan high commission london, but it was cancelled the last time, however, the reason behind the appointment’s cancellation is not clear. the newly sworn-in Minister for interior rana Sanaullah said last week that a diplomatic passport was nawaz’s Sharif right and it

PM Shehbaz holds PTI govt responsible for current power crisis ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that the current issue of load-shedding in the country was due to the policies of the Pti government. “the Pti government neither purchased fuel in time nor repaired power plants. hence the current load-shedding,” he said in a tweet.

PM Shehbaz Sharif recalled that previously, PMl-n leader Mian nawaz Sharif during his government had ended the worst load-shedding in five years. he mentioned that expensive power generation by the Pti government through inefficient plants was costing the people rs100 billion per month.

PM Sharif said his government was making efforts to fix the problem of load-shedding. as the country goes through large scale electricity load-shedding, PM Shehbaz Sharif directed the department concerned to slash power outages by the next month. the directive came during PM Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to different departments during a hectic tour of lahore on weekly off-day Sunday. the premier also held back-to-back meetings and took notice of the widely reported issue. he said that immediate steps must be taken to reduce power outages and minimise the sufferings of people by the next month, May 2022. “until we get rid of load-shedding, i will not leave for china, and i will not allow anyone to relax,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said, adding that peo-

would be issued to him. “it is unfortunate that a person who has been prime minister three times is being deprived of national citizenship,” the interior minister had said. but the passport issued to nawaz is not diplomatic but “ordinary”. the islamabad high court (ihc) had Monday dismissed a petition challenging the possible issuance of a diplomatic passport to nawaz. the court dismissed the petition stating that it is “based on unreliable material and is, therefore, frivolous”. advocate naeem haider Panjutha had filed a petition in the ihc based on media reports that said nawaz was being issued a diplomatic passport on the instructions of his brother and newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. two weeks back, the federal government directedthe Ministr y of interior to renew the passports of the ex-prime minister and former finance minister ishaq dar. imran Khan’s government had refused to renew nawaz’s passport after it expired in february last year but then-interior minister Sheikh rasheed had said if the PMl-n supremo wanted to return he could be issued a special certificate.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

MORE INSIDE

FO wants to move on from ‘foreign plot’ to diplomacy STORY ON BACK PAGE

ruling PMl-n mulls moving contempt petition against President alvi over hamza oath delay STORY ON PAGE 02

PM Shehbaz to be accompanied by dozens of political allies, relatives and maids to Saudi Arabia ple were in trouble due to criminal negligence of the previous government. the prime minister said that short and longterm measures should be taken till sufficient quantity of oil and gas was arranged to operationalise closed thermal power plants. he claimed that the outgoing government, led by imran Khan, failed to add a single unit to the national grid, and also did not import lng on cheaper rates on time.

Shehbaz Sharif has deemed the imran Khanled government’s power policies unproductive.

Shehbaz had earlier expressed his annoyance over the prolonged load-shedding durations and directed the authorities concerned to take steps for significantly reduce the outages by the next month. the prime minister had said that the country can generate an additional 6,000 megawatts (Mw) of hydel power using the natural flow of water, which is linked to the melting of glaciers to address the issue of load shedding in different areas – an issue left unaddressed by the former Pti government.

STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pakistan determined to strengthen partnership with china: hina rabbani Khar STORY ON PAGE 03

02

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAHORe

newS

RuLing PML-n MuLLs MOving COnteMPt PetitiOn AgAinst PResiDent ALvi OveR HAMzA OAtH DeLAy islAmAbAd

A

Staff RepoRt

CONTEMPT petition is likely to be filed against President Dr Arif Alvi over his indifference to implement the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to appoint a representative for administering the oath to Punjab chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz.

It is learnt that the legal experts have found a point to file a contempt petition against Alvi who has once appeared in court as an accused by relinquishing his impunity as president under Article 248 of the Constitution.

OCAC confirms ample availability of fuel supplies in the country news desk Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), the primary representative of the downstream oil industry of Pakistan, has reported that ample stocks of Motor Spirit (MS) & High Speed Diesel (HSD) are available in the country owing to, the support of refineries in providing locally produced fuel products, and to OMCs for planning imports and meeting volume commitments timely despite the limited product availability in the international market due to geopolitical tension. Since HSD sales have drastically soared in the country due to the harvesting season, OCAC is actively playing its role to effectively manage the surged demand in consultation with the industry, OGRA (Regulator) and Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division). Pertaining to the details for uninterrupted fuel supply in the country, cargoes carrying sufficient HSD volumes are already waiting off-port and will be discharged on their due turn, while other planned cargoes are expected to arrive soon.

Similarly, Motor Gasoline reserves are sufficient to meet the demand of the country, while additional volumes are coming in through planned imports. Further commenting on this, Nazir Abbas Zaidi, Secretary General OCAC said that, “Pakistan is an energy deficient country, therefore deficit in fuel supplies is catered through imports. As a result of constantly increasing imports volume and infrastructure constraints, there are challenges at ports owing to congestion/bunching of vessels, etc. However, OCAC is effectively striving to handle these challenges in collaboration with OGRA by suggesting recommendations to ensure that the fuel supplies remain streamlined. Hence, it is vital to avert uncertainty and abnormal buying patterns amidst ambiguous speculations.” OCAC further reiterates that there is ample inventory of fuel supplies in the country, including cargoes waiting off-port and other vessels lined up to arrive soon, therefore, citizens are requested to buy fuel products as per regular demand and not let ambiguity translate into desperate bulk buying.

AhmAd AhmAdAni The Petroleum Division has asked the Director General, Pakistan Revenue (Sub Office) Karachi to advise the Manger National Bank of Pakistan to arrange payment of Rs40 billion for reimbursement of Price Differential Claims (PDC) to Oil marketing Companies (OMCs) and refineries. The Petroleum Division, in a letter dated April 25, 2022 to DGPR (SO), Karachi, conveyed that the President Arif Alvi has sanctioned the placement of an amount of Rs40 billion in the assignment account relating to reimbursement of PDC of OMCs and refineries as ceiling for the months of March and April 2022 of the current financial year 2021-22. Requesting the DGPR (SO) to advise the Manager, NBP, Main Branch Karachi to arrange payments against the above mentioned ceiling of Rs40 billion, petroleum division also sought that payment should be made on the receipts of cheques and prescribed schedule of payment duly signed by the authorised signatories of the account. According to sources in the oil industry, the government had cleared a PDC of Rs31.73 billion up till 31st March 2022.

Similarly, it has now transferred an amount of Rs40 billion on account of PDC allocated for 115 April, 2022 which also includes a deficit of Rs2.31 billion from 16-31 March, 2022.

Furthermore, the PDCs for the second fortnight of April will be submitted during the first week of May, 2022, said sources. They added that PDC of only Rs28.3 billion is pending with the government which needs to be deposited in the assignment account with PSO. Earlier, the federal cabinet’s economic coordination committee (ECC) on 7th March, 2022 approved the procedure for making PDC payment to OMCs and refineries ostensibly to avoid the shortage of petroleum products in the country.

It is reported that Shehbaz will file the contempt petition against the president in the LHC on Monday.

“President Arif Alvi has been acquitted by a special court as an accused in the PTV attack case only after relinquishing his impunity,” legal experts said.

“If the president can appear in the court by relinquishing his impunity, contempt proceedings can also be initiated against him,” they added.

“The president himself has surrendered his constitutional immunity, so the contempt petition can be filed against him,” they stated. Shehbaz is likely to file a contempt petition against Alvi, and also a plea for the implementation of the LHC decision to appoint a representative for administering oath to him.

Hamza requests LHC to order Sanjrani to administer oath lAhORe Staff RepoRt

Punjab chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz has once again requested the Lahore High Court (LHC) to direct the Senate chairman to administer his oath to the office.

Accepting the petition hearing, LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti fixed it for Tuesday.

“The petition will be heard Tuesday at 9:00 am,” the judge said.

The high court in its ruling earlier on Friday asked the president to appoint a representative for administering the oath to Shehbaz as Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema had expressed his inability to do so.

Though there were rumours doing rounds all day long on Saturday that Arif Alvi had appointed Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to administer the oath and the PML-N leadership was ready for the swearing-in but it did not happen.

In his petition submitted on Monday, Shehbaz requested the court to direct the Senate chairman to perform the necessary constitutional duty which has been lingering for days now.

In the petition, the law ministry, secretary to the president and Senate chairman were made respondents. In addition, Punjab’s chief secretary and the prime minister through the principal secretary were also made party to the case.

The petition requested the court to issue an order to the

President sanctions Rs40bn for reimbursement of PDC to OMCs, refineries

LHC seeks reply on Maryam’s plea for return of passport news desk

administration for implementation of its Friday ruling.

On Saturday, when the expected swearing-in of Shehbaz was delayed, the PML-N leaders including Atta Ullah Tarar, Malik Ahmad Khan, Awais Leghari, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and others held a press conference announcing to file a contempt of

court petition on Monday.

But the legal advisors said that a contempt plea could not be filled against the President as he enjoyed indemnity under Article 248. So, the PML-N decided to simply request the court to order the authorities to appoint Sanjrani for oath administration.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued a notice to concerned quarters, seeking a reply by Tuesday on the plea filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz for the return of her passport to perform Umrah. In her petition, Maryam had requested the court to pass direction to the deputy registrar to return her passport, which was surrendered before him complying with the LHC’s order passed on October 31, 2019. She had been granted bail and was required to submit her passport before the authority. The PML-N leader implored that freedom of movement is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, adding, that the condition imposed through the order is tantamount to the deprivation of her rights. She was arrested in an inquiry by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on August 8, 2019, and remained on physical remand with the investigation agency for 48 days.

Skardu airport to handle first international flight next month GhulAm AbbAs In a major breakthrough for promotion of tourism in Pakistan, the Skardu airport, the airport in the midst of the mountainous region of the country, which was upgraded as international airport last year, is going to handle a chartered international flight next month.

As per a letter of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sent to various concerned departments and authorities, an international chartered flight is scheduled to operate Skardu from Munich Germany on May 13, 2022 and will depart from Skardu airport on May 16, 2022 to Bishkek Kyrgyzstan.

For handling the first ever international flight to the beautiful city, the CAA has requested all concerned departments and institutions to complete/furnish all necessary preparations and formalities for the smooth conduct of said operation.

Through the letter sent on April 25, the CAA has asked all immigration staff to ensure arrangements at the airport during the operation, besides asking the government of Gilgit Baltistan for security and other related arrangements.

Earlier in August 2021, CAA had upgraded and developed the Skardu airport to an international airport, to handle international flights.

Talking to Profit, CAA Director General Khaqan Murtaza had said that the airport was ready to handle any

international inbound flight as CAA has completed work on the infrastructure and other installation related to immigration at the airport, which has been one of the busiest airports of the country in last summer season. The airport in Skardu was earlier being upgraded to international standards for international flights and would have an additional runway enabling wide-body aircraft to operate.

The arrivals of international flights will boost tourism as well as the country’s foreign exchange.

Last year after the closure of flights to international destinations, Pakistan International Airline (PIA) even operated five to six flights a day to Skardu airport carrying hundreds of tourists to the beautiful destination. In a move to promote domestic tourism, PIA had set a record of landing six flights at Skardu airport.

The beautiful destinations of northern areas may be introduced to foreigners and the PIA, as a national flag carrier, could play its role in further enhancing domestic as well as international tourism.

Apart from the flight operations of international airlines, the government also intends to start helicopter services for Skardu and Gilgit to promote tourism.

As per the CAA official, the authority is planning to promote tourism in Gilgit, Skardu, and Chitral through operating big planes. It has already given permission to foreign airlines to operate flights in Skardu and Gilgit.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAHORe

PAkistAn DeteRMineD tO stRengtHen PARtneRsHiP witH CHinA: HinA RAbbAni kHAR

M

stAff RePORt

INISTER of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday said Pakistan was determined to further strengthen the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China.

She made these remarks while talking to Charge d’ Affaires of China Pang Chunxue in Islamabad.

The minister of state appreciated the sincere support of China for the progress and development of Pakistan.

She said Pakistan was desirous of enhancing the speed of work on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Khar welcomed the Chinese investment in the special economic zones under the CPEC.

The newly-formed coalition government led by PML-N has decided to abolish the CPEC Authority amid

imran to address supporters in Multan on May 10: Qureshi

disclosure that Chinese power producers have shut down 1,980 megawatts of production capacity due to non-

clearance of their Rs300 billion dues.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has passed instructions to the officials concerned to begin the process for abolishing the authority.

We will move a summary seeking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s approval to abolish the CPEC Authority, Iqbal stated. “It is a redundant organisation with a huge waste of resources which has thwarted speedy implementation of the CPEC,” said the minister.

The decision to wind up the CPEC Authority was in line with the PML-N’s old policy that was never in favour of establishing a parallel setup. Even the PTI government took over two years to set up the authority but it largely remained dormant as the last political dispensation was too not in favour of having another bureaucratic structure.

Govt urged to introduce holistic reforms to broaden existing tax-net

lAhORe Staff RepoRt

Referring to massive public gatherings of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), party’s vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that never in history have people so warmly welcomed a party after its ouster. Addressing a corner meeting at Dolat Gate neighbourhood in Multan late on Sunday, he said that people had rejected the “imported” government. “The way people are turning out at the PTI rallies is enough to show that they are not happy with the change of faces,” he remarked. He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to simultaneously hear the foreign funding cases against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), adding if it did not do so, it would be safe to assume that it was part of a conspiracy to ban PTI and declare PTI chairman Imran Khan “ineligible” to contest the elections. “The history of these political parties which today have formed the coalition government at Center is an open secret,” he said, adding” “Both PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have seldom been cordial towards each other.

Similarly, Prime Minister and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif had once said that he would drag PPP co-chairman on roads for corruption.”

Asking the gathering whether they would vote for the party’s “turncoats” in the next elections, the former foreign minister said his party had already sent references against these “deserters”. Announcing that Khan would address the party’s rally in Multan on May 10, he asked the workers to start making arrangements for the event from now.

Aziz buneRi Participants at a roundtable conference in KP have suggested the government to introduce a holistic reforms agenda to widen the existing ‘tax-base’ by bringing new people under the net.

The roundtable conference was jointly organised

by Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and FCDO-funded Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Programme in Peshawar on Monday. The speakers urged the federal and provincial governments to incorporate proposals of chambers, business community, being keystakeholders in the upcoming fiscal budget 2022-23.

They called for taking tangible measures to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) as per commitment made at international level.

Participants of the conference sought special fiscal relief package to revive businesses that was battered by terrorism and the novel coronavirus pandemic lockdown in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Besides, SCCI president Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad, former president Zahidullah Shinwari, SEED Programme Team Leader Omar Mukhtar Khan, representatives of regional chambers, women entrepreneurs from manufacturing, tourism, IT and other industries participated in a large number in the conference. Participants acknowledged the difficult economic times and moderated their suggestions to focus on those which would allow the government to balance budgets, including easing the tax administration to make it more business friendly.

Businesses reported that the process of tax filing and the harassment they faced during audits was a

strong deterrent to formalizing their businesses, that it was expensive and time-consuming to fight court cases, and that it reduced trust between government and businesses.

Hasnain Khurshid called upon the federal and provincial governments to incorporate proposals of the chambers and relevant stakeholders in the upcoming FY budget 2022-23 so that it would help to revive economic and trade activities in light of their recommendations in the country. Welcoming all participants, Omar Mukhtar said a persistent issue reported by the business community in KP is the lack of meaningful engagement with businesses and industries on the policymakers’ end.

To facilitate their growth, SEED is committed to continue supporting all the stakeholders, i.e., government, business chambers, and enterprises in the province and assist the government in its continuous efforts to strengthen its collaboration with the business sector”. Speaking at the event, Ali Khizar, Economist KP Business Voice, urged the government to focus on cost & ease of doing business during the upcoming financial year as it offers solutions to many challenges related to the economy.

A representative from the finance department, GoKP, added: “The government has been working on facilitating the business community through offering incentives, tax cuts etc., so that they can compete with the world. The State Bank of Pakistan has offered multiple incentives to businesses since Covid-19,” he further stated, “I assure the full support of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and its intention to move towards a prosperous KP with the support and inclusion of all stakeholders.”

newS

03

exports to regional countries increase by 23.5pc in 3 quarters APP Pakistan’s exports to the seven regional countries witnessed an increase of 23.50 percent in first three quarters of fiscal year (2021-22), as compared to the corresponding quarters of last year. The country’s exports to seven regional countries including Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and the Maldives account for $3440.687 million, which is 14.51 percent of Pakistan’s overall exports of $23699.090 million during July-March (2021-22), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.

China tops the list of countries in terms of Pakistan’s exports to its neighboring, leaving behind other countries such Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Pakistan carried out its border trade with the farther neighbor Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Maldives. Pakistan’s exports to China posted growth of 51.27 percent to $2126.778 million in nine months of this year from $1405.890 million during last year while exports to Bangladesh also increased by 47.94 percent to $648.936 million from $438.626 million. The country’s export to Afghanistan however dropped by 50.50 percent to $369.382 million this year from $746.347 million whereas exports to India also dipped by 54.21 percent to $1.006 million from $2.197. Similarly, exports to Sri Lanka rose by 53.76 percent to $284.717 million from $185.165 million in the previous year whereas exports to Nepal also increased by 35.86 percent to $4.792 million from $3.527 million, in addition exports to Maldives increased by 24.32 percent to $5.076 million from $4.083 million, it added. On the other hand, the imports from seven regional countries were recorded at $13392.465 million during the period under review as compared to $9465.576 million during last year, showing increase of 41.48 percent. The imports from China during July-March 2021-22 were recorded at $12987.0330 million against the $9070.683 million during July-March 2020-21, showing an increase of 43.17 percent during the period. Among other countries, imports from India worth $139.334 million against the imports of $139.626 million, decrease of 0.20 percent while imports from Afghanistan increased by 3.48 percent from $127.455 million to $131.897 million.

Meanwhile, imports from Sri Lanka witnessed 3.38 percent decrease from $65.144 million to $62.936 million whereas Pakistan Imports from Bangladesh recorded at $72.617 million from $61.741 million during last year. The imports from Nepal into the country witnessed increase of 24.25 percent from $0.878 million to $1.091 million, it said.

Bilawal praises ECP for withstanding former govt’s pressure news desk PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Monday said his party supports all institutions in their effort to transition from “controversial to constitutional” roles.

According to a statement issued by the PPP Media Cell, Bilawal praised the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Sikandar Sultan Raja, for withstanding the pressure exerted by the former government and improving the functioning and standing of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

“Imran Khan’s politics now is to target all institutions with his Mujay Ku Nahi Bachaya campaign; his politics is now based on lies and propaganda,” he said.

Bilawal said the masses know that the only reason Imran Khan is targeting the ECP is that Raja — whom the PTI had chosen itself — “refused to turn the ECP into Imran Khan’s tiger force”.

“He has stood with this institution and the Constitution, and if this attitude continues, we have hopes of seeing an empowered ECP in the future,” Bilawal added.

The PPP chairman went on to say that Imran Khan’s protest call outside the offices of the ECP was tantamount to a “blatant pressure tactic to further bully, blackmail, and pressure the institution into not releasing the damning foreign funding decisions related to the PTI.” “All such efforts will fail. The truth will prevail, Insha Allah,” he added.

On Sunday, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry announced that the party will protest outside the ECP offices across the country against the CEC Sikander Sultan Raja’s “attitude”.

Taking to Twitter, Fawad said that the PTI’s political committee met and reviewed “matters related” to the ECP. Fawad alleged that CEC’s Raja had gone to “extremes of impartiality and dishonesty” and had claimed that “under a plan” the ECP was not issuing the notification to unseat the dissident MNAs of the party.

“Therefore, the PTI will protest outside the ECP’s office across the country on April 26, Tuesday, against the election commissioner’s attitude,” said Fawad.

He had added that all district offices of the PTI have been issued instructions

regarding the protest.

The PTI has been accusing the ECP of acting impartially ever since the Islamabad High Court ordered the electoral body to wrap up the PTI’s foreign funding case within 30 days.

The orders were issued on April 14 by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on applications filed by the PTI, asking for Akbar S Babar’s separation from the case, the dismissal of the case, and keeping the PTI documents secret.

The PTI had challenged the ECP’s applications seeking the exclusion of Babar, the petitioner, from the foreign funding case.

It had also demanded that all records of the case, including the documents requisitioned through the State Bank of Pakistan, should not be shared with Babar, who had filed the case in November 2014.

However, the IHC ruled that the ECP’s role “is of important nature and same cannot be curtailed in any manner”. It noted that the body is a “supervisory, regulatory and administrative body under the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, to deal with the affairs of political parties, election, and its results”.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAHORE

04 NEWS

AmIr HAyAt beCOmeS new PIA CeO AS ArSHAd mAlIK retIreS ISLAMABAD

A

Staff RepoRt

IR Vice Marshal (AVM) Amir Hayat has assumed the charge as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as Arhsad Malik has completed his tenure and stands retired.

Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat was appointed as Adviser to President & CEO PIA Air Marshal (Retired) Arshad Malik in October 2020.

The PIA through its Twitter handler made the announcement, saying that Malik completes his tenure as the CEO and bids farewell with a wish for a great and prosperous future for PIA and Pakistan.

Police arrests accused in abduction of Sikh youth

A spokesman for PIA said that they had issued advertisement for the appointment of new CEO of the national flag carrier.

Arshad Malik was appointed as vice chief of air staff and on April 25 (today) he was retired from the service on completion of his term. Arhsad Malik was appointed in October 2018.

Amid the Arshad Malik stint as PIA CEO, six planes became part of the PIA fleet.

During his era, PIA staff strength declined significantly from 550 to 260 on average.

Arhsad Malik initiated departmental inquiry and action against 1100 employees and 800 employees were kicked out from the PIA on having fake degrees. The sacking of employees was part of a cost-cutting campaign.

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD

SWAT Police have finally arrested the accused in abduction of a youth belonging to Sikh community. A man named Karam Chand had lodged an FIR at Mingora police station in which he alleged that his son Taran Kumar had been abducted by his brothers namely Janam Raj, Prem Chand and nephew Jatinder Kumar.

DSP City Badshah Hazrat Khan while giving a press briefing along with SHO Mingora City Mujeeb Alam Khan, said that on August 9, 2021, Karam Chand filed a case of abduction of his son Taran Kumar. Taran Kumar, who had been missing for five months, also came to the police station with injuries on his hands and claimed to have been kidnapped by his uncles and cousin. Taran said he was released in Hassan Abdal area after being held hostage for five months.

Police arrested the three accused and sent them to prisoners. “However, during the interrogation, it was revealed that Taj Muhammad, resident of Kedam area, disguising himself as a Religious leader, took Taran Kumar to Lahore and disappeared for five months, fearing divine punishment for the family besides his father Karam Chand,” Said DSP Badshah Hazart. He said that the accused Taj Mohammad also received Rs. 5.4 Millions and 75,000 from Tarn Kumar’s father Karam Chand through fraud and deception. After the proper investigation, the police arrested the main accused Taj Muhammad and his facilitator sister-in-law named Faiza and both the accused were formally charged in the FIR. He said that a challan will be submitted in the court to remove the innocent accused from the case.

rently around 10,000 authorised dealers of oil companies in the country. The number of the unlicensed and unauthorised dealers is unlimited, and the government does not have any data about them.

These unlicensed dealers have hoarded large quantities of diesel the demand of which has increased, with its daily consumption has risen from 23,000 tonnes to 33,000 tonnes, due to the harvesting of wheat.

The diesel supply has been affected due to increase in its consumption, and, political opposition is also considered to be an element in its artificial shortage.

LHC suspends notification of schedule for first phase of LB polls in Punjab LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Lahore High Court has suspended the notification of the schedule for the first phase of local bodies elections in Punjab.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Shujaat Ali Khan announced the verdict on Monday.

The court sought a reply from the relevant parties in-

For pursuing the Priyantha Kumara case in the High Court, the Punjab Prosecution Department has issued notification regarding the constitution of a five-member prosecutors committee. Secretary Prosecution Nadeem Sarwar informed this while chairing an important held here on Monday. He said the committee comprises of Additional Prosecutor General Khuram Khan, Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf Wattoo, Deputy Prosecutor General Asmat Ullah Khan, Deputy Prosecutor General Asghar Ali and Deputy Prosecutor General Rai Akhtar Hussain.

Secretary Prosecutor Nadeem Sarwar has said that highly professional prosecutors were included in the committee which would apprise the Secretary Prosecution about the progress of the case on each hearing in the High Court.

Staff RepoRt

Staff RepoRt

NewS DeSk

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

FO deplores Indian advisory warning students against studying in Pakistan

Govt orders stern action against diesel hoarders The government Monday took notice of the shortage of diesel in the country and decided to take stern action against those involved in creating its artificial shortage.

According to the official sources, a high-level virtual meeting was chaired by Secretary Petroleum Ali Raza Bhutta during which it was briefed that the country had the required reserves of petroleum products.

The meeting was also told that the required 21-day stock of diesel and 31-day stock of petrol was available in the country, and, an artificial shortage of diesel was created on the rumours of Rs52 per litre rise in its prices.

The meeting decided to take stern action against the hoarders of diesel, instructing all chief secretaries of the four provinces to carry out raids and cancel licenses of the dealers involved in the hoarding of the diesel.

The meeting also directed the authorities concerned to ensure the stable supply of the diesel and tighten the monitoring of diesel stock of authorised dealers.

The officials of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and representatives of oil marketing companies had attended the meeting.

According to the well-placed sources, there are cur-

5-member Prosecutor Committee notified to pursue the Priyantha Kumara case

cluding the Election Commission of Pakistan on 25th of next month.

The President Lahore High Court Bar Association Sardar Akbar Dogar had filed the petition in which he maintained that as per ECP Schedule the Local Government Amendment Ordinance will expire on June 10 and the official results will be announced on June 14.

The petition stated that the notification issued by the Election Commission is illegal and unconstitutional.

Islamabad on Monday deplored a so-called “public notice” issued by higher education bodies of India urging students not to pursue education in Pakistan, warning them of denial of employment if they decide to act otherwise. In an advisory issued on Friday for Indian nationals and overseas citizens, the University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education said that all “concerned” are advised “not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing Higher Education.” Those intending to receive education in Pakistan, will not be eligible for employment or further education in India, the regulators said. “Any Indian national/Overseas Citizen of India who intends to take admission in any degree (of) college/educational institution of Pakistan shall not be eligible for seeking employment or higher studies in India on the basis of such educational qualifications (in any subject) acquired in Pakistan,” the advisory said. A Foreign Office statement issued Monday said Pakistan strongly deplored the move, terming the tone not only threatening towards the students but also reeking tyrannical authoritarianism. “It is regrettable that driven by its incurable obsession with Pakistan, the government of India is unabashedly coercing the students in order to deter them from pursuing quality education of their choice,” it said. The statement said the contents of the public notice had further exposed the combined deepseated ideological animus and chronic hostility of Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (BJP-RSS) towards Pakistan. “It is deplorable that as part of its mission “Hindu Rashtra,” the Indian government has resorted to such moves in order to stoke hyper-nationalism in the country,” it said. The FO said the government had sought clarification from the Indian government with reference to the said public notice.

PITB fails to develop websites of all government departments LAHORE Shahab omeR

Despite spending over RS 34 million, the Punjab Information and Technology Board (PITB) has not been able to develop websites of all government departments including administrative departments, attached departments, autonomous bodies, district authorities, special institutions, initiatives, projects, etc. in two years whereas only 93 websites were developed for government agencies, Profit learnt.

According to the details, PITB has been developing websites for Government departments since 2011, however, when the PTI government came to power in Punjab, a project titled ‘Streamlining & Strengthening Web Presence of PITB was started in 2019.

The project aimed to strengthen and streamline the online presence of the Punjab government for better information dissemination, transparency and enhanced public service delivery.

According to further details, there were 800+ Government departments and entities [including administrative departments, attached departments, autonomous bodies, district authorities, special institutions, initiatives, projects, etc.] whereas the project was approved in October 2019 at Departmental Development Sub-committees (DDSC) level and project approved cost was PKR 68.69 million.

As per documents, the initial gestation period of the project was 12 months that was later revised to 20 months till June 2021 whereas the amount released till June 2021 was Rs 34 million and expenditure was also RS 34 million whereas a total of RS 12.40 million was expenditure in FY 2019-20 and RS 25.304 million was planned expenditure for FY 2020-21, however actual expenditure was PKR 22 million.

The documents also stated that a total of 54 percent utilization of funds was done in HR head while 16 percent was done in Services Rendered to other head.

The documents obtained from a sub department of Planning and Development Board, the objectives of the project were to ensure online presence of all the government bodies and projects of Punjab as per the global web standards and improve credibility and reputations of government bodies and strengthen their role in effective public services delivery.

Similarly, it was also aimed to made it easier for the government to engage the public and disseminate the information effectively and leverage technology to provide access and automate recurring tasks.

The documents further said that it was planned to have a customized illustration ensuring effective representation of the image and functions of the departments, in line with the emerging trends of user experience and to ensure quality presentations of the

content for efficient access of information required by the web visitor.

Under the project it was also aimed to improve the standard of content to be presented online and to build capacity of government bodies to produce quality content and consistently deliver powerful content and insights to the public on a routine basis without any dependency.

However, later the project was evaluated

by P&D’s DG&ME and in its report the department revealed that the project objectives were not well aligned with project activities.

“The websites of all Government bodies were not developed. Only 93 websites were developed, out of which 81 new websites and 12 websites were revamped for different

CMYK

Punjab Government departments. No such activity designed in the project indicates improvement in credibility and reputation of government bodies and strengthen their role in effective public services delivery”.

“It needs a holistic approach to develop a mechanism that ensures effective public services delivery. As per PC-IV funds utilized i.e. PKR 12.40 million in HR pays only which indicates that hardware, logistics and utilities that are required for these HR to perform their duties. PITB already has arranged these from existing inventory. So is there still a need to buy new equipment for the project,” report said.

In its observation the report further stated that in electronic communication head

PKR 3 million was expenditure for year 2020-21, which was on higher side and no vehicle was procured in the project so POL expenditure for FY 2020-21 may be justified by the department.

“The departmental websites were developed using the open source Drupal content management system (CMS). The usage of CMS for web development reduces development cost and effort.

“It is observed that most websites have a standard list of menu items and only differ in terms of home page and color scheme. Even similar color schemes and home pages exist for District Govt., DHQ, THQ and DPO offices websites. The cost of Rendered Services to others is on high end. The expenditure for FY 2020-21 is PKR 6 million, when it is translated to 93 websites it turns out to be PKR 65 thousands per site,” report revealed.

The report further stated that the visitor counter and end user feedback mechanism should be developed in departmental websites.

“Home page editing rights and templates for homepage may be available so users can edit and update home page. The website content update may be monitored periodically and communicated to administrative departments about update of contents. Once the website is live departments rarely need technical support from PITB so HR of the project may be rationalized,” report concluded.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAhore

NewS

05

Pakistan registers sLight shift in its afghanistan outLook: PiPs iSLamaBad

P

staff RepoRt

AKISTAN’S outlook of Afghanistan seems to have slightly changed during the first quarter of this year due to the neighbouring country’s security loopholes and the Taliban administration’s “deafening” silence towards banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other extremist groups operating from Afghan soil.

Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based policy research and advocacy think tank, in its 3rd quarterly monitor report on Afghanistan titled “Perspectives from Pakistan on Afghan Peace and Reconciliation” stated that although Pakistan has continued lobbying for the Taliban government’s recognition and ral-

lying for humanitarian aid for Afghans, but it is crystal clear that its policy towards Afghanistan will be shaped by the Taliban’s responses on Pakistan’s border and internal securities as well as countering terrorism efforts.

The report covers the period from January to March 2022. It is the outcome of comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the opinions of different segments of Pakistani society and state institutions on the emerging Afghan situation, and its perceived impact on Pakistan.

As year 2022 began, many political analysts projected that Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban will become tense due to growing tension along the border, mainly due to the Taliban’s aggressive response to Pakistan’s fencing of the border, and an increase in terrorist violence in Pakistan by the TTP

rehabilitation of Lower topa-Jhika gali 3km road to be completed by eid raWaLpindi INp

Following the directions of Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Noor-ul-Amin Mengal, the Highway Department has initiated the rehabilitation of three kilometer road from Lower Topa to Jhika Gali which be completed

by Eid-ul-Fitar. Deputy Commissioner Noor ul Amin Mengal had pointed out repair and maintenance of various main and link roads amid his last visit to Murree. It was briefed that a new 07 km road will be constructed from Kuldana to Mall Road and from Sunny Bank to GPO Chowk. Noor-ul-Amin Mengal said that for a recreational place like Murree, restoration and repair work of roads is most important so that tourists may not face any difficulty. In this regard, rehabilitation of about 40 kms of Main and Link Roads of Murree has been started for which a huge amount of Rs.500 million has been allocated.

In addition to repair, re-carpeting, guard railing repairs and lane marking will also be done. He directed that sign boards should be pasted on both sides of the roads in order to guide the tourists so that the accident rate could be reduced. DC Mengal said that apart from Eid days, tourists would be more inclined towards Murree due to summer. Therefore, the repair and maintenance work of the roads should be completed as soon as possible. Because after the completion, these roads will be a convenience not only for the tourists but also for the locals.

Miftah rules out immediate hike in PoL prices Continued from page 01 The SBP Amendment Bill, 2021, was approved by the Senate on Jan 28 this year amid strong protest from the opposition parties, primarily the PPP and the PML-N. The bill promises complete autonomy to the central bank and places a complete restriction on the government’s borrowing from the central bank. However, the government now can borrow at a market rate from commercial banks, which will benefit private banks owned by business elites, according to the opposition.

The passage of the bill was one of the conditions set by the IMF for the release of $1 billion to the country. In response to another question, the minister said the government had no plans to amend any law at least for a year. Miftah vowed the government would take measures for the facilitation of the poor in days to come. The bill was approved by the Senate on January 28 this year amid strong protest from the opposition parties, primarily the PPP and the PML-N. Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that he believes the laws that the previous government amended to meet the IMF’s conditions were wrong and need to be reserved.

and Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) terrorist groups, reads the report.

However, Pakistan did not slow down its diplomatic as well as humanitarian support to the interim government of Taliban, it adds.

“Though the Taliban’s approach towards border fencing is different from expectations but reaction given by Pakistan military leadership is also very composed.”

Despite a political shift that has happened in the landlocked country, Afghan soil is still being used against Pakistan, says the study. “Other countries in the neighborhood are also worried about the likelihood of an outflux of militant violence from Afghanistan.”

The media analysis conducted by PIPS shows that ongoing developments in Afghanistan are likely to have serious consequences for Pakistan.

“This will undoubtedly bring religion into politics in Pakistan more than ever before.” Secondly, most media commentaries and analyses projected that Pakistan’s internal and border insecurity would increase as the Taliban remain reluctant to act against anti-Pakistan militants sheltered there. The issue has been a major challenge for Pakistan’s policymakers.

The report finds that most international engagements of the Taliban regime during the quarter under review were without any involvement or assistance of Pakistan, showing that Kabul rulers are gradually distancing themselves from Islamabad.

Yet, Afghanistan remained a central topic in almost all multilateral and bilateral engagements of Pakistan.

While last quarter saw Pakistan making all efforts to resolve matters with the TTP on

table, there was only little progress on talks with the banned group during the quarter under review, according to this research.

The report indicates that the US might work with the Taliban to contain militant groups including Islamic State Khorasan (ISK), Daesh, and Al-Qaeda.

“Pakistan is walking a tightrope,” says the report. “It is not ready to recognize the new Afghan government unilaterally, but it is also not ready to let Afghanistan go down the path of fire and destruction.”

In its policy recommendations for Pakistan, the report proposes that the country should keep its security interests in mind while endorsing the Taliban’s viewpoint, particularly on the rights of women.

It suggests that Pakistan needs to formulate a joint counter terrorism framework that addresses border security, trade, and travel.

Appeal filed against ATC verdict in Sri Lankan citizen’s lynching case neWS deSk At least two accused who were convicted by a trial court for their involvement in the lynching of Sri Lanka citizen Piryantha Kumara in Sialkot over blasphemy allegations have challenged the decision of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) over the “violation of the cardinal principle of justice”.

In an appeal filed by Taimoor Ahmed and Muhammad Ahmed, their lawyer Hafiz Israrul Haq termed the conviction illegal and said that his clients were not nominated in the FIR and in a supplementary statement. He said no identification parade was held, adding that the name of the eyewitness was not even mentioned in the FIR.

Taimoor had been awarded a death sentence on two counts and 11-year rigorous imprisonment while Muhammad had been awarded eight years of rigorous imprisonment for involvement in the crime.

“There are glaring contradictions between the complainant and other witnesses which makes the case of the prosecution doubtful. The prosecution witnesses who appeared in the witness box are interested, inimical to the accused as one of the prosecution witnesses Adnan Malik, whom the factory workers believed as a hero, was the main accused and his evidence cannot be believed to award punishment,” the appeal alleged.

According to the appeal, the lynching took place out of reach of the CCTV cam-

eras but the court still admitted “inadmissible evidence of footage of mobile phones”. It said the makers of these videos neither appeared before the court nor did they share the original source of the video.

“There is established principle of criminal law that if some plea is spelling out from the circumstances of the case benefit of that is to be given to the accused in spite of his denial of occurrence,” it added.

“It is a cardinal principle of justice that accused is entitled to very little doubt and in this case, so many infirmities were available which created doubts in the prosecution story, the judgment is harsh and against the settled principle of law,” the appeal added. It termed the judgement of

Narowal admin imposes penalty on unregistered tractors, workshops LaHore

the trial court an “outcome of misreading and non-reading of the evidence available on the record”. They prayed that the impugned judgement be set aside.

On April 18, at least 88 convicts had been convicted by the ATC while one accused was acquitted. The court awarded the death sentence to six accused while nine people were awarded life terms. At least 72 were sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment each on three counts and one year each on two counts.

Kumara, a factory manager in Sialkot, was killed in December 2021 by a mob over blasphemy allegations. His body was violated and set on fire by the angry mob.

The killing had drawn widespread condemnation.

indian security officials claim to arrest nine Pakistan citizens, seize drugs

staff RepoRt

In compliance with the directions of Punjab Ombudsman retired Maj. Azam Suleman Khan, the deputy commissioner of Narowal has imposed and received Rs712,500 as fine and registration fees during a district-wise 60-day long campaign against non-registered tractors, trollies, and workshops.

This order was issued on the complaint of one Taimoor Akram of Narowal district who pointed out that out of a total of 10,421 tractors and trollies plying in the district, 67 tractors and trollies are being commercially used while 90 tractors and trollies have been registered for agricultural purposes only.

The rest of the tractors and trollies, nearing 9,950, are registered for agricultural purposes, he added.

However, the applicant complained that the tractors and trollies are being illegally used for commercial purposes which also results in evasion of registration fees and annual token tax.

The brakes of non-registered tractors and trollies should be in accordance with registered axle load to avoid any accident, he stated.

Taking cognizance of the situa-

neW deLHi ReuteRs

Indian authorities on Monday claimed to have arrested nine Pakistan nationals on suspicion of smuggling a large cache of drugs into the country through the Arabian sea route, said senior police officials in the western state of Gujarat. “We have arrested nine Pakistani nationals and seized 56 packets of heroin, each weighing 1 kg, from a boat that had entered into Indian waters from Pakistan,” said Amit Vishwakarma, inspector general of the anti-terror squad in Gujarat state. Local officials estimated the drugs to be worth $37 million. India has accused Pakistan of encouraging drug mafias to run networks across the border, a charge that Islamabad rejects.

tion, the ombudsman office directed the Narowal DC to constitute assistant commissioners-led committees comprising excise, police, environment, and transport departments officials for taking daily action against non-registered tractors and trollies. The ombudsman office further directed that registration of qualified workshops should be ensured along with action against the non-registered workshops in the district. The compliance report submitted by DC

Narowal to the ombudsman office intimated that Rs45,000 as a registration fee has been received in the 60-day long exercise against unregistered tractors, trollies, and workshops in three tehsils of the district along with the imposition of Rs478,500 fine to challaned vehicles.

Meanwhile, the environment department has imposed an Rs89,000 fine while the bodybuilding workshops are fined one lac rupees, the report added.

Nawaz Sharif issued passport to help return home Continued from page 01 the pmL-n supremo was granted an eight-week bail on medical grounds in october 2019, and a month later, he was allowed to travel abroad for treatment for four weeks — but he is still in

CmYk

London to date.

Khan had repeatedly lashed out at nawaz for going abroad for treatment, but earlier in february, he noted that letting the pmL-n supremo leave pakistan was a “major mistake” of his government.

govt to devise strategy against Pti’s islamabad long march after eid iSLamaBad staff RepoRt

The ruling alliance is mulling over to sit together after Eid to plan a strategy against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) march towards Islamabad besides also deciding the fate of President Arif Ali and Chairman Senate. According to sources privy to the matter, heads of the ruling alliance and parliamentary leaders would sit together after Eid to consult over strategy to deal with PTI’s march towards Islamabad announced by Imran Khan. “The meeting will also mull over an alternate for President Arif Alvi,” they said, adding PPP and JUI-F have already proposed their names for the presidency.

Although the government does not have enough number-two third majority of the Parliament to de-seat Arif Alvi, the sources said that the meeting would mull over to work on PTI members who have resigned from National Assembly. “Steps needed to increase pressure on president will also be mulled over,” they said, adding that expert opinion on the matter will also be sought from legal fraternity.

06-07 Comments - 26th April 2022_Layout 1 4/25/2022 10:08 PM Page 1

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022

06 COMMENT

Government’s law reform challenge

Sugar coating the bitter pill A breathing space for government

K

NOWING that moves were afoot to pass a noconfidence move against him former PM Imran Khan announced a reduction of rs10 per litre in petrol/diesel and rs5 in electricity prices. This was meant to be a populist move aimed at raising public support for a beleaguered government and creating difficulties for the next administration if the no-confidence move succeeded. The move gave birth to apprehensions about the fate of the next tranche of the $6 billion extended Fund Facility (eFF). recently the situation in Sri Lanka added further worries regarding the state of the national economy. It soothed many people’s nerves when new Finance Minister Miftah Ismael dispelled the impression that the current financial crunch could force Pakistan to default. The decision to stay in the IMF programme would end a phase of political uncertainty and bring clarity in economic policies and put an end to turmoil in markets.

While it would be hyperbolic to call it a ‘breakthrough’ as being projected by some, what the new economic team has managed to achieve is a breathing space. The Fund has been assured that the new administration takes full responsibility for the previous government’s commitments and sovereign guarantees but wants a stalled implementation of some of IMF’s conditions to reduce the severity of the impact on the common man, Miftah Ismael agreed to end amnesty scheme for industries but sought delay in the increase of power tariff.

While agreeing that there was a need to end to the fuel subsidy because it was creating a fiscal hole, Pakistan’s economic team emphasized the costs in the form of mass suffering and unrest if it was implemented in one go. The government is supposedly meditating a plan of a fixed quota of subsidized petrol for motorcyclists but no subsidy for cars.

There are also suggestions to cut down development work and utilize these funds for more targeted subsides for the poor.

The government possesses no rational plan for targeted subsidies to the rising number of the poor. An IMF team would be Islamabad next month to give a final shape to the agreement. Imran Khan meanwhile is ready to use any sign of pubic unrest to fuel anti-government sentiment. It will require a lot of ingenuity on the part of the government to balance the needs of the masses and the demands of the IMF.

Is the new law minister up to the task?

MohaMMad YahYa Farid Khwaja

O

Ne of the many tasks that PTI government had taken to head was reformation of the criminal legal system. Farogh Naseem undertook a three year exercise to accomplish this behemoth task. When the draft copy of the amendments was publicly shared, the same received immense flak for being a cosmic exercise over a law that required major overhaul. A more embarrassing denigration was of plagiarism.

Majority of the amendments were complete “copypaste” from Indian criminal law amendments. Without delving into the merits of the same, just the idea of how reform process was carried out by the top legal mind was ironical.

Now that the new boss has taken charge, Farogh’s reforms have hit a snag. While it can be predicted that Farogh’s reforms will be brushed aside for political reasons, there shall be no denying that reformation of our criminal legal system is critical no matter who occupies the office. The new man in charge, Azam Nazir Tarar is a seasoned lawyer of Punjab and would understand the gravity of the situation. He has also served as Vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, the highest elected body of lawyers in Pakistan. Tarar brings more credibility to the law ministry which is a sine quo non for any major reform process acceptable to the bar and to the judiciary. Former Law Minister, though a successful lawyer, was not a man liked by his colleagues. The reference of Justice Isa had further eroded his credibility. His major constituency of lawyers was up in arms against him.

The system is crippled and it needs a major shake-up. Moreover, reforming the system would be a tremendous feat for the incumbent government which is already under pressure to show immediate results. eventually elections would be announced.

The government would need a convincing narrative to win electoral vote bank. The ideal choice of large infrastructure projects won’t be available for paucity of funds and lack of time. Law amendments would not only give them credibility as a neutral government but also win them more votes. Moreover, amendments in law come cheap compared to orange lines, dams or motorways. Amending the legal system can gain valuable support from the media, lawyers, judiciary, civil society, think-tanks and most importantly, the litigants who number in thousands.

Rise of the right Macron’s victory in French election no reason to celebrate

F

reNCH President emmanuel Macron has secured another term in office, a first in two decades, with around 58.6 per cent of the vote, while his far-right rival Marine Le Pen managed an impressive 41.4 per cent, narrowing the margin since the two faced-off last in 2017 when it was 66.1 per cent to 33.9 per cent. Although this is the third time Le Pen has failed to win the election, the gains she has made over the past five years are a testament to how her extreme anti-immigration policy, ultra-nationalistic outlook for France, unhinged Islamophobia and advocacy for better ties with russia has succeeded in attracting more voters. Macron is essentially a ‘centrist’ with a penchant for passing anti-Muslim legislation such as banning headscarves in schools, which is why he is mostly resented by the 5 to 6 million Muslims in France, but was still viewed as the lesser of two evils compared to Le Pen. right-wing nationalist parties have gained prominence in europe in the past few years, with many, such as the AfD in Germany and Vox in Spain emerging as prominent opposition parties. Perhaps the most successful example of a populist demagogue coming to power in the West in recent years is US president Donald Trump who despite his plethora of troubling character flaws and problematic past, was able to secure victory in 2016 through a concentrated campaign based on hate, division and lies. Trump’s presidency saw the advent of illogical terms such as ‘alternative-facts’ and ‘posttruth-world’, signifying a fundamental deterioration in the health of the body politic. It is no wonder why Trump was most comfortable around leaders with fascist tendencies such as Vladimir Putin and Narinder Modi.

Pakistan too has seen a similar, albeit nascent, trend emerge. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan built his narrative of being the beacon of morality and simplicity by relentlessly berating PML-N and PPP’s leadership, accusing them of being amoral and financially corrupt. After being ousted through a vote of no confidence brought against him by the same political parties, he has now labelled them traitors as well, who conspired with the US remove him from power.

His claims however, have little to nothing to do with reality.

It is an unfortunate reality that in the absence of an effective counter narrative and a method to effectively disseminate it, politicians will attempt to win elections by taking extreme positions on sensitive issues, causing severe polarization in society which is already apparent and increasing by the day.

A new set of analogies and euphemisms Amidst this painful ordeal on both sides as the power struggle continues; the audience comprising citizens from all walks of life are amused by the reference to ‘cricket’ by both leaders.

Political discourse analysis of written and spoken speech ranging from the highest political flanks including Prime Ministers and Parliamentarians to political analysts and editors of news, to the general public; reveals that the register of cricket is widely being used.

Imran Khan’s use of cricket terms in his political speeches is well known. More interesting however, was the rapid spread of this register by other political leaders both by the parliamentarians and opposition.

Soon the reference to cricket was adopted by media and the newspapers and hosts and participants of televised discussions reported political events in their spoken and written discourse. The hype of using

A

Yousaf Nizami Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

cricket terms finally entered in the public domain and was soon used widely by the leaders and the public both in the formal and informal political discourse.

The political discourse to identify cricket terminology used before the vote of no-confidence was passed in spoken and written discourse; include phrases that include ‘Neutral umpire,’ loyalty to ‘Captain or Skipper’, ‘he scored a sixer’, will play to the ‘last ball’, by Parliamentarians’; and phrases used by opposition include phrases such as ‘he has been ‘stumped’, go ‘back to the pavilion’, and to show ‘sportsman spirit’.

An interesting use of this register was a comment by a seasoned and highly respected barrister on social media: I would not like to get into a debate on the recent political events; but I must say that ‘Imran Khan hit a sixer and no one knows where the ball is.’ The development of the new register is likely to increase in political discourse, as the political environment gets more heated in the months to come.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Imran Khan’s use of cricket terms in his political speeches is well known. More interesting however, was the rapid spread of this register by other political leaders both by the parliamentarians and opposition

new register of cricket in political discourse has developed during the last six weeks marked by political turmoil. As political tension continues between the sitting prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, who is well known at home and abroad for his term as Chief Minister of Punjab; and the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who received fame as Captain of the Pakistan cricket team that won the World Cup in Australia; the register is getting more firmly entrenched in political discourse.

Cricket is an all-time favourite sport for Pakistanis and they are familiar with the terminology of cricket irrespective of gender and class. Cricketers from the streets of Karachi to the valleys of Swat and Gilgit-Baltistan, the young not only enjoy playing cricket from early childhood, they also vye to be selected for the national team. Not surprising as many cricket champions, belong to modest families and bring laurels at home and abroad.

In recent events the public witnessed with despair the political conflict starting with the ‘no confidence motion,’ by a coalition of tripartite of three major parties in the opposition led by Shahbaz Sharif, and stiff resistance by the party in power led by Imran Khan.

Founding Editor

Joint Editor

The writer is Partner at Farid & Farid Law Firm

Sabiha ManSoor

Arif Nizami (Late)

M. A. Niazi

Another important aspect requiring reform would be the misuse of power of arrest by the law enforcement agencies and the provision of bail by the judiciary. The entire concept of arrest without warrant would have to be rethought to put more checks and balances against the LEAs against arresting accused without formidable evidences or charges

Political discourse and cricket

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

There are few areas in the criminal legal system that would require immediate attention of the new worthy law minister. First and foremost is the pendency of cases before all courts of Pakistan. The delay can be attributed to our flimsy structure of long adjournments by lawyers and judges, frequent transfer of judges, lack of case management system and delay in filing of Challans by Police. Presently, out of 81,000 prisoners only 21,000 are convicted. The rest await trial or are victims of a painfully slow and decaying criminal legal system. Considering that the new Law Minister has a voice within the legal fraternity, reforms which require change of behavioral attitude of lawyers would have chances to break through.

Moreover, the law minister’s good repute within the judiciary may also imply that judiciary would be receptive to the idea of taking the bull by the horns i.e. reforming itself.

Structural improvements and reforms would be required within the judicial structure of Pakistan. Currently, there is a singular stream within the judiciary of Pakistan. A person aspiring to be a criminal judge has to be tested in the field of civil law and might be given the portfolio of civil judge in the future. It is imperative that criminal judiciary is made wholly independent of the civil judiciary and an independent Session Judge is appointed for every District who oversees the criminal judiciary and criminal cases in the District. Currently the District Judge is also given the additional portfolio of Session i.e. criminal matters. Once the criminal judiciary is made independent, focus can be put on training of judges in the field of criminal law which would include forensics, ballistics, medicolegal and law of evidence.

Another important aspect requiring reform would be the misuse of power of arrest by the law

enforcement agencies and the provision of bail by the judiciary. The entire concept of arrest without warrant would have to be rethought to put more checks and balances against the LeAs against arresting accused without formidable evidences or charges. Currently, only on the basis suspicion police can arrest any individual and seek remand. Seeking remand by Police shall be limited to recovery of any incriminating evidence rather than recording a statement from the accused which in most of the cases is rejected for being given under duress.

Lastly and most importantly, the concept of justice of peace must be restored to its original position and linked with the public safety commissions which have so far not been made operational. Historically, Justice of peace having the powers of arrest, bail, issue search warrants and hear habeas petitions was appointed or elected from the citizens of the areas in which they would serve and were usually not required any formal legal education. A justice of peace is typically someone of a good statute in the community who has roots in the same community.

By giving the powers of Justice of Peace to the Session Judge has made the reason d’etre of having one almost negligible.

A Session Judge has no nexus with the community where he serves. In most cases, he/she does not even belong to that community.

He has to be approached through a lawyer within the realm of our criminal legal system. This formal legal landscape attached to the Justice of Peace becomes a barrier for the community for resolution of grievances against police abuse. Justice of peace can be an elected community elder with a good stature and easily approachable for the community where he serves. Or, the public safety commissions can be reactivated and given equivalent powers of justice of peace.

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

06-07 Comments - 26th April 2022_Layout 1 4/25/2022 10:08 PM Page 2

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Babesiosis in animals

Political crisis deepens Fixation of responsibility

Sajjad ShauKat

B

y bringing the political battles into our bedrooms, social media has made it much difficult for politicians and other heads of the key institutes to speak lies and to hide information.

Pakistan’s political crisis deepened after the ouster of the former Prime Minister Imran Khanchairman of the PTI through vote of no-confidence motion, passed in the National Assembly (NA) on April 9, this year by the then joint opposition-PDM—following the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

PDM members of the assembly were insisting upon the deputy speaker to start voting on the no-trust move, but those of the PTI wanted to conclude final decision of the House about the foreign conspiracy.

PTI lawmakers remarked that under Article 69 of the Constitution, NA speaker’s ruling has immunity and PTI lawmaker Shireen Mazari called the apex court’s verdict a “judicial coup”.

However, extraordinary developments of midnight of April 9 and April 10, 2022 surprised the nation. In this regard, filing of an emergency petition by Advocate Adnan Iqbal in the Islamabad High Court, seeking to restrain then Premier Khan from de-notifying Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa is notable.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial also opened the SCP to initiate contempt of court against the NA speaker, if court’s order on notrust motion was not implemented.

Sources suggest that Islamabad had been put on high alert and prison vans had been deployed—police had been increased ahead of the no-trust vote against then PM Khan. The FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] immigration was directed to strictly enforce the ban on government officials going abroad. It is unclear that who was behind these moves, while Imran Khan was still prime minister.

BBC on April 10, 2022 indicated: “When Imran Khan was elected prime minister…had the covert backing of what in Pakistan is referred to as the establishment or the military. The army has either directly or indirectly controlled the country”.

In this respect, the ISPr rejected various false reports of the foreign media, and a report by the BBC Urdu “fake”.

But, fact remains that leaders of the then opposition parties-PDM were calling the ex-Premier Khan as the “selected prime minister”, while saying that the PTI government was installed by the “establishment” through rigging in the elections of 2018. They were using these terms to blame Pakistan Army or army chief.

Meanwhile, NA selected Shehbaz Sharif as the

new prime minister after the PTI MNAs boycotted the election and resigned from the lower house.

The former PM Imran Khan decided to go to the public, demanding early elections, and announced to launch a mass movement against the PDM. On Khan’s call, the PTI on April 10 and April 16, 2022 staged countrywide protests against the “imported government”. recently, addressing a massive crowd in Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore, the ex-Premier Khan almost repeated his previous statements.

Blaming the US, he said: “A major international conspiracy was carried out against his government and this country…I cannot allow our country to become a slave to anyone”. referring to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he elaborated: One Mir Jaffer has been imposed on us via a conspiracy…the US officials had started meeting the leaders of the then opposition parties at the American embassy…the US official Donald Lu met the Pakistani ambassador…had threatened him that if the no-confidence motion was not successful then it will be very difficult for Pakistan…Pakistan would be “forgiven” if the no-confidence motion succeeds”.

He stated: “The United States was not happy with his independent foreign policy…to see Pakistan’s relations flourishing with China and russia…US questioned my visit to russia”.

The PTI chairman mentioned that the courts were opened at 12 am on the day of the vote of no confidence, saying, “I want to ask what crime I was committing that the courts were opened at odd hours”.

The ex-PM Khan appreciated the Army, but, criticised it indirectly, stating: “I knew the match was fixed…I asked the Supreme Court why it did not investigate the diplomatic cypher”.

He added: “We don’t want any confrontation but the mistake of imposing the “imported government” can only be rectified by holding immediate elections in the country” and asked the people “to get ready for his call to gathering in Islamabad in the next phase of the movement”.

He also asked the judiciary why they did not take suo motu action when the PTI’s dissident lawmakers betrayed their mandate by violating Constitution’s article 63.

And leaders of the then joint opposition parties challenged the authenticity of the ‘threat letter’.

During a recent press conference, former interior minister Sheikh rashid Ahmed, condemning the criticism of the Pakistan Army on social media, apparently acknowledged the “misunderstandings” of the PTI with the military.

While, during the Formation Commanders’ Conference chaired by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the country’s top military brass has taken notice of the recent propaganda campaign by some quarters to malign Pakistan Army and create a division between the institution and society.

But, the Islamabad High Court restrained the FIA from harassing PTI’s social media activists.

In a recent press briefing, DG of ISPr MajGen. Babar Iftikhar stated that the word ‘conspiracy’ was not mentioned in the communiqué issued following the meeting of the National Security Committee. But, he admitted that the demarche was issued to the foreign country [US] over the use of undiplomatic language which tantamount to interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs. Babar added that Imran Khan contacted the military leadership. responding to the ISPr statement, Shireen Mazari emphatically clarified that deposed Prime Minister Khan had not called the military leadership for help to break the “political deadlock” …instead “the military sought the meeting

through then defence minister [Pervaiz] Khattak…Imran Khan refused option of resigning…

DG ISPr stated that Imran Khan’s russia trip was undertaken after approval from all”.

These contradictory clarifications by the ISPr and PTI are being used by pro and antiPTI supporters and media persons to vindicate their respective narratives.

Notably, in November 2020 when the PDM had launched a movement to topple the elected regime of PTI, addressing a PDM rally in Gujranwala via a video link from London, ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accused army chief Bajwa and ISI chief Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed of rigging elections and toppling his government to install Imran Khan in his place.

Since July 28, 2017 when the Supreme Court announced its verdict in connection with the Panama Papers case and disqualified the then PM Nawaz Sharif regarding corruption charges, the deposed prime minister-head of the PML-N and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were, openly, criticising the Supreme Court and Army. Thus, they had been misguiding the people and were provoking them against the key institutions.

Pakistan’s history is full of constitutional violations. In this context, Gen. Mohammad Ziaul-Haq, the then army chief snatched power from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the elected prime minister— PPP’s chairman in a coup on July 5, 1977. Afterwards, he was executed, which has been called by many renowned persons as a judicial murder.

Constitution was also violated on October 12, 1999 by Gen. (r) Pervez Musharraf’s coup, while Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry issued order that as a chief executive, Gen. Musharraf could administer the government’s affairs.

As regards Pakistan’s politicians, they have always claimed that they nourish democratic ideals, but, we could not establish this system on a strong footing, as under the cover of democracy, they prefer their selfish personal interests over the national interests.

Alliances are formed to win the elections or topple the rival regime. Political leaders also misguide the general masses by forming extreme opinion among them against their opponents.

At present, PTI’s workers have been distorting Army’s image in such a way that general masses have forgotten the sacrifices and services of the armed forces.

Unfortunately, some irresponsible leaders of the PTI and PDM are moving the country towards anarchy or civil war. It could be judged from the Punjab Assembly (PA) which turned into a battlefield on April 16, this year just as the voting for the new chief minister was scheduled to take place. even, PML-N’s parliamentarian Khawaja Muhammad Asif recently admitted that the coalition partners in the government should move for seeking fresh mandate from masses to avert a civil-war like situation in the country.

Nevertheless, in the past and present, mistakes have been committed by almost all the political, judicial and military entities. Let us forget them. But, it does not mean that politicians and people should particularly tarnish Army’s image as an institute, which is coping with internal and external challenges.

At this critical hour, the government and the opposition leaders, including all other segments of society must show selfless national unity to pull the country out of the ongoing serious crisis.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations and can be reached at: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

BABeSIOSIS is caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia. Transmitted by ticks, Babesiosis affects a wide range of domestic and wild animals and occasionally people. Although the major economic impact of Babesiosis is on the cattle industry, infections in other domestic animals, including horses, sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs, assume varying degrees of importance throughout the world.

In this paper, 30 blood sample was collected from a different region of Mianwali. Sample collection criteria of Babesia suspected animals were high fever, appetence, depression, congested mucous membranes, cessation of rumination, and often dark red to brown urine were the most consistent clinical signs in Babesiosis affected cows in acute stages.

Coffee-coloured urine was a characteristic clinical feature in severely affected cases.

This study was based on different diagnostic tests of those animals which were suspected of Babesiosis, each whole blood sample underwent a haematological examination and the serum sample was examined for liver function test. PCr was conducted for confirmatory diagnosis.

Phylogenetic analysis was performed using software to study the genetic origin of the disease. Out of 30 samples, 10 samples were confirmed microscopically positive and for the confirmation of low-level infection to get the exact number of positive samples, PCr was conducted, in which we found 14 samples positive so the overall infection rate was 50%.

Microscopically examination was done by compound microscope at different magnification, primary it was examined on 10X and further to confirm at 100X with oil immersion lens. Microscopically examination of Giemsa-stained slides from diseased cases revealed Babesia as pearshaped forms inside rBCs. PCr process is done by kit.

The mean values of haemato-biochemical parameters in affected and healthy cows showed a vital decrease in values of Hemoglobin and total red blood cell count in the Babesia affected cows as compared to healthy cows. The results of the medical investigation in cows by Babesiosis disclosed a significant reduction in the erythrocytic count, hemoprotein content and packed cell volume, all of this may be because of the damaging impact of the parasite on erythrocytes in infected cows compared thereof apparently healthy.

The parasitemia level of Bigemina was high in the diseased cases, whereas blood films from the clinically healthy animals were free from Babesia. Moreover, MCV, MCH, and MCHC were non-significantly changed and their values were within the normal range in all animals.

These results indicated that Babesiosis affected cows in this study suffered a pronounced normocytic normochromic anaemia during the disease.

Phylogenetic evaluation of Babesiosis had shown to the viable existence. Therefore, molecular, and phylogenetic research are needed in future. These findings advise that Babesiosis impacts the liver and kidneys of the affected animals. The present study can be beneficial in the analysis and treatment (symptomatic) of the disease.

DR SAJID KHAN LAHoRE

Hindered region BALOCHISTAN is the largest province of Pakistan not only in terms of land but also in terms of coastline and resources. Despite all this, the economic crisis, unemployment, hunger, illiteracy, and innumerable other serious injustices like these are at their peak.

This is tragically happening since the country became independent.

We have been caught up in these problems, and the conditions there in the mineral-rich province are worsening; in addition, there are a number of other serious issues that are directly linked to the humanitarian crisis, including forced disappearances, daily sit-ins, scandals like UOB’s and hunger camps which the list continues. The media blackout and lack of internet transmission in Balochistan, have aggravated the anger of its youth.

It is an urgent need of the hour. The government should address these issues as soon as possible. The highest on the priority list are problems with the restoration of the Internet throughout Balochistan, the complete drug trafficking in the province and unannounced bans on political activities in Balochistan.

AMEENULLAH QAMAR BALoCH KARACHI

Intercity transport IN Lahore, I am a student living in a hostel. Most of the time, I take the bus back to my house. As a female student, I have a lot of problems at the terminal because there isn’t a proper private sitting area for females. As a result, women face a lot of issues. The schedule of the buses is the second issue that we must address. Although there is a clearly stated bus timetable in both the private and public sectors, no bus runs on time, causing our parents to wait for us for extended periods of time and to confront several challenges as they wait for us. I implore you to pay close attention to bus terminals, whether they are public or private. ensure that buses run on schedule and that adequate seating locations for women are provided so that they do not have any problems at the terminal in the future.

SADIA SHAHBAZ LAHoRE

What a Judgement SUPreMe COUrT decision is being hailed by all segments of the society as historical and as per the constitution. The public is seen rejoicing and distributing sweets. The decision has reflected the true supremacy of the judiciary over other pillars of the state. It has given strict orders to the Speaker, Prime Minister and the President, on what they should do and by when.

Also, by a “well left” on Article 5 they have skillfully avoided the national imperative and moved on to procedural matters. By calling on stand the politician, who is on bail and has recently been avoiding indictment is bedazzling. Please spare us all this high pitch excitement as most of us already have high blood pressure due to the ongoing political T20.

MRS GHAZALA MALIK PAKISTAN

08 WORLD VIEW 26th April 22_Layout 1 4/25/2022 9:54 PM Page 1

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

Can soCial mEdia Combat misinformation and still grow?

rCP KaLev LeetaRU

a

S social media platforms increasingly emphasize content moderation, “healthy conversations,” and combatting misinformation, the question of how such efforts will affect growth has been largely overlooked. If these changes significantly reduce or restrain growth, do they represent a conflict with platforms’ fiduciary duties to their shareholders?

Twitter’s growth peaked in mid-2013, declined through late 2015, then entered a period of stagnation. It was the CoVID-19 pandemic that rejuvenated the platform, leading to a vertical surge in both posts and users, but then the platform gave up all its pandemic gains in a single day: oct. 21, 2020. Two months later, on Dec. 17, it stopped declining, but was back where it was a decade ago in terms of size.

These dates each have key significance in Twitter’s journey toward “healthy conversations” and combatting misinformation.

In march 2018, Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey unveiled a company initiative around encouraging “more healthy debate, conversations, and critical thinking” on its platform. Two months later, the company

IT APPEARS THAT TWITTER’S ‘HEALTHY CONVERSATION’ EFFORTS HAVE HAD NO MAJOR IMPACT ON THE PLATFORM’S GROWTH announced early results from efforts to combat users who “distort the conversation.” using aI-based filtering, the company tested silently reducing the visibility of selected tweets, which it claimed had resulted in a 4%-8% drop in abuse reports. This was followed in July by the release of a preliminary set of metrics, through which the company would assess the “health” of its platform, one of which was the degree to which the platform was an “echo chamber.”

Throughout 2018, Twitter emphasized its efforts to algorithmically reshape its platform to reduce abuse and make it more welcoming to more users. Twitter’s continued stagnation was described as the positive outcome of removing abusive and spam-like accounts.

Despite these efforts, little seems to have changed at a platform level. Daily tweets and tweeting users did not measurably increase, despite the reduction in abusive content. The percentage of tweets driven by verified users remained unchanged, while replies and mentions of other users continued unchanged on their previous trajectories.

The only major change was that retweeting, which had been growing linearly, leveled off in July 2018 and has remained unchanged,

at just over half of all tweets. This is the same month that the company announced its emphasis on reducing echo chambers, and it occurred in a period of broader societal reckoning over the dangers of retweets. at the same time, if the company’s goal was to reduce echo chambers, one would expect to see a reduction rather than stabilization of retweets, especially of verified users.

The leveling off of retweets could alternatively reflect efforts to combat bot accounts. according to the company, during the 2016 presidential campaign, just 50,000 Russian bots accounted for more than 1% of all election-related activist tweets on the entire platform, retweeting Donald Trump alone more than 500,000 times. With retweeting a common method for bot-based amplification, the company’s culling of prolific bot accounts might explain this leveling off. a flat median account age implies heavy churn: new users join, tweet for a period, then leave, in a steady and perfectly matched influx and outflux of users. The divergence with average account age over this same period suggests that Twitter bifurcated in 2018 into two communities: early adopters who have remained on the platform, and a con-

what does macron’s reelection mean for france and Europe?

Conversation Romain Fathi

E

mmanuel macron has been reelected as the President of the Republic of France for a second five-year term. He defeated far-right candidate marine le Pen in the second round of the presidential election, winning about 58.8% of the votes against 41.2% for his opponent.

While votes are still being counted, about 30% of the French electorate did not vote. This is perhaps the highest abstention rate at a presidential election since 1969.

While most political watchers were expecting a narrower macron victory, many in France were genuinely scared by the lack of nationwide mass demonstration against le Pen and the far-right ahead of Sunday’s vote.

The possibility of having le Pen elected was higher than ever before. What are the key consequences of macron’s reelection for both France and europe?

CONTINUITY AMID DISSATISFACTION: Providing macron’s party la République en marche! can win the lower house election in June – which it is predicted to do – the first major outcome of this election is continuity. For now, France remains a stable, moderate, “steady-as-she-goes” nation with inclusive values. no major change in policies is expected under macron. and this, paradoxically enough, might become a major issue because the 2022 results have clearly shown the French are seeking radical changes and want their concerns to be addressed. Rising costs of living, inflation, low salaries, the environment, law and order, and immigration have all been burning issues during the campaign. as opposed to the 2017 presidential election, when most voters still supported traditional mainstream parties, this year, the majority of those who voted did so for parties promoting radical measures from both the far-left and the far-right. never before in the history of France’s Fifth Republic had those extremist parties totalled more votes than the moderate parties of the left, the Centre and the Right.

This means that despite being re-elected somewhat as a result of the French “winner takes it all” voting system, macron has a real challenge if he does not want to face major social unrest, as was the case in 2018-’19 with the violent Yellow Vests movement.

MORE WORK AHEAD: While macron endlessly repeats he is neither from the left nor from the Right, his election campaign’s economic program was preferred by France’s major employers’ federation, the mouvement des entreprises de France.

For instance, in the coming months, macron once again wants to reform France’s generous pensions system to make the French work longer, so that the existing retirement scheme can endure.

He would also like to propose some conditions for the two million French people who are on the lowest possible social aid scheme, so they perform 15 to 20 hours of work or training in exchange of the money they receive.

The returning president has also pledged to con-

tinue attracting foreign investment through the “choose France” program, while supporting start-ups.

But macron also wants to make social benefits easier to access. Instead of having to apply for a particular scheme, eligible benefits would be paid straight into a person’s bank account.

Given the complexity of social aid schemes in France, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people who struggle applying for support would be better off under macron’s new proposal.

GREENER FRANCE: To gather the support of the Greens electorate, macron has also pledged to continue subsidising nationwide insulation programs, renovate 7,00,000 homes, protect biodiversity and legislate for a greener farming industry. macron has also promised to extend the operational life of most nuclear power plants and to get started on the construction of six new-generation nuclear power plants. In France, most citizens consider nuclear power as a green energy, given the minimal carbon emissions it generates.

This also provides the country with a higher level of energy (and therefore diplomatic) independence than its european neighbours.

MACRON AND EU: The re-election of macron is a blessing for Brussels and european institutions. With Brexit and the departure of German Chancellor angela merkel, France is playing an even greater role in european affairs and Paris has the opportunity to breathe new life into the european union.

This, of course, is a defeat for Putin, who tried to intervene in the 2017 Presidential election. le Pen had close ties to the Russian regime for many years, although she tried to brush them off during the campaign. macron is a dedicated european and wants to build a stronger and more independent europe. Russia’s invasion of ukrainian has certainly provided a wake-up call for european leaders.

Previously, many relied on the united States to ensure european defence, while others looked to moscow for cooperation, or to the French for peacekeeping operations. That landscape is radically shifting now, and France’s traditional approach to ultimate sovereignty in defence (as the only european country with the second-strike capability) suddenly looks quite attractive to other european states. High on macron’s agenda for europe is greater cooperation between european union states. He wants to ensure europe’s “strategic autonomy”, be it military, energetic, economic and political.

This will please neither moscow nor Beijing. It may, however, offer breathing space to Washington who desperately wants to focus on the Pacific. macron’s european ambitions are likely to be supported by the Baltic states who fear for their existence, by eastern european countries who now understand that anything can happen with Putin, and even by the Germans who are radically rethinking their previously timid foreign policy.

Romain Fathi is a Senior Lecturer of History at the Flinders University.

stant stream of new users who leave at a relatively steady rate. This further supports the conclusion that this development was related to anti-bot efforts, in that bot accounts tend to retweet heavily. If Twitter were more aggressively deleting them, we should see a steady stream of new accounts being registered to replace them, with a net neutral effect on total tweet volume.

In contrast, one of Twitter’s signature efforts to reduce misinformation had an existential impact on the platform’s growth. on oct. 20, 2020, Twitter announced that it was adding “friction” to retweeting in the hopes that doing so would reduce the spread of election-related falsehoods. The impact was immediate, leading to a 20% reduction in retweeting, forcing the company to roll back the move just two months later, on Dec. 16 – but the damage was done and the platform gave up all of its pandemic growth.

Given the ad-supported nature of today’s social media platforms (89% of Twitter’s revenue comes from ads), growth must be weighed against the demands of advertisers.

Though efforts to combat abuse and falsehoods appear to have a negligible or even negative impact on growth, they might make

advertisers feel more comfortable and thus be crucial for monetization. after all, in 2020, more than 1,000 advertisers boycotted Facebook in protest of abusive content on its platform. However, that boycott occurred against the backdrop of an economic collapse in which most companies were already significantly reducing their ad buys; as the economy began to recover, most of those companies quietly returned to Facebook, suggesting that advertisers are willing to look past abusive content on social platforms to reach their customers.

In the end, it appears that Twitter’s “healthy conversation” efforts have had no major impact on the platform’s growth, despite repeated assertions that they would greatly improve growth by opening the platform to new communities. Its signature election-misinformation effort backfired spectacularly, reverting the company to where it was a decade ago. This raises serious questions about the degree to which misinformation and moderation efforts affect platform growth and, in turn, how compatible they are with platforms’ fiduciary duties to their shareholders as publicly traded companies. To answer these questions, we need far more transparency with regard to the social media platforms’ inner workings.

RealClear Media Fellow Kalev Leetaru is a senior fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security.

Cyber nukes could be the world’s path to digital peace

BLooMBerG tim CULPan

t

Wo world wars had raged within three decades, costing over 100 million lives, when history’s most destructive weapon was deployed in august 1945. The horrific prospect of nuclear-fueled, mutually assured destruction has kept superpowers in check since then, and a cyber equivalent may be just what’s needed as global hostilities turn digital.

Russia’s invasion of ukraine in February has been accompanied by a barrage of cyberattacks on the nation’s power and communications infrastructure, reminding us that the Kremlin views its digital arsenal as being no less important than its aging stock of tanks and missiles. Yet none of these incursions dealt a knock-out blow. one explanation is that Kyiv built up its defenses over the past decade and is now a world leader at fending off such online offensives.

Yet there’s also a sense that maybe moscow has been holding back. Perhaps President Vladimir Putin has something bigger planned, goes that line of thought, with a devastating digital weapon we’ve yet to see. He’s already issued veiled threats about deploying nuclear weapons as the conflict continues. The White House is certainly cautious about cyber warfare and has warned that the u.S. itself is under threat due to its ongoing support for ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

There’s currently as many as nine members of the “nuclear club” — including those confirmed as having such weapons and others presumed to be in possession of them. But there are only three countries that I might consider to be cyber superpowers. among them, China has shown itself to be a proficient and aggressive hacker, but as yet hasn’t demonstrated much evidence that it’s intent on outright destruction. most attacks, widely believed to have Beijing’s implicit or explicit approval, have been focused on security or industrial secrets. a few have had economic motives, such as ransomware. Beijing has denied allegations of hacking.

Russia’s prowess is known and legendary. under moscow’s guidance, or at least with its consent, cyber gangs have unleashed malware that brought pipelines to a halt, released reams of sensitive data and caused other types of widespread and malicious damage. The 2020 SolarWinds attack, directed by Russian agencies, breached

numerous u.S. government departments and caused up to $100 billion in damage.

Then there’s the u.S. The narrative on Washingtonled offensives differs from those carried out by China and Russia. one reason is that u.S. agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department, regularly publicize attacks from overseas, perhaps as a means to gin up budgetary support and to show they’re hard at work. Beijing and moscow, on the other hand, don’t tend to admit being a victim and generally keep such breaches to themselves. among the more-famous and destructive attacks carried out by the u.S. is its 2009 deployment of Stuxnet against Iran nuclear facilities (Israel is widely believed to have had a role).

While damaging, nothing we’ve seen so far amounts to all-out destruction. They are the digital equivalent of conventional weaponry. We still need to worry because these three cyber superpowers along with their allies — including north Korea on one side and the u.K. and australia on the other — are focused on developing even more powerful cyber arms. Canberra last month outlined a historic $7.5 billion 10-year budget to boost australia’s capabilities, which will include offensive tools aimed squarely at China.

There’s no end in sight to this escalation and so the attacks will continue. But if one power can prove it possesses an overwhelming and unstoppable weapon, and others quickly catch up, then there may be hope for some kind of armistice. We saw this with nuclear arms. once the u.S. and former Soviet union built enough stockpiles to destroy each other many times over, the door was then open to a wind down. The first step was the non-Proliferation of nuclear Weapons Treaty, which took effect in 1970 and helped dissuade more nations from joining the nuclear club. although it took another 15 years — and the collapse of the Soviet union — for the two major powers to actually halt their build up, today’s nuclear inventory is at its lowest since 1958, and other nations have added only marginally to the stockpile.

Cyber de-escalation won’t be so easy because the ammunition is packets of data and the target is software that can’t be held or touched. Their unpredictability makes such arms harder to wield as a threat and more challenging to quantify.

“When you launch a nuclear weapon, you know it’s going to explode and have the impact that you want. When you launch a cyber weapon, you cannot be sure it’ll land or get intercepted,” said Greg austin, senior fellow in cyber, space and future conflict at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. “We cannot count packets in cyberspace, but we could count nuclear warheads.” even under the shadow of an overwhelming cyber weapon there remains the possibility that proxy battles will be carried out, akin to the land wars waged in Vietnam and the Korean Peninsula, where digital combatants outsource operations and deny responsibility. This means that realistically we cannot expect to see a total cessation of all online warfare. But with a digital detente, we can at least hope for more peaceful world in cyberspace.

Tim Culpan is a technology columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

09

DePUTy CHAiRMAn SenATe STReSSeS neeD To ReDUCe TRADe DeFiCiT beTween PAkiSTAn AnD AUSTRAliA IslaMaBaD

D

staff rePort

EPUTy Chairman Senate, Mirza Muhammad Afridi has stressed the need of reducing trade deficit between Pakistan and Australia.

“Business Communities and TDAP should be sent to Australia for showcasing expo’s which will accelerate the Business activities.”

The Deputy Chairman Senate was talking to a delegation led by the Member of the Legislative Council (MCL) of New South

Wales of Sydney, Australia, H.E Shaoquett Chaher Moselmane comprising of ten Charity-cum Business Community members while called on him here at the Parliament House on Monday.

During the meeting, Mr Shaoquett Chaher Moselmane said that the trade volume between Pakistan and Australia is under two billion dollars which need to be elevated given the size of the Pakistani Community.

Mirza Muhammad Afridi underlined that the existing cordial ties between the two countries need to be enhanced further as the vast potential exists for enriching bilateral cooperation in politics, trade and

economy, agriculture, technical education and vocational training science & technology and sports.

The Deputy Chairman Senate apprised the delegation that Gwadar will be a gamechanger in the entire region and we are inviting countries to invest in Gwadar. He underscored that opening the central Asia gateway and making transportation operational will pave way to the upward trajectory of our bilateral relations.

Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi urged the Charity cum Business Community members to facilitate Pakistan with advance equipment for disabled citizens.

Shaoquett Chaher Moselmane said that over 125,000 strong diasporas and more than 11, 500 Pakistani students in Australia are a source of great Strength for Australia, adding that Australia plans to set up Australian faculties in Islamabad and create opportunities to start student exchange programs between the two countries.

The meeting discussed Islamophobia and ways to tackle this challenge in detail.

Member of the Legislative Council (MCL) of New South Wales of Sydney, Australia enlightened the Pakistani side that laws exist to protect the social and religious rights of every citizen, however, further legislative re-

forms are being made to counter it.

Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi said that Pakistan welcomes cooperation with Australia in the areas of Information Technology, including software development and electronic manufacturing. The two countries can also explore cooperation in agriculture, water management and mining etc.

Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi, Senator Zeeshan Khanzada, Senator Afnan Ullah Khan, Senator Faisal Saleem also attended the meeting. Secretary Senate, Mohammad Qasim Samad Khan along with senior officers of the senate were also present.

S&T Minister reviews progress on PSDP projects IslaMaBaD Press release

An agreement Singing Ceremony was held between DHAI-R and Nayatel for bringing High-Speed Internet, Crystal clear HD Channels (190+) and IP Telephony Services for residents

Seminar held at Foundation University School of Science & Technology Rawalpindi Press release Seminar on “A Social Hybrid Enterprise geared to National Development, (Welfare Sector)” held at FUSST. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fauji Foundation, Mr. Waqar Ahmed Malik was the Chief Guest. He elaborately dilated on the function and organization of the Fauji Foundation.

During his address the chief guest highlighted the welfare projects being undertaken by the Fauji Foundation. The interactive session included question and answers. At the end the Rector FUI, Maj Gen Nasir Dilawar Shah, HI (M) (Retd) presented the University souvenir to the Chief Guest.

Housing Minister visits PHA Foundation headquarters ISLAMABAD: Maulana Abdul Wasay, Federal Minister for Housing and Works along with the Secretary Housing and Works, visited the Head Office of the PHA Foundation, Islamabad. The Federal Minister was warmly welcomed by Chief Executive Officer Mr. Amir Mohyudin along with other senior officers. On the occasion, the Federal Minister was briefed by the CEO PHAF on the completed and ongoing projects of the organization. During the briefing, the CEO (PHAF) apprised the Federal Minister about the pace of work in the ongoing projects managed by PHAF and ensured timely completion of all ongoing projects. The Federal Minister for Housing and Works appreciated the whole team of PHAF for their commitment & devotion towards public delivery and expressed satisfaction over the performance of the PHA Foundation. The minister has issued directions for the early completion of ongoing construction projects. He also reiterated about early start of new construction projects in future. Press release

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Mr. Agha Hassan Baloch chaired a briefing on the progress of PSDP projects under the ministry and gave directions to increase effective role of Ministry in facilitation of people, particularly in the underdeveloped areas.

Mr. Agha Hassan was briefed by heads of all attached departments, as well as the Secretary for Ministry of Science and Technology Ms. Humaira Ahmed, regarding the ongoing projects and their progress. The Minister was pleased to know that the ministry is working on a variety of initiatives that would boost our country’s socioeconomic status.

He appreciated the work of all departments and also gave directions for equitable progress in all provinces. He directed that a state of the art forensic lab must be established in Balochistan to facilitate the local people as well as those of nearby regions of KPK

and Sindh. He expressed that people in distress should not be made to wait for weeks to get their samples tested from the major forensic la b in Lahore.

He was of the view that skill development centers must be established in multiple areas of Balochistan in order to empower the locals to maximize their employment opportunities under CPEC. He also reiterated that three new campuses of COMSATS University at Quetta, Jafarabad, and Gawadar, that are already

approved, be established o priority basis to provide state of the art higher education facilities in general and uplift the standard of education in the field of Science and Technology in particular for the socio-economic uplift if the people of Balochistan. Mr. Agha Hassan acknowledged the efforts of ministry to provide quality education to the people of Balochistan through Science Talent Forming scheme and upgradation of three schools at Quetta, Pishin, and Qila Saifullah to STEM program.

Minister Privatisation chairs briefing session Press release Mir Abid Hussain Bhayo, Federal Minister for Privatisation chaired briefing and review session about the ongoing privatisation program in the Ministry. Chairman Privatisation Saleem Ahmad, Federal Secretary and senior officials were also present.

Federal Minister was briefed about the privatisation plan and major entities which are to be privatized during the current year. The Minister was given a de-

tailed briefing about the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills, NPPMCL, HBFCL, First Women Bank and Federal Government properties.

He was also briefed about the recently concluded transactions including Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC), Services International Hotel (SIH) and Federal government properties.

Federal Minister said that for the better economic prospects we shall work hard and take all the key players on board.

High time to raise Kashmir issue at US Congress: Ilhan aPP US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has said that meeting victims of Indian ceasefire violations and “seeing them suffer” had made it all the more necessary than before to raise the Kashmir issue at the US Congress.

“Having met the Kashmiri people in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), who nurse the bullet wounds, due to ceasefire violations

by India, is an incredible experience,” she said when asked about her bold stance on the issues of Kashmir and Palestine.

She shared that the first-hand experience has put her under “an obligation to stand for human rights and human dignity”.

During her four-day visit at the invitation of the Pakistani government, the US Congresswoman visited the Line of Control (LoC) in AJK and held meetings with a number of key government officials, including the president, prime minister, and cabinet members as well as leaders of political parties. She also visited the Walled City of Lahore.

Ilhan said she had always taken up the questions of Kashmir and Palestine in the Congress but, she added: “I had not had the opportunity to visit the place in person. It was incredibly awful to meet the people first hand and ask them how they want to be in a partnership with me as a lawmaker and advocate of (the) human rights.”

When asked if she would raise the issue at the Congress, she said having met the people in person and seeing them suffer made the necessity of raising the issue at the Con-

gress more urgent than listening to it from others. About herself, Ilhan said her story was of “trial and triumph”.

“I was born in Somalia but had to flee the country due to civil war and lived for four years in generous Kenya before me and my family were sponsored to come to the United States of America (USA).

“Here I was able to continue my studies and live in a community of warm-hearted people, although Minnesota is very cold, for the past 20 years. I represent people of my community in the US Congress.

“I am someone who has experienced oppression and violation of human rights at a young age, and since I have been put into a position of power by the people, I deem it my duty to advocate for those who don’t have that power.”

Ilhan said living with the people disenfranchised and facing economic challenges, those who had not had full opportunity to educational opportunities, and those who were dealing with Islamophobia and racial discrimination, had prepared her to fight for the cause of the weak and the exploited, she affirmed.

The US congresswoman said the Pakistani diaspora provided a strong bond between Pakistan and the United States, noting that those relations had bolstered over the past 75 years.

She said the Americans had benefited from the entrepreneurial spirit of the Pakistanis, their innovation, and their focus on advancing technology and healthcare.

For many Americans, she said, their first interaction with Pakistanis was when they met them as their physicians and surgeons.

The people-to-people contacts cemented equal and mutually beneficial diplomatic relations, she added.

The US congresswoman recalling the

experience of her first visit to Pakistan, saying: “I have been humbled by the generosity of the political leaders in Pakistan, who put their differences aside and welcomed me with open arms during my visit to the federal capital.”

She dismissed the negative stories that

the (foreign) people might have heard about Pakistan, saying that they would be pleasantly shocked to know how smooth and joyful her trip had been.

“I enjoyed every bit of my stay,” Ilhan said in response to a question about her visit to Pakistan.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

MIlItary spEndIng rEachEs rEcord lEvEls: rEport STOcKHOLM

g

AFP

LoBAL military spending rose again in 2021, setting new records as Russia continued to beef up its military prior to its invasion of Ukraine, researchers said Monday, predicting the trend would continue in Europe in particular.

Despite the economic fallout of the global Covid pandemic, countries around the world increased their arsenals, with global military spending rising by 0.7 percent last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

“In 2021 military spending rose for the seventh consecutive time to reach $2.1 trillion. That is the highest figure we have ever

had,” Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher at Sipri, told AFP. Russia’s spending grew by 2.9 percent — the third year of consecutive growth — to $65.9 billion. Defence spending accounted for 4.1 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP), “much higher than the world average”, and making Moscow the fifth largest spender in the world, Lopes da Silva said.

High oil and gas revenues helped the country boost military expenditure. Lopes da Silva noted that Russia saw a sharp uptick in spending towards the end of the year.

“That happened as Russia amassed troops alongside the Ukrainian border preceding of course the invasion of Ukraine in February,” the researcher said.

Tougher sancTions: Whether Russia would be able to sustain its spending was

difficult to predict, Lopes da Silva said, due to the wave of sanctions imposed by the West in response to the aggression in Ukraine. In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, the country was also targeted with sanctions at the same time as energy prices fell, making it difficult to gauge how effective sanctions were on their own.

“Now… we have even tougher sanctions, that’s for sure, but we have higher energy prices which can help Russia afford to maintain military spending at that level,” Lopes da Silva said. on the other side, Ukraine’s military spending has risen by 72 percent since the annexation of Crimea. While spending declined by over eight percent in 2021 to $5.9 billion, it still accounted for 3.2 percent of Ukraine’s GDP. As tensions have increased in Europe,

more NATo countries have stepped up spending. Eight members countries last year reached the targeted two percent of GDP for spending, one fewer than the year before but up from only two in 2014, Sipri said.

Lopes da Silva said he expected spending in Europe to continue to grow.

The US, which far outspent any other nation with $801 billion, actually went against the global trend and decreased its spending by 1.4 percent in 2021.

‘Technological edge’: over the past decade, US spending on research and development has risen by 24 percent while arms procurement has gone down by 6.4 percent. While both decreased in 2021, the drop in research was not as pronounced, highlighting the country’s focus “on next-generation technologies.”

“The US government has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the US military’s technological edge over strategic competitors,” Alexandra Marksteiner, another researcher at Sipri, said in a statement.

China, the world’s second-largest military spender at an estimated $293 billion, boosted its expenditure by 4.7 percent, marking the 27th straight year of increased spending.

The country’s military buildup has in turn caused its regional neighbours to beef up their military budgets, with Japan adding $7 billion, an increase of 7.3 percent — the highest annual increase since 1972.

Australia also spent four percent more on its military, reaching $31.8 billion in 2021. India, the world’s third-largest spender at $76.6 billion, also increased funding in 2021, but by a more modest 0.9 percent.

Ukraine conflict day 61: Dispute over Mariupol ‘ceasefire’, US pledges more aid AgEnciES Russia’s defense ministry announced a “unilateral” ceasefire around the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol to allow a civilian evacuation from the industrial area that has been sheltering the remaining Ukrainian resistance in the port city.

However, Ukraine said Moscow had not agreed to its request for a humanitarian corridor to let wounded soldiers and civilians leave the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged port city of Mariupol. “Unfortunately, there are no agreements on humanitarian corridors from Azovstal today,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vershchuk said on Telegram.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pledged more than $700 million in additional direct and in-

direct military aid for Ukraine, including $300 million to allow the country to purchase necessary weapons, during the first high-level U.S. visit to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

Russia has warned the U.S. against sending more arms to Ukraine,

EU, India agree to broaden ties amid Ukraine war AgEnciES The European Union (EU) and India agreed on Monday to set up a trade and technology council to step up cooperation as the bloc’s chief held talks with officials in New Delhi who have seen a flurry of top visits since the start of the Ukraine war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is on a two-day trip to India’s capital, part of Western efforts to encourage New Delhi to reduce ties to Russia, its main weapons supplier, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. India has refrained from explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion, while calling for an immediate end to violence. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”. The United States is the only other country that has a technical agreement with the EU similar to the one signed on Monday with India. “I think this relationship today is more important than ever,” von der Leyen said in her opening remarks during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We have a lot in common but we are also facing a challenging political landscape.” She identified cooperation on security, climate change and trade as the main areas of focus. “Both sides agreed that rapid changes in the geopolitical environment highlight the need for joint in-depth strategic engagement,” an EU-India joint statement said. “The Trade and Technology Council will provide the political steer and the necessary structure to operationalise political decisions, coordinate technical work, and report to the political level to ensure implementation and followup in areas that are important for the sustainable progress of European and Indian economies.” Von der Leyen’s visit comes days after British Prime Minister Boris met his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, and agreed to increase bilateral defence and business cooperation. Johnson was preceded by US officials and the foreign ministers of Russia and China. The EU chief was expected to offer to increase sales of European military equipment to India and relaunch talks on a free trade deal, a senior EU official said before the talks began. “They reviewed progress in the vibrant India-EU strategic partnership & agreed to deepen cooperation in areas of trade, climate, digital technology and peopleto-people ties,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said on Twitter. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said after meeting Von der Leyen that they “exchanged views on the economic and political implications of the Ukraine conflict”. Like many European countries, India has continued to buy oil from Russia despite sanctions imposed on Moscow from the United States and other developed countries.

Moscow’s ambassador to Washington told Russian state television.

Ukraine’s general staff said Russia was shelling its second biggest city, Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine and towns and villages to the south but that Ukrainian forces had staved off assaults

on three settlements. In the southern Mykolaiv region, governor Vitaliy Kim said the Ukrainian military had destroyed 13 Russian units.

Russia struck Ukraine’s Kremenchuk oil refinery with long-range missiles and hit military installations, the Russian defense ministry reported on Monday. Russian forces launched missile and bomb strikes on the positions of Ukrainian troops in the Azovstal steel plant, the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said.

In western Ukraine, Russian forces attacked rail infrastructure in the Lviv and Rivne regions, their governors said. Russian forces shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight in the Rylsky district on the border with Ukraine, Kursk region governor Roman Starovoyt said on Telegram.

Israel ‘committed’ to status quo at Al-Aqsa mosque despite violence JERUSALEM AFP

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that Israel was “committed” to the status quo at the flashpoint Jerusalem holy site at the heart of a recent wave of violence.

“Muslims pray on the Temple Mount, non-Muslims only visit,” Lapid said, using the Jewish term for the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the holiest place in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam.

“There is no change, there will be no change — we have no plans to divide the Temple Mount between religions,” he told journalists.

Palestinian protestors have repeatedly clashed with Israeli riot police at the Al-Aqsa compound since the middle of the month, as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincided with Jewish Passover.

Those clashes have come against a backdrop of wider violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories that since late March has killed 38 people. Attacks

by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs have killed 14 people in Israel, while 24 Palestinians have been killed, including perpetrators of attacks and also in raids by Israeli security forces. Palestinians have been angered by an uptick in Jewish visits to the Al-Aqsa compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem where,

by long-standing convention, Jews may visit but are not allowed to pray. Palestinian officials have repeatedly accused Israel of seeking to divide the site into Jewish and Muslim sections or visiting times, as with another sensitive holy site in nearby Hebron.

They have voiced anger at repeated incursions by Israeli security forces into the mosque compound. But Lapid blamed renewed tensions at the site on “terrorists” trying to incite violence.

“Terrorist organisations have been trying to hijack the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to create an outbreak of violence in Jerusalem and from there a violent conflict across the country,” he said. He accused Hamas and so-called Islamic Jihad of sending “extremists” with weapons and explosives to use the Al-Aqsa compound “as a base to incite violent riots”. “They have done this to create a provocation, to force the Israeli police to enter the mosque and remove them,” he said. “The only reason police have entered the mosque in recent weeks is to remove them.” He also said Israel was committed to letting Muslims pray at the site, saying that hundreds of thousands had done so throughout Ramadan. Violence in Jerusalem had sparked fears of another armed conflict similar to an 11-day war last year between Israel and pro-freedom groups who control the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

afghanistan will not tolerate ‘invasions,’ says defence minister AgEnciES Afghanistan’s acting defence minister said on Sunday that the Taliban administration would not tolerate “invasions” from its neighbours after protesting against airstrikes it says were conducted by neighbouring Pakistan. The comments come after the Taliban administration blamed Pakistan for airstrikes that officials say killed dozens in Kunar and Khost provinces. Pakistan, which has not confirmed any involvement in airstrikes inside Afghanistan’s borders, said the two countries are “brotherly countries”. “We are facing problems and challenges from both the world and our neighbours, the clear example is invasion by them in our territory in Kunar,” said Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, acting Afghan defence minister, at a ceremony in Kabul commemorating the anniversary of the death of his father, Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad omar. “We can’t tolerate the invasion.

We have tolerated that attack. We tolerated that because of national interests, next time we might not tolerate it,” he said. Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson said when asked for comment on Yaqoob’s comments that Pakistan hoped for long-term engagement with Afghanistan to secure peace. “Pakistan and Afghanistan are brotherly countries. The governments and people of both countries regard terrorism as a serious threat and have suffered from this scourge for long time … therefore, it is important that our two countries engage in a meaningful manner through relevant institutional channels to cooperate in countering cross-border terrorism and taking actions against terrorist groups on their soil,” the spokesperson said. The Taliban administration’s foreign ministry last week called in Pakistan’s ambassador to protest against the strikes. Local officials said the alleged strikes by Pakistan killed 36 people. The United Nation’s children’s agency head in Afghanistan said that 20 children were killed in airstrikes in Khost and Kunar on April 16. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, there have been numerous standoffs along the 2,600-km (1,615-mile) border with Pakistan. Increasingly frustrated by continuing militant attacks, Pakistan’s military has stepped up operations along the Afghan border in recent months.

China refute Australia’s repeated smear on Sino-Solomon Islands security pact BEiJing Agencies

Chinese Foreign Ministry rebuked Australian Prime Minister and Defence Minister for deliberately twisting the security cooperation pact between China and the Solomon Islands on Monday.

Responding to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s remarks that China is building a military base in the Solomon Islands and that this would be the “red line” for Australia and the US, spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that the building of a military base is an absolute fake news.

Wang pointed out that despite that the US and Australia kept scolding the security pact for a lack of transparency, it is the AUKUS that is planned and carried out under the table by the US, the UK and Australia without openness and transparency.

When will the US, the UK and Australia hand the AUKUS agreement to countries in the South Pacific region for deliberation, and when will the US shut down

its 800 military bases in more than 80 countries and regions around the globe, which has already raised concerns for the whole world?, Wang questioned.

Besides, Wang said the accusation of Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Sunday that China paid

bribes to win international deals can hardly justify itself.

Wang expressed strong opposition to some Australian politicians’ smearing of China and provoking China’s relations with other countries.

“Rather than preaching fake information on China for personal political purposes, I suggest some Australian politicians to honestly answer the concerns of people at home and abroad,” said Wang.

Far from backyards of the US or Australia, South Pacific island countries have independent sovereignty and planting Monroeism won’t work in the region, Wang noted.

Since Chinese Foreign Ministry on April 19 confirmed the signature of the security cooperation framework agreement between China and the Solomon Islands, China has been repeatedly emphasizing the legitimacy, transparency and openness of the security pact, refuting the endless slandering and smear from the US and Australia and explaining that the pact’s aim is the social stability and good governance in the Solomon Islands, without targeting at any third party.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

SpAniSh cluBS fAce engliSh chAllenge MANCHEsTER Agencies

Real Madrid and Villarreal stand in the way of Manchester City and Liverpool taking their battle for domestic honours to the biggest stage of all next month in the Champions League final.

A clash between City and Liverpool in Paris on May 28 would mean a third all-English final in four years.

The huge economic advantage enjoyed by the Premier League in TV rights deals is behind Madrid’s continued motivation to seek the comfort of guaranteed income streams from a European Super League (ESL).

However, Villarreal’s run to the last four is a reminder of why there is such opposition to a closed shop ESL. The Yellow Submarine, with just one major trophy in their history, would have been shut out of competing on the European stage had the Super League 12, which also included City and Liverpool, succeeded in forming a breakaway league last year.

Now the team from a town with a population that would fit inside Anfield are 180 minutes away from the biggest game in club football if they can derail Liverpool’s quest for a quadruple.

Jurgen Klopp’s men trail City by a point with five games to go in a thrilling Premier League title race.

But they got the better of City to reach

next month’s FA Cup final and lifted the League Cup in February.

Klopp already has experience of losing out to Villarreal boss Unai Emery on the European stage as his Sevilla side beat Liverpool in the 2016 Europa League final.

That was just one of Emery’s four Europa League titles, the last of which came when Villarreal beat Manchester United in last year’s final just to qualify for the Champions League.

“They have probably the most successful cup competition manager in world football, so he knows what he is doing,” said Klopp. “Unai Emery is the king of the cups.

It is unbelievable what he is doing.”

Liverpool’s status as favourites ahead of Wednesday’s first leg at Anfield is understandable given the difference in resources between the clubs. City are also expected to reach the final for a second consecutive year despite the vast gulf in European pedigree between the English champions and Madrid.

The 13-time European champions are into their 30th semi-final, while City have reached the last four for just the third time.

But Pep Guardiola’s men were convincing winners when the sides met in the last 16 two years ago. “It’s the third time we play the semi-final of the Champions League against a team who have a few Champions Leagues in the trophy cabinet,” said Guardiola.

“It has to be a special night for us to enjoy it, give everything we have in our soul and after we’ll see what happens.”

Madrid produced a remarkable fightback from 2-0 down to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 and responded after falling 3-0 down to Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu to reach the semi-finals in dramatic fashion.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men will have home

advantage again in the second leg next week, but there are doubts as to whether Los Blancos can continue to be carried by the ageing legs of Karim Benzema and Luka Modric.

The excellence achieved in the era of Klopp and Guardiola in England’s north-

Harbhajan Singh lavishes praise on ‘future legend’ Babar Azam AgENCiEs

Yasir Arafat reveals Shah Rukh Khan himself offered contract to join KKR AgENCiEs Former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat revealed that Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan offered him the contract to join his side Kolkata Knight Riders, on a three-year contract. The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is currently taking place and as usual, Pakistan players are not part of the competition due to political differences. The only season where players from Pakistan featured was the inaugural one. Almost 11 players were part of five different franchises. All-rounder Azhar Mahmood had the chance to play after he became British Citizen in 2011. Yasir Arafat disclosed his interaction with King Khan after the first edition of IPL and how he thought it was a joke. “Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had shortlisted names for the first edition and unfortunately, I was not among them and couldn’t play,” Yasir said on Cricket Den’s YouTube channel. “I was playing County Cricket for Kent in 2008 where KKR’s Scouting Team specially came from India and they met me during a match. They revealed that Shah Rukh Khan wants me to play for his side,” he added. “Initially, I thought it was a joke as to why Shah Rukh would send somebody to talk regarding the contract. They also handed me a card and took my contact details.”

A few weeks later, I received an email where they complained about not contacting and the discussion was put off.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s consistency has pushed former captains and cricket pundits to open up on a debate about whether the 27-year-old must be part of the infamous Fab Four.

The Fab Four comprises of former skippers Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. They have been consistent in performances since their respective debuts.

Often players are categorised and Babar is also among them. Babar already has 23 centuries to his name while he currently ranks in the top five across all formats.

He stands fifth among batters in Tests and holds the top spot in limited-overs cricket.

Meanwhile, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh also formed his opinion on this debate and said that it would be too early to put Babar in that category while predicting that going forward, he will be among the legends of the game.

“I think it is a bit too early to say if he can be in the Fab Four. I don’t even know who are in the Fab Four. But Babar definitely has the quality, he is a proper batsman with so

England superstar Jos Buttler has lit the Indian Premier League (IPL) on fire after his mesmerizing start to the tournament, which he credited heavily to Pakistan coach Mushtaq Ahmed.

Buttler is currently the leading scorer in the IPL with 491 runs. He is currently averaging 81.83 and has already struck three centuries in just seven innings.

While doing a rapid-fire, the 31-year-old revealed

AFP

much of confidence and technique. Going forward he will be one of the legends of cricket,” Babar told Sportskeeda.

“But now its too early to put him in any league. Let him play and keep on scoring more runs and winning games for his team. And talent wise he is no less than anyone else,” he added.

that Mushtaq Ahmed helped him identify his weak areas and gave the advice to overturn that.

“Mushtaq Ahmed always told me to hit on the offside first and then come around to the leg-side. If you are looking only on the leg-side, you will never hit the ball on the off-side,” Buttler claimed.

The Englishmen is currently enjoying the form of his life as his splendid form has helped Rajasthan Royals secure the third spot on the points table halfway through the tournament.

Hasan Ali picks up 9 wickets as Lancashire thrash Gloucestershire AgENCiEs Hasan Ali has once again delivered a phenomenal performance in the ongoing County Championship 2022 as the rightarm pacer ended with the figures of 9/96 against Gloucestershire.

While representing Lancashire, Hasan Ali secured 9 wickets as his team outclassed the opposition by an innings and 57 runs.

He took the last wicket of Jared Warner (10) who showed an unbelievable resistance as he played 119 balls against a threatening Lancashire attack, and gave his everything to help Gloucestershire forge a draw.

Hasan Ali took six wickets in the

first innings and then managed to secure three scalps in the following innings which also included a sensational yorker to send James Brassey back to the pavilion.

In the previous game, Hasan Ali started strong with a five-for in the match as he returned the figures of 5/94 and bowled 11 maidens on his debut.

It is worth mentioning that Hasan Ali secured the last wicket of the match as well. Here’s the winning moment from the clash between Lancashire and Gloucestershire: The pacer took it to social media to showcase his gratitude to have registered two back-to-back victories while playing an important role in both of them.

Barca wobble continues as Rayo win puts Real Madrid on brink of title BARCELONA

Jos Buttler credits Mushtaq Ahmed for his remarkable IPL form NEws DEsk

west has seen Liverpool and City persistently rewrite the record books. Over the next 10 days they have the chance to prove they are the two best sides in Europe by ending La Liga’s challenge to English dominance of the Champions League.

Barcelona suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, handing Real Madrid the chance to win La Liga if they draw at home to Espanyol next weekend. Barca’s place in the top four is still not secure either after a third consecutive defeat at Camp Nou continued their late-season wobble and saw them squander the chance to pull away in the race for Champions League qualification. Madrid remain 15 points clear with five games left to play and while Barcelona have a better head-to-head, Carlo Ancelotti’s side know they will be uncatchable if they take just a point from Espanyol on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona should still have enough for the top four given they sit six points clear of Real Betis in fifth, with five games left to play, but winning this game in hand against an out-of-form Rayo side would certainly have made the run-in more comfortable. Instead, their form, as much as their position, will be a real concern for coach Xavi, whose team have now won only twice in their last six matches. This loss comes after they were beaten at home by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-finals and then defeated by Cadiz in La Liga, also 1-0. Xavi talked on Saturday about “recovering the sensations” of a few weeks ago, when a 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu looked set to place Barcelona even as favourites in La Liga next season. But that feels like a distant memory now, with the team’s season in danger of ending with a whimper. Missing out on the Champions League would be unthinkable for Barcelona, who started the season with debts of more than a billion euros. Missing out on second place would have consequences too given qualification for the Spanish Super Cup is also believed to be worth around eight million euros to the Catalans. Sevilla, in third, are level on points with Barcelona while Atletico Madrid, in fourth, are two points behind. Rayo, meanwhile, move up to 11th in the table, reaching the 40-point mark that should guarantee their survival. After a brilliant start to the season, promoted Rayo went 12 games without a win between February and April but any concerns about relegation are surely now over. They took the lead in the seventh minute when Isi Palazon danced through Barcelona’s midfield and spotted the curving run of Alvaro Garcia, who had dashed inside from the left.

Sergino Dest was too slow to react and Garcia struck quickly, controlling with his left and firing in with his right, giving Marc-Andre ter Stegen no chance to adjust. Barcelona had chances, especially in the latter stages as Memphis Depay’s shot was blocked by Nikola Maras after a clever dummy by Ousmane Dembele, who himself had a shot diverted onto the post by Stole Dimitrievski. Gavi looked to have a decent claim for a penalty in the 89th minute when Alejandro Catena barged into the back of the youngster in the box – but neither the referee nor VAR were convinced. With 11 minutes of added time, Barca kept coming, and Dembele saw another effort cleared off the line by Catena. Rayo held on for a sensational victory.

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022

prayer tiMingS

NEWS

FO wants tO mOve FrOm ‘FOreign plOt’ tO diplOmacy ISLAMABAD

t

Staff report

HE foreign office on Monday sought to move on from the controversy surrounding the diplomatic cable, saying the National Security Committee (NSC) based on the assessment of all the stakeholders has already concluded that there was no foreign conspiracy to oust the government of prime minister Imran Khan.

Foreign office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar began his press conference by stating that the briefing was taking place after a gap during which “a peaceful, democratic political transition has taken place in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan”.

Since the briefing was taking place after a hiatus because of the tumultuous last few weeks on the political front, most of the questions were directed at the spokesperson on the “Lettergate”.

The spokesperson made it clear that the NSC had already reached a conclusion that there was no foreign conspiracy to seek the ouster of Imran Khan. He went on to add that since the matter had already been settled the focus should be on “diplomacy” and on “our important relations in the best interest of Pakistan”.

As the lettergate further damaged bilateral ties between the two countries, the spokesperson said the core focus should be on “improving relation-

ships with our partners and the United States”.

“The US is one of the key partners of Pakistan and both sides are keen to build on the long standing relations and as well as further strengthen and diversify our relations,” he added.

He called for avoiding making “irresponsible comments” since there was an element of “trust and confidentiality” central to conducting effective diplomacy for a country and such episodes carry the potential of undermining the diplomacy and complicating the country’s external relations.

The spokesperson said Pakistan had the full capability to defend its interests as well as promote its stability and security.

The statement clearly indicated that the new government wants to reset ties with the US. On the claims by some PTI leaders that the classified communication sent by the Pakistani ambassador in Washington was withheld from the foreign minister, the spokesperson dismissed it as baseless.

“Assertions of holding back the telegram are unfounded and incorrect. Cypher telegram was received and appropriately shared with authorities concerned,” the spokesperson said.

To another question, Asim said protest was lodged with the US as soon as direction was given by the leadership. The infamous diplomatic cable was received on March 7 but the demarche was made to the US on March 31 after the meeting of NSC. Questions were asked as to why the then government took so long to take up the issue with

Washington if there was a serious threat of regime change through a plot.

Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar in one her TV interviews claimed that the Pakistani ambassador recommended a demarche but then Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stopped the foreign office from doing so. The spokesperson confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would undertake a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 27. Further details of the visit would be shared in due course of time, he added.

On the current border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the spokesperson insisted both were “brotherly countries” and consider terrorism as a serious threat for peace and stability. Asim called for effective cooperation between the two countries to halt cross border terrorist attacks.

There has been a surge in cross border terrorist attacks in recent weeks with scores of Pakistani soldiers were martyred. Pakistan reportedly launched air strikes in Kunar and Khost provinces to target the terror hideouts.

Pakistan also strongly condemned the cross border attacks and said terrorists were operating out of Afghanistan with impunity.

After Pakistan’s strong warning, official sources told media that the Taliban government was taking steps to shift some of the terrorists from border areas to other parts in order to stop further attacks against Pakistani security forces.a

‘Tied the knot willingly,’ Police say about Karachi missing teen KARACHI Staff report

14-year-old Nimra Kazmi — who went missing last week from Karachi’s Saudabad area — has been traced in Dera Ghazi Khan, the police officials said Monday. However, they said Kazmi had “willingly” tied the knot.

“My name is Nimra Kazmi, my baba’s name is Nadeem Kazmi. I live in Karachi. I came here [DG Khan] on [April] 17 and observed Nikah on 18. I came on my free will and nobody abducted me. I want to get all my videos deleted from [social] media and I am very happy,” says Nimra in a video viral on social media. The disappearance of the girl was the second case after a teenager of the same age, Dua Zehra Kazmi, went missing from Karachi’s Al Falah on April 10, but police have not yet been able to recover her.

In a video statement that surfaced today, Kazmi said that nobody had kidnapped her and that she

tied the knot willingly. “I am very happy,” she said, adding that she got married on April 18.

She also requested to remove her videos from social media. Earlier in the day, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah Monday said that the police were taking measures to recover the missing girl from Saudabad. The missing girl’s mother had said that she left her home at last week 9am to go to work but when she returned, her daughter was not at home.

Despite frantically searching for Nimra, she was nowhere to be found. Providing details about her daughter, the grief-stricken mother — a resident of the Saudabad read — had said that Nimra was a grade-10 student and was preparing for her final exams. Karachi police earlier in the day traced the whereabouts of Dua. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced the development but did not provide further details as he said the matter was “sensitive”.

Meanwhile, Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Mohammad Abid Khan said Karachi police had provided Lahore police with a copy of

the girl’s marriage certificate.

“Police are searching for the girl using the address on the marriage certificate,” he said, adding that there was no truth to reports that she had been recovered. “The real facts will only surface once she is recovered. Lahore police are in constant contact with Karachi police,” he said.

Zehra went missing around April 17. Her family said she had gone downstairs at about 12:30 pm to dispose of some garbage. They also revealed that she hasn’t been in school for a year and a half now.

“I don’t have an enmity with anyone. I have received two calls for ransom from the kidnappers.

One of the calls was made from a landline number, while the other was made from a mobile phone number on WhatsApp,” said her father.

After receiving the ransom calls, he immediately informed the police about them.

Zehra’s parents even said they will not take any action against the abductors if their daughter is returned safely.

Cuba ambassador miffed at Iqbal’s ‘disrespectful’ jab ISLAMABAD Staff report

Zéner Javier Caro, ambassador of Cuba in Islamabad, on Monday accused Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal of being “disrespectful” towards his country after the latter said his government did not want Pakistan to turn into the sanctions-hit island nation or North Korea. Iqbal, who on

Sunday blamed former prime minister Imran Khan for “playing with Pakistan’s interests” to keep his “failed politics” alive, said the administration of Shehbaz Sharif intended to set Pakistan on the path of development like Turkey, China and South Korea.

He added that he did not want Islamabad to turn into Havana or Pyongyang. Responding to Iqbal’s comments, Caro tweeted: “Fortu-

nately, Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s disrespectful mention of Cuba in his press conference in Lahore does not represent and has nothing to do with Pakistanis’ true respect and deep affection for Cuba.”

Following the Cuban ambassador’s tweet and criticism by journalists and civil society activists, the minister clarified that his remarks were “only in the context of foreign policy”.

“Excellency! We have deep respect for the people of Cuba and our deep affectionate relations with Cuba,” he said, adding that Pakistan couldn’t forget how Cuban doctors played a heroic role during the aftermath of the deadly 2005 earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Commenting on the development, professor and activist Ammar Ali Jan demanded an apology from Iqbal.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

3:57

12:01

4:43

5:24

6:38

8:05

fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 3:53 am iftar: 6:40 Pm

islamabad sehr: 3:54 am iftar: 6:48 Pm

karachi sehr: 4:40 am iftar: 7:00 Pm

fiqah-e-jafaria islamabad sehr: 3:43 am iftar: 6:59 Pm

lahore sehr: 3:42 am iftar: 6:51 Pm

karachi sehr: 4:28 am iftar: 7:11 Pm

Hearing of elahi’s request for police case against Hamza deferred LAHORE Staff report

A district and sessions court in Lahore on Monday deferred hearing on the petition of Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi seeking registration of a case against chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz on whose orders Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) attacked and wounded Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader.

Additional District And Sessions Judge Hafiz Rizwan Aziz heard the petition which requested the court to direct the police to register an FIR of ruckus in the Punjab Assembly on April 16 during the election of the chief minister wherein Elahi, who was also a contender for the office, was attacked by lawmakers from the PML-N and got injured. During the hearing, the police failed to present their report in court. A police representative told the court that Civil Lines superintendent police would himself present the report during the next hearing. At this, the court adjourned the hearing until April 29. Elahi intends to lodge a case against Shehbaz, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan and other PML-N MPs on charges of attacking him but the police are reluctant to register his complaint.

iHc suspends order to decide funding case against pti within a month ISLAMABAD Staff report

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended an earlier order directing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to wrap up the foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party within 30 days. The April 14 ruling was delivered on applications filed by the party to keep its documents secret — after the ECP had earlier rejected its request for confidentiality — and bar petitioner Akbar S. Babar from pursuing the case. However, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had ruled that the ECP’s role cannot be curtailed in any manner. Subsequently, on April 21, the party filed an intra-court appeal against the ruling, raising objections against the agency, by claiming it was not authorised to decide any case so long as it lacked its full strength. The party has expressed fear that the case could be used to prevent it from contesting the next general elections. Today, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Babar Sattar heard the intra-court petition before suspending the April 14 order. During the proceedings, Shah Khawar, the counsel for PTI, argued that Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had used harsh language and phrases such as “face the music” in his order.

He said that a single-judge bench did not have the power to pass such an order. “Technically, this case doesn’t even fall under foreign funding. It falls under prohibited funding,” he contended. Subsequently, the bench issued notices to 17 political parties and ECP and sought their responses on May 17.

The foreign funding case was filed in November 2014 by Babar, one of the party’s founding members. He had alleged financial irregularities in the party’s accounts, including illegal sources of funding, concealment of bank accounts, money laundering, and using private bank accounts of PTI workers as a front to receive illegal donations from the Middle East.

Dozens of allies, relatives and maids to accompany PM Shehbaz on trip to Saudia Arabia ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is all set to visit Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for preforming Umrah taking along dozens of officials and political leaders.

The entourage comprises of political allies, personal staff, kith and kin of Sharif, maids, relatives and what not.

Sources say that a convoy of more than 50 members will accompany the prime minister on his maiden visit to the Kingdom.

The delegation, according to sources, will include Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal, BAP leader Khalid Magsi,

MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Communications Minister Maulana Asad Mehmood, ANP leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, JWP President Shahzain Bugti, MNA Mohsin Dawar, MNA Aslam Bhootani, MNA Ali Nawaz Shah, PMAP chief Mahmood Achakzai, National Party President Dr Abdul Malik, Ex-SAPM Allama Tahir Ashrafi, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, PPP MNA Shagufta Jumani and others.

Family members include Hamza Shahbaz, Wife of Hamza Shahbaz, Daughter of Hamza Shahbaz, Maid of Hamza Shahbaz’s family, Captain Muhammad Safdar (Retd), Maryam Nawaz, Sabiha Abbas Sharif, Yousaf Abbas Sharif, Wife of Yousaf Abbas Sharif, Son of Yousaf Abbas Sharif and others.

Interestingly, if it was not enough, the entourage would be joined in by other family members from Doha including Suleman Shehbaz Sharif, Wife of Suleman Shehbaz Sharif, Son of Suleman Shehbaz Sharif, Maid of Suleman Shehbaz Sharif and others.

The list also includes names of retired bureaucrat Ahad Cheema, Mrs Ahad Cheema, personal staff including drivers and others. Moreover, family members joining in from London would include Hussain Nawaz, Wife of Hussain Nawaz and others.

‘False propaganda about PM’s Saudi visit’ Issuing a statement in response to a tweet of PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has stated that PM Shehbaz was not going to Saudi Arabia on a chartered plane.

“The PTI leaders should not mislead the masses through false and baseless propaganda,” the information minister said in the

statement, clarifying that the prime minister would go to Saudi Arabia on a commercial flight and bear the expenses of his visit.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk