Epaper – March 18-2022 ISB

Friday, 18 March, 2022 I 14 Shaʽban, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 259 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Tempers boil as dozens of pTi dissidenT mnas found aT sindh house islamabad

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staff report

head of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, dozens of PTI MNas’ on Thursday were found staying at the Sindh house located in the red zone of the federal capital.

The rebel MPs came to the fore following a statement by Prime Minister that Sindh house was center of conspiracy as the opposition was busy in horsetrading with ‘bags full with cash’. The expose led to strong statements from PTI ministers while many lawmakers identified in a list of rebel lawmakers viral on social media issued videos and reiterated their loyalty to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The dissident lawmakers vowed to vote ‘in line with their conscience’, implying that they would vote against their

party. among those prominent were Raja Riaz, Malik Nawab Sher Waseer, Basit Sultan and many others. as per the TV footage making rounds on media, several other lawmakers from PTI — including MNas Noor alam Khan, Basit Bukhari and Wajiha Qamar were seen staying at the facility, giving a clear indication which side they would be tilting towards in the upcoming vote that will decide the fate of the prime minister.

Riaz, who is a member of the Jahangir Tareen group, told media that there were around 24 PTI lawmakers staying at the Sindh house, saying they moved to Sindh house citing fears of government’s action against them similar to the March 10 raid by police on Parliament Lodges. he further said that if PM Imran gave the guarantee that no police action would be taken against the MNas irre-

spective of their decision regarding the vote, the were ready to move to Parliament Lodges from the Sindh house. “all of the media and the nation knows that the police attacked the lodges and our opposition MNa was tortured and taken to the police station. after that, we — those who had been dissenting for a long time against inflation, corruption, the SaPMs and the lawlessness, and had been raising our voice in front of Khan sahab — felt that the incident that happened in the Lodges could also happen with us, and this is why we are here,” Riaz stated.

“No one has given us any money.

God willing, we will give our vote based on our conscience. We are not afraid of anyone. We are here only as a precautionary measure,” he added. earlier in February, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry alleged that three PTI MNas had been offered bribes to

support the opposition’s planned noconfidence motion in the parliament.

When asked if he had taken Rs200 million to switch allegiance, Riaz chuckled and replied: “I cannot think of accepting even a rupee.” another PTI MNa, Noor alam Khan, said that he was “very disappointed” to know of allegations being levelled against dissident lawmakers. “When we came to Imran Khan sahab and had voted for him, were we given Rs200m

then? When we voted for the speaker did we get 200m then?” he appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan, chief justice of Islamabad high Court, chief election commissioner and the Islamabad district administration to ensure that every MNa, irrespective of who he wants to vote for, is provided protection to reach the National assembly for the no-confidence vote.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

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Friday, 18 March, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

AMbiguiTieS regArdiNg No-TruST Move will CleAr AfTer MArCh 25: SheiKh rASheed

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NewS DeSk

NTERIOR Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Thursday expressed confidence that Prime Minister Imran Khan would win the no-trust vote against him, adding that the ambiguities regarding this will start clearing up from March 25. Addressing a presser in Islamabad, he said during meetings today, the premier directed ministers to remain in contact with the government’s allies.

“Imran Khan will succeed and the allies, who are holding discussions right now … I am

confident they will [stand with the prime minister].”

He further stated that he had predicted three months ago that the opposition would not come to the capital on March 23, instead, it would arrive on March 25. “Today, I am telling you the skies will start clearing up after March 25. Their people [will hold a rally] on 25 and then we will have a rally on the 27th.”

He said it was the speaker’s decision when to call the session of the National Assembly, reiterating that Prime Minister Imran Khan would succeed. “I am confident that our allies, who are reflecting and discussing right now,

PM congratulates Yoon Suk-yeol on wining South Korea presidential election ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated Yoon Sukyeol on Thursday, days after the conservative opposition candidate from South Korea rode to victory in a tight presidential election. In a tweet, the prime minister said he looked forward to working with Sukyeol to further strengthen ties between the two nations.

“I congratulate H.E Mr Yoon Suk-Yeol on his election as the President of the Republic of Korea.” Around 77 percent of South Korea’s 44 million eligible voters cast ballots to pick the leader of a nation whose global status is rising even as it has been riven by gender and generational divisions, while facing a confrontational North Korea. The winner must tackle challenges including South Korea’s worst wave of Covid-19 infections, growing inequality and surging home prices, while navigating an increasingly tense rivalry between China and the United States. Voters also want the new president to root out graft and pursue negotiations to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

will also decide in favour of Imran Khan.”

He went on to state that it was his duty as interior minister to ensure the protection of common people, MNAs and to look after the law and order situation, adding that paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps (FC) officials would start guarding the perimeters of the National Assembly and Parliament Lodges from March 20 while 2,000 officials would be deployed for the capital’s security from March 20 to April 2.

“It will be my effort as interior minister to deal properly with the law and order-related problems,” he said.

The minister also addressed reports that a number of opposition MNAs, as well as some lawmakers from the ruling party, are presently staying at Sindh House in the capital for “security”. When asked whether the government would take action on reports that a Sindh police security force had been called to the Sindh House in the capital, Ahmed said, “We are not taking any action against anyone right now. [The time] is far away,” he said in reference to the day voting on the no-trust motion would take place.

“I do not want to say anything that will create a problem. [SSU Deputy Inspector

Meta introduces special initiatives for online safety of women in Pakistan ISLAMABAD NewS DeSk

Meta has launched two new initiatives in Pakistan, focused on womens’ safety online that includes the Online Safety Guide and StopNCII (Non consensual intimate images) to help users to safely navigate cyberspace. The critical safety advisory available in English and Urdu is expected to boost digital literacy and responsible online behaviour amongst users, thereby creating safer online spaces for women to connect and express themselves without restraints.

The safety guide, now available at Meta’s Safety Centre, is part of the company’s efforts to equip and prepare users for the challenges of the modern digital world. Millions of people in Pakistan use Meta platforms to connect and pursue shared interests. However, it is always good to update oneself on issues around online harassment, unwanted messages and a range of fraudulent and criminal activities in the online space.

Meta has policies and systems in place to tackle online violence against women, aided by awareness

programs to enable and empower them to defend themselves against unscrupulous elements online.

The safety guide features all the tools around safety available on Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp and explains how women can adopt them for safer internet use and protect themselves from criminal & fraudulent activities. Keeping the focus on safety, StopNCII was developed with Meta’s expert guidance and funding in collaboration with global NGO partner, ‘the UK Revenge Porn Helpline’, to stop the sharing of non-consensual intimate images (NCII), often referred to as Revenge Porn. StopNCII.org has a global footprint and currently services people through regional partners that advocate for local victims. It uses the latest innovative technology to block compromising photos and videos proactively from spreading online.

Meta has localised StopNCII into an Urdu portal as well that can be used by users concerned for their online safety and privacy to initiate a case. Once the case is initiated, Meta can proactively block the spread of the compromising images and videos before they can spread online.

PM urges expatriates to make ‘safe investments’ in CBD, RUDA projects APP Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said that there were massive investment opportunities available for the overseas Pakistanis to make safe investments in Central Business District (CBD) and Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) projects.

The prime minister, chairing a meeting to review progress on the said projects, said record revenue of Rs. 57.88 billion had been generated during two auctions of commercial plots in CBD. Appreciating the efforts of CBD team, the prime minister said the government had targeted dead capital lying unutilized throughout the country and had converted it into sustainable revenue generating initiatives.

He viewed that unplanned and unmanaged urban sprawl would affect food security where green areas were being converted to housing and commercial areas.

He said that government was adopting environment friendly approach for new urban projects to cater for residential and commercial needs as well

as preserving green areas.

The prime minister directed the Punjab government to take legal action against illegal housing societies selling land in flood plains thereby risking the lives and investments of the general public.

Earlier, the meeting was briefed about progress of CBD and RUDA projects including Lahore’s first Downtown auctions, captive power plant construction, Chahar Bagh, Rakh Jhok National Park, RUDA Technology Park, 10,000 apartments District dedicated for overseas Pakistanis, waste water treatment plant and other amenities.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister of State Farrukh Habib, SAPM Dr. Shehbaz Gill, Chairman Naya Pakistan Housing & Development Authority Lt. Gen. (R) Anwar Ali Haider and senior officers attended the meeting.

Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Punjab Housing Minister Malik Asad Khokhar, Punjab Local Government Minister Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, Advisor to CM Punjab Dr. Salman Shah and senior officers joined via video link.

General] Maqsood Memon and the force they [the opposition] have brought in are a separate case. The buying and selling (of lawmakers) in Sindh House is a separate case,” the minister said, adding that those who “sold their conscience” never gained respect.

“There are some people in Sindh House.

They have called 300-400 policemen. No problem. There are many days [left].”

He also criticised Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s suggestion to form a national government without the PTI, saying it was the “first time that Shehbaz’s cat is out of the bag”.

The minister predicted that Shehbaz would suggest the formation of a technocrat government in a few days.

The interior minister said the nation could see that those who used to raise the slogan of vote ko izzat do (honour the vote) — a reference to the PML-N — were now advocating a national government for the next five years.

No Trust Move: PPP Core Committee deliberates on key decisions ISLAMABAD: Meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Core Committee held here on Thursday to discuss the prevailing political situation was co-chaired by President PPP-P Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. During the meeting, consultations was held on important decisions related to national politics, including noconfidence motion. The Core Committee meeting was attended by Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Sherry Rehman, Nayyer Bukhari, Farhatullah Babar, Raza Rabbani, Naveed Qamar, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Khursheed Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Shazia Marri, Rukhsana Bangash, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Chaudhry Manzoor and others. All PPP provincial presidents attended the Core committee meeting through video link. Staff RepoRt

State challenges brother’s acquittal in Qandeel murder ISLAMABAD: The government moved the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the convict in the murder of Qandeel Baloch, a model on social media, Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Maleeka Bokhari said Thursday. Muhammad Waseem was arrested in 2016 after he confessed to killing his sister, 26, for posting what he called “shameful” pictures on Facebook. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison but after less than six years in prison, an appeal judge ruled that Baloch’s murder could not be defined as a crime of honour, dismissing his confession. The laws allow a murder victim’s family to pardon a convicted killer. In a tweet, Bokhari said the top court has an opportunity to set an important precedent in cases of “such brutal murders”.

The government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan continues to stand for the protection of the rights of women and girls, she added. After Waseem was released in February, Bokhari had announced the state was reviewing “legal options” in light of the law and prior Supreme Court judgements in cases of so-called honour killings. Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had also said the government will challenge the verdict at Pakistan’s top court.

“We as a nation should be ashamed of such (legal) system,” Chaudhry said on Twitter.

Baloch became famous for her flirty and defiant posts which flew in the face of the nation’s deeply patriarchal mores. Waseem was arrested immediately after her death and later sentenced to life in prison for strangling her — brazenly telling the media he had no remorse. The case became the most high profile honour killing of recent years — where women are dealt lethal punishment by male relatives for purportedly bringing “shame” to the reputation of a family. Staff RepoRt

Pakistan, Austria desire to expand trade, economic ties ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has expressed the desire to expand political and economic relations with Pakistan.

The Austrian foreign minister said this while addressing a press conference along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi after a delegation level talks on Thursday.

The visiting foreign minister said that he is accompanied by twenty businessmen from his country and being world leaders in different areas such as hydrogen power, infrastructure, tourism and green technology, they are looking for new markets including the ones in South Asia including Pakistan.

Schallenberg said that both Pakistan and Austria also stand side by side in the fight against extremism and terrorism. He

said, “We also want peace and stability in Afghanistan.”

Speaking on the occasion, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that both sides have charted a way forward to promote the existing bilateral relations. He said, “Our talks today focused on the possibilities of trade and investment cooperation.”

Qureshi said Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Austria and considers it an important country

of the European Union. He mentioned the excellent investment opportunities available for Austrian companies in Pakistan in the fields of renewable energy, tourism, housing, agriculture, and information technology.

He said the special economic zones under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also offer attractive incentives and tax concessions for Austrian investors.

Friday, 18 March, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

STePS TAKeN To SwiTCh over To iNCluSive growTh: TAriN ISLAMABAD

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Staff RepoRt

HE government has decided to switch over to inclusive growth by enhancing exports, compressing imports and incentivising the local industrial sector, besides allocating resources for increasing the productivity of the agriculture sector to enhance output of major and minor crops.

Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin said this while addressing the ‘1st Pakistan Petrochemical Symposium’ on Thursday.

The government has also introduced several measures for broadening the tax

base, besides making efforts to plug the tax leakages by reforming the tax collection system and simplifying the tax system to encourage compliance culture in the country, he added.

He said that the track and trace system was also introduced in different industries that would also help in enhancing revenue collection, adding that a single window tax system was put in place to avoid multiple taxation. He said that 18-20 percent tax to GDP is prerequisite to achieve inclusive economic growth in the country.

The government is taking other measures to promote the local industrial sector and in this regard China was urged to shift its industrial units in Pakistan that

would help in neutralization in the country and creating about 20 million additional jobs.

He said that the government is also taking measures for the promotion of small and medium enterprises by facilitating them and providing them access to credit, adding that there are over 4-5 million SMEs in the country but their access to credit is nominal.

He said the government has taken concrete steps for introducing measures to remove structural imbalances in the national economy and achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Tarin said that these structural flaws and imbalances slowed down the economic growth rate from the last many years.

While giving the historic prospect of the national economy, he said that the local economy was on a rapid path of development in the era of 1960’s and Pakistan was ranked as 4th largest economy, bigger than South Korea, second to China and Japan. However, the massive nationalisation and huge inflow of refugees during the Afghan war were among some other factors, which negatively influenced the economic growth, he said.

He further said that war against terror also incurred huge damages to economic growth and development in terms of financial and human losses. The finance minister said that the agriculture sector, which is the mainstay of the national economy was ignored badly by all previous regimes and resultantly productivity of agriculture produces drastically reduced, adding that the country has to fulfil its domestic requirements through imports.

Due to reliance on imported food commodities, he said that the import bill of the country swelled and the gap between imports and exports widened, adding that Covid-19 pandemic had also had a negative impact on global economies as well as the economy of the country.

Tarin said that despite all these challenges the economy was growing with an average of 5.1 percent by June 2021, adding that it is not a bad growth rate during the prevailing circumstances.

Tarin lauded the efforts of organisers of the symposium and said that it will help in formulation of medium to long term policy framework as well policy guidelines for foreign and local investors to develop a robust economy.

IHC moved against power shows at Red Zone ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A petition was filed in Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday, seeking prohibition of holding a public show at the Red Zone of the capital.

The petitioner, Chaudhry Asif Gujjar, has nominated the federation and others as respondents in the petition. Gujjar seeks the court order over the matter in line with the law.

Blocking the road in Red Zone could create security issues, according to the petition.

It is to be mentioned here the opposition parties had decided to challenge the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) party’s decision of holding a public rally at

Quake hits 67 km northwest of Skardu: uSgS ISLAMABAD MoNitoRiNg RepoRt

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 jolted 67 kilometres northwest of Skardu at 13:35:24 GMT on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre, with a depth of 14.11 kilometres, was initially determined to be at 35.6666 degrees north latitude and 75.0371 degrees east longitude.

D-Chowk of Islamabad.

“A petition will be filed in the high court to seek a restraining order against the government’s public meeting,” JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery said. “The lawyers of the PPP, PML-N and JUI-F will hold a meeting over the matter,” Haidery said. “A petition will be filed tomorrow for urgent hearing of the case,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that PTI has decided for a power show at D-Chowk in a move to show solidarity with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the wake of a no-trust motion tabled by the opposition parties.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has also called the party officials and workers to get prepared to reach D-Chowk.

PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan has directed in a message to the party’s provincial, divisional and district officials to make preparations for a power show.

Meanwhile, opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Fazl ur-Rehman has announced joint opposition’s long march towards Islamabad for a ‘massive’ power show at Constitutional Avenue in front of the Parliament House.

The public meetings and power shows of two opposite political camps in Islamabad, announced at the same venue, ahead of the parliament proceedings over the no-trust motion, could result in an explosive situation, political commentators and analysts have apprehended.

26,431 cattle fell prey to skin disease in Sindh: department kARACHI Staff RepoRt

Sindh is facing outbreaks of a debilitating virus in cattle that causes a condition called “lumpy skin disease”, detecting 590 cases during the last 24 hours, the provincial Livestock and Fisheries Department said.

With the latest cases, the number of infected cattle across the province reached has 26,431.

In Karachi alone, the cases have exceeded 16,000, while in Thatta, the number stands at 4,388, a

departmental figure said.

The number of animals dying from the disease has also increased. According to the department, 189 cattle have lost their lives to the disease so far, while 16,201 are currently under treatment.

Some 1,041 cattle have completely recovered from the disease, it added.

The highly infectious disease does not affect people and is thought to be spread by flies or mosquitoes, causing nodules to form on the skin, with accompanying symptoms such as much lower milk production, but it is rarely fatal.

West should abide by its commitments to solve Ukraine conflict: expert ISLAMABAD XiNhua

The way to solve the ongoing crisis in Ukraine is not by crossing others’ red lines, but to respect and abide by the commitments that have been made, an expert told Xinhua in an interview.

For Russia, the red line is the eastwards expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), said Najma Minhas, an international affairs expert and editor of Global Village Space.

“When you saw increasing movement eastward, the red line started going very, very red.”

Noting the United States has been pushing NATO

members to increase their military spending, Minhas said some European countries which were previously not spending much on military buildup have now increased their defense budgets.

This is not limited to the military buildup, said Minhas, adding some Western countries are also encouraging their civilians to carry arms and fight in Ukraine.

Regarding the sanctions that the United States has imposed on Russia, she said that it has banned oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal imports from Russia, commodities in which the United States is more or less self-sufficient, but the country has reportedly not banned uranium imports from Russia on which the

United States is largely dependent.

“On the other hand, the United States expects that European countries, which are approximately 40 percent dependent on Russia for their natural gas, should stop importing it automatically. It’s a huge irony for the Europeans to look at,” she said.

Moreover, Minhas said the actions the West has been taking against Russia are pushing the world towards another Cold War, which is not good for the world.

“The world had actually moved on and beyond (from Cold War),” she said. “Countries have spent more on people’s health, and their education instead of military spending.”

NEWS

03

Top lawyers body urges SC to intervene to avoid violence during trust vote ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) approached the Supreme Court on Thursday, requesting it to intervene to avoid a potential “anarchic situation” which it feared could arise in case of a clash between supporters of the government and opposition parties during March 28 voting on the no-trust move against the prime minister.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party and the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance have announced to hold public shows in Islamabad on March 25 and 27, respectively, prompting fears of violence and political instability. In its constitutional petition, the SCBA said its request is aimed at ensuring the process of the no-trust motion is completed in a peaceful manner. No-trust motion is a democratic process under article 95 of the Constitution to remove a prime minister, the representative body of the lawyers said in its petition. Pointing to the inflammatory statements made by the prime minister, his ministers and the opposition, it expressed fear there is a chance of a clash between the two sides on the day of voting. The petition nominated the prime minister, the federation, Ministry of Defence secretary, National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif, House secretary, Islamabad chief commissioner, deputy commissioner and police chief as respondents. The petition said circumstances involving a confrontation between the government and the opposition could trigger an “anarchic situation” in the country. “It is evident from the political history of our country that preventing the constitutional process from taking its course has produced dire consequence for democracy and rule of law,” it read.

IHC MOVED TO STOP RALLIES: Earlier in the day, a petition was filed in Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking prohibition of holding a public show at the Red Zone of the capital. The petitioner, Chaudhry Asif Gujjar, nominated the federation and others as respondents in the petition. Gujjar seeks the court order over the matter in line with the law. Blocking the road in Red Zone could create security issues, according to the petition. It is to be mentioned here the opposition parties had decided to challenge the PTI’s decision of holding a public rally at D-Chowk of Islamabad.

New iSPr song for Pakistan day ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Thursday released a new song in connection with Pakistan Day which is celebrated every year on March 23. Shad Rahay Pakistan is a celebration of the resolve of the nation to stay united and steadfast on the path to prosperity, the military’s media wing said. It encompasses the national aspiration to always see Pakistan’s flag fluttering high. It also reverberates a prayer that the country may flourish for all times to come. The song is in tune with the resolve to keep Pakistan peaceful and on the bright path of progress.

Friday, 18 March, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

04 NEWS

FM lauds govt allies ahead oF no-trust Move

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stAff RepORt

OREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while speaking highly of government allies on Thursday, stated that the Chaudhry brothers were principled in their politics and will make the right decision at the right time.

He also thanked the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for having the ruling party’s back for the past three years, terming the party a respected ally.

Lamenting the role of some MNAs, the foreign minister said those who have decided to sell their vote cannot be stopped from selling their conscience.

“Every elected member cares about their

voters,” he said, adding that the party respected all its elected members as they represented millions of people.

According to Qureshi, never in the history of the country had democracy been damaged the way it was being today.

“The opposition neither has a uniform ideology, agenda or flag. They are working on a single-point agenda, that is removing Prime Minister Irman Khan,” the foreign minister said.

He accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of harming democracy despite presenting itself as the “champion of democracy”. “Bilawal is still a child and does not understand a lot of things,” he said.

Qureshi added that prime minister was

meeting everyone including his allies.

Regarding the United Nation’s declaring March 15 as the International Day Against Islamophobia, the foreign minister said that it was a feat achieved due to PM Imran’s efforts.

Qureshi thanked the premier for acknowledging ambassador Munir Akram and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ efforts in this regard.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan lambasted the opposition parties, saying their leaders were sitting in Islamabad’s Sindh House with “bags full of money” to “buy the loyalties of government lawmakers” and urged the people to reach Islamabad’s D-Chowk on March 27 – a day ahead

of the no-confidence motion – to show that they stand with the “truth” and against the “slaves of America”.

The premier made these remarks while addressing a public gathering in Saidu Sharif, Swat.

Earlier this week, the PTI had an-

nounced that it would hold a “massive power show” at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on March 27 and pull out one million people to the streets to “express confidence in their leader [PM Imran]”. The ruling party is expected to give a plan of action on opposition’s no-confidence motion, which it believes would fail.

Turncoats ultimate beneficiaries of corrupt system, interest-based politics: Siraj LAHORe Staff RepoRt

Emir Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Sirajul Haq has said the turncoats are the ultimate beneficiaries of the corrupt system and interest-based politics.

While talking to the JI workers at Mansoorah on Thursday, he said that prime minister should also admit his failure that his government also contributed in pushing the country towards political crisis. Sirajul Haq said that the PTI where failed to deliver, it had also taken benefit from the corrupt system and dirty bargaining to come to power.

The politics without any ideology was the main reason behind the ongoing political circus in Islamabad, he added.

He said the PTI minister issued irresponsible statements and prime min-

ister himself used derogatory remarks against his opponents, ignoring his status. Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, was expected to tell the government performance to the masses to reply the no-confidence motion against him.

Demanding the fresh election to

bring the country out of prevailing crisis, the JI chief said the people were the true custodians and they should be allowed to choose their representatives through fresh and fair polls. The prime minister, he said, must understand that a country could not be run on the basis

of loud speeches and false claims. He said the three main parties had badly failed to deliver and exposed.

The ruling elite, he said, had been occupying the country’s resources for decades, depriving the masses from basic needs. The millions of children were out of schools due to poverty, he said, adding the inflation and unemployment were uncontrolled due to false economic policies of the ruling party, he said.

Sirajul Haq advised the political parties not to adopt the path of clash as it will ultimately deprive the country of democracy. He said the JI had decided to stay away from the political circus and continued its struggle to transform Pakistan into Islamic welfare state. He said the masses wanted to get rid of the status quo parties and corrupt system and the JI was their ultimate choice.

Moeed discusses cross border trade related security challenges at PSW IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf was briefed on Pakistan Single Window initiative during his visit to the PSW headquarters on Thursday.

The Advisor discussed issues related to the security challenges and risk mitigation in the cross border trade activities in Pakistan.

Moeed Yusuf appreciated the PSW team for an effective implementation of the platform to digitize the trade processes. He said that Pakistan Single Window is years ahead of its time. “It is important to identify and engage the champions of the system from the very start to ensure a smooth implementation,” he added. He also highlighted some of the potential risks that could be faced during roll out of the system and suggested an all-inclusive design and implementation approach to mitigate those risks.

The advisor was given a detailed presentation on PSW’s features and services and was informed

about different components such as the integrated risk management system, ports community system and the integration of commercial banks and different government agencies.

He was also informed about PSW initiatives aimed at strengthening the economic security of the country by countering under-invoicing, and trade based money laundering such as integration with the IBM/Maersk owned TradeLens platform and other regional single window systems.

CEO PSW Syed Aftab Haider stated that PSW was building capacity for data analysis and processing of Big Data. “We would like to leverage the huge volume of data passing through the system to enable evidence based decision making by the policy maker,” he added.

The advisor was further informed that risk mitigation and change management are a strong component within the PSW company. Moreover, Coordination, Collaboration and Connectivity are the guiding principles for all PSW initiatives.

Police officer commits suicide due to ‘domestic issues’ RAHIMYAR kHAN Staff RepoRt

A young Police officer has committed suicide here allegedly owing to domestic issues due to apparent issues with her husband. “Please pray that my soul is taken away peacefully. Marry my daughters to someone who can take responsibility,” these were the last few chilling words written by the sub-inspector to her mother before she committed suicide. Mary Rose, a mother of two, took the extreme step allegedly due to some domestic problems.

The policewoman was posted at City A division police station in southern Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan city. SSP Investigation Captain (retd) Mohammad Dost, while talking to the media, said that Rose was one of the finest police officers in the district. “She used to put additional effort in every case, used to lead by example and also used to take care of their issues by contacting higher officials.” He refuted claims that Rose took the step after her leaves were denied, saying that the department had no clue that Rose was going through such pain otherwise the department would have done something to help her. Dost said that everyone from officers to personnel working in the police department can apply for leaves and only rarely is it denied, adding that under emergency situations the leaves of any police personnel is never denied. If leave is not granted from one place, the police officer may take the application to a superior officer or may go even higher,” he added. Dost said that the police officer had left the message before committing suicide in which she clearly stated that the reason for her suicide was domestic problems. “This [suicide note] is very crucial evidence during the investigation [of suicide cases],” he added. He assured that police are investigating the case from all angles and it will be taken to its logical conclusion, adding that Rose’s husband, who resides in Lahore, is also being questioned.

“Rose Mary’s last message indicates that all was not well between her and her husband.”

PM Imran, Asad Umar challenge ECP notice in IHC News Desk Prime Minister Imran Khan and Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar have challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notice served to them for partaking in the March 11 Lower Dir rally.

The petition has been accepted, with IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah set to hear it shortly despite objections from the court’s registrar office. On the same day of the jalsa, the ECP had issued a notice to the prime minister and others, including KP Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, and federal ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parvez Khattak, Murad Saeed, Asad Umar, provincial cabinet members Shafiullah, Anwar Zeb and Liaqat Ali. “You are required to appear in person or through counsel in this office along with a written statement on March 14 at 10:30 am,” stated the notice to the PM and others.

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It mentioned that in case of failure to submit the written reply, or appearing in person or through counsel, an ex-parte decision will be taken under Section 234 of the Elections Act 2017.

Challenging the ECP’s notices today, federal minister Umar said that the election body cannot ignore the law — Elections (Amend-

ment) Ordinance 2022 — in the field. Talking to journalists upon arrival at the IHC, he said that the petition, co-signed by PM Imran Khan and himself, has been filed in court.

The minister was of the view that the ECP did not have the authority to interpret the law.

Umar said that they requested the court to start hearing the petition immediately.

The ECP and the federation have been made parties in the petition through the Secretary Cabinet.

“Does the ECP have the authority to remove an amendment from the code of conduct of the Elections Act?” PM Imran Khan and Umar asked in the petition.

As per the petition, the ECP violated laws by serving notices to the PTI leaders for attending a public meeting.

After the promulgation of the ordinance, the ECP cannot bar public office holders from attending an election campaign, it maintained.

The petitioners pleaded with the court to declare ECP’s March 10-11 notices null and void.

Friday, 18 March, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Pakistan, Austria desire to expand trade, economic ties ISLAMABAD staff report

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has expressed the desire to expand political and economic relations with Pakistan. The Austrian foreign minister said this while addressing a press conference along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi after a delegation level talks on Thursday. The visiting foreign minister said that he is accompanied by twenty businessmen from his country and being world leaders in different areas such as hydrogen power, infrastructure, tourism and green technology, they are looking for new markets including the ones in South Asia including Pakistan. Schallenberg said that both Pakistan and Austria also stand side by side in the fight against extremism and terrorism.

He said, “We also want peace and stability in Afghanistan.”

Speaking on the occasion, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that both sides have charted a way forward to promote the existing bilateral relations. He said, “Our talks today focused on the possibilities of trade and investment cooperation.” Qureshi said Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Austria and considers it an important country of the European Union. He mentioned the excellent investment opportunities available for Austrian companies in Pakistan in the fields of renewable energy, tourism, housing, agriculture, and information technology.

He said the special economic zones under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also offer attractive incentives and tax concessions for Austrian investors. He hoped that Austria would continue to support Pakistan in the fourth biennial review of GSP+ status this year.

Qureshi said the Austrian businessmen will hold talks with their Pakistan counterparts and the Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood to further explore the opportunities of cooperation. He pointed out that Pakistan is a market of two hundred million people and it has the potential of becoming the hub for regional trade.

Qureshi said Pakistan believes that constructive diplomatic and political engagement of the international community with Afghanistan would will lasting peace and stability. The foreign minister mentioned that Pakistan provided all possible assistance for the evacuation of diplomats, representatives of international organizations, NGOs and media persons from Afghanistan. He emphasised that joint and coordinated efforts will prevent human tragedy in Afghanistan.

Mobile phone imports surge 7.63pc to $1,41bn in 8 months ISLAMABAD tltp

Despite the rise in domestic manufacturing, the import of mobile phones into the country has witnessed an increase of 7.63 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the corresponding period of last year. According to the data shared by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country imported mobile phones worth $1,411.619 million during July-February 2021-22 as compared to the imports of $1311.493 million during JulyFebruary 2020-21, showing a growth of 7.63 percent.

Meanwhile, on a year-to-year basis, the import of mobile phones decreased by 19.69 percent during the month of February 2022 when compared to the same month of last year. The import of mobiles into the country during February 2022 was recorded at $141.207 million against the exports of $175.821 million in February 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the imports of mobile phones also witnessed a decline of 21.45 percent during February 2022, as compared to the imports of $179.765 million during January 2022, according to the data.

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FOREx RESERVES, FDI ShOw DEclINING TRENDS KARACHI

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staff report

HE foreign exchange reserves of the country dropped for the fifth straight week to $22.28 billion, while the foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Pakistan dropped by 17.5 percent in February to $90.8 million against the inflows of $110 million recorded in January 2022.

According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased 2.35 percent on a weekly basis.

On March 11, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $15,831.6 million, down $381 million compared with $16,212.2 million on March 4. The

central bank gave no reason for the fall in reserves.

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $22,283.4 million.

Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,451.8 million.

The SBP said that FDI flows to Pakistan fell for the second consecutive month in February 2022 to $90.8 million against the inflows of $110 million in January 2022. On a year-onyear basis, FDI fell by 33.7 percent when compared to $137 million in February 2021.

Meanwhile, the country fetched FDI amounting to $1.26 billion during July-February period of the current fiscal year as against $1.19 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, showing a decline of 6.1 percent.

During the month of February 2022, the foreign private investment into the country amounted to $83.8 million, out of which, $90.8 million were attributed to direct investments, whereas disinvestment of $6.9 million was attributed to equity securities i.e., a part of portfolio investments.

Within the direct investments, there was an inflow of $153.2 million and an outflow of $62.4 million during the month.

The sequential decline in the FDI inflows was attributed to the significantly decreased investments from China as net investment inflows from China plunged by 55 percent MoM to $24.1 million from $53.7 million reported in January 2022. While inflows from Norway stood at $20 million and FDI from Switzerland observed a marginal drop of 3.7% to $12.3 million.

Sector-wise, the financial business

PM Khan’s govt gave 5-year tax exemption to overseas Pakistanis for investment: Dr. Shahid LAHORE staff report

Vice Chairperson Overseas Pakistan Commission Punjab Dr. Shahid Mahmood has the incumbent government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has given five year tax exemption of overseas Pakistanis for investment which is laudable.

He stated this while talking to Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) Punjab for Health Muhammad Hanif Patafi who called on him at his office on Thursday. Commissioner OPC Syed Khadim Abbas was also present on the occasion.

During the meeting, the Vice Chairperson OPC Punjab and SACM for Health discussed the solution to the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis belonging to DG Khan.

Dr. Shahid Mahmood told the SACM that overseas Pakistanis are a precious asset and true ambassador of the country. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Punjab have special interest in solving the problems of expats.

He further said that in the light of the vision of the Prime Minister and the directive of the Chief Minister of Punjab, special front desks have been set up in OPC Punjab under one win-

dow operation for immediate solution of the problems of overseas Pakistanis and they are taking full advantage of the services offed by OPC. The Vice Chairperson OPC said that National Overseas Policy is also being formulated on the directives of the Prime Minister, which will be announced the PM soon.

Later, SACM to CM for Health Muhammad Hanif Patafi along with Vice Chairperson OPC and Commissioner OPC inspected the front desk of OPC Punjab where he was briefed by Commissioner OPC on various services presented by OPC. Speaking on the occasion, Hanif Patafi said that the OPC Punjab was rendering great services to the overseas Pakistanis. He said that the former governments had played politics in the name of Overseas Pakistanis and had completely forgotten their real problems.

He said that the PTI government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken a historic step by giving the right to vote to the expats. He clarified that the services rendered by the overseas Pakistanis to their country are unforgettable.

VC OPC Dr. Shahid Mehmood assured the SACM to resolve the issues of Overseas Pakistanis belonging to DG Khan on priority basis.

attracted the highest net FDI of $44.3 million during the month of February 2022, followed by the power sector with $22.8mn and oil & gas explorations with $16.7 million.

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board on February 2 approved Pakistan’s request for an $1 billion loan tranche. A meeting of the IMF’s Executive Board took place to discuss and finalise Pakistan’s request for the completion of the sixth Review and release of a $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank soared to an all-time high of $20.15 billion after Pakistan received a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $2,751.8 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on August 24.

BOI ORGANIZES PAKAUSTRIA INVESTORS MEETUP The Board of Investment organized Pak-Austria Investors meet-up in Islamabad on March 17, 2022.

Minister of State & Chairman BOI, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Advisor to PM on Commerce & Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Vice President of Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Ms. Carmen Goby and Austrian Foreign Minister, Mr. Alexander Schallenberg were keynote speakers at the event.

Business Delegation from Austria and notable members from Pakistan's Private sector participated in the Event. Presentations were delivered by Pakistan Public departments to highlight the visiting Investors on govt policies and incentives.

Minister of State & Chairman BOI, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan while addressing participants on the occasion stressed that Pakistani and Austrian business communities have always enjoyed fraternal bilateral relations.

Austria has been an important development partner and there is a need to further strengthen business and investment relations to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes by focusing on regular exchange of trade & investment delegations to explore all untapped areas of potential cooperation. He added.

Chairman BOI apprised the participants on several investment opportunities in Pakistan including energy, financial services, power generation equipment etc.

He underscored that despite promising potential for bilateral economic engagements, investment cooperation has reduced over the years. Hence it is time to focus on business to business (B2B) interactions, especially in sectors such as Energy, Railways, Engineering, Construction, Information Technology and Tourism sectors. Elaborating on Pakistan’s potential in petroleum and energy, Mr. Ahsan said that Pakistan is blessed with one of the world’s best locations for solar power and wind power generation. pr

Tempers boil as dozens of PTI dissident MNAs found at Sindh House COntInuED fROM pAgE 01 When asked whether he would go the parliament on the day of voting, he replied, “Definitely. It is my right.”

Another MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani revealed what led him to swap the Parliament Lodges for Sindh House. He recalled that a pair of men from the PTI recently gathered came to the Lodges and accused him of “being a traitor to the party” and even threatened to vandalise his cars.

“This happened the day before yesterday at the Parliament Lodges. They were from the PTI. I wasn’t there at the time but my wife informed me.”

“Then I approached Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah through someone and told him that I wanted a room at Sindh House. Murad Ali Shah said all rooms were booked but I told him my problem was genuine.

“When I came here, I saw a completely different environment. There are around 24 MNAs … most are joining the PML-N, two to three are joining the PML-Q, and two to three are going elsewhere”.

“And three federal ministers have left [the PTI],” he added. Another PTI MNA at Sindh House who also aired his grievances against the party was Basit Bukhari.

Meanwhile, MNA Malik Nawab Sher Waseer said he would not contest the next general elections on a PTI ticket.

PPP MNA Abdul Qadir Patel who accompanied the dissidents said that the disgruntled members of the PTI are “living peacefully in Sindh House,” and “will leave after we oust Niazi [Imran Khan].”

Patel said that it is their constitutional right to cast their votes and they are ready to see how many people PTI manages to bring on March 27 jalsa. He was of the view that a flood of people was seen during PPP’s long march.

Taking a jibe at Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, he said that he changes his stances with the party he is in. Claiming to have his screenshots where the information minister was cursing PTI members, he said: “Fawad is doing his job and he is following the practice of multinational companies where ever he finds a good package he switches his place.”

Reacting to his statement, Fawad Chaudhry said that some people have been identified after they feared that action would be taken against them.

Taking to his official Twitter account, the minister wrote: “Had they been conscientious, they would have tendered their resignations.”

He urged the speaker of the National Assembly to take action against these “traitors” and demanded a lifetime disqualification for them. A day earlier, the government claimed the opposition had detained some ruling party lawmakers at Sindh House ahead of

the vote after a statement by Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi that around a dozen MNAs belonging to the PTI had ‘gone missing’.

The PM stated in a public address on Wednesday that opposition leaders were sitting in Sindh House with “heaps of money” to purchase loyalties of treasury lawmakers and had asked the election commission to take action against the alleged horse-trading.

PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi had earlier confirmed the stay of some lawmakers at Sindh House during a press conference with PPP MNA Shazia Marri. “Every member has a right to stay there. These members are from the opposition and our allies,” he had said, adding that MNAs had been kept there as they feared they could be kidnapped ahead of the no-trust vote.

Earlier today, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the government was “planning strong action” against alleged horse-trading and detention of MNAs at Sindh House.

In a video shared by the PTI on Twitter, he said the government has received information that a large amount of money had been shifted to Sindh House, which he termed the “capital of horse-trading at the moment”.

“Information has been received that a lot of money has been shifted to Sindh House, police have been called to detain people and it is the horse-trading capital right now. It is

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very unfortunate. We had gotten rid of this menace with great difficulty.

“The way marketplaces have been set up is against the Constitution and tantamount to playing with the country’s future. This is why we are planning strong action on this,” the minister said.

However, Chaudhry’s statement contradicted Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid who stated that the government is “not taking any action against anyone right now”.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad earlier on Thursday, Chaudhry also claimed that lawmakers’ votes were being bought and sold at Sindh House.

“The kind of bidding that is happening, the way conscience is being sold … I tell these people to beware of the time that [Prime Minister] Imran Khan calls on us and youngsters to stop the horse-trading ourselves,” he added.

Meanwhile, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari claimed that MNAs had been “threatened with violence, arrests and dire consequences” if they participated in the noconfidence vote.

“Their lives, liberty and family are under threat. MNAs will take any and all means for their own protection against this fascist regime,” he said, vowing that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the PPP would protect the lawmakers.

Bilawal said the opposition did “not

want anarchy” in Islamabad in view of the upcoming meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers meeting next week, warning the government to “not provoke us”.

Earlier today, in a bid to thwart the Opposition’s no-trust move, the PTI political committee meeting, headed by PM Imran Khan, decided that Islamabad’s Sindh House will not be allowed to turn into a horse-trading hub, well-informed sources revealed.

The Sindh House started making headlines after a federal minister accused the PPP of using the building for its “nefarious designs.”

On March 14, federal minister Ali Zaidi had claimed that the PPP has deployed additional SSU commandos at the building “to protect the bags of looted wealth #ZardariMafia brought to try [and] bribe our MNAs!” Following up on his statement, the PTI minister also wrote a letter to Secretary Establishment, demanding an immediate inquiry on SSU Sindh DIG Maqsood Memon.

Sources privy to the matter said that the meeting decided to strictly monitor the lawmakers and Sindh House to ensure that no one falls prey to horse-trading.

Civilian intelligence agencies were directed to closely observe the location, mobile phone data and the movement of lawmakers, and report to the premier on a daily basis.

06-07 Comments - 18th March 2022_Layout 1 3/17/2022 10:36 PM Page 1

Friday, 18 March, 2022

06 COMMENT

The trust deficit

Democracy or mobocracy?

Let the National Assembly function according to its rules

The country faces turmoil and confusion

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S the date for voting on the no-confidence move draws near, the opposition parties try hard to reach an understanding with the PTi’s disgruntled allies in different provinces. it goes to the discredit of the PTi that instead of winning over the estranged allies and party dissidents, important ministers have made fun of them thus leaving no option for them other than supporting the opposition’s no-confidence move. Fearing arrests, a dozen PTi defectors have reportedly taken shelter in islamabad’s Sindh House with the aim of proceeding, under protection provided by the opposition, straight to Parliament House on the voting day. The PTi which was earlier confident of commanding a majority in the national assembly is now having second thoughts with a dejected interior Minister Sh Rashid ahmad claiming that Prime Minister imran Khan would be the ‘ultimate winner’ whether he wins or loses the confidence vote, and Sen Faisal Javed telling disgruntled allies and PTi defectors that it would be difficult for anyone leaving PM imran to win in the 2023 polls imran Khan once again violated the ECP’s directives not to hold a public meeting in Swat where local body elections are about to be held. Speaking at a large public meeting in Swat, Mr Khan told the crowd that he wanted a ‘sea of support’ outside Parliament House on 27 March. a day earlier, information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had dared dissenters to come to vote, saying one million people would be waiting to welcome them at d-Chowk on March 27. imran Khan’s call was reminiscent of US President Trump’s signal to the neo-fascist “Proud Boys” to march to the Capitol which led to ransacking of the Capitol where there was wholesale vandalism and lawmakers had to hide in fear. a PM is expected to respect the constitution and follow the law. a no-confidence move is a normal practice in democracies. in case the PM thinks the opposition is committing any illegality, he can take the matter to court.

When a PM violates the ECP’s code, this indicates a defiance of constitutional institutions. Calling the mobs to dictate to Parliament is a practice that is only followed by fascists. There is a need on the part of the PM to cancel the gathering followed by the opposition calling off its rally to save the system.

At Penpoint M A NIAZI

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HE immediate question that comes to mind is why Prime Minister imran Khan holding rallies all over the country when his test is going to be in the national assembly, where he faces a vote of no-confidence. is he mentally prepared for the possibility, not certainty, of defeat and an early recourse to the hustings, so that all of this rallying is really the beginning of an election campaign? Or is he trying to gear up his support base to pressure their Mnas to stick with him?

Or is he appealing to the powers the opposition accuses of installing him in the first place? after all, the rallies the opposition held in the run-up to the noconfidence vote were meant to impress everyone, including those powers that imran had to be removed.

Therefore, imran’s rallies would show those same powers that imran deserved to remain in office. it would be a reminder to them that even if ousted, he would retain a powerful political presence, and was not to be disposed of so easily.

That position might well show the problem with the hybrid model of government, which the opposition says is a form of military rule without imposing martial law, when the constitutional relationship between the PM and COaS is reversed, but the letter of the Constitution is observed, if not the spirit.

The nation is being treated to the sight of the opposition hoping either to win over the allies or induce a split in the PTi, as electables are made to move away from the government, probably at the gesture of those who had made them join the PTi in the first place.

The smaller parties have to support a no-confidence move, for it is too much to ask of them to go into the opposition along with the PTi. all of them have some positions to guard in the present system, as they are electables, whose presence in Parliament, and whose loyalties, are determined by certain quarters. imran’s best chance of retaining power would be to retain the support of the forces that had brought him to office. also, even if there had been some disillusionment with imran, there has been none of the belief in the ability of the opposition to provide an alternative. imran will represent a third political force to have been tried. Zulfiqar ali Bhutto’s links with the Yahya regime and the preceding ayub regime exist, but they have been swept aside by his and his party’s titanic struggle with the Zia regime. The Zia regime gave the country nawaz Sharif and the PML-n.

Like Bhutto and nawaz, imran is imperfect. in other words, he is a human.

OIC moot Inviting China as observer might not yield results

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HE Organization of islamic Coo-operation (OiC) foreign ministers’ conference is to meet in islamabad on March 22 and 23, where it will consider a two-point agenda, islamophobia and Kashmir, both subjects close to the heart of Prime Minister imran Khan. The most striking feature of this meeting will be the presence of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. as the last regular meeting of the OiC foreign ministers took place in 2019 in dubai, had the then indian Foreign Minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, attending, this might appear a sort of riposte now that Pakistan is hosting the conference. at the same time, there seems to be a bit of make-work for Mr Yi. after all, he will be the chief guest at the annual Republic day parade, and having at the OiC moot probably solves a scheduling problem.

Be that as it may, he may not be comfortable.

Certainly, those countries which had facilitated india’s presence in dubai will not be happy. They will also not be happy that a Kashmir resolution is being mooted. Mr Yi has a peripheral connection to Kashmir, and he is also not likely to be very enthusiastic about the islamophobia resolution, especially with China coming under fire for its treatment of the Uighurs. True, Mr Khan has publicly absolved China is mistreating its Uighur population, but as the OiC has established a contact group on the Rohingya, as much as it has on Kashmir, there is potential for awkward moments as Myanmar, which China supports, comes in for criticism.

The OiC moot had to be held on schedule, and Pakistan had to host it. it is perhaps unfortunate that it is coinciding with a political crisis, and that the government feels that it can score brownie points with the public by hosting it. However, unless solid steps are taken by the meeting, which go beyond the usual speechifying and posturing, it will not be accounted the success the government is already portraying it as.

India needs to allow joint investigation

AttIyA MuNAwer

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ndia is not backing down from its aggressive policy. india is encroaching on the borders and also violating the airspace. Pakistan has responded to indian provocations, but india is not backing down from depravedness. a recent example is a possibly unarmed supersonic missile fired from indian territory in recent days fully monitored by the Pakistan air Force, but it crashed on its own.

Be it india’s so-called surgical strike or indian submarines, or encroachments on Pakistani waters, Pakistan has always acted with tolerance, but it seems that the irresponsible behaviour of the indian army will jeopardize not only the region but also world peace.

There is no doubt that despite three minutes and 24 seconds of the indian missile flying over Pakistan’s airspace, the Pakistan air Force had deliberately not taken any action to avoid provocation but the violation of airspace by the enemy country is not a trivial incident; the consequences of which could be dangerous.

The world should take serious note of this and demand an investigation, although the indian de-

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The PTI wants to delay as much as possible, even though it is the economy that has got it into trouble.

Perhaps that has been the PTI’s problem: it has looked at the economy in terms of votes.

The writer is a member of staff

India’s mistake can start a war

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

His electioneering will depend, it seems from his rallies, on the themes of his previous campaign: that the older parties are corrupt, and he is a crusader against them. it will be up to the opposition to point out that the economy has tanked. as a matter of fact, the state of the economy is what has counted against him. The establishment had assumed that corruption was preventing the country from growing, and being able to afford it. That an honest government has not been able to restore the situation shows that there might be other factors making for the problem. an idea imran might find difficult to revive would be that of tabdeeli, the slogan he used Most damaging to this has been the allegations of corruption against members of his own team, and the way theft have been left unpunished, even if thrown out of his administration.

He is being accused of promoting disorder, by his call for party workers to come to d-Chowk to prevent PTi Mnas going to Parliament. The opposition has responded with a threat to bring in its own workers.

The whole unholy mixture seems tailor-made for the eruption of violence which might cause a military takeover. This is apart from the apparent imitation of donald Trump, whose supporters attacked the Capitol while the Senate was certifying the presidential vote, on 6 January 2021. Just as the people were mobilized then to stop a constitutional process, the people are being mobilized to stop the constitutional process of the no-confidence vote. it is not easily forgotten that the first military takeover, in 1958, had one episode of horrific violence in its background, the injury of the deputy Speaker of the East Pakistan assembly while chairing a session to take up a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The Speaker is considered key, because one of the scenarios has him declaring invalid votes cast in defiance of the party whip. Whether because of that, or for some other reason, the Speaker might prevent the vote of no-confidence from coming to fruition by adjourning the session because of disorder. That could lead to a sort of situation where he could find himself facing the same sort of ire that led to the death of the East Pakistani presiding officer.

Whether or not imran has lost his majority, it

does seem he has lost that much more intangible quality, the command of the House that every Leader of the House has. it is an almost mystical factor, which allows him also to head the Cabinet. That both Speaker and deputy Speaker at the recent party core committee meeting was evidence of this, quite apart from the doubts it created about their neutrality.

The core committee came up with the idea of having a large assembly through which Mnas would have to vote in the no-confidence move. The PTi Mnas may be subject to control, but the allies are not so subject. it perhaps makes sense for imran to ask for mergers with the PTi, so that he gains the power of disqualifying them. if indeed the Speaker refuses to count votes against the whip, the matter would end up before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has previously not intervened in parliamentary proceedings, not so much from seemliness as because of express constitutional provisions, but the Speaker was to act against the Constitution, there might be problems. The Supreme Court may find that it is unable to stay out. all of that is just a matter of detail. The real question is where does the establishment stand?

The dG iSPR says it is neutral, but then, that is what it has always said. if it is manifestly neutral, considering that it was not neutral before, it would be sending a strong signal to the allies that imran was no longer in favour. it is perhaps a reflection of the past that even being neutral gives off political signals. it might be all very well to say that maintaining neutrality will take time, but what about the politicians who want a helping hand for victory rather than neutrality which leads to defeat? a vicious cycle seems to have set in, and it seems all eyes will be on the establishment even as imran’s opponents purport that this is what the whole exercise is all about.

The vote seems to have been put to March 28, which would mean that March has been lost as far as a working government goes. Perhaps this will be the worst that can be said about the no-confidence motion: the more time before it is decided, the worse it is for the economy. The PTi wants to delay as much as possible, even though it is the economy that has got it into trouble.

Perhaps that has been the PTi’s problem: it has looked at the economy in terms of votes. What the citizen, as well as the establishment, now needs is a government that sees economic management as an end in itself.

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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fence Minister has admitted his mistake and announced an investigation into the incident. However, this should be done through a joint operation with Pakistan. So that it is clear that this was a human error or a deliberate conspiracy because even before this, india has on several occasions fanned the flames of war and provocations. india has been accustomed to infiltrating Pakistani borders or sometimes violating the airspace and later various excuses are made in this regard. The attitude of the indian government and its defence Ministry is very irresponsible in this case. according to international ethics and diplomatic principles, india should have immediately apologized for its mistake, but there is no apology in the entire explanation that is being given two days after the point identification by Pakistan. However, if Pakistan had not shown extraordinary restraint on this serious border violation and had reacted aggressively using its inalienable right to defend its international borders and airspace, war could have erupted between the two nuclear powers.

Thankfully, the Pakistan air Force, despite initially determining the direction of flight of this indian missile from indian territory to Pakistan, limited itself to its surveillance, and so the region has been spared the tremendous damage and destruction that could be caused by the mistake of the indian military authorities. in this regard, the aspect should not be overlooked that the route on which the indian missile was flying was the flight path of the passenger planes. Even if the whole incident is not attributed to india’s malice and is a mistake, it can still be possible to estimate how much loss of life and property would have been feared if this potential unarmed supersonic missile had collided with a passenger plane before it crashed in Mian Channu.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in his response to india’s admission of the mistake that this mistake could lead to an accidental war between the two countries, therefore india should investigate and bring those responsible to book, and thus a major mistake between the two countries will be rectified to some extent.

There is no doubt that india has never apologized for its aggressive behaviour and does not intend to do so this time. in this regard, Pakistan should take up the whole issue at the international level, so that india can be asked to respond in the international forum. if Pakistan holds the reins of expediency then india can take another step. The US State department should immediately contact the international community and inform it of all the facts. Earlier, US intelligence had expressed concern in its annual report that a spark could break out between the two nuclear powers. Before it is too late, the international community must also confront the indian aggression.

Pakistan is patiently counting on the international community, but it is not neglecting its own defence.

Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to defend the country and protect its borders. Pakistan’s military has in the past not only taken immediate notice of cross-border terrorism or airspace violations but has also responded bluntly. However, a single mistake by india could lead the region to the brink of a major war but we have full confidence in the capabilities of our military and security agencies, our armed forces have been successful in every hour of trial and tribulations, they have never disappointed their people and they can rightly be expected to do so in the future.

The Pakistan army is the guardian and trustee of the borders and the whole nation stands with its forces.

Pakistan is patiently counting on the international community, but it is not neglecting its own defence. Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to defend the country and protect its borders.

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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The writer tweets @AttiyaMunawer

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

06-07 Comments - 18th March 2022_Layout 1 3/17/2022 10:36 PM Page 2

Friday, 18 March, 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

Unity of Nations required

Revisiting Minar-i-Pakistan The country approaches a seminal anniversary

MuhAMMAd ZAhId rIfAt

M

inaR-i-PaKiSTan, is standing aloft in the iqbal Park, formerly Minto Park, across the road from the historic and majestic Badshahi Masjid and the Fort in the city of Lahore, symbolizing the spirit and struggle launched by the Muslims under inspiring and principled leadership of Quaid-i-azam Muhammad ali Jinnah for the creation of a separate homeland.

The concept of a separate homeland for the Muslims, presented by the great thinker and poet allama Mohammad iqbal in the 1930s, was reduced in black and white at the historical session of the all india Muslim League presided over by the Quaid-i-azam at the then Minto Park on 2224 March 1940, and the dream so visualized was translated into reality within the short span of just seven years.

Minar-i-Pakistan has been erected to commemorate as well as pay tributes to the Muslims; men, women and their children; who struggled and sacrificed their lives for its creation at the same place where the Resolution was presented and adopted way back in 1940, on March 23. To mark the great historical event and subsequently its implementation in the form of an independent and free Pakistan, March 23 has since been declared as Pakistan day and is celebrated by the people every year quite befittingly and enthusiastically through meetings , seminars and rallies topped by a quite impressive and important parade at islamabad wherein all three armed forces of Pakistan, the army, air Force and navy demonstrate their strength and determination to safeguard and secure the nation’s freedom , security and solidarity at all costs. a visit to the Minar-i-Pakistan any time and day throughout the year particularly in March, obviously rekindles the spirit of sacrifice and struggle, and revives the determination for continuing to work hard and still harder for realizing the cherished objectives for which the Resolution was adopted and a free, sovereign and independent state of Pakistan was carved out on the world map out of nowhere for existence for centuries together with the continued blessings of the almighty.

Only a visit to the Minar-i-Pakistan clears certain things and ambiguities. Generally, the Resolution adopted on 23 March 1940 is taken into consideration in the context of Pakistan day celebrations every year on this historically important date. The clarifications made in the original Resolution for removing the certain misgivings and misconceptions through the delhi Resolution some six years later are somehow little known and hardly read with the 23 March 1940 original resolution.

To duly appreciate and understand the true

spirit and objective of the original 23 March resolution and the amending 9 april 1946 delhi Resolution clarifications should be read together. Both the texts of March 23 Resolution and the operative part of april 9 Resolution are inscribed on the Minar-i-Pakistan quite prominently which no visitor can ever miss to notice, read and understand and also to make some pledges under the tall Minar-i-Pakistan as a determined and committed Pakistani. it is imperative that the Pakistan Resolution, also known as the Lahore Resolution, and of the operative part containing some clarifications of the delhi Resolution are reproduced here for the benefits and information of everyone and in particular for the younger generations who mostly need to know the background of the creation of Pakistan before being swayed away by some other worldly attractions and interests. indeed March 23 has assumed a unique significance and importance in the annals of the history as a red letter day, it was on this day way back in 1940 that the Muslims of the sub-continent had formally resolved to struggle and achieve a separate homeland of their own Pakistan where they could live freely and independently, perform their religious duties and obligations and also be economically their own master. The Lahore Resolution, as it is known, was surely a semblance of the aspirations of the Muslims of the sub-continent.

Resolved at the Lahore session of all india Muslim League held on 22nd-24th March 1940 1. While approving and endorsing the action taken by the Working Committee of the all india Muslim League as indicated in their resolutions dated the 27th of august, 17th and 18th of September and 22nd of October 1939 and 3rd February 1940 on the constirtutional issue, this session of the all india Muslim League emphatically resolves that the scheme of federation embodies in the Government of india act 1935 is totally unsuited to, and unworkable in the peculiar conditions of this country and is altogether unacceptable to the Muslims india.

2. “Resolved that it is the considered view of this session of the all india Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted , with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the north Western and Eastern Zones of india, should be grouped to constitute “independent States” in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.

3. “That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the Constitution for minorities in these units and in these regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political , administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them; and in other parts of india where the Muslims are in a minority, adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in the Constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious , cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.

4. This session further authorizes the Working Committees to frame a scheme of Constitution in accordance with these basic principles, providing for the assumption finally

by the respective regions of all powers such as defence, external affairs, communications, customs and such other matters as may be necessary”. as stated above already, the Pakistan Resolution of March 23, 1940 was further clarified by a resolution unanimously passed by the Muslim League Convention held under the presidentship of the Quaid-i-azam at delhi on april 9,1946. among other things, the said Resolution also specified that: “The zones comprising Bengal and assam in the north-East and Punjab, north-West province, Sind and Balochistan in the north-West of india, namely Pakistan Zones, where the Muslims are in a dominant majority, be constituted into a sovereign independent State and that on unequivocal undertaking be given to implement the establishment of Pakistan without delay”. if both the resolutions in the context of their operative parts are read together, many things would become clear in the minds of the people in respect of creation of an independent, sovereign State of Pakistan.

The resolution so adopted unanimously was moved by Chief Minister of the undivided Bengal a.K. Fazlul Haq, and was seconded by Ch Khaliquzzaman from the United Provinces.

Zafar ali Khan from Punjab, Sardar aurangzeb from north Western Frontier Province (nWFP) and Sir abdullah Haroon from Sindh, Qazi M.Essa from Balochistan and other leaders announced their support.

Construction of Minar-i-Pakistan itself makes an interesting reading. But the story would be narrated some other time. it was started as the Pakistan day Memorial, its foundation stone was laid on 23 March 1960 by the then West Pakistan Governor akhtar Hussain while actual construction got underway sometime in 1964. The tower construction was completed on 22 March 1968 but it was never formally inaugurated by anyone.

The credit for construction of Minar-i-Pakistan, designed by architect and engineer nasreddin Murat-Khan hailing from daughestan, goes to contractor Mian abdul Khaliq and then Commissioner Lahore and well-known literary figure Mukhtar Masood who had got its file recovered from the heaps dumped in the storeroom of the office of one of the assistant Commissioners. Both Mian abdul Khaliq and Mukhtar Masood have expired over the years. it is also pertinent to mention here that no material used in the construction of Minar-ePakistan was imported from anywhere. all material was procured and collected by the contractor from different parts of the country itself. as such the Minar-e- Pakistan can easily be called a living symbol of national integration and solidarity also.

The Minar was erected under the guidance of the Pakistan day Memorial Committee which remained intact till it was taken over by the Lahore development authority in May 1982.

Pakistan day is celebrated quite enthusiastically every year on March 23. To mark the great occasion, a large number of the people from all segments of the society particularly the youth visit the Minar-i-Pakistan and revive the spirit of Pakistan day pledging to continue their efforts for building a strong, united, progressive and prosperous Pakistan by working selflessly and untiringly keeping in mind that this motherland belongs to all of us irrespective of political and other affiliations and considerations whatsoever.

The writer is can zahidriffat@gmail.com

be

reached

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CLiMaTE change is a global common problem that requires the integration of all nations. international cooperation is a prerequisite to significantly mitigate the impact of climate change and it is the only way to combat this severe and menace threat. The Paris agreement, signed on april 22, 2016, was the first universal, legally binding global climate accord under the Un Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The agreement makes it obligatory for the responsible countries, particularly those countries which are immersed in the emission of the bulk of greenhouse gases, to make efforts to keep the temperature below the pre-industrial level and to provide financial resources to the developing countries to grapple with the consequences of global warming. Earlier, world leaders gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, for the COP26 meet, discussing ways on how to tackle the climate change threat. in 2021 australia was the leading country to adopt various strategies to mitigate the threat of climate change. australia joined the Global Ocean alliance, which commits to protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030, the impacts of climate change. australia launched the international Partnership for Blue Carbon at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference and it has now grown to almost 50 members. The Partnership’s main aims are to build awareness, share knowledge and accelerate practical action to protect and restore mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses. This contributes to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration as well as other co-benefits including enhancing biodiversity, food security, sustainable livelihoods, increasing resilience and contributing to climate adaptation.

The Government of Maldives has agreed to address the herculean task of climate change which has been devastated and rattle the dilapidated situation across the world. The Maldives committed to phasing out singleuse plastics by 2023 and net zero emissions by 2030 and is also actively supporting children and young people’s direct involvement in climate negotiations and decisions.

Samrat Sengupta, director for Climate Change and Energy at the Centre for Science and Environment Think Tank, said that india needed enough carbon space in the atmosphere for its developmental needs to coexist with the global ambition of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. in this regard, China is ahead of all others in clean energy investment followed by the US, Germany, Japan and the UK. in a nutshell, there is a dire need for renewable energy investment.

Henceforth, what is required is for all nations to collectively adopt a “Covid” like approach to counter the harms of climate change. Thus, both at the state level and individually, we must curtail CO2 emissions by planting trees and using the least amount of fuel in our homes, transport and industries.

ZAKIR ULLAH MARDAN

An affordable, technical solution nOWadaYS, every one of us is busy in the race of achieving the best living standards that we can, and we want to be the best version of ourselves in a world full of unbeatable competition, but, it’s not easy for a lot of us to meet our desires and goals if we’re always occupied with a ton of household chores that not only take up our energy but waste our time and our true potential to go out there and shine bright.

Therefore, this time, you can clean anything you think about and bring sparkle to your place, and add value to your work, with the multipurpose housecleaner, that’ll be the perfect solution for all cleaning tasks which you wish to perform. There will be multiple features and these shall be discussed one by one: 3 different sized sponges, where each will have separate functions: the flat green sponges will be used to cleanse mirrors, remove dirt layers from dishes, floors, and tiles of bathrooms, stoves, and any kind of furniture. While the puffed sponges will be useful to apply a detergent on dishes, glass, vehicle, and room windows whether office room or bedroom. detergents of two types, liquid and solid. The liquid detergents will already be fitted into respective containers or placers that will be ready to use, such as sweep, acid, toilet cleaner, and liquid soap for washing clothes. The solid detergents, on the other hand, will include bars for dishes, powders for bathrooms, soaps, and mothballs for cloths.

Brushes for certain tasks such as simple brushes attached to rods for clothes, mats, and carpets of cars or homes, factories and offices, and huge brushes for wiping away junk from tiles. drying towels/wipes to dry furniture and stoves, and bulkier microfiber ones for any area like bathrooms, floors, mats, dishes, vehicles, factory equipment, stainless steel, countertops, wooden furniture, and whatnot. To dry completely, heat-generating fans in areas like bathrooms, tiles, big warehouses, and offices, will speed up the cleaning process.

Since these will be mechanical, they will be plated with nichrome, resistance so as air leans in, the surface heats up.

Elongated water showers can reach surfaces in cases where reach towards taps isn’t easier. in conjunction with the water showers, extendable pipes shall clean very small-sized bathrooms from outside, cars, tall structures like buildings, or distant areas if someone’s feeling lazy to get up and go clean themselves.

E-cloth mop, which consists of a dusting head to unclog hairs/dirt from gutters, the back of machines or furniture, and, areas of cars that are out of reach for a normal human range.

Built-in blower to unclog cobwebs/hidden insects/corners, the built-in feature if users fear cleaning areas from where insects might lash out suddenly. a wiper, with the ability to extend according to the space and size of the cleaning surface.

Lastly, a vacuum is available in the machine with similar specs to the wiper.

Keeping unheard desires of customers in consideration will be the key to commercializing this product and adding value to their lives. Moreover, half of the chores will be completed by the multipurpose cleaner, precious time will be utilized and consumed in productive skills. it should also improve how people live their lives and raise their standards to keep their days brighter, healthier, and more efficient. This will be a one-time investment, and a life-long eco-friendly, and economical experience, if a company chooses to commercialize this product.

MAHNOOR ASHRAF LAHORE

08 WORLD VIEW 18th March 22_Layout 1 3/17/2022 11:32 PM Page 1

Friday, 18 March, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

Why so mAny countries WAnt to sit out the neW cold WAr FOR MANY ASIANS, LATIN AMERICANS AND AFRICANS, PUTIN DOES NOT SEEM AN UNPRECEDENTED VIOLATOR OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. HIS ANTI-WESTERN RHETORIC EVEN FALLS ON RECEPTIVE EARS — WITNESS, FOR INSTANCE, HIS PERSONAL POPULARITY IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS INDIA AND INDONESIA

BlOOmBerg PaNkaJ mishra

“d

EMOcraciEs are rising to the moment,” U.s. President Joe Biden said in his state of the Union address, as russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed his vicious war on Ukraine.

Francis Fukuyama leads a band of commentators claiming that the “spirit of 1989” is back and we are about to witness globally a “new birth of freedom.” such rhetoric, usually intoned by men who lived through the heady last days of the cold War, is dangerous. it could yet again make Western countries misread the world and their own power to shape it.

Today’s geopolitical realities are even messier than they were during the cold War, blurring any neat moral opposition between democracy and autocracy. Turning to Venezuela and possibly even iran to alleviate pressure on oil prices, the United states is already hollowing out its “alliance of democracies.” china, a reliable anti-soviet partner in the 1970s, seems to have concluded that a close association with the West is neither desirable nor viable. it is presently amplifying russian propaganda and censoring anti-Putin voices.

More importantly, a large group of nations look ready to sit out the new cold War between a hastily reunited West and russia.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says that his nation “will not take sides.” south africa was only the biggest among 17 african countries to abstain from a

United nations resolution condemning the russian invasion of Ukraine. argentina, Turkey, Mexico and indonesia belong to the great majority of nations that have declined to sanction russia.

The most revealing of these fence-sitters is india, technically at least the world’s largest democracy. Longstanding ties with Moscow — russia meets about half of india’s needs for military hardware — only partly explain india’s refusal to stand with its U.s., australian and Japanese partners in “the Quad.”

Like many governments around the world, which were already fighting politically treacherous inflation, Prime Minister narendra Modi’s administration worries about the rising price of russia’s key exports — oil, wheat and fertilizers. and Modi surely appreciates russia’s consistent support for india’s stripping of indian Occupied Kashmir’s constitutionally guaranteed autonomy.

For all these reasons and more, india won’t depart from its fundamental geopolitical strategy of nonalignment — playing off one power against another, while securing material and diplomatic commitments from both sides.

The cold warriors who insist on being “with us or against us” have never really appreciated the transactional and shifting relationships at the heart of nonalignment. nor do they seek to understand how carefully and warily the world’s most populous nations weigh their cooperation with a West-dominated international order. indonesians still remember the 1998 financial collapse in southeast asia, popularly blamed on Western investors. chinese nationalists continue to invoke the

Why oil crashed back below $100 SO FAR, THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT SOME OF THE LARGER EU COUNTRIES ARE LESS KEEN THAN COUNTRIES IN THE EAST OF THE EU TO PURSUE THE FASTEST POSSIBLE REDUCTION IN RUSSIAN OIL FLOWS Oilprice.cOm alex kimaNi

A

FTEr a torrid three-week rally, energy markets have entered correction mode, with prices moving sharply lower. Over the past week, Brent has slipped 30% from the 7 March intra-day high while European gas prices have declined 65%.

Brent for May delivery settled at UsD 106.90 per barrel (bbl) on 14 March, a w/w fall of UsD 16.31/bbl, and moved below UsD 100/bbl in early trading on 15 March. WTi for april delivery fell UsD 16.31/bbl w/w to UsD 106.90/bbl at settlement on 14 March, while the value of the OPEc basket fell by UsD 15.84/bbl to UsD 110.67/bl and by EUr 15.40/bbl to EUr 101.16/bbl.

You can blame speculative overshoot for the unfolding scenario though the overall outlook remains bullish. according to standard chartered commodity analysts, the correction tells us more about market positioning and the effect of extreme volatility than it does about changes in fundamentals over the past week.

The increase in volatility across financial and commodity markets has led to a sharp rise in the level of risk held by traders, and an associated incentive to close out some positions to lower the risk. Oil traders have mostly been positioned with a highly bullish bias in terms of both outright positions and spreads in recent weeks, meaning optimization in a higher-risk environment has mostly involved closing out prompt longs. With speculative shorts being very thin on the ground currently, there have been few natural buyers, and the downside has quickly opened up. While the price ranges involved have been rather extreme, recent price dynamics bear all the hallmarks of a textbook speculative overshoot followed by the correction necessary to reset extreme positioning.

The irony of the situation is that the dominance among oil traders of the belief that prices could only move higher has led to a position from which market dynamics dictated that in the short term, prices could only go lower.

REPLACING RUSSIAN OIL: Despite the positioning-led price fall, stanchart says that the key fundamentals are largely unchanged and are also subject to an unusually high level of uncertainty. according to commodity analysts at standard chartered, russian oil flows to Europe can be re-

placed in the short term, with the short-term price implications of that displacement potentially capable of being minimized by the extent to which OPEc members increase output beyond their current OPEc+ targets, and also by the possibility of a successful conclusion to talks in Vienna that results in higher volumes of iranian exports. The analysts have projected that consumer reluctance to buy from russia coupled with shortages of capital, equipment, and technology will continue to depress russian output over at least the next three years. russian output is expected to fall by 1.612 million barrels per day (mb/d) y/y in 2022, and by a further 0.217mb/d in 2023, with the y/y decline peaking at 2.306mb/d in Q2-2022. To avoid significant upside price pressure, stanchart reckons that the market would require around 2mb/d extra supply for the remainder of 2022, and an additional 2mb/d in Q2 to ease the dislocations caused by the displacement of russian oil. The temporary 2mb/d Q2 boost could come from strategic reserves, but the 2mb/d additional flow for the remainder of 2022 would likely need to come from OPEc sources (including potentially iran).

Market tightness is, however, being helped by the fact that withdrawal from russian markets has been less dramatic than anticipated. so far, there are indications that some of the larger EU countries are less keen than countries in the east of the EU to pursue the fastest possible reduction in russian oil flows. Outside of the EU, the UK’s ban on the import of russian oil has proved less dramatic than the headlines that accompanied the initial announcement, as it does not take effect until the end of 2022. in the private sector, while several companies have given assurances they will buy no more russian oil on the spot market, there have been very few indications given about if, when, and how they will cut the volume of russian oil purchased through their term contracts. Meanwhile, statements from some governments and some companies do appear to have become less hawkish over the past week, with an apparent lengthening of the timespan envisaged for the process of reducing dependence. stanchart says that russian oil trade into Europe appears to be moving further into the shadows of term contracts and a greater reliance on thirdparty trading intermediaries. That does not make trading with russia any less distasteful for European public opinion, but it does make the trade less visible and thus likely keeps oil flows from russia higher than they would have been with more direct government targeting of those flows.

1999 bombing by naTO of the chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Memories in asia and africa of the 2003 invasion of iraq and the calamitous Western intervention in Libya remain raw.

For many asians, Latin americans and africans, Putin does not seem an unprecedented violator of international law. His anti-Western rhetoric even falls on receptive ears — witness, for instance, his personal popularity in countries such as india and indonesia. in any case, distrust of aggressive regional powers such as russia, china, Turkey and iran is balanced by suspicions that the U.s. is a profoundly weakened and highly unstable superpower. These misgivings were amply confirmed during Donald Trump’s presidency and are hardly dispelled by the continuing influence of Trump, and Trumpism, in U.s. politics.

The self-interested European and american response to the global pandemic helped build even more resentment against the West. This is bound to increase with such reckless acts as the cancellation by Lithuania of a shipment of cOViD-19 vaccines to Bangladesh because of the latter’s refusal to condemn russia at the U.n. certainly, as the U.s freezes dollar reserves of the russian central bank, and iconic consumer companies such as apple inc., american Express co. and McDonald’s corp. abruptly disengage from russia, nations around the world are reconsidering their own dependence on Western goods, technologies, finance and payment systems. china, outraged by Trump’s strangling of Huawei Technologies co. and the threatened expulsion of chi-

nese companies from Wall street, has long been pursuing autonomy in the all-important realms of finance and technology, and trying to find ways to challenge the global dominance of the dollar. Other national efforts towards economic resilience and diversification of supply chains, from cOViD-19 vaccines to semiconductors, will also accelerate. as the landscape of globalization fragments, the prospects for democracy will diminish faster, notwithstanding the rhetoric about the new birth of freedom. autocracies around the world were already building high digital fortresses to keep out dissent. The withdrawal of services by silicon Valley’s media companies will only help them maintain their monopoly on disinformation. no matter what happens in Ukraine, then, the following trends are only set to intensify: opportunistic nonalignment, de-democratization, de-dollarization of the international financial system and general de-americanization of the globe.

The cold War ended in 1989 with too many fantasies about the free world’s moral prestige and geopolitical capacity. a second cold War that begins with more such delusions is heading for a destructive stalemate, if not clear defeat.

Pankaj Mishra is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.

His books include “Age of Anger: A History of the Present,” “From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia,” and “Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet and Beyond.”

Francis Fukuyama: progressives are threatening our most cherished values HE FAMOUSLY DECLARED THE ‘END OF HISTORY’. NOW THE SOCIAL SCIENTIST SAYS EXTREMISTS ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT ARE UNDERMINING LIBERAL DEMOCRACY Telegraph, UK Nikhil krishNaN

“F

rancis Fukuyama” was once the punchline to a gibe that went: “Have you heard the latest political science joke?” The reference was to the 1992 book that made Fukuyama famous, The End of History and the Last Man, and what was assumed to be its thesis: with the defeat of communism, liberal (capitalist) democracy had been revealed as history’s ultimate destination.

Francis Wheen captured the general tone of derision when he called it “one of the worst predictions in social science”. Didn’t the rising smoke from the Twin Towers simply falsify it? Fukuyama’s critics on the right, no admirers of liberalism, preferred the idea of a “clash of civilisations”.

Those on the Left, dreaming of a future beyond capitalism, thought him a smug bourgeois shill.

The jokes came from people who hadn’t read very far past the first half of the book’s title. They didn’t attend to Fukuyama’s explicit acknowledgement that there were many places across the world where history resolutely continued. all he denied was the possibility of a serious, realistic and coherent world-historical alternative to liberalism (and Osama bin Laden hardly provided that).

Of his more recent writings, his two-volume work of historically informed political theory – The Origins of Political Order (2011) and Political Order and Political Decay (2014) – has been acknowledged as a serious contribution to the subject, its length and erudition revealing him as better than a hack who happened to catch the political wind of the early 1990s.

His latest book is rather shorter. What he calls “classical” or “humane” liberalism, he reminds us, “is under severe threat around the world today”. and here, he is referring to principles – “equal individual rights, law, and freedom” – that could in principle be shared by people who call themselves progressives or conservatives. But in the face of its unpopularity these days among the bienpensant, “its virtues need to be clearly articulated and celebrated once again”. is liberalism really that awful thing so loathed by the Left – “neoliberalism”? no, Fukuyama insists: that is an unfortunate but contingent historical deformation of an honourable worldview. The same is true for the political tendencies he deplores: “identity politics”, the cult of selfishness, relativism about factual truth, moralising censorship, and cynical forms of populist nationalism. Each of these tendencies has its origins in a liberal principle pushed to “extremes” (a word that appears on nearly every page of this book).

Fukuyama’s task is to return liberalism to the spirit of its historical origins in moderation, in the attempt “to calm political passions” aroused by religious disagreement. The original liberals, he says, “sought to lower the aspirations of politics”. a liberal politics aims not at the pursuit of the good life (as some religion or other conceives of it), but at securing the conditions of peace and security that make it possible to have a life at all – as opposed to a violent death.

That much is well said, and the large theoretical claims are helpfully interspersed with sensible policy proposals on such important practical subjects as what legal reforms might diminish the political power of tech companies and how the american political system might retain something of its tradition of divided government without devolving into a gridlocked “vetocracy”. somewhat surprisingly, there is only the most glancing reference to liberal humanitarian intervention, surely one of the chief reasons for contemporary public disillusionment with the outlook.

What is unsatisfying about the book is not the inevitable omissions but the rather ipse dixit prose. Fukuyama has the bad habit of using the verb “argue” without a “because” or “therefore” in sight. it is not reassuring that he gets so many small things wrong. To pick a couple of blatant examples: “deontological” ethical theories are not so named because they are “not linked to any ontology” (it comes from the Greek for “one must”). if he insists, pretentiously, on including untransliterated Greek in his text, he and his editors should not give pedants the chance to point out that it is spelled wrong. crucial passages of philosophical exposition are, at best, tendentious. He claims that philosopher John rawls’s academically influential theory of social justice “would seem to be empirically wrong”, pointing the reader to an endnote that contains no empirical data. He consistently conflates two importantly different ideas: the liberal insistence that the final ends of life may not be knowable and the quite different claim that there is no truth about these things. as if a liberal is required to be a relativist. stylistically, too, the book is uninspiring. Fukuyama’s formulations are often pithy, but they are rarely elegant and he has little ear for cliché. Every list is a “laundry list”, far too many things are described as a “feature and not a bug” and he is far too fond of that barbaric word, “absolutize”. an author aiming to give a dying doctrine a shot in the arm needs several gifts (Fukuyama would say “virtues”) if the thing is to come off at all. His history needs to be accurate and the philosophical argumentation sound; that is to say, he must get things right. But he must also sound right.

On both counts, Fukuyama’s results are decidedly mixed. reading his book with the utmost sympathy for his conclusions, i could still only muster two cheers at the end, for him and for his embattled liberal worldview.

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Panalists at media talk on ‘Leading Women in Science, Breaking the Bias - together!’ hosted by Roche Pakistan via Dialogue on Diagnostics International Women’s Day theme to highlight the need of awareness and importance of women’s health. pr

The group photo shows (from left to right) Saad Kaliya - A. F. Ferguson & Co.; Faisal Nadeem Riaz - Dolmen Group; Dr. Babar Saeed Khan - Ehad Healthcare; Badar Khushnood P@SHA; Asfandyar Farrukh - CAP, Nadeem Hussain Pakistan Fintech Network; Guest of Honor Azfar Ahsan Minister of State and Chairman, BOI; Rana Tariq Mehboob CAP; Usman Barkat - Algo; Asad Malik - Cresset Strategic Partner; Saira Awan Malik - TCS Express and Logistics; Wasif Butt - MARIA.B.; Qasim Awan - TCS Express & Logistics; Hamza W. Hashmi - TerraBiz Conferences. pr

Dr Osman Hasan (TI) conferred HEC best Researcher Award, appointed Member bISP Islamabad: In due recognition of his meritorious and impactful research undertakings, Dr Osman Hasan (TI), Pro-Rector Academics NUST, has been conferred Best Researcher Award by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. The prestigious award is bestowed upon enterprising individuals, who excel in creating a positive discernible impact on intellectual and social growth through their outstanding research contributions. Out of the three Best Researcher Award categories, Dr Hasan has earned the coveted award in the domain of Physical Sciences, Engineering, Technology, Computer Science, Statistics and Mathematics. As a celebrated academician with a proven track record in academic leadership, teaching & research, industry outreach & commercialisation, etc, his research interests broadly are in the areas of Formal Verification, Digital Design and ehealth. He has been able to acquire research grants worth over PKR 125M from various national (HEC, PSF and Ignite) and international (DAAD, Germany, British Council, UK, QNRF, Qatar, UAE ICT Fund) agencies. Prof Hasan’s research findings have been published in 6 books, 14 book chapters, about 100 journal papers, and over 150 conference papers at internationally reputable venues. He has also won two major Erasmus Mundus mobility grants and has been collaborating with various institutes in America, Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, His Excellency President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi has appointed Dr Hasan as Member Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for the latter’s multi-faceted contributions to poverty alleviation from across the length and breadth of the country. His presence at BISP will not only be a great value addition to the Government’s efforts to uplift poor strata of the society through conditional and unconditional transfer programmes, but also a source of inspiration for the BISP beneficiaries and the management alike. BISP is a major implementing agency entrusted with the role of executing Ehsas initiatives by extending financial assistance and other social protection safety net measures to financially distressed individuals and families. pr

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EITERATING the PTI government’s commitment towards making Pakistan green and clean, Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that the Green Youth Movement (GYM) would play a significant role in mitigating the climate change impacts on environment. The minister expressed these remarks while inaugurating the Green Youth Movement under the Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme at the Convention Centre, Islamabad, on Thursday. Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul, Special Adviser to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar, Country Director British Council Pakistan Amir Ramzan, Chairperson Higher Education Commission Shaista Sohail along with a large number of youth and students from various universities as well as stakeholders in education sector attended the ceremony.

Federal Minister Asad Umar said that Pakistan is facing climate change challenges as it is the 10th most affected country of the world bearing the brunt of the climate change. He, however, said that new dams are being constructed that will be completed in next

five to seven years. Explaining about the Green Youth Movement, the minister said that this initiative will prove to be a milestone in engaging youth, enhancing their capacity building as well as skills and approaching towards growth of Pakistan.

Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul said that the Kamyab Jawan Program has enabled the youth towards better decision making. These programs are designed under the prime minister’s vision of producing a skilled young generation to ensure betterment and prosperity of the country.

Addressing the audience, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar said that

the PTI has launched Kamyab Jawan Programme that has played a key role in jobs creation, engaging youth and creating business opportunities in the country. The green champions under the Green Youth Movement initiative will represent Pakistan in other countries and learn new approaches to address the climate change, he added. In his remarks, Country Director British Council Pakistan Amir Ramzan said that the British Council is delighted to partner with the government of Pakistan on Kamyab Jawan's Green Youth Movement. It is the initiative that will define the future of our youth, he remarked.

Chairperson Higher Education Commission Shaista Sohail said that

Degree awarding ceremony of Iqra University Islamabad campus

On 17th March (Thursday); Degree awarding ceremony of Iqra University Islamabad campus was held at the H-9 campus where Degrees, Gold Medals and Awards were conferred upon as many as 598 graduates of the

university. The ceremony was marked with deep appreciation from teachers and parents. The Minister for Defense Production Ms. Zubaida Jalal Khan was the Chief Guest of the degree awarding ceremony while the officials

of Iqra University Chancellor Mr. Hunaid Hussain Lakhani, Vice Chancellor Dr. Waseem Qazi, Project Director Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan and Vice President Dr. Muhammad Islam were also present on the occasion. Students from different departments including Fashion and Design, Social Science, Computing and Technology and Electronic Engineering received their degrees. Bachelors, Masters and PhD's degrees were awarded out of which 59 were Gold medalist. At the end of the convocation, the Minister for Defense Production Zubaida Jalal addressed the congregation and congratulated the students and their parents. pr

Al-Haj Automotive announces streamlined deliveries of PROTON SAGA and PROTON X70 The restrictions imposed in Malaysia on business operating hours, social distancing, and interstate travel will be eased from April 1, 2022.

Al-Haj Automotive (Pvt.) Limited has already commenced the local assembly and deliveries of PROTON SAGA since November 2021. We would like to inform our customers that the supplies from Malaysia will be streamlined starting April 2022, enabling us to enhance the production of locally assembled SAGA and start mass production of PROTON X70.

The delivery schedules of locally assembled PROTON X70 will be informed to our PROTON dealers by next week. PROTON customers are requested to contact their respective dealerships for the delivery schedule of PROTON X70 starting next week. pr

the Green Youth Movement initiative, in collaboration with British Council and School of Leadership Foundation (SoLF) will engage 137 universities and 2.5 million youth for this initiative.

More than 65,000 jobs will be created from this initiative, she said. The GYM is part of the PM’s Kamyab Jawan Programme under which several initiatives have been taken to make youth of the country a potential instrument required to make the country progressive. Other initiatives of the PM’s Kamyab Jawan Programme include Loan Scheme, Skill Scholarship, National Youth Council, Green Youth Movement, Kamyab Jawan Markaz, Kamyab Jawan Innovation League and Tigers Force (the volunteers).

The GYM initiative is being supported by British Council’s new youth leadership programme called “Pakistan Youth Leadership Initiative” through technical support via trainings, digital engagement and international linkages.

The School of Leadership Foundation (SoLF) is extending its support to the British Council in mobilizing the youth and create GYM clubs across 137 public sector universities through Green Elections. The British Council will invest 2.8 million pounds to support the Green Youth Movement initiative, whereas the Pakistan government has already invested Rs. 238 million for this much-needed initiative.

POWER SUSPENSION SCHEDULES FOR TODAY According to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)’s spokesman, System Maintenance/Development Work is in process.

Therefore power supply of below mentioned feeders/areas will be temporary suspended as per given schedule: On 18th March, From 08:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, RCCI. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Feeders, From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Dheer Kot, Chaman Kot, Rangla, Dana Express, Dhala, Minhasa Sohawa, Nimbal, Beirut, Ghaziabad Feeders, On 19th March From 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Bhoon, Adi, Islamia Chowk, Al-Rizwan Mill, KRL, Faziya, Jinnah Camp, Falcon, STP, Industrial-II, Flour Mill, FHS, I-8/4, Hamza Camp, A Block, Khurram Colony, Kurry Road, Service Road, Muslim Town, Kohsar Valley, Haji Shah, Tin Mela, Raja Sultan, TB Hospital, Bagh Sardar, Gulshanabad, Eid Gah, Pepli, Blixar. Sohawa Katachery, Ghauri Dhamik, Service Road East, Industrial, Bank Road-II, Muslimabad, Gulzar Shaheed, Quaidabad, Ahsanabad, Pirwadhai, Bagh Sardar, Dhok Hasso, Carriage Factory, Dina-3 Rohtas, Jail Park, PAF , MES, Tamasamabad Feeders, From 08:00 AM to 04:00 PM, City, Beirut Gala, Darbar Mai Toti, Khoi Ratta City, Charohi Express, Dan Bhal, Charohi Dongi, Siri, City, Kariala, Jandrut Dabsi, Dotot, Mojan, City-II. Feeders, From 10:00 AM to 04:00 PM, Sanghoi, NCI (Toba), Laila Town, Ahmedabad, Dheer Kot, Chaman Kot, Rangla, Dana Express, Dhala, Minhasa Sohawa, Nimble, Beirut, Ghaziabad Feeders, From 09:00 to 04:00 pm, Sagarpur, Abdullahpur, CWO, Jalalpur Sharif, F-6, PM Secretariat, CBR, PM Staff Colony, Blue Area, OGDC, University, Saudi Embassy, Saudi Residence feeders and surroundings will remain off. IESCO management apologizes to its esteemed customers for the power outage. If the work is completed ahead of time, the power supply can be restored even before the scheduled time. pr

FOUNDERS’ DAY CELEBRATED AT PAF COLLEGE SARGODHA Founders’ Day was held at Pakistan Air Force College, Sargodha. Air Marshal Syed Noman Ali, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, was the Chief Guest at the occasion.

Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Imran Khalid, Principal PAF College, Sargodha presented the annual report. The students of the college presented an impressive Gymnastics and Martial Arts display along with a well-synchronized P.T show. The College also put up an attractive Aero modeling Display in which Pre-Cadets manoeuvred radio-controlled aircraft models in the air. In his address the Chief Guest said, “This is a matter of immense pleasure for me to be here among you on the auspicious occasion of Founders’ Day at PAF College, Sargodha. It is indeed, heart-warming to see a full-

09

fledged academic year coming to a natural accomplishment in the COVID-19 affected times with its one or the other variant.”

While praising the endeavors of the students, the Chief Guest further said, “You have put up a delightful show today. It reflects your keen interest in sports and passionate involvement in co-curricular activities besides acquiring academic excellence.” He also congratulated the parents on the success of their children and commended the faculty members for their excellent instructional skills. On conclusion of the event, Vice Chief of the Air Staff gave away prizes to the winning houses and individuals. The Academic Colour for overall excellence in academics were received by M Bukhari (Munir House), Mati ur Rehman (Rafiqui House), S M Ali Shah (Yunus House), M Aneeq

(Rafiqui House), M Farhan (Munir House), M Fahad Akram (Alam House), Shaheer Ahmed (Munir House), Sameed Rao (Alam House), M Abaidullah (Munir House), Asif Khan (Alauddin House), Samiullah (Alam House), Afan Amir (Rafiqui House), Yasir Noor (Iqbal House) and Ahmad Ali (Munir House). Athletics Trophy was received by Alam House. Chigwell Shield for sports was also won by Alam House. General Service Training Cup for co-curricular activities was won by Munir House, while Chief of the Air Staff trophy for academics was awarded to Munir House. Munir House lifted the coveted Quaid-e-Azam Shield for being overall Champion House of the Year. A large number of serving and retired defence personnel, senior bureaucrats, teachers and parents of the students were present on the occasion. pr

Friday, 18 March, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Biden slams ‘war Criminal’ Putin as ukraine Civilian horror grows

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agencies

S President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” Wednesday as the Russian leader’s onslaught in Ukraine claimed more civilian lives, and a theatre where “hundreds” were sheltering was destroyed by bombing.

Biden’s rebuke – his sharpest yet – came after Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky made a searing appeal for help to the US Congress and the president himself, who responded by pledging $1 billion in new weapons to fight Russia’s invading army.

Officials in the port city of Mariupol were struggling to count the dead at the Drama Theatre, where thick smoke rose from the rubble of the building that had the word “children” painted in large Russian letters on the ground outside.

It was the latest in a litany of assaults on civilians across Ukraine since Putin invaded on February 24 that

two uk-iran nationals arrive in Britain after tehran release LOnDOn afp

Two British-Iranians landed back in the United Kingdom in the early hours of Thursday morning after being freed from years of detention in Iran. Their release on Wednesday came as the UK government confirmed it had paid a longstanding debt over a cancelled defence contract. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori touched down at RAF Brize Norton in southwest England at 01:08 am (0108 GMT) after a stopover in Oman. Footage showed the pair in the cockpit talking to the pilots of their plane, before they disembarked and walked across the tarmac together to the main airport building, where their families were waiting. Both appeared relaxed, smiling and waving briefly at the cameras before heading inside. “Delighted that Nazanin and Anoosheh have landed safely in the UK and are reunited with their families and loved ones,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted. “Welcome home.” Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe had told AFP at the family home “the first thing she always wanted to do was me make her a cup of tea”. “I’m relieved that the problems were solved,” he said, standing next to their young daughter Gabriella, adding that the government should make sure “it doesn’t happen again”.

Ashoori’s family said they were “delighted… 1,672 days ago our family’s foundations were rocked when our father and husband was unjustly detained and taken away from us”. “Now, we can look forward to rebuilding those same foundations with our cornerstone back in place,” they said in a statement. UK lawmaker Tulip Siddiq, who represents the north London district where Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family live, had tweeted a photo of her constituent smiling on board a plane. “It’s been 6 long years — and I can’t believe I can FINALLY share this photo,” she wrote. Truss also announced that Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American who also holds British nationality, has been released from prison “on furlough” to his Tehran home. Addressing parliament later Wednesday, Truss said: “The agonies endured by Nazanin, Anoosheh, Morad and their families must never happen again.”

Complex talks: The pair were released as major powers in Vienna close in on renewing the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on regulating Iran’s nuclear programme. The deal gives Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme and Tehran said on Wednesday that “two issues” remain with the US to restore the deal. Truss confirmed that, with diplomatic assistance from Oman, London and Tehran had “in parallel” resolved a £394-million ($515-million, 470-million-euro) debt dating back to the 1970s and the era of the Shah of Iran. The debt payment deal was reached “after highly complex and exhaustive negotiations”, Truss said, and the money can only be used for humanitarian goods.

The families of both Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori believe they were being held as political prisoners until the issue was settled. The UK has consciously avoided saying the detention of the pair, and others held in Iran, was linked to the debt for an order of tanks that was cancelled after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday that Iran had received the money “a few days ago”, adding that it was “wrong to link Iran receiving its debt… to the release of these people”.

Uk-boUnd: Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the news and data agency, was arrested in Tehran on a visit to family in 2016. She was sentenced to five years in prison for plotting to overthrow the government. Last year she was given a further 12-month jail term for taking part in a rally outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009.

fend the city,” he told AFP by telephone, after stocking up on groceries.

The attack on the theatre in Mariupol is the latest atrocity in the southern city, which has been besieged for weeks, with more than 2,000 people killed so far.

Mariupol city authorities said Russia “purposefully destroyed” the theatre, though Moscow blamed Ukrainian forces for the blast.

Efforts to establish the number of casualties were hampered by nearby shelling.

President Zelensky gave no further details in his regular evening address, saying only “my heart is breaking seeing what Russia is doing to our people, to our Mariupol.”

Also on Wednesday at least 15 civilians were killed in the northern city of Chernihiv.

Ten of them died while queueing to collect bread.

Another five, including three children, were killed when Russian forces shelled a residential building.

As the civilian toll climbed, the World Health Organization warned that Ukraine’s health system was “teetering on the brink.”

has included homes, hospitals, ambulances and food queues. “I think he is a war criminal,” Biden told reporters of his Russian counterpart, the first time he has used the phrase.

Biden’s spokesperson added that he had spoken “from his heart” – but the Kremlin quickly punched back, calling the comment “unacceptable and unforgivable on the part of the head of a state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world.”

So far the destruction that has marked other cities has been halted outside Kyiv.

But dull booms echoed across the capital’s deserted streets Wednesday, with only an occasional vehicle passing through sandbagged checkpoints, and very few permits granted to break its latest curfew.

Kyiv has been emptied of around half of its 3.5 million people.

“It’s worrying, of course. It’s war after all. But we try to stay calm, we won’t allow panic,” said Eduard Demenchuk, a private-security employee in his 50s, was among those who have stayed.

“If need be, we will take arms and will stand to de-

“This is about the destruction of hope. This is the most basic of human rights and it has been directly denied,” WHO official Michael Ryan said in Geneva.

The conflict has already sent more than three million Ukrainians fleeing across the border, many of them women and children.

Ukraine authorities said 103 children have been killed since the invasion began.

In a virtual address to Congress, Zelensky invoked Pearl Harbor, the 9/11 attacks and Martin Luther King Jr as he showed lawmakers a video of the wrenching effect of three weeks of Russian attacks.

Zelensky, dressed in military green, demanded Washington and its NATO allies impose a no-fly zone, so that “Russia would not be able to terrorize our free cities.” Switching to English, Zelensky addressed Biden directly, saying: “I wish you to be the leader of the world.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.” Biden and NATO have resisted Zelensky’s pleas for direct involvement against nuclear-armed Russia, warning it could lead to World War Three — though Zelensky told NBC that “may have already started.”

North Korea silent after missile explodes over Pyongyang seOUL afp

North Korea’s state media was silent Thursday after a suspected missile test ended in what Seoul said was a total failure, exploding mid-air in the skies above the capital Pyongyang almost immediately after launch.

The North test-fired what was most likely a ballistic missile from the Sunan area of the capital, home to some three million people, early Wednesday, South Korea’s military said.

The projectile exploded moments after launch, with Seoul-based specialist NK News reporting that debris fell in or near Pyongyang as a red-tinged ball of smoke zigzagged across the sky.

North Korea’s state media — Rodong Sinmun and KCNA news agency — typically carry reports on successful weapons tests within 24 hours of launch, often with photographs.

But state media on Thursday made no mention of the test, the tenth launch this year in the face of

biting sanctions.

“North Korea is constantly promoting this myth that its leadership is doing a great job. They don’t want to highlight any failures,” Cheong Seongchang, a senior researcher at the private Sejong Institute told AFP. The US and South Korea have said North Korea is preparing to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at full range for the first time since 2017, possibly disguised as a space launch.

North Korea will mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of founder Kim Il-sung — current leader Kim Jong Un’s grandfather — in April and likes to mark key domestic anniversaries with military parades or launches. “The country wants to keep its festive atmosphere until April 15, the 110th anniversary of its founder Kim Il Sung’s birthday, and those in leadership don’t want ordinary citizens to be affected by such news,” Cheong added.

Human rights activists said the silence on the missile test failure demonstrated just how tightly controlled life is for North Koreans.

“If it was London, Istanbul or Seoul imagine our newsfeeds — filled with video, images and eyewitness accounts,” Sokeel Park of Liberty in NK said on Twitter.

“But it was Pyongyang, so there isn’t a SINGLE public image or video. A complete visual blackout for a huge explosion in the sky above an Asian capital in 2022.” Analysts have suggested Wednesday’s failed test was of Pyongyang’s so-called “monster missile” — the Hwasong 17, a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system that had never been launched before.

Pyongyang has tested a string of banned weaponry in 2022, including seven missile tests and two launches of what it claimed were “reconnaissance satellites”.

South Korea and the US last week both said the “satellite” tests were actually of a new ICBM system. North Korea is already under biting international sanctions over its missile and nuclear weapons programme, but the US said the tests were a “serious escalation” and would be punished.

Xi Jinping requires swift containment of latest COVID-19 outbreaks

Mian abrar President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday urged swift containment of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Since the COVID-19 response measures were enforced on a regular basis, China has effectively responded to regional cluster infections and provided the best protection for people’s lives and health as it can, Xi said.

The country’s economic performance and COVID-19 response, which both led the world, fully demonstrated its strength and capacity in epidemic prevention and control. It also showed the advantages of the CPC’s leadership and the socialist system, he noted.

“Victory comes from perseverance,” Xi said.

He asked all departments and regions to prepare for complexity and difficulty in COVID-19 response at home and abroad.

The people should always come first, said Xi. He stressed science-based and accurate measures and the adherence to the dynamic zero-COVID policy to curb the spread of the epidemic soonest.

He called for further scientific and technological innovation in research and development of vaccines, rapid testing reagents, and medicines to make the prevention and control more targeted.

More effective measures should be taken to achieve maximum effect in prevention and control with minimum cost, and to reduce the epidemic’s impact on socioeconomic development as much as possible, said Xi. Following the recent covid-19 outbreak, China has shortened mandatory quarantine time for recovered COVID-19 patients to save muchneeded medical resources for severe cases, a renowned infectious diseases expert told a press conference organized by the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality on Thursday.

In a recent adjustment to its anti-pandemic plan, China augmented its COVID-19 testing capability by approving rapid self-test kits to curb outbreaks in a faster and scientific manner as daily local cases in the country topped 1,000 last week.

Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, said the plan has been revised to optimize medical resources management. He said the country aims to employ “three weapons” to tackle COVID-19: high vaccination rate, effective medications to treat the virus, and abundant medical resources for emergencies.

China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday released the revised plan, which calls for only quarantining mild cases instead of admitting them in the hospital unless the conditions worsen.

Recovered patients are now only required to monitor their health in a seven-day home quarantine besides taking a COVID-19 test after leaving hospital, Zhang said. Previously, a 14-day quarantine at designated places was mandatory.

Given the measures, the average hospital stay in Shanghai is expected to be shortened to 10 days from 15, according to Zhang.

China successfully launches Yaogan-34 02 remote sensing satellite JiUQUan Staff RepoRt

China successfully sent a new remote sensing satellite of the Yaogan-34 series into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 3:09 p.m. on Thursday (Beijing Time). The Yaogan-34 02 satellite was carried by a Long March-4C rocket and successfully entered its planned orbit. This remote sensing satellite will be used for the survey of land resources, urban planning, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and reduction. It was the 411th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. A Long March-4C rocket carrying the Yaogan-34 02 satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, March 17, 2022. China successfully sent a new remote sensing satellite of the Yaogan-34 series into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 3:09 p.m. on Thursday (Beijing Time). A Long March-4C rocket carrying the Yaogan-34 02 satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, March 17, 2022.

China successfully sent a new remote sensing satellite of the Yaogan-34 series into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 3:09 p.m. on Thursday (Beijing Time).

Friday, 18 March, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

SPORTS 11

Pakistan went on the defensiVe once i got out: BaBar azam KARACHI

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news Desk

AKISTAN captain Babar Azam has revealed that Pakistan would have gone with the mindset of chasing the mammoth target against Australia if they had not lost his wicket a post-tea.

Pakistan managed to draw the 2nd Test against Australia after surviving 171.4 overs — the most by a team to draw a five-dayTest as they scored 443-7 at the close of play chasing the target of 506.

Pakistan were earlier bowled out for 148 in the first innings and were 21 for 2 in the second innings but Babar Azam played a match-saving inning of 196 following his patient partnerships with Abdullah Shafiq and Mohammad Rizwan.

They needed 196 runs from 36 overs in the last session of play with six wickets in

hands and, at that moment, there was a sight of intent before Babar lost his wicket, which was followed by wickets of Faheem Ashraf and Sajid Khan.

That moment panicked many — but Babar was unfazed.

“I didn’t panic despite our team losing back-to-back wickets because I was confident that the tail-enders are capable enough of saving this match,” Babar said after the historic draw in Karachi.

“We wanted to play normally till tea and then see the situation post-tea. I think if I had not lost my wicket, we would’ve opted for the mindset to chase the target,” he said.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam speaks to journalists after the second Pakistan-Australia Test match in Karachi, on March 16, 2022.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam speaks to journalists after the second Pakistan-Australia Test match in Karachi, on March 16,

2022.

Babar said that after a dismal show in the first innings, he tried to motivate his team and told them that what’s done is done and Pakistan can still save this match.

He said that he was focused on imparting a sense of self-belief among the players ahead of the second innings.

“Credit to Abdullah Shafiq for the way he played. He showed amazing patience and played a very important knock today which helped the team, and then towards the end, Muhammad Rizwan played a brilliant knock,” Babar said.

“I am happy to play the knock that I played, as this knock holds very value for me because the team needed it and it helped Pakistan save the Test match,” the Pakistani captain said.

He said that the pitch offered the same reverse and spin to both the bowlers, there was not much swing even in the first innings

but Pakistan lost wickets to soft dismissals and by committing mistakes.

He said that team will try to learn from mistakes and will do even better in Lahore Test. “We will try to convert our goods into our best and learn from the mistakes that we made in this match ahead of the Lahore

Cummins under fire from Australian media over Karachi draw AgENCIES Australian media came down hard on Aussie skipper Pat Cummins and questioned his strategy after Pakistan pulled off an extraordinary draw at the Karachi Test.

Cummins defended his decision not to enforce the follow-on against Pakistan in the drawn second Test.

Australia racked up 556-9 before declaring their first innings and then skittled out Pakistan for 148 for a mammoth lead of 408 at Karachi’s National Stadium.

Instead of subjecting Pakistan to follow on, Cummins decided to bat on and Australia declared their second innings at 97-2 — setting Pakistan a record victory target of 506.

Babar Azam’s epic 196 fuelled Pakistan’s spirited fightback and Australia were eventually stranded three wickets away from a 1-0 lead in the three-test series.

“Coming over here in these conditions, at the start of the series if you had said it’s going to be nil-all after two games, we would probably take that,” Cummins told reporters.

Fox News reported that in light of Cummins’ decision, there’s an “argument” that Australia could have been in some danger of a Kolkata 2001 repeat if they did enforce the follow-on.

“It was something Cummins was likely acutely

aware of and steered clear, knowing 170 overs was enough time to create 10 chances,” Fox News said.

“In the end, Australia created far more than just 10 and still didn’t win the Test — so it’s worth asking ourselves who is really to blame here?”

Australia also missed several chances to dismiss Pakistani batters in the second innings, with the highlight being Steve Smith’s drop of Abdullah Shafique on day four.

“This was a regulation slips catch that strangely hit Smith in the stomach and went straight to ground,” the publication said.

At that time the inexperienced batter was just in the twenties, but later on, he scored 96 runs and managed to forge a much-needed 200-run partnership with skipper Babar Azam.

On day five, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne also dropped catches of Babar and gave him two extra lives.

“In the third-last over, Mohammad Rizwan was taking some risks to get to his century before stumps and picked out Usman Khawaja at extra cover. Had Khawaja taken the catch, Pakistan would have had to survive two overs with its No.9 and No.10 at the crease,” it said.

However, Khawaja dropped the “simple chance” to seal the draw.

After all, 170 overs is an awfully long time to spend in the field.

“Look, we had enough overs to bowl them out and just couldn’t do it,” former Australia captain Michael Clarke said on Big Sports Breakfast on Thursday morning. “We did miss a couple of opportunities on days four and five so they’d have to be disappointed with that.”

The publication noted becomes more “important than ever when trying to chase a result on a dull wicket and, once again, Australia came up short”.

Nadal neutralises Opelka to reach Indian Wells quarter-finals INDIAN WELLS AFP

Rafael Nadal improved his perfect 2022 record to 18-0 on Wednesday, battling past American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters.

The 35-year-old Spaniard, who won a record-setting 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and lifted the trophy in Acapulco last month, stayed on track for a fourth title in the California desert.

But he had to weather a barrage of big shots from the 2.11m tall American, including a raft of serves that topped the 140 mph mark.

Nadal became just the second player to start a season 18-0 since the ATP Tour launched in 1990.

Novak Djokovic has done it twice, starting 41-0 in 2011 and 26-0 in 2020.

The world number four next faces Australian Nick Kyrgios, who advanced on a walkover when scheduled opponent Jannik Sinner of Italy withdrew because of illness.

Test,” the Pakistani captain said.

Replying to a question, Babar Azam said he hoped that the 3rd Test in Lahore would produce results.

“We will think about our strategy once we are in Lahore and see the pitch there,” Azam concluded.

Villarreal humiliate Juve to make quarter-finals TURIN Agencies

Villarreal reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday after inflicting a humiliating 3-0 defeat on Juventus in Turin to go through 4-1 on aggregate. Penalties from Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma and Pau Torres’s tap-in in the final quarter of an hour were enough for Unai Emery’s well-organised side to see off the Italians at the Allianz Stadium and make Friday’s last-eight draw. “It’s a magical night,” said Moreno to Movistar+. “We thought we could do it, we’ve always shown that in the big games we compete, the team gives its best… we all want to be in there with the best in Europe, we’re going to keep dreaming and we’re going to do it together.” Europa League holders Villarreal stunned Juve with three sucker punches after spending most of the match on the back foot, content to hold off the hosts’ attacks which got less potent as the match wore on. An embarrassing loss was just Juve’s second since the end of November and punctures a dogged run of form which has put them back into the league title race at home. Massimiliano Allegri’s side were loudly booed off by the home crowd who watched their team shrink from a promising start and bounce off a yellow wall before being bundled out of the competition. Italy are now without a single representative in this season’s Champions League as it moves into its latter stages, as a cynical, clinical Villarreal beat a Serie A team at their own game. “For the first 75 minutes we played well, we had chances in the first half. They put themselves behind the ball and only an episode like the one that happened could have changed the course of the match,” Allegri said to Amazon Prime. “They had nine men behind the ball and they didn’t come out to counterattack… Their intention was to take advantage of a piece of good fortune.” Missing a host of starters and with Paulo Dybala, Giorgio Chiellini and Federico Bernardeschi only on the bench, Juve started well and had the first opportunity in the 11th minute of a breathless first half when Alvaro Morata had his powerful header well saved by Geronimo Rulli. Two minutes later Morata was involved again when he and Juan Cuadrado, who had supplied the cross for the Spaniard’s header moments before, stepped on each other’s toes and allowed a huge chance to shoot go begging. Then Dusan Vlahovic had a long-range drive pushed aside before he was denied by the crossbar, his firsttime strike from Mattia De Sciglio’s cross beating Rulli but thwacking out off the woodwork in the 21st minute.

Record-breaking Babar up there with the best after Pakistan heroics KARACHI AFP

Captain Babar Azam has long established his credentials in limited-overs cricket, but his 196 against Australia put him up there with some greats in the long form of the game too.

Azam fought valiantly for 10 hours and seven minutes in an innings lasting 425 deliveries to help Pakistan salvage a draw on Wednesday in the second Test in Karachi.

His heroic innings became the secondlongest knock in the fourth innings of a Test, just 36 minutes behind Michael Atherton’s 185 not out that ensured England saved the 1995 Johannesburg Test against South Africa. Azam added 228 for the third wicket

with Abdullah Shafique (96) and 115 for the fifth with Mohammad Rizwan (104 not out) as Pakistan defied the Australian attack for 171.4 overs.

The epic draw kept the three-match series — Australia’s first in Pakistan for 24 years — tied at 0-0 after the first Test also ended in a draw in Rawalpindi.

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq told AFP that Azam’s performance was “career-defining”.

The 27-year-old Azam’s remarkable effort was the highest score by a captain in the fourth innings of a Test, surpassing Atherton’s South Africa knock and propelling him above the likes of Don Bradman and Ricky Ponting.

Azam also became the highest individual scorer for Pakistan in the fourth innings of a Test, surpassing Younis Khan’s 171 not out against Sri Lanka in 2015.

His masterclass kept the Aussies at bay after the visitors dominated for five days and looked certain to win the match, having set the hosts a mammoth 506-run target.

“In terms of the context of the game, with the team under pressure, him being captain and as a batter who had not scored a hundred for some time, this is his best innings,” Misbah said.

“Such a match-saving innings gives you belief. I think this will go a long way in establishing his Test credentials,” added Misbah, under whose captaincy Azam played his

first Test in 2016.

Fab Five?

Azam has a long-held ambition of becoming the best in the game.

From a ball boy at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in the 2007 Test between Pakistan and South Africa, Azam graduated to play in the 2010 Junior World Cup and then skippered his country at the same tournament two years later — scoring the most runs on both occasions.

He learnt the art of occupying the crease with a memorable 266 for State Bank against Habib Bank in the domestic Quaid Trophy Silver league in 2014, heralding his arrival.

Five months later he made his one-day international debut — and did not look back.

But he was slow off the mark in Test cricket, his first century not coming until the 32nd innings.

“I was never in doubt about his talent because he has a solid technique,” said Misbah.

“He started to blossom in the West Indies (2017) and Australia (2019).”

Azam hit 104 and 97 on the Australia tour, suggesting he could rank alongside Australia’s Steve Smith, India’s Virat Kohli, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and England’s Joe Root — the so-called “Fab Four”.

Azam is ranked number one batsman in the International Cricket Council’s ODI and T20 rankings, but eighth in Tests.

With his Karachi effort, there could be a “Fab Five” in the not-too-distant future.

Friday, 18 March, 2022

prayer timings

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:01

12:18

3:41

6:23

6:13

7:36

VidEO Of dissidEnt LawMakErs sUggEsts thEy haVE LEft Pti: asad UMar islamabad

f

staff report

EDERAL government on Thursday said that following the video of dissident PTI lawmakers have come to the fore, there is no doubt that they have left the party. The announcement came hours after dozens of PTI MNAs openly dissenting and found staying at Sindh House in a clear indication that they would go against their party in the upcoming no-trust move.

Addressing the media, Planning Minister and PTI secretary-general Asad Umar said that despite provocations, Prime Minister Imran Khan would pursue a path of upholding the Constitution and law and not to indulge in the politics of ‘horse-trading, blackmail and bribes’.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan could also throw money at opposition lawmakers but would not do so.

“Imran Khan does not do politics for himself but for the nation. There is no personal interest of his and that is why he neither blackmails anyone not gets black-

Moonis Elahi reaches London on ‘politically important’ visit: sources

mailed,” said Asad Umar, flanked by Energy Minister Hammad Azhar and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

“He has never done this sort of politics and will never do it in the future. Nobody should have any doubt that PTI will fight till the end but the only difference is that what we will do will be within the ambit of law and Constitution.

“We will not do any thing illegal,” he said and added, “The entire nation is seeing that they (the opposition) only use the name of democracy under the garb of which they mean to do business.”

Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said: “The nation saw that this is the system against which Imran Khan took a stand. This is the system of horse trading, bribery, and auctions to the tune of 200m and 400m.

“We want to make it clear that we will not do any deals and will not disburse ministries to stay in power.

We will remain engaged with our allies but there will be no wheeling and dealing.”

Earlier in the day, dissenting PTI MNAs Raja Riaz

and Malik Nawab Sher Waseer had said that they would vote on the no-confidence motion tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan in “accordance with their conscience”.

Commenting on that remark, Azhar said: “This is not the voice of their conscience but [rather the voice of] money.”

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the PTI rejected the politics of “blackmailing and wheeling dealing because of the promise we made to our people”.

“This is the business model of Zardari: invest, come in government and take money. Now it is obligatory to reject this decade of darkness and rise in support of Imran Khan.

“Our workers are angry. I ask them not to take law into their hands but ‘protest is your right.'”

He said his party has already initiated legal proceedings on the matter, saying that “as per Article 63A 1, if a party leader come to a conclusion that a member of his party has left, then he can move a reference for their disqualification.”

COAS lauds contributions, logistic support of ASC Centre, Nowshera islamabad staff report

islamabad staff report

Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi on Thursday has reached the United Kingdom on a ‘politically important’ visit, sources at the Islamabad International Airport revealed.

According to sources, Elahi has left for London on flight BA 260, adding that the minister will attend political meetings in London.

The minister told local media that he has come to London on a private visit. He also said that he would inform the media if any meetings take place, adding that he would return to Pakistan in three to four days.

Opposition to bring no-trust motion against CM Usman Buzdar: sources

General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), on Thursday appreciated contributions and logistic support of Army Service Corps( ASC) Centre, Nowshera both during peacetime and operation.

The COAS expressed these views during his visit to the ASC Center Nowshera. Upon arrival, COAS laid floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada and offered Fathea for Martyrs.

COAS pinned badges of rank on the shoulders of Major General Usman Haq to formally install him as Colonel Commandant of Army Service Corps. Large number of serving and retired officers attended the ceremony.

PM orders monitoring of MNAs ahead of vote on no-trust move islamabad staff report

After the government’s no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Opposition has unified to oust the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar by bringing a no-trust move against him, said the sources.

According to the sources, the Opposition has contacted the Punjab Assembly secretariat to know the procedures regarding the move.

Earlier, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz had visited PTI disgruntled leader Jahangir Tareen’s residence where he discussed the political future with the members of the Tareen group.

The sources said the members of the Tareen faction said they are mentally ready to separate themselves from the PTI government.

Sources had also said that the Tareen group members had sought assurance from the PML-N leader that they will be given a ticket from their party in the next general elections. They had also assured the Opposition that they would stand with them if they decide to oust Buzdar. staff report

In a bid to thwart the Opposition’s no-trust move, the PTI political committee meeting, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, decided that Islamabad’s Sindh House will not be allowed to turn into a horse-trading hub, well-informed sources said.

Sindh House is in the news after a federal minister accused the PPP of using the building for its nefarious designs.

On March 14, Federal Minister Ali Zaidi had claimed that the PPP has deployed additional SSU commandos at the building “to protect the bags of looted wealth #ZardariMafia brought to try & bribe our MNAs!” Following up on his statement, the PTI minister also wrote a letter to Secretary Establishment demanding an immediate inquiry on SSU Sindh DIG Maqsood Memon.

Sources privy to the matter said

that the meeting decided to strictly monitor the lawmakers and Sindh House to ensure that no one falls prey to horse-trading.

Civilian intelligence agencies were directed to closely observe the location, mobile phone data and the movement of lawmakers, and report to the premier on a daily basis.

Khattak, Qureshi tasked to woo disgruntled lawmakers Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan tasked Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak to woo disgruntled lawmakers of the ruling PTI, sources said.

The meeting also agreed to call the National Assembly session on March 21 and empowered the premier to take the final decision in this regard.

A legal team briefed the meeting on convening the NA session for voting on the no-trust motion against the premier.

Ahead of the voting on the notrust motion, the meeting suggested the prime minister call in a parliamentary party meeting of the PTI to identify the defiant and “missing” lawmakers of the party.

NO-TRUST MOVE

Political meetings in full swing, wheeling and dealing continues islamabad staff report

A series of meetings of political leaders took place in Islamabad Wednesday as PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari accepted the invitation of PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to participate in the long march.

Zardari and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif held separate meetings with the PDM chief.

Earlier, a delegation led by Fazl and Shahbaz met leaders of MQM-P in an attempt to complete the number of parliamentarians required for the success of the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Fazlur Rehman, after the meeting, told journalists that they were satisfied with talks held with the government allies. The MQM delegation comprised Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Khawaja Izharul Hasan, Amir Khan and Aminul Haq. The MQM leaders told the delegation that they would respond after taking up the issue with the party’s rabta committee. After the meeting concluded, sources revealed that the MQM-P delegation agreed to support the Opposition’s no-trust move if “certain demands” were met.

During a conversation with journalists, Shahbaz was asked as to what was causing the delay in reaching an agreement with the government allies. At this, the PML-N president said it would be better if the government allies were asked the same question.

The meeting between ex-president Zardari Fazl took place at the residence of the PDM chief, where both sides discussed relating to the anti-government long march and no-confidence move. Fazl, later, said that he wanted to visit Asif Zardari. “But I am thankful that Zardari came to him,” he told journalists.

Fazl said that Zardari had already accepted the invitation. Later, talking to newsmen after meeting with Shahbaz, the PDM president ruled out the cancellation of the long march.

“Keep this question to yourself,” he told a journalist.

Shahbaz said the Opposition leaders desired the success of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) foreign ministers’ session — scheduled from March 22-23 in Islamabad — and expressed complete solidarity with the participants.

PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique, Rana Sanaullah and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq accompanied Shahbaz during the meeting.

With the National Assembly session voting on the noconfidence motion against PM Imran Khan just weeks away, the government is trying to woo its allies for supporting it during the voting process.

The Opposition is also attempting to cajole the PTI allies and seeking to break the government alliance in the lower house — by holding back-to-back meetings with them.

PM Imran Khan has said that he is ready for everything that the Opposition plans to throw his way — but he has also intensified meetings with allies ahead of the no-trust motion session.

Both — the government and the Opposition — are set to hold massive rallies in Islamabad before the crucial session — with the government’s gathering scheduled for March 27, while the Opposition’s “long march” will take place after March 25, once the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) session ends.

Fawad Ch terms Sindh House as ‘centre of horse-trading’ Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that a “major action” is being planned against horse-trading in Sindh House, as the PTI-led government make efforts to thwart Opposition’s no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The statement allegation was made by the information minister during a press conference in Islamabad.

“Sindh House, Islamabad, is currently the centre of horse-trading,” Fawad said while accusing the Opposition of buying votes of MNAs. “The way markets are being set up is against the Constitution.”

He said that there were reports of huge sums of money being shifted to Sindh House, adding that PPP has deputed police

outside it to accommodate people there.

When asked if the government plans to raid Sindh House, Fawad said he doesn’t know about a raid but there would be a strict action.

Responding to a question if the government was looking for “12 men”, the minister said: “What [do you mean by] ‘looking for’, we know [these] 12 men.”

Following Fawad Chaudhry’s statement, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned the government not to provoke the Opposition, adding that they do not want “anarchy in Islamabad” due to the OIC conference.

“MNAs have been threatened with violence, arrest and dire consequences if they take part in no confidence process. Their lives, liberty and family are under threat.

MNAs will take any and all means for their

own protection against this fascist regime,” tweeted Bilawal. The PPP chairman assured the lawmakers that his party and the PDM will do all that they can to protect them.

“We will not show all our cards now. A few friends will respond to Imran Khan’s accusations. More to come in the coming days.

Out of respect of OIC conference we don’t want anarchy in Islamabad. government must not provoke us,” said Bilawal.

The PPP leadership has claimed that after the police raided Parliament Lodges last week, the government is planning to ambush Sindh House in Islamabad, saying that if anyone is hurt, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s regime will be responsible for it.

On Thursday, the Islamabad Police had conducted an operation inside Parliament

Lodges and arrested two JUI MNAs and several workers. However, the police later released them as JUI-F announced a country-wide protest.

In a joint statement released by PPP MNAs, including Abdul Qadir Patel, Agha Rafi, Javed Shah Jillani and others, it was stated that after the Islamabad police’s “barbaric attack” on Parliament Lodges, the MNAs requested the Sindh government to accommodate them in Sindh House, citing security reasons. “The lives of MNAs, including women members, are not safe as the PTI-led government is hell-bent on terrorism, therefore, we [MNAs] had requested the Sindh government to provide the Sindh police security, the statement said.

The PPP MNAs further stated that they

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

had information that Imran Khan’s goons of ‘Tiger Force’ were planning to attack Sindh House.

“Therefore, if any PPP MNA or personal property is hurt, Imran Khan’s government will be responsible for this,” it said.

On the other hand, PPP’s senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar refuted PM’s statement about Sindh House and said the PM is used to levelling allegations against his rivals.

The PPP senator in this regard stated that no one is hidden there. “Only our lawmakers are in Sindh House at Islamabad,” he said.

“It’s not the first time the PM leveled allegations as he has a long history of doing such things, however, it’s our right to take steps for the security of our parliamentarians,” he said. staff report