EpaperISB_22-4-14

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 I 12 Ramzan, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 286 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Pakistan names miftah ismail as finance chief before imf talks

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monitoring report

akistan’s new government is said to have selected Miftah ismail as the new finance chief ahead of crucial talks with the international Monetary Fund, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Prime Minister shehbaz sharif who took charge Monday may name ismail, who is a former fi-

nance minister, along with the rest of the cabinet within 24 hours, said one of the people. the government, formed through an alliance of multiple political parties, is still in discussions to distribute portfolios and a final decision is yet to be made, said the people. ismail will be among the officials responsible for negotiating with the iMF to resume a program that went into jeopardy after former Prime Minister imran khan un-

coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,526,829

LAST UPDATED AT 6:37 AM ON 13 APRIL 2022

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

0

101

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

1,487,073 30,362 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

576,407

505,486

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

219,296

35,480

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

43,301/11,720

135,139

expectedly decreased energy prices, despite an agreement with the lender for the opposite. the government’s economic team will also have to deal with asia’s second-fastest inflation and falling foreign exchange reserves that have dropped to levels that can fund just a couple of months of imports. the nation’s central bank has already increased interest rates by the most since 1996 to help ease the crisis.

Pakistan plans to work with the iMF to stabilize the economy, ismail told Bloomberg news on april 12. the government will prioritize to reduce its fiscal deficit and stop a decline in foreign exchange reserves that will support the rupee. ismail declined to comment on his potential appointment, while ruling party spokeswoman Marriyum aurangzeb and the Prime Minister’s Office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. ismail served as Pakistan’s finance head for a few months under the administration of then prime minister shahid khaqan abbasi in 2017 to 2018. there is a possibility he may have to hand over the responsibility to another former finance minister Mohammad ishaq Dar if he returns from London, where he is living along with party chief and three-time Prime Minister nawaz sharif, said the people.

Other indications of ismail’s appointment include the nation’s finance ministry inviting journalists to a press conference by him on tuesday and party leader Maryam nawaz sharing on twitter a picture of ismail sitting next to shehbaz sharif on Wednesday.

Shehbaz Sharif for bringing Karachi Circular Project under CPEC KArACHi staff report

Prime Minister shehbaz sharif Wednesday the government will try to bring the karachi Circular Railway project under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). talking to the media persons along with sindh Chief Minister syed Murad ali shah after a one-on-one meeting on Wednesday, the prime minister said that provision of clean drinking water to karachi residents is a big challenge.

He directed to take measures for providing potable water to the residents of karachi on a priority basis. He assured that the federal government will provide all possible cooperation to the provincial government in addressing the civic issues.

He said availability of comfortable transport facilities are another big challenge and efforts will be made to provide air-conditioned buses to the citizens of karachi. shehbaz mentioned that earlier Chinese authorities had shown interest in kCR; however, due to political changes, things weren’t finalised.

Highlighting Orange Line and Green Line projects, shehbaz said he has asked shah to bring air-conditioned buses to karachi. “i have suggested shah bring thousands of air-conditioned buses in a transparent manner while

Sheikh Rashid says ‘misunderstandings with military must be resolved’ awami Muslim League (aML) chief sheikh Rashid ahmed on Wednesday condemned the recent criticism of the Pakistan army — both on social media and the streets — and indirectly acknowledged that the Pti and its allies have “misunderstandings” with the military establishment which he said must be resolved. the military has come under criticism this week on social media forums, and twitter trends against the armed forces and its leadership have seen intense activity. slogans critical of the army were also chanted during country-wide protests staged on sunday in support of former prime minister imran khan following his ouster from power over the weekend via a successful no-confidence motion. since last sunday, the top trending hashtags on twitter were those targeting the army, the judiciary and the new government, and on tuesday the tweets using those hashtags soared to 4.3 million. ahmed, the former interior minister, while responding to a reporter’s question in Peshawar today, said: “no slogan should

pre-qualifying transporters followed by a bidding,” he said, adding that transporters will then be allowed to take a loan from banks at minimal interest rates. He also acknowledged the sindh government and the chief minister for their warm hospitality. the PM was also presented with ajrak by the sindh CM. Before the leaders’ press conference, they held a meeting, where, according to the spokesperson of the Chief Minister House, the prime minister directed the chief minister to make all-out efforts for the welfare of the people and the safety of their lives and properties. the chief minister congratulated the premier on the occasion for assuming the office of the prime minister and assured him that the sindh government will work closely with the federal government for the welfare of the people of the province. the meeting was attended by Mnas shahid khaqan abbasi, Maryam aurangzeb, khalid Maqbool siddiqui, Maulana asad Mehmood and ahsan iqbal besides other officials.

During the meeting, CM sindh informed the premier that karachi transformation Plan (ktP) was announced in 2020 with an outlay of Rs1.17 billion for various projects in the areas of water supply, sewerage treatment management, internal roads, and mass transit.

CONTINUED ON BACK PAGE

more inside

First blow: MQMP won’t join Sharif’s cabinet STORY ON BACK PAGE

Gen aslam Baig terms audio clip attributed to him as ‘fake’ STORY ON BACK PAGE

be raised against the army.”

Without naming any specific party, ahmed said the Pti and allies should follow PML-n and Co’s suit and mend ties with the military. “if those who curse [them] can make peace with them then we should also remove our misunderstandings and establish good relations with them (the army),” he said. ahmed appeared to blame the PML-n for the anti-army trends on social media, saying that the army was being criti-

cised through a “conspiracy”. “these are the same people who cursed this army from London and Gujranwala and now they’re polishing their boots,” he said.

Meanwhile, a meeting of Pakistan army officials on tuesday took note of the recent criticism directed at the institution on social media and expressed complete confidence in the leadership’s “well-considered stance to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law”. staff report

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Fact check: Pakistan’s total reserves stand at $17bn not $22bn STORY ON PAGE 02

BHC directs ECP to hold LG polls in Balochistan on May 29 STORY ON PAGE 03

02

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Fact check: Pakistan’s total reserves stand at $17bn not $22bn

a

ARIBA SHAHID

number of viral tweets have been going around claiming that at the time of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s departure from the PM Office, the reserves stood at $22 billion. However, total reserves with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and banks, stand at $17bn.

Farrukh Habib, ex Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Central Secretary Information for Pakistan Tehreek -e- Insaaf shared an image

by Startup Pakistan. He captioned it saying, “The first Prime Minister in the history of the country who left $22 billion in the national treasury. Excellent example of excellent performance.”

The tweet and post are wrong as per data available from the SBP the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $17,476.9 million as of April 1, 2022, the lowest level since June 2020.

Total Liquid FX Reserves include net reserves held by banks and net reserves held by SBP. To explain this in simple terms, the net reserves held by the SBP is like money that is in the government’s wallet. Net reserves with banks, is like money that is in the wallets of banks, this is not money owned by the government.

Moreover, sometimes your friends give you money in order to make your wallet look thick and institutions feel more comfortable dealing with you because they think you have money. This money, however, is just for show and cannot be used. An example of this is amounts received from Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China.

During the week ended in April 1, 2022, SBP reserves decreased by $728 million to $11,319.2 million, largely due to debt repayment and government payment pertaining to settlement of an arbitration award related to a mining project.

Total reserves are down by $1,078

million. A breakdown of this shows that SBP reserves stand at $11.3 billion, and are down by $728 million. Bank reserves are down by $350 million, clocking in at $6.2 billion.

The total liquid FX reserves have declined $1.078 billion over last week which is equivalent to a 5.8% decline week on week. The import cover has declined from 1.82 months to 1.71 months based on average imports of the last 12 months.

Why the confusion?

The $22bn figure being quoted on the internet is based on the month end level data released by the SBP for the month of February, the last available month for the data. However, the SBP also releases week-end levels of the reserves. The data is available for the week ended 4 March, 11 March, 18 March, 25 March, and 1 April, 2022.

Moreover, it is also important to note that not all that is in the reserves can be used by the government. For instance, out of the $17.477 bn reserves the country had on April 1, 2022; $6.157 are reserves with the bank, and the remaining are with the SBP. The reserves include $1.4bn raised through Naya Pakistan Certificates, Treasury bills, and Pakistan Investment Bond Holdings. These are encumbered reserves. An encumbrance is a restriction placed on the use of funds. The concept is most commonly used in governmental accounting, where encumbrances are used to ensure that there will be sufficient cash available to pay for specific obligations such as loan interest or certificate face value upon redemption/ repatriation.

Furthermore, the reserves also include $3 billion received from Saudi Arabia, $2bn from UAE, $0.5bn from Qatar, etc to support the balance of payments position. In addition to these, the reserves also include older deposits from friendly countries dating back to the 90s. These cannot

Pos integrated invoices surge by 26.3pc to 48mn in March: Fbr SLAMABAD aPP

The invoices issued by Tier-1 Retailers integrated with Point of Sale (POS) System mounted to 48 million during the month of March 2022 against the integration of 38 million in February, showing increase of 26.3 percent, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said Wednesday. In a tweet, the board said that likewise as many as 48000 individuals who shopped from outlets integrated with FBR POS System verified invoices in March compared to 39000 in February 2022, this shows huge trust of public in FBR. The ongoing campaign and the prize scheme continued to gain momentum as numbers kept growing up. It is a phenomenal increase in public participation and expressed the hope that it was likely to grow further with every passing day, according to recently released Monthly Economic Update and Outlook for March 2022. It is pertinent to mention here that FBR had launched an intensive awareness campaign on the mainstream national media to educate and engage consumers to ensure that tax collected from them at the point of sale is deposited into the state exchequer and not pocketed by the retailers themselves.

The campaign also encompasses a prize scheme worth Rs.53 million to be disbursed among 1007 lucky winners through a transparent computerized ballot being held on 15th of every month at FBR Headquarters, Islamabad.

As a result of strong enforcement by FBR Field Formations across Pakistan, out of around 4200 identified as Tier-1 Retailers, over 3600 have already integrated their business operations with FBR POS System, according to the report.

Their 17000 outlets with over 19500 cash counters are fully integrated with POS System which lends FBR the facility to digitally monitor their sales and thus ensure that Sales Tax being collected from customers is being actually deposited into state exchequer, without fail, it added.

Meanwhile, FBR is all set to launch yet another out of box digital intervention for Broadening of Tax Base.

be used.

Why have the reserves suddenly taken a slump?

On March 25, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $12,047.3 million, down $2,915 million compared with $14,962.4 million on March 18.

The decline is due to the repayments of external debt, primarily the repayment of a major syndicated loan facility from China.

However, as per a notification by the Finance Division, two facilities worth $4.3 billion matured in the month of March, of which SAFE deposits worth $2 billion have been rolled over. Moreover, the rollover of the syndicate facility of approximately $2.3 billion is being processed. The notification stated, “These facilities are being used for balance of payments and budgetary support.”

Pakistan owed $16 billion to nonParis Club countries on December 31, 2021 out of which China’s bilateral debt stood at $14.815 billion. China’s Safe Deposits stood at $4 billion till December 31, 2021.

In totality, China has granted rollover of approximately $4.5 billion in loans to help Islamabad manage its external sector vulnerabilities.

What this means is that the $2.3 billion that has just left the reserves will be back shortly. It has approximately been two weeks since the announcement, however, the rollover has not happened yet.

Beijing committed to the IMF in 2019 to rollover its debt until the Fund programme expires. While there has been no official comment on this, Beijing may have decided to deter the roll back contingent on IMF program resumption.

However, the reserves have been on a declining trend as of late. This is due to the ballooning current account deficit.

Does the absolute value of reserves matter?

(Author’s note: Feel free to skip this

if you already know what import cover and reserves are.)

Foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by a SBP in foreign currencies. These reserves are used to back liabilities and influence monetary policy.

They include any foreign money held by the SBP. These may include foreign currencies, bonds, treasury bills, and other government securities.

Economists suggest that it’s best to hold foreign exchange reserves in a currency that is not directly connected to the country’s own currency. Most of these reserves are held in the U.S. dollar since it is the most traded currency in the world.

A general measure to know whether the reserves are adequate enough or not, is to look at the import cover. Countries should hold reserves covering 100 percent of short-term debt or the equivalent of 3 months worth of imports.

Import cover is the number of months of imports that could be covered for by a country’s international reserves. Import cover is an important indicator of the stability of a currency.

Some crises result from withdrawal of foreign capital, while others involve the loss of export income, or capital flight by domestic residents. These risks should also be taken into account when ascertaining the level of reserves.

For countries where there are drains in the balance of payments because of terms of trade shocks, volatile aid, foreign direct investment and remittance inflows and outflows, the import cover remains a useful tool.

As per a study by the IMF, 3 months of imports remains broadly appropriate for countries with flexible exchange rates, given the estimated benefits provided by reserves in reducing both the probability and impact of shocks. The analysis also suggests that countries with good institutions and policies need lower levels of reserves

true partnership will deliver reko diq project: barrick Gold ceo TORONTO TLTP

The groundbreaking partnership agreement among Barrick, the federal government of Pakistan and the provincial government of Balochistan should unlock the enormous value of Reko Diq, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits.

President and Chief Executive of Barrick Gold Corporation, Mark Bristow said this in a statement issued to TLTP on Wednesday. Speaking on an investor call, Bristow said the project represented a unique mining opportunity, which would be a major addition to Barrick’s Tier One1 asset base, while also bringing significant economic and social benefits to Pakistan and Balochistan. The agreement in principle recently reached between the parties provides for the reconstitution and restart of the project, which has been on hold since 2011. It will be operated and owned 50% by Barrick, 25% by Pakistani state-owned enterprises and 25% by the government of Balochistan. The company has similar partnerships in other countries which have proved to be catalysts in developing local economies.Bristow said following the finalization of the underlying agreements, legalization and closing, Barrick would update the 2010 feasibility study.

“Reko Diq’s fundamentals have not changed materially since then. Subject to the updated feasibility, it is still envisaged as a conventional open pit and milling operation producing a high-quality coppergold concentrate. We are planning a two-phase construction approach, starting with an approximately 40 million tonne per annum plant, which could be doubled within five years. The staged development will optimize returns, manage upfront capital, lower execution risk and bring forward production and cash flows in the long run. If all goes according to plan, we anticipate first production in five to six years’ time,” he said. “Offering a unique combination of large scale, low strip and good grade, Reko Diq will be a multi-generational mine, with a life of at least 40 years. The contemplated mine plan is based on four porphyry deposits within our land package and our exploration licence area holds additional deposits with future upside potential.”

Noting that since 2010 there had been gamechanging technological advances in renewable energy alternatives, some of which are particularly well-suited to the area, Bristow said a Barrick team was already assessing various solar, wind and battery configurations to maximize the mine’s renewable power generation.

Govt should focus on sustainable growth rate instead of controlling current account deficit, inflation says Tarin MONITORINg REPORT Shaukat Tarin while addressing a press conference said that sustainable growth is imperative and should be the main focus instead of current account deficit and inflation which will reduce eventually.

Tarin said that the previous government’s main focus was on the fundamentals including industry, agriculture and exports. He said that the initiatives such as Kamyab Jawan and other programs have had a very positive impact on the grass root levels and he is hopeful they will be continued by the incoming government.

Tarin said that the main reason behind the increase in dollar rate was due to political uncertainty. The dollar rate went up to Rs190 before it started to decrease. In the float-

ing exchange rate the dollar can move either way and speculation can move it in any direction. Train said that the rupee is still under valued, it should be around Rs175 to Rs177.

In addition he said that the same is true for the stock exchange which is affected by political uncertainty and bounces back once conditions are stable. Train said to gauge the condition of the economy one should look at the fundamentals of growth in industry, agriculture, services and exports.

“Both stock market and floating exchange rate are affected by political instability, instead we should look at the fundamentals for economic growth,” he said.

Tarin, while answering the question on current account deficit, said that it was at $12 billion at the end

lcci chief urges govt to follow china in business pursuits INP President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Mian Nauman Kabir urged the government to follow China in business pursuits. According to Gwadar Pro, he believed that the increase of 2.5 per cent raise in markup rate by the Pakistani government in the present economic scenario was a surprise as the business community was expecting a cut by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The LCCI President maintained that the 2.5 per cent increase would hit all sectors of economy hard.

State Bank of Pakistan should withdraw massive hike in mark up rates and bring it to single digit to encourage new investments, for revival of businesses and to give a jumpstart to the economy which is at standstill, he added. In a statement, he mentioned that business grew in China as they facilitated the businesspersons. He contended that the increase in markup rate would have dire consequences on Pakistan’s economic growth rate. “It will surely hinder the process of Industrialization and private sector growth. Pakistan should bring its markup rate at par with the regional rates which are much lower,” he opined. Kabir said that being the premier business support organization of the country, LCCI was of the view that the monetary policy of the country should support industrialization.

of nine months, the main reason has been increase in imports which mainly include increase in petroleum products of $6.5 billion, vaccines $3 billion, imported coal $1 billion and crude oil $1 billion. According to Tarin, the increase in international commodity prices was the main factor behind the increase in import cost.

Tarin said that exports have increased by 25 percent and considering Pakistan is in a growth stage, had the international commodity prices remained stable the country would have had a current account surplus instead of a deficit.

Train said that the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government also had planned to increase basic pay to Rs25,000 and increase pension after looking at the Pay and Pension Commission report which is due on April 15, 2022.

Aleem dismisses rumour of altercation with Hamza LAHORE STaff RePoRT

Disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Abdul Aleem Khan, who along with his posse recently joined forces with Hamza Shehbaz for the election of Punjab chief minister, denied the claim suggesting he was involved in an altercation with Pakistan Muslim Leauge-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president and that he has threatened to resign from his seat.

Shehbaz is “like my younger brother and I enjoy a relationship based on affection and respect with him”, Khan said in a tweet before apparently accusing Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi of spreading the rumour.

The rumoured altercation had taken place in a Lahore hotel, according to Asad Kharal, a journalist. Unverified reports also claimed the argument escalated fast and turned physical, leading to Shehbaz slapping Khan. Pakistan Today could not independently verify the claim.

A separate report said Khan threatened to part ways with Shehbaz ahead of the crucial election for the office of the provincial chief executive if

his demands aren’t met.

When a journalist asked the Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi about this matter, he smiled and said: “I have nothing to do with the fight between Aleem and Hamza.”

PTI leader and member Punjab Assembly Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chauhan said that there was a fight between Hamza and Aleem, in which Aleem was slapped.

However, Hamza also tweeted separately and termed the news as fabricated. “The lie that is being propagated regarding me and Aleem Khan is baseless. Aleem Khan is a respected brother and senior politician,” Hamza wrote in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Assembly also termed the rumour that the assembly’s secretary has banned the entry of 10 MPAs of PML-N before the elections of CM as fake.

It is pertinent to mention that Aleem Khan, a longtime PTI stalwart, in March joined a group of disgruntled lawmakers led by former party secretary-general Jahangir Tareen but broke ranks shortly after to join Shehbaz and announced support for the PML-N leader in the election.

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

bhc directs ecP to hold lG Polls in balochistan on May 29 QUETTA

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VERDICT SAYS NO POLITICAL DISTURBANCE, LAW & ORDER SITUATION IN PROVINCE

agencieS

HILE finding no plausible reason in the provincial government’s plea to delay the much awaited local body election in the province, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Wednesday directed the Election Commission to hold the same as per the announced schedule on May 29, 2022.

Two days ago on April 12, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mabat Kaka invoked the jurisdiction of the BHC, seeking postponement of local bodies election schedule, issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for Balochistan, for six months.

After preliminary hearing of the matter, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Rozi

Khan Barreach issued notices to the government of Balochistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan for Wednesday.

The bench issued an 11-page verdict in the matter, a copy of which is available with TLTP, after hearing parties of the case saying, “Currently there is no turmoil/ political disturbance in Balochistan. The province of Balochistan is also not facing any law & order situation, no reforms are required for local government elections.”

The division bench said in its verdict, “In view of preparedness of the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct local government elections according to announced schedule, presently there is no impediment in conducting the Local Government Elections according to the schedule announced

by the Election Commission of Pakistan vide Notification dated 30.03.2022”.

Appearing before the bench on Wednesday, the ECP counsel apprised the bench that currently neither there is any political turmoil nor there exists any law and order situation in the province of Balochistan to justfy further delay of the LG Polls saying the LG polls in the province will be held on the basis of electoral rolls of year 2020 which have already been verified and finalized.

Besides, the advocate general of the Balochistan urged the court to delay the LG polls on the grounds that the Balochistan government had to prepare budget for financial year 2022-2023 and to reschedule the election after June 2022,

Rice exports to China surge 4pc to $132.59m in two months BEIJINg agencieS

Pakistan’s rice export to China surged to $132.59 million in the first two months of current year 2022, showing a growth of 3.9 percent on a year-onyear basis.

According to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), Sino-Pak bilateral trade increased significantly in the first two months of 2022.

China imported more than 347,434 tonnes of different types of rice, worth $132.5 million, an 18% increase over the import of 294,240 tonnes worth $127.61 million during the same period last year.

Commercial Counsellor Pakistan Embassy Beijing, Badar uz Zaman

hoped that in the current year, Pakistan would achieve the target of one million tons of rice export to China and within a few years, it would be the largest rice exporter in the Chinese market, the state media reported.

“I think Chinese seed and technology, especially colour sorter machines, helped increase the export of Pakistani rice to China,” he added.

He further said last year China imported about 973,000 tons of rice worth $ 437 million from Pakistan, CEN reported.

Zaman said Pakistan had become the third-largest exporter of rice to China.

They were using traditional and especially social media platforms to provide awareness about Pakistani rice in the Chinese market.

Shamsul Islam Khan, former Vice

rs7.2bn pact for fast completion of kP energy projects inked PESHAwAR STaff RePoRT

For the first time, corporate commercial financing has been launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to enable rapid construction of ongoing energy projects. In this regard, Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO), a subsidiary of the Energy and Power Department, has entered into an agreement with commercial banks i.e. Habib Bank Limited and Bank of Khyber as a corporation, through which Rs7.2 billion have been allocated for ongoing energy projects in the province. Funds for the projects will be increased by obtaining loans under the financial facility. The signing ceremony of the agreement between PEDO and commercial banks was held at PEDO House, Peshawar. Representatives of Habib Bank and Khyber Bank, Provincial Minister for Finance and Health Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Secretary Energy and Power Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, Chief Executive PEDO Engr.

Naeem Khan and UK Aid Funded Sustainable Energy & Economic Development (SEED) Program and Bridge. Factor Advisers also attended the ceremony. PEDO in the province has the honour to borrow Rs7.2 billion from commercial banks for the first time through commercial financing to enable expeditious completion of ongoing energy projects as a corporate to repay the proceeds from the projects. On this occasion KP Minister for Finance and Health Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that PEDO would start work on another 1200 MW power projects in the next few years. He added that PEDO is working for the generation of affordable and environmentally friendly electricity in the province while the wheeling model will be expanded for the development of the industrial sector and employment generation. Jhagra said the agreement would make PEDO emerging as a financially independent entity, which would have a positive impact on the company’s performance.

President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Integra Trade and Marketing, said the reason for the increase of rice export to China was that “there is no quota system applied to broken rice and the duty is 10%, while Chinese hybrid seed increased the production and cultivation in Pakistan”.

“I requested that China should accept more Pakistani companies in the approval list which is now 53 and remove all duties that would help increase Pakistan’s export of rice to China,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that last July China’s custom authorities allowed seven more Pakistani rice units to export rice to the Chinese market. The number of total companies in the approved General Administration of Custom P.R of China list reached 53.

However, the counsel for the ECP contended that previous LG polls 2013 were completed in 2015 and on completion of tenure of four years on January 27,2019. He submitted the next LG polls were to be conducted within 120 days under the Constitutional provisions.

He argued that the chief secretary of Balochistan is very much knowledgeable about the proposed schedule for conducting LG Polls after which the ECP has announced the schedule by issuing notification on March30, 2022. The ECP lawyer also informed that Council of Common Interests (CCI) during its 45th meeting on April 12 last year has approved the census of 2017.

The bench said in its verdict that elec-

The Lahore High Court (LHC) Wednesday rejected a plea to hold the early elections and ordered Punjab Assembly’s deputy speaker to hold the election for the Punjab chief minister on April 16.

LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti announced the decision today after he had reserved the verdict on petitions filed for holding the election of the Punjab chief minister a day earlier. PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz — a contender for the CM’s post — had filed a plea

QUETTA STaff RePoRT

Secretary Secondary Education Abdul Rauf Baloch said that the Balochistan Secondary Education Department is committed to implement the Balochistan Education Sector Plan 2020-25, along with promotion of education is top most priority of the current incumbent government in the province while addressing in the 22nd Local Education Group. All relevant stake holders of the Education Department, development partners, concerned authorities, attended the meeting in a large number.

Secretary Secondary Education Abdul Rauf Baloch said that the sector plan has rightly identified learning and access as the key policy focus areas. He said that about one million children in the province are studying in government schools. In the meeting stakeholders said that the education group has a pivotal importance in policy making and ideas sharing.

The meeting reviewed the Education Sector Plan 2020-2025 its implementation and

in the LHC for holding early elections, while Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari had moved the court for the revocation of his powers. Rejecting Hamza’s plea, LHC CJ Bhatti restored the deputy speaker’s powers — which were withdrawn last week — and asked him to hold the polls on April 16 and ordered all parties to perform their roles impartially.

The top judge of the LHC said all the personnel of the Punjab Assembly will work to ensure the election takes place on time, while the repair works should be completed before 11am on the polling day.

Lahore man sent on 2-day physical remand for allegedly running smear campaign against COAS NEwS DESk A judicial magistrate in Lahore on Wednesday remanded a man into the physical custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for two days for allegedly running a smear campaign against the army and its chief after former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion.

The FIA informed the court that the man initiated a campaign against the army chief through his Twitter account. It urged the magistrate to approve a 14-day physical remand of the suspect but the court granted approval for a two-day remand.

The suspect was arrested by the FIA from Lahore on Tuesday.

Later in the day, the FIA had apprehended at least eight people from across Punjab after it launched a crackdown on social media activists that it believed had been involved in a campaign against the army.

Action against the arrested men is being taken under sections of the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.

03

toral rolls have already been prepared and finalized. It added that all the delimitation petitions are likely to be decided by the Special Bench of the BHC before the date of filing the nomination papers by the candidates. It has also been stated in the verdict, “The ECP is capable to manage any changes, if ordered by the special bench of this court, subject to adjustment of relevant dates for relevant activities in the relevant wards/union councils without changing the polling date of May 20,2022″ The bench after dismissing the ANP and provincial government petition in the matter said in operative part of the verdict, “In view of preparedness of the ECP to conduct LG Polls according to the announced schedule, presently there is no impediment in conducting the Local Government Elections according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan vide Notification dated 30.03.2022”.

Balochistan Education Dept committed to implement Plan 2020-25: Secretary

CM Punjab election to be held on April 16: LHC NEwS DESk

NEWS

The FIA counterterrorism wing sprang into action after a vilification drive against the army chief was launched on social networking websites following Imran’s ouster on April 10 in the wake of a noconfidence move by the joint opposition in the National Assembly. Since last Sunday, the top trending hashtags on Twitter were those targeting the army, the judiciary and the new government, and on Tuesday the tweets using those hashtags soared to 4.3 million.

“We have arrested some eight suspects in connection with a social media campaign against the army and the judiciary from different parts of Punjab, including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Gujrat. More arrests are expected in the coming days,” an FIA official had told Dawn. Yesterday, a meeting of Pakistan Army officials had also taken notice of the recent criticism directed at the institution on social media.

“The forum took note of the recent propaganda campaign by some quarters to malign [the] Pakistan Army and create division between the institution and society,” a statement by the military’s media wing said.

progress, promotion of non-formal education, progress and review of ASPIRE project, Education Support Program Phase 2 by UNICEF, ECW project by the BRSP and the Development Foundation, the selection of the Coordinating Agency by the Global Partnership for Education and other important initiatives related to the ongoing education program in the province were discussed in detail.

On the eve Secretary Secondary Education Abdul Rauf Baloch said that the government of Balochistan values the initiatives of all relevant stakeholders and development partners that are enduring their committed support in promotion education sector. He emphasized that work on learning and access education shall be taken in accord in coming days.

He further said that in connection with single uniform national curriculum in the province, textbooks have been distributed across the province. Adding more he said adequate funds have been earmarked in collaboration with UNICEF to further enhance the skills of teachers in the province.

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Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Rising influence of yuan Reflects china’s gRowth, financial openness: expeRt ISLAMABAD

t

XinhuA

HE consistent rise in international status and influence of the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, reflects China’s robust economic growth, high-level financial openness and the financial market participants’ trust in China, an expert said.

China’s sustainable policies in the economic and political sectors and its pursuit of market-oriented reforms paved the way for the RMB to become a more significant player in international financial markets, Farhat Asif, president of the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, told Xinhua in an interview.

Citing a survey recently revealed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which shows that the RMB reserves held by global central banks climbed to 2.79 percent during the fourth quarter of 2021, the expert said that it not only highlights the RMB’s mounting role in the international reserve currency system, but also heralds China’s sustainable growth.

As the second-largest economy in the world, China is a key driver of global growth, Asif said, noting that China-proposed projects of high economic value,

such as the Belt and Road Initiative, were born out of the country’s great economic development at home and its principle of win-win cooperation.

The expert believed that China’s principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, vision to promote world peace and security, and rejection of the Cold War mentality are also factors behind the stronger Chinese economy and currency.

Due to the political and economic

stability in China, a number of countries have started trading in the RMB instead of the US dollar, she said, adding that there was a huge hegemony of the US dollar before, but now things are changing gradually as more and more countries are interested in doing business with China and make investments in the RMB. The international status of the Chinese currency is going to be further enhanced in the coming years considering

how China managed to maintain highquality economic development domestically and remain a global economic powerhouse in the face of multiple challenges, she noted.

Despite uncertainties in the global financial markets against the backdrop of global issues including conflicts and the pandemic, China’s economic growth, market condition and the institutional environment remained encouraging, as the country continued to focus on the economic and institutional reforms and development, she said.

The establishment of a cross-border payment system by China also contributed to the promotion of its currency as the system has made it convenient for the countries that have well-built financial links with China to make transactions in the RMB, she added.

Expressing her confidence in the Chinese economy and the currency, Asif said that during times of confusion, investors have a tendency to turn to safety, diversifying their assets in more stable foreign currencies and seeking higher yields on their investments.

“Owing to its stability, RMB is going to be a more valuable asset internationally and an important choice for an international portfolio for investors to reduce their investment risks,” she said.

Sound of Mughal-era sarangi instrument fading away in Pakistan LAHORE AFP

In the shadow of Lahore’s centuries-old Badshahi Mosque, Zohaib Hassan plucks at the strings of a sarangi, filling the streets with a melodious hum and cry.

Remarkable for its resemblance to the human voice, the classical instrument is fading from Pakistan’s music scene –except for a few players dedicated to preserving its place.

Difficult to master, expensive to repair, and with little financial reward for professionals, the sarangi’s decline has been difficult to halt, Hassan told AFP. “We are trying to keep the instrument alive, not even taking into account our miserable financial condition,” he said.

For seven generations, his family has mastered the bowed, short-necked instrument and Hassan is well-respected across Pakistan for his abilities, regularly appearing on television, radio and at private parties. “My family’s craze for the instrument forced me to pursue a career as a sarangi player, leaving my education in-

complete,” he said.

“I live hand-to-mouth as the majority of directors arrange musical programmes with the latest orchestras and pop bands.”

Traditional instruments are competing with a booming R&B and pop scene in a country where more than 60 percent of the population is aged under 30.

Sara Zaman, a classical music teacher at the National Council of Arts in Lahore, said alongside the sarangi, other traditional instruments such as the sitar, santoor, and tanpura are also dying out.

“Platforms have been given to other disciplines like pop music, but it has been missing in the case of classical music,” she said. “The sarangi, being a very difficult instrument, has not been given due importance and attention in Pakistan leading to its gradual demise.”

‘The strings of my heart’ The sarangi gained prominence in Indian classical music in the 17th century, during the reign of the Mughals in the subcontinent. Its decline began in the 1980s after the death of several master players and classical singers in the coun-

try, said Khawaja Najam-ul-Hassan, a television director who has created an archive of Pakistan’s leading musicians.

“The instrument was close to the hearts of the top internationally acclaimed male and female classical singers, but it began to fade away after they died,” he said. Ustad Allah Rakha, one of Pakistan’s most globally acclaimed sarangi players, died in 2015 after a career that saw him perform with orchestras around the world.

Now players say they struggle to survive on performance fees alone, often much smaller than those paid to modern guitarists, pianists or violinists.

Carved by hand from a single block of cedar native to parts of Pakistan, the sarangi’s primary strings are made of goat gut while the seventeen sympathetic strings — a common feature on subcontinent folk instruments — are steel.

The instrument costs around Rs120,000 and most of its parts are imported from neighbouring India, where it remains a principal part of the canon.

“The price has gone up as there is a

ban on imports from India,” said Muhammad Tahir, the owner of one of only two repair shops in Lahore.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and stopped bilateral trade with India over New Delhi’s decision in 2019 to strip the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region of its semi-autonomous status.

Tahir, who spends around two months carefully restoring a single wornout sarangi, said no one in Pakistan manufactures the special steel strings because of the lack of demand.

“There is no admiration for sarangi players and the few people who are repairing this wonderful instrument,” said Ustad Zia-ud-Din, the owner of the other Lahore repair shop, which has existed in some form for 200 years.

Efforts to adapt to the modern music scene have shown pockets of promise.

“We have invented new ways of playing, including making the sarangi semi-electric to enhance the sound during performances with modern musical instruments,” said Hassan of the academy he runs in Lahore.

New government facing severe economic challenges, aide says ISLAMABAD ReuteRs

The government of Shehbaz Sharif is facing the daunting task of managing a stuttering economy with huge deficits, an aide to the new prime minister said on Tuesday.

Sharif was elected as prime minister on Monday followed a week-long constitutional crisis after National Assembly ousted Imran Khan in a contentious noconfidence vote.

“Imran Khan has left a critical mess,” Miftah Ismail, who is likely to be Sharif’s finance minister, told a news conference in Islamabad, adding the suspended talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be resumed as a priority.

“We will restart talks with the IMF,” he said. Ismail repeated Sharif’s concerns raised in his

maiden speech in parliament at what he described as record deficits his government will inherit from Khan, who was accused by the opposition of mismanaging the economy.

Sharif set up a National Economic Advisory Council in his first meeting on Tuesday. The IMF has sus-

pended talks ahead of the seventh review of a $6 billion rescue programme agreed on in July 2019.

The current account deficit is projected at around 4 percent of GDP for the 2022 fiscal year (FY), the central bank said last week, while foreign reserves dropped to $11.3 billion as of April 1, compared with $16.2 billion less than a month earlier.

The central bank last week hiked key interest rates by 250 basis points to 12.25 percent in an emergency decision, the biggest hike in decades, citing deterioration in the outlook for inflation and an increase in risks to external stability, heightened by the RussiaUkraine conflict, as well as local political uncertainty. The bank also revised average inflation forecasts upwards to slightly above 11 percent in FY22, which ends in June.

india, us urge pakistan to take action against militancy ISLAMABAD stAFF RePoRt

India and the US have asked Pakistan to take “immediate, sustained, and irreversible action” to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks before calling for the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot attacks to be brought to justice. The demand for action by Pakistan was made through a joint statement issued after 2+2 Ministerial attended by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. This came a day after Shehbaz Sharif replaced Imran Khan as the prime minister. According to The Indian Express, the 2+2 dialogue is a format of talks between the foreign and defence ministers of India and its allies on strategic and security issues. India holds dialogues on this format with four of its strategic partners — the US, Russia, Australia, and Japan. “The Ministers called on Pakistan to take an immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks,” said the statement. It noted that the Ministers committed to the continued exchange of information about sanctions and designations against terror groups and individuals, countering violent radicalism, use of the internet for terrorist purposes, and cross-border movement of terrorists. India further highlighted the importance of upholding international standards on antimoney laundering and combating the financing of terrorism by all countries, consistent with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. “The ministers also reaffirmed their support for the early adoption of a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) that advances and strengthens the framework for global cooperation and reinforces that no cause or grievance justifies terrorism,” the statement added.

FO rejects ‘unwarranted reference’ to Pakistan: Pakistan’s Foreign Office has categorically rejected the “unwarranted reference” to Pakistan in the joint statement issued by India and US. According to Radio Pakistan, the FO rejected the statement and called it a “betrayal to the counter-terrorism focus of both countries”. “It is unfortunate that a bilateral cooperation mechanism is being used to target a third country for political expediency and to mislead public opinion away from the real and emerging terrorism threats. The assertions made against Pakistan in the statement are malicious and lack any credibility.” The Foreign Office said Pakistan had remained a major, proactive, reliable and willing partner of the international community in the global fight against terrorism over last two decades.“Pakistan’s successes and sacrifices in countering terrorism are unparalleled and widely acknowledged by the international community, including the United States. No country in the region has sacrificed more for peace than Pakistan,” it stated. The FO expressed that India’s insinuations against Pakistan were a desperate attempt to conceal its state-terrorism and brutal atrocities against the subjugated Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

fto directs car manufacturers to pay KiBoR plus 3pc interest payment on late delivery SHAHzAD PARAcHA The Federal Tax Ombudsman has directed car manufacturers to pay KIBOR plus 3 percent interest payment to customers on late delivery of vehicles for more than 60 days. The member FTO Majid Quershi in a media briefing informed that FTO has also directed the Engineering Development Board to submit the compliance report in this regard. It is pertinent to note that a number of taxpayers had filed complaints with the FTO stating that they suffered a lot of mental and financial hardship on account of extra financial burden due to delayed delivery, by M/s Toyota Ravi Motors and M/s PAK Suzuki Motors being responsible for the same. The background of the recent decision by the FTO is that in two cases Cars were provisionally booked on 08.11.2021 and 16.03.2022 to be delivered within 60-days of provisional booking with an end dates on 08.01.2022 and 17.11.2021, respectively, much before new budgetary measure but was actually delivered on 02.02.2022 and 21.02.2022 much beyond 60 days. Meanwhile, he also said that FTO has also ordered FBR to ensure that low paid employees of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation and other such organizations are not burdened with excessive tax deductions at the withholding stage while taxpayers’ facilitation constitutes the core functions of FBR its implementation on the ground should also be visible.

During the course of the hearing on 07.04.2022, the Departmental Representative pleaded that “The question as to whether a person is an employee under a Master-Servant Relationship, or a service provider is a question of fact that needs to be established in each situation. Hence any such clarification of general nature is likely to be misused and may cause a loss of revenue…”. The FTO explained to the Departmental Representative that in order to determine the “Employer-Employee Relationship” for the purpose of taxation under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, the basic parameter was the existence of a “Master-Servant Relationship” between the persons.

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Sheikh Rashid says ‘misunderstandings with military must be resolved’ conTInUeD fRoM pAge 01 The Federal Investigation Agency also arrested eight people from across Punjab yesterday after it launched a crackdown on social media activists that it believed had been involved in a smear campaign against institutions.

Recent reports suggest that online activists associated with the PTI’s social media wing are also allegedly being harassed for which the party’s central secretary general Asad Umar said the party had drafted a petition and would file it in the high courts today. Ahmed, in his media talk today, was also questioned about the issue of missing persons but denied any such incidents or cases taking place during his recent tenure as the interior minister.

Ahmed said the nation was still standing with Khan and told reporters to wait till June 15, saying that the PTI chief would “give a call” for Islamabad.

“There is a threat to his life and he can be put in jail too but that doesn’t make a difference,” he said.

The AML chief claimed it was an “international master plan” to bring the current coalition government in power and alleged that “international powers could get Imran Khan killed.”

Despite the threat, he said, Khan was not ready to share the National Assembly floor with the current “imported” government. Ahmed said he had already sent his resignation to Khan, adding that his would be the first when the resignations of PTI MNAs from the NA get accepted. He also claimed that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif would be brought back to the country now that his party’s government is in power.

A rare CSS orientation session held at Turbat University TURBAT staff report

The Department of Economics, University of Turbat Wednesday organized a motivational session on Central Superior Services (CSS) at UoT’s video conference room.

The session was conducted by Mr. Bakhtiar Ismail on the request of Economics Department, University of Turbat. Mr. Bakhtiar Ismail is currently serving as an Assistant Commissioner in Khanewal, Punjab.

He qualified PCS in 2016 and CSS examination in 2017 and remained topper in Balochistan. He is gold medalist in M.Sc. Anthropology from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.

The resource person of the session Mr. Bakhtiar Ismail started session with introducing the major and other subjects required for CSS examination. Besides sharing methods for preparation and attempting papers in CSS examination, he also continued to quote his experiences and success story with the students.

He also shared elementary information regarding various services including Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) and the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP).

Governor Punjab, Usman Buzdar discuss political situation, election of new Cm

AlleGATion of ‘illiCiT fUndinG’ A ShAm, PTi lAwyeR TellS eCP

P

AKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Anwar Mansoor, while giving arguments in PTI’s foreign funding case on Wednesday, has said that money came from outside but the allegation of illicit funding was wrong and that the money coming from America had been declared as foreign funding.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) heard the PTI foreign funding case earlier today, where Mansoor argued that funds could not be taken from foreign governments, multinational or local companies and that a company registered outside Pakistan could not be called a local company He maintained that according to the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) laws, funding from multinational and local companies is prohibited.

“The Election Act states that it is prohibited to take funding from any foreign source but the ban on funding from local companies has been lifted,” Mansoor maintained.

Sindh member of the ECP Nisar Durrani questioned if he was admitting to the party taking foreign funding, to which the lawyer said that no funding was received from any illicit source, money came from outside but the allegation of illicit funding is false.

He further stated that if the donors were foreigners, then petitioner Akbar S Babar should prove his allegation with “evidence”.

“We did not take any funding from any Indian citizen but if any Hindu citizen got dual citizenship, did he become a foreigner?” the lawyer asked.

He claimed that the money coming from the United States was declared as foreign funding and that all the money coming from abroad was disclosed. He stated that people with dual citizenship were also called Pakistani citizens.

“The scrutiny committee misinterpreted section 6 of PPO law. The PPO does not prohibit taking funds from any foreign source,” he said.

After hearing the arguments, the

BeIJIng staff report

China on Wednesday highly commended Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks on the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and said that it was ready to work with Pakistan to continue pursue high-quality development of the corridor and build it into a model and demonstration project for Belt and Road (BRI) cooperation.

“We noted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks on the CPEC and we highly commend that,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told media briefing.

In his maiden speech to Parliament after winning election on Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had said that his government would speed up construction of CPEC, the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Zhao Lijian said, since its launching, the CPEC had made important contributions to Pakistan’s economic development and improvement of Pak-

Gill made Khan’s chief of staff

LAHoRe

ISLAMABAD staff report

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill has been appointed as the chief of staff to the former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan.

The notification of his appointment was issued on Wednesday.

Gill had served as a special assistant to the prime minister in the last government, which was overthrown as a result of the no-confidence motion over the weekend.

On the night between April 9 and April 10 when voting on the motion was taking place in the National Assembly, his name was placed on the no-fly list only to be removed Tuesday on the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Rare orphanage center in Swat helping destitute children SWAT news desk

Thousands of children have lost their parents during different incidents including Swat mayhem in the past few years in Swat District.

These orphans need a mother, shelter, education and training.

Among them about seventy children under the age of eight were sheltered at the Khpal Kor Village, an organization for the orphan children.

To support the orphans’ social workers and philanthropists with a broken heart stepped forward and a Khpal Kor Village was set up for these children in Sherariai area near

ECP adjourned the hearing till April 19.

Meanwhile, Akbar S Babar in conversation with media personnel outside the ECP said that the 11 accounts of PTI, which they admitted to having in writing but claimed that they are not associated with, were run by party leadership, including Asad Qaiser, Shah Ferman, Imran Ismail and others.

“They have written indictments for their leadership for opening illegal accounts on one hand, and on the other, they are taking no action against these individuals,” said Babar.

He maintained that the PTI had claimed that they found out about these accounts in 2018 through state bank records, however, the accounts were being operated since 2012 with the signatures of PTI leadership.

Babar said that he had proof of two such accounts and had evidence that Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan – the former primary finance secretary of PTI – was operating them on behalf of his party.

He alleged that the PTI finance

board resolutions showed that the accounts were being contractually operated and that Babar had evidence to prove so.

“Therefore, we have proof that they lied on March 25 about their knowledge of the accounts and they have misled the ECP,” he stated.

He further claimed that four people from the secretariat were told to collect money in Pakistan and abroad and that these four secret accounts had millions of rupees which then came to their personnel accounts and were released through signed checks, which is “something that falls under money laundering”. The central finance secretary for the party Siraj Ahmed in a report said that these accounts have money, Babar claimed. “I ask for an investigation into these accounts through the Federal Investigation Agency,” he said, adding that the PTI leadership had committed a crime by using workers’ accounts to receive donations and then hiding them even though the evidence was present.

PM Shehbaz’s remarks on CPEC construction highly commendable: China

staff report

Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and chief minister of the province Usman Bazdar held meeting at Governor House Lahore on Wednesday and discussed the current political situation and the election of a new chief minister of Punjab.

Talking on the occasion, Omar Sarfraz Cheema said that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is the party’s nominee for Punjab Chief Minister. He said that he would fully support Pervez Elahi for the election of Punjab Chief Minister.

The Governor Punjab further said that all the members of the party, the Provincial Assembly and the leadership were working on a common strategy for their success. He said that we have to not only assess the time to come but also face it with political foresight.

Talking on the occasion, ex-CM Sardar Usman Bazdar said that our joint candidate Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will surely succeed Insha Allah. “Our allies and we are all one,” he said.

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Mingora City.

With the support of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Khpal Kor Village, a unique institution for these helpless children, was established in 2021.

In this village these children are provided care by women who love these children more than a real mother. These mothers consider themselves lucky women to teach and train them like their own children.

Shehla Gul, a woman who is providing care like a mother, said that in this world people do everything just for money, but I have a passion to take care of these orphans who are

not my own children. I want to treat them just like their own mother.

These mothers pick up the children early in the morning and prepare them for school. “People say that a teacher is spiritual, but I do not feel that I am a spiritual teacher,” said Anila Shahab Zaidi, a teacher in the KKF Village. She added they seem to be her own kids and she is proud and happy to be teaching them.

According to the management of Khpal kor village, they received applications for 10,000 orphans last year, but due to lack of space, only 70 children were admitted in the KKF Village.

cMYK

istani people’s livelihood and added, “It has won widespread acclaim and recognition.”

He said, “China stands ready to work with Pakistan to continue to pursue the high quality development of the economic corridor and build it into a model and demonstration project for high quality BRI cooperation.”

Shehbaz Sharif had previously spoken highly of the CPEC several times, calling it an ambitious blueprint to transform Pakistan into a major emerging economy so that the less developed parts of the country could enjoy the dividends of development.

Long Xingchun, a senior research fellow at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that PM Shehbaz Sharif spoke of the construction of the CPEC in his victory speech, which showed that he intended to safeguard ChinaPakistan friendly cooperation and stabilize Pakistan’s economy.

“It also highlighted the importance he attached to the relationship. In fact, the CPEC has been through several changes of government since its

establishment, but it has always been highly appreciated and promoted by the Pakistani side, which shows that the project is a reflection of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and also helps the two countries and the people of the region,” Long said.

Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law noted that all political parties in Pakistan were highly consistent on the issue of relations with China.

He believed that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the development of the CPEC and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would be further accelerated.

According to experts, since 2015, the CPEC has directly created more than 75,000 jobs in Pakistan. In the meantime, China has also invested heavily in various projects in the country.

“It is conceivable that once the CPEC construction is fully completed, more investment will be drawn to the country, which will be greatly conducive to improving Pakistan’s manufacturing base,” they said.

06-07 Comments - 14th April 2022_Layout 1 4/13/2022 9:49 PM Page 1

Thursday, 14 April, 2022

06 COMMENT

How Pakistan became a Satellite State

PTI’s hate campaigns Now it is the turn of judiciary and army

I

Foreign interference is nothing new

MRAn KHAn conducted a hate campaign to overthrow a duly elected government, leveling unproven charges and resorting to offensive language.

While his main target was nawaz Sharif, he had no shortage of expletives while calling out leaders of other parties also.

After coming to power, Khan turned his guns on the independent media which had started to point out PTI government’s shortcomings. The PTI’s social media trolls used foul language against reporters, private TV anchor persons and some of the media owners. Women journalists too were subjected to a dirty smear campaign. Instead of reining in their social media team, the PTI leadership encouraged them to continue to intimidate independent critics. The country’s existing legal framework provides ample space for action against hate mongers. But law enforcement agencies looked the other way providing confidence to PTI’s official and unofficial social media operators that they were free to go to any extreme to defame and threaten PTI’s critics.

Finding that he had lost majority in the nA after defections and crucial allies joining hands with the opposition, Imran Khan used tricks to stop the holding of the no confidence move. A pliant Deputy Speaker ruled out the no-trust resolution while a loyalist President dismissed the nA on PM’s advice. Khan’s frustration knew no bounds when the SC set aside both moves leading to the fall of PTI govt. As his expectations of last minute help from the establishment also dashed, signal was given to party’s social media trolls to launch a smear campaign against the SC judges and army figures.

The Formation Commanders’ Conference has taken note of propaganda campaign in the wake of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ouster. The conference called it an attempt to divide ‘institution and society’. The huddle expressed complete confidence in the leadership’s “wellconsidered stance to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law”.

Some of those supposedly involved in the campaign have been nabbed while a hunt is on for others. The issue is too grave to be ignored. The accused should be taken to normal courts which should decide their cases strictly according to the law.

Dr FariD a Malik

I

n the Islamic Republic of Pakistan some numbers carry special significance. The number 10 or ‘Das numberia’ is Police classification for ‘ Ruffins ‘ ( Badmash ), 420 for ‘ Frauds ‘ or ‘ Fraudia ‘ while 4 for a typical Lahori indication for the mentally ill as it was the number of the bus route that stopped at the Mental Hospital on its onwards travel to to airport before returning back. I heard an interesting story from a retired Army General. After Ayub Khan managed to became the C-in-C (Commander-inChief) of the Pakistan Army, an officer with a PA (Pakistan Army) number of 420 went to him with a request to change it as it was embarrassing for him. Prompt came the reply from the chief, “nothing to bother mine is also 10 number “. At the time of retirement of General Douglas Gracey in 1949 there were ten senior officers to replace him. Akbar Khan was on the top with PA 1 and then were others in between. Akbar’s younger brother Iftikhar Khan was selected for this coveted slot but unfortunately, he perished in a plane crash. Against merit and logic, Liaquat Ali Khan the first Prime Minister of Pakistan promoted a very ordinary officer to lead the Pakistan Army at this crucial juncture. For a long time, I have been asking the question ‘ Why ‘ which remains unanswered. Perhaps it was external pressure that worked. Ayub Khan had developed good relations with the Crown and Pentagon. He first managed to become the C-in-C, then minister and finally the President in return he delivered the Satellite State of Pakistan to his foreign masters. The PM wanted to visit Moscow before his trip to Washington DC but was stopped. On his return home from USA, he held a press conference in London in which he showed his defiance to take dictation. In 1951 he was assassinated in a Jalsa in Rawalpindi. next year Muhammad Mussediq, the defiant PM of Iran, was also removed and imprisoned.

Instead of Islamic Republics under popularly elected leaders, two Satellite States emerged, one under Ayub Khan and the other ruled by Shah of Iran.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) led a popular movement against the first usurper and toppled his Satellite Regime whose cabinet members were on foreign pay roll. Ayub Khan was forced to stepp down in March 1969 paving the way for the first free and fair elections in 1970.

Vengeful accountability New government must not repeat the same mistakes

Dr alon Ben Meir

O

ne cannot help but feel outraged by the conduct of Israel’s PM naftali Bennett. He, like millions of people around the world, is witnessing the unfolding horror of the Russian invasion of Ukraine but chooses to remain neutral. neutral in the face of a shattered country that sought nothing but to be free, and neutral in the face of indiscriminate bombing raining death and destruction. How can a prime minister of Israel remain neutral in the face of cities being reduced to ashes and millions of refugees petrified of what tomorrow will bring? As a father, how can he maintain absurd neutrality when children are dying in the arms of weeping mothers and helpless young girls cower in fear with no place to hide? How can a devout man no less exhibit such sickening aloofness when he sees the wanton destruction of schools, hospitals, and institutions and the ruthless defiance of human rights, when ten million Ukrainians became refugees or internally displaced, and when so many innocents are on the verge of death from thirst and starvation?

One might ask, what does it mean to be neutral?

If you are neutral, what does this really translate to in the context of the unspeakable crimes Putin is committing against innocent Ukrainian citizens? In this case it simply means that while these crimes against humanity are happening in broad daylight, Bennett refuses to condemn the Russian butcher because of cold-blooded political calculations, which he justifies in the name of Israel’s national security.

Whether Bennett’s decision to assume neutrality is because he wanted to act as a credible interlocutor between Ukraine and Russia or because he wanted Russia’s continued cooperation in Syria to bomb Iranian military installations or because he wanted to elicit Russian support against a new Iran deal or a combination of all three, Bennet has gravely betrayed Israel’s founding moral principles. Bennett’s absurd position of neutrality has profoundly disappointed Israel’s allies, especially the US, which is the only credible power that has committed itself to Israel’s national security, be that against Iran or any other foe. In light of what is happening we should examine Bennett’s reprehensible behavior from two perspectives: Israel’s moral standing, and Israel’s relations with the United States.

Israel’s moral standIng: Can Israel, given that its founding is intertwined with the Jews’ long and troubled history, assume a neutral posture when war crimes of such magnitude are occurring for all to see? How can Bennett abandon Israel’s basic moral tenets presumably because of national security

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The writer is ex-Chairman, Pakistan Science Foundation. He can be contacted at: fmaliks@hotmail.com.

Prime Minister Bennett’s ‘neutrality’ in the Russian war against Ukraine is outrageous and contemptable

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

M. A. Niazi

a front-line state, the country has faced collateral damage for which it has not been compensated. An elected national leader must work in best national interests. Pakistan and its people must come first. The surrender of the state for paltry monetary benefits is unacceptable to its stake holders. London or Washington DC should have no role in the decision-making process of a ‘ nuclear State ‘ of over 220 million people.

It was Ayub Khan’s ‘ 10 numberi ‘ that spread the ‘ 420 Fraudias ‘ all around to push the people towards route number 4. It is time to act before the insanity engulfs the entire nation. Perhaps Imran Khan will finally build on the stand of the two PM’s (Liaquat Ali, ZAB) before him who struggled for the establishment of a republic instead of a Satellite State of external powers. His life is under threat yet he marches on towards liberation of the masses.

Pakistan needs honest, upright leadership to face the challenges of our times. The way forward is through peace and prosperity where national interests must be kept supreme. no more proxy wars and dictation. It is time to stand up and be counted amongst the comity of independent nations. ethical leadership can make all the difference.

Pakistan is looking to emulate leaders like Liaquat Ali, ZAB while getting rid of Barons of corruption like the Sharifs or Zardaris who have ruled over us since July 1977. Let us strengthen the Islamic Republic of Pakistan while exposing the Satellites of external interests.

In the decade of the fifties and sixties, to watch national interests several developing countries started the non-Alignment Movement (nAM). While India under Jahawar Lal nehru became a part of this alliance while Pakistan under Ayub Khan remained in the USA Camp. Treaties were signed (SeATO, SenTO) under which our territorial integrity was to be guaranteed but when the crunch time came in 1971, Pakistan was dismembered with a combined push of India and Soviet Union. The Pakistan Army had to surrender in Decca and Bangladesh emerged on the world map. This misalignment of the state has to be corrected. The nation stands behind the PM, no more imported governments, enough damage has already been done. A new realignment is taking place in the region amongst China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and later Afghanistan. no country can prosper on ventilators of a distant external power, calls for soul searching through self reliance.

Prime Minister cannot be replaced with Crime Master.

Bennett is siding with the ruthless killer Putin

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part from leaving behind an economy in tatters and fractured foreign relations with the US and eU, the PTI also leaves a legacy of failing spectacularly in addressing institutional corruption by making a complete farce of the accountability process. For the better part of his three-and-a-half-year tenure, former PM Imran Khan remained fixated on persecuting opposition parties’ leaders, building weak corruption cases against them that only ensured unnecessary stints of incarceration rather than convictions based on proof of white-collar crime. If reports of an inquiry initiated by the FIA against former PM Imran Khan for allegedly selling an expensive necklace after depositing a fraction of the actual cost in the Toshakhana are to be believed then it seems the new coalition government is headed down the same road of vengeful accountability as the PTI did as the case reeks of typical witch-hunt and media-trial features. Separately, placing key aides to former PM Imran Khan on FIA’s no-fly list without solid grounds to do so also indicates similar desperation and that these actions are driven by vengeance. expectedly, the IHC directed the DG FIA to remove the names from the no-fly list.

Throughout PTI’s ‘accountability’ campaign against opposition parties, those who suffered obscene levels of harassment and the mental anguish that it brought, were also the voices of reason, proposing logical amendments to laws such as the nAB ordinance while also strongly opposing new ones from being passed that would give institutions unbridled powers of arrest without cause or investigation. It is the duty of those very people, now that they are in power and will be running important ministries, that the accountability reforms they spoke of be carried out.

If they rather opt to use the same laws against the PTI to settle scores, they will be condoning a dangerous and regressive practice of filling up jails with opposition politicians over flimsy charges that do not hold up in court for too long due to absence of evidence. Former PM and senior PML-n leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, no stranger to nAB’s atrocities under the PTI, has advised the new government to dissolve the accountability watchdog. This is perhaps an aggressive approach to the problem; a less severe and welcome step in the right direction would be to make nAB ordinance 1999 less open-ended, arbitrary and draconian in nature. Simultaneously, corruption cases, if any, should be well-prepared so that convictions are made on the basis of tangible evidence.

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

While ZAB emerged victorious in the Western Wing on a Socialist agenda of change, Mujib-ur-Rehman captured east Pakistan on the demand of autonomy. Unfortunately, Quaid’s Pakistan was dismembered but a true constitutional republic emerged that did not take dictation from the external masters. The Atomic Programme was launched together with major development of the Defence Production Sector. ZAB had leanings towards the People’s Republic of China (PRC). He united the Islamic Ummah to work in common interests. Good governance and Foreign Policy was his forte. In using the Oil Weapon against the West, he went too far. All the key players of this strategic move were eliminated one by one (Shah Faisal, Ahmed Sakkaf the foreign minster, Mian Anwar Ali the economic adviser and ZAB). Pakistan and China are Iron brothers today with CPeC (China Pakistan economic Corridor) being a game changer for the country. ZAB was trapped in holding early elections while a nine-party election alliance (Pakistan national Alliance) waited in the wings. On complaints of rigging in a few constituencies, a foreign sponsored movement was launched and the regime was toppled to be replaced by a tyrant who destroyed all civilian institutions. Since July 1977, the republic has once again become a Satellite State. Imran Khan is struggling to restore its autonomy.

After ZAB, Imran Khan has emerged as the most popular national leader of the country. His party is in power in three provinces and at the center. In an irrelevant parliament which is composed of mostly hardened criminals, he represents ethical conduct in politics. If a popular leader of his stature and following is cornered, he is bound to fight back. The two upright PM’s before him Liaquat Ali and ZAB suffered for working in national interests. now Imran Khan is facing a similar situation. His popularity is on the up swing, he has decided to fight back with the force of the masses.

There may be charges of poor governance against his team but his honesty and integrity remain above board.

On August 14, 1973, the country reached the status of a constitutional democracy where the parliament was declared supreme. There are around twenty clauses covering fundamental human rights which have never been discussed nor implemented. One of the clauses 25 A has declared education as a right of the citizen to be provided by the state which stands blatantly violated. Any attempt to push out a leader of his standing will have serious consequences. The people of Pakistan have suffered enough, they refuse to be a part of a Satellite State that has been doing the dirty work of external forces. Being

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concerns over Iran’s nuclear weapons program?

By maintaining “neutrality,” Bennett is siding with a thug and a ruthless killer, who has become a pariah and war criminal who dishonors everyone who has not condemned him in the strongest terms. When the Prime Minister of Israel does not rise to the fateful cry for help and do what is morally right by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel’s democratic allies and save the lives of thousands of innocent civilians, he is dangerously compromising the country’s international standing both on moral and political grounds.

With the indiscriminate bombardment, missile strikes, and drones killing thousands of people, the summary execution of civilians, and the flattening of whole cities, the invasion of Ukraine is itself a horrendous crime against a sovereign nation and a gross violation of international law. Mass graves discovered in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, confirm that Russian forces have indeed committed war crimes. Civilians were executed with their hands bound and their bodies placed in shallow graves containing hundreds of bodies. These war crimes are a further trespass against humanity, a compounding of Russia’s transgression of all that we hold dear and sacred – including the dignity of human life and the right to live free from violence, brutality, and cruelty.

With all that unfolding horror, Bennett still refuses to provide air defense systems to stop these atrocities. Indeed, by refusing to offer such systems which can intercept projectiles without killing Russian soldiers, which, understandably he wants to avoid, he has become indirectly complicit in the horrifying death and destruction.

Israel’s detractors rightfully raise the question: has the decades-long Israeli occupation and the harsh way the Palestinians are treated made Bennett so morally numb and apathetic to the growing tragedy of the Ukrainian people? It is no wonder; Bennett was born only five years after the occupation began; to him and many others, the oppressive and cruel occupation is simply a natural phenomenon. Bennett and his followers should recall what the philosopher and theologian Abraham Heschel once said: “Who is a Jew? A person whose integrity decays when unmoved by the knowledge of wrong done to other people.” Bennett must remember, politically or otherwise, Putin will vanish sooner or later, but Israel’s moral failure under his stewardship will haunt it for decades to come.

Israel’s relatIons wIth the UnIted states: For Bennett to openly and repeatedly express total opposition to the US’ efforts to strike a new Iran deal, and by refusing to heed President Biden’s call to aid Ukraine militarily, Bennett has effectively defied the only significant power that is unshakably committed to Israel’s national security. Although

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Biden made it abundantly clear that the US will never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, Bennett asserted, like his predecessor, that Israel will act against Iran as it sees fit, as if Israel can take on Iran’s nuclear program entirely on its own, which is an illusion.

This is where Bennett has demonstrated acute shortsightedness. America stood by Israel through thick and thin and never wavered. As the philosopher Cornel West observed, “We have to recognize that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty…” It is America, not Russia, that provided massive economic and military aid in the tens of billions of dollars over the last decade alone. It is America, not Russia, that shielded Israel politically on every international forum and vetoed scores of anti-Israel resolutions at the UnSC and neutralized any threat to its national security. Bennett seems to forget that the US, not Russia, will come to Israel’s aid on every front when needed, especially if it became necessary to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, which Israel can never do alone with all that might imply. And finally, it is the US, not Russia, whose strategic alliance with Israel stood the test of time.

Thus, when Israel does not join the US in support of Ukraine in this desperate hour of need, Israel is opening itself to the questioning of its loyalty and strategic relevance to America when nearly all the democracies in the world stood by the US and mobilized their resources against Putin’s evil design. The disaster which is being inflicted on Ukraine by Putin also raises the question as to whether Israel deserves better treatment from the US, especially now that it has rebuffed Biden’s call to aid Ukraine in a meaningful way to save lives.

Although the US continues to support Israel publicly, as Secretary of State Blinken recently expressed while visiting Israel, the Biden administration hopes that Bennett will change his mind by offering to help and coming on board with nATO and the eU. Bennett must answer the desperate plea of Ukraine’s President Zelensky by providing air defense systems, such as the Iron Dome, to intercept the bombs and missiles that are turning Ukrainian cities into piles of rubble.

Bennett’s betrayal of Israel’s moral foundation because of cold-blooded political calculations will haunt him and leave him morally naked in the eyes of Israel’s friends and foes alike. Bennet must also realize that Israel’s fate is tied to America’s and the closer he ties it, the better it is for Israel. There must be no daylight between them, especially in the way of dealing with Iran’s nuclear threat. That is where Israel’s ultimate security rests while still remaining strong to deter any enemy. This may well be Bennett’s last chance to redeem himself and put Israel on the right side of history.

The whole world is watching.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

06-07 Comments - 14th April 2022_Layout 1 4/13/2022 9:49 PM Page 2

Thursday, 14 April, 2022

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

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Domestic violence

Foreign conspiracy against Pakistan All political parties should come together to drive the country out of the ongoing crisis

SajjaD Shaukat

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n line with the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), session of the national Assembly (nA) began in the morning of April 9, 2022, chaired by the ex-Speaker Asad Qaiser who belongs to PTI. Leaders of the PDM and those of the former government of the PTI addressed the national Assembly.

President of PML-n Shehbaz Sharif, including other lawmakers of the PDM hailed the apex court’s rejection of deputy speaker’s ruling of April 3, this year when he had dismissed the voting on the no-trust move, as he termed it “unconstitutional”, saying that it was supported by a foreign power and violated Article 5 of the Constitution which states that loyalty to the state is the duty of every citizen.

Addressing the House, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said: “The opposition was invited to speak, if they believe the communiqué does not exist we will put forth proof… foreign conspiracy to topple the PTI-led government…We want the evidence to be examined before the vote is taken…Horse trading…the question is whether this was constitutional?”

Qureshi reminded that before the SCP’s judgement, the opposition said that they would not accept any decision reviving the “doctrine of necessity” when the matter was subjudice.

PTI leaders remarked that under Article 69 of the Constitution, nA speaker’s ruling has immunity and the SCP can not intervene in the internal affairs of the nA. PTI lawmaker Shireen Mazari called the apex court’s verdict a “judicial coup”. earlier, in a televised address to the nation, the former Prime Minister Imran Khan stated: “I will never accept the “imported government” and I will take to the streets…They [incoming government] will end accountability drive by abolishing nAB [national Accountability Bureau]…he was disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling against his government…The apex court should’ve at least seen the ‘threat letter’ before issuing the verdict…We also hoped that Supreme Court would also take suo motu notice against horse-trading”.

As regards the ‘threat letter’, the then Premier Imran Khan has repeatedly stated that the foreign hand and the opposition’s motion of noconfidence were linked to each other. He pointed out that the words ‘no-confidence motion’ are clearly mentioned in the letter—contained a warning from America that if the motion was not passed, it would have disastrous consequences—

if passed, the US would forgive—former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz supremo nawaz Sharif and the senior leadership of PDM were behind this conspiracy.

He elaborated: “Foreign funding is being used to change the government, and the ‘threat letter’ was received on March 7, this year just one day before the tabling of the no-trust move.

Acting US envoy in Islamabad was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on March 31, 2021 to lodge a protest with the US over a threatening letter, hours after the country’s top decision-making body national Security Committee (nSC) which includes top civilian, military and intelligence leadership, voiced concerns over the issue during a meeting chaired by ex-PM Khan.

In his various statements and rallies the then Prime Minister Imran Khan repeatedly remarked that he was paying the price for pursuing an “independent foreign policy”.

In this respect, PM Khan had been openly speaking against the US and its Western major allies, accusing his political opponents of being ‘slaves of America’. His criticism of the decision of former President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to join American war on terror, use of drones to target the country, clarifying that Pakistan’s soil would not be used for foreign country’s mission, his recent visit to Moscow despite advice by Jake Sullivan-American President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, not to visit Russia at a time when the Russian troops were invading Ukraine and refusal to the eU countries for pressurizing Pakistan to vote against Russia during the recently held special session of the Un General Assembly in connection with the RussiaUkraine war, saying if they considered Islamabad their “slave”, particularly irritated Washington.

Khan’s other acts such as favour of China and Russia—their stance for stability in the region, support to collective efforts of China and Iran to assist the regime of Afghan Taliban and strong stand on the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), while indicating inaction of the US-led West’s major powers against new Delhi annoyed America.

It was also because of PM Imran’s efforts on Islamophobia at the Un which adopted a resolution and fixed March 15 as an international day against Islamophobia.

In fact, Pakistan cannot trust on the US as the latter has been following paradoxical strategy toward Islamabad.

After the end of the Cold War, the US left both Pakistan and Afghanistan to face the fallout of the Afghan war 1.

After the 9/11 tragedy, America, again, needed Pakistan’s help. Pakistan was granted the status of non-nATO ally by the US. When the US-led allies felt that they are failing in coping with the stiff resistance of the Taliban in Afghanistan, particularly America started accusing Pak Army and ISI of supporting the Afghan Taliban.

Last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that Afghanistan has broken the “shackles of slavery,” as the Taliban returned to power. nonetheless, extraordinary developments of midnight of April 9 and April 10 (2022) surprised the nation, while giving a negative message to the world. In this connection, filing of an emergency petition by Advocate Adnan Iqbal in the Islamabad High Court, seeking to restrain Prime Minister Imran Khan from de-notifying

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa is notable.

The staff of the Supreme Court had also been directed to arrive at midnight. Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial arrived at the apex court. According to the sources, the Supreme Court might initiate contempt of court proceedings against the national Assembly speaker for not implementing its order of holding voting on no-trust motion against PM Imran Khan within the stipulated time.

In the meantime, nA Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Suri had resigned. nA Speaker Qaiser said that he could not take part in a foreign conspiracy to oust the prime minister. PMLn’s Ayaz Sadiq who chaired the session conducted voting of no-trust move and announced that with a majority of 174 votes, the no-confidence motion had been passed against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Rejecting various false reports of the foreign media, the ISPR on April 10, 2022 termed a report by the BBC Urdu “fake” that claimed an unpleasant meeting between PTI Chairman Imran Khan and army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa hours before Imran’s ouster through a no-trust vote. The BBC claimed that the former premier had removed Gen. Bajwa as the army chief. PM imran rejected this baseless rumour. earlier, opposition leaders and PM Khan were also saying that the military establishment was “neutral” in the current political crisis.

Moreover, the ex-Prime Minister Khan sent the ‘threat letter’ to important personalities like Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Bandial and army chief Gen. Bajwa.

While, leaders of the joint opposition parties challenged the authenticity of the ‘threat letter’— repeatedly said that the letter was a ploy of PM Khan to castigate the no-confidence motion.

And the PTI on April 10, 2022 staged countrywide protests against the “imported government” being constituted in the country as a result of a foreign conspiracy. now, national Assembly has selected Shehbaz Sharif as the new prime minister after the PTI MnAs boycotted the election and resigned en masse from the lower house and would also launch a mass movement against the PDM regime after eid. However, the political crisis will further aggravate, and could result in to civil war.

In such a situation, the government can announce general elections or otherwise army may be compelled to interfere as it has also to maintain integrity of the country, while securing the national interests—as politicians always try to sacrifice these interests for their personal interests.

As regards the conspiracy against Pakistan, the reality is that America, India and some Western countries are acting according to the Zionist agenda to denuclearize Pakistan, because the latter is the only nuclear country in the Islamic world.

At this critical hour, the government and the opposition leaders, including all other segments of society must sign a charter of democracy by showing selfless national unity to pull the country out of the ongoing serious crises.

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

MAny women are victims of harassment and domestic violence, it’s increasing day by day, these are common issues in our society. Domestic violence can be verbal, physical and psychological. Parents feel that their fighting and violence don’t affect their children. Alas! The fact is their fights affect children’s minds badly; it causes their physical and psychological growth as well.

Domestic violence and family fighting can be a huge cause of a child’s fury, gloom and sadness. Domestic violence is not only harmful to a growing child, but it’s also harmful to a mother who is carrying a baby inside the womb.

Meanwhile, the children always have a negative impact of parents fighting and violence, where a male child learns how to fight and beat the opposite gender, and the female child learns how it could be expected. This causes the children to repeat the same cycles with their own children.

It’s a huge responsibility of parents to take care of their children.

Parents can be huge supporters of their children. Then the children will learn how to become problem solvers rather than problem creators— if children only face violence then he/she may become aggressive.

Domestic violence is never justified- it is time to stand up against the violence. Teach children to compromise on small things, but never with self-respect, values, rules and dignity. This is the time to educate your children, no matter what gender, to be independent and self-centred. It’s time to bring peace and happiness in your home where children can grow the potential.

Being a parent it’s your role to support and encourage your children emotionally and financially, and not to crush their little dreams.

MARAI KHUSHK SInDH

Economic growth CULTURAL diversity is the collection of human societies or cultures in a specific region/area, as a result of globalization and mutual influences. It contradicts the term “monoculture” meaning “having only a single unified culture”. It refers to the inclusion of different cultural perspectives in an organization or society.

Cultural groups can share many different characteristics. They include Culture, religion, ethnicity, language, nationality, sexual orientation, class, gender, age, disability, health differences, geographic location and lots of other things. Pakistan is a land of cultural diversity and it has a culture that reflects unity in diversity. even the flag is multicoloured. Green reflects the Muslims and white symbolizes the minorities, the star and the moon spread the message of peace. So in order to maintain peace and increase the country’s economic growth, we need to understand cultural diversity because in today’s world, diversity is the exclusive path to excellence but very few realize this. Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, and Pashtun are the other major cultures. All of them contribute to a country’s GDP. Historically, Sindh’s contribution to Pakistan’s GDP has been between 30% to 32.7%. Its share in the service sector has ranged from 21% to 27.8% and in the agriculture sector from 21.4% to 27.7%. Punjab contributes 60% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), underscoring its pivotal role in Pakistan’s economic growth and employment. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share of Pakistan’s GDP has historically comprised 10.5%, amounting to over US$ 30 billion. The Province accounts for 11.9% of Pakistan’s total population. Balochistan has enormous potential to emerge as Pakistan’s new economic frontier. Its livestock contributes 20 percent to provincial GDP. It is the primary source of living for about 80 percent of the population. The provincial share in the country’s total livestock population is stated to be about 40 percent. These provinces also contribute to the country’s economic development by exporting their unique products. They export Textiles articles, cotton, apparel: knit, apparel: non knit, cereals, precious instruments, natural minerals and stone, leather products, seafood, fruit and nuts.

BUSHRA TAHIR LAHoRE

Preventing infections HyGIene and sanitation play a key role in preventing gastrointestinal infections. Most common gastrointestinal illnesses encountered frequently in health services are indigestion, upper abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Adults usually complain of heart burn, acid brash, upper abdominal pain, and bloating. When investigated for H. pylori bacteria, most of them turn out to be positive. enquiry about their eating habits reveals that majority are using tap water or direct ground water supply. Also, consumption of street food seems to be an important culprit. We all know that food and drinks are handled with bare hands and many vendors don’t even bother to cover it. It can therefore be determined that poor hygiene contributes to the spreading of H. pylori. A meta-analysis shows that the prevalence of H. pylori is 44.3% worldwide.

Poor hygiene in children makes them more susceptible to worms and bacterial infections leading to diarrhea. Diarrhea is the leading cause childhood morbidity and mortality around the world, particularly in developing countries and rural areas. The chief causes of acquiring these infections are not using soap and not taking regular showers especially after getting exposed to dirt. Adults also transmit infections like typhoid and cholera due to poor food handling. Cooking and serving with unwashed hands also spreads infections. Poor treatment facilities cause spread of waterborne diseases. In Pakistan, drinking water sanitation systems and drainage lines run parallel to one another, which causes leakages and intermixing resulting in the deterioration of water quality. In most cities of Pakistan, ground water supply contains various pathogens including many viral, bacterial, and protozoan agents causing 2.5 million deaths from endemic diarrheal disease each year. Hence, tap water is not safe for drinking. Drinking water must be made safe either by chlorination, boiling, or filtering.

It is the responsibility of the educated community members to spread awareness among their friends and family. Hand hygiene and safe drinking water practice should be encouraged at homes, schools and work place across the country. We hope to protect our adults and children from deadly infections and see health and fitness flourish.

DR nASEEM AMIn DHEDHI KARAcHI

08 WORLD VIEW 14th April 22_Layout 1 4/13/2022 9:40 PM Page 1

Thursday, 14 April, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

LiberaLism needs the nation

Foreign AFFAirs Francis Fukuyama

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iberalism is in peril. The fundamentals of liberal societies are tolerance of difference, respect for individual rights, and the rule of law, and all are under threat as the world suffers what can be called a democratic recession or even a depression. according to Freedom House, political rights and civil liberties around the world have fallen each year for the last 16 years. liberalism’s decline is evident in the growing strength of autocracies such as China and russia, the erosion of liberal—or nominally liberal—institutions in countries such as Hungary and Turkey, and the backsliding of liberal democracies such as india and the United states. in each of these cases, nationalism has powered the rise of illiberalism. illiberal leaders, their parties, and their allies have harnessed nationalist rhetoric in seeking greater control of their societies. They denounce their opponents as out-of-touch elites, effete cosmopolitans, and globalists. They claim to be the authentic representatives of their country and its true guardians. sometimes, illiberal politicians merely caricature their liberal counterparts as ineffectual and removed from the lives of the people they presume to represent. Often, however, they describe their liberal rivals not simply as political adversaries but as something more sinister: enemies of the people.

The very nature of liberalism makes it susceptible to this line of attack. The most fundamental principle enshrined in liberalism is one of tolerance: the state does not prescribe beliefs, identities, or any other kind of dogma. ever since its tentative emergence in the seventeenth century as an organizing principle for politics, liberalism deliberately lowered the sights of politics to aim not at “the good life” as defined by a particular religion, moral doctrine, or cultural tradition but at the preservation of life itself under conditions in which populations cannot agree on what the good life is. This agnostic nature creates a spiritual vacuum, as individuals go their own ways and experience only a thin sense of community. liberal political orders do require shared values, such as tolerance, compromise, and deliberation, but these do not foster the strong emotional bonds found in tightly knit religious and ethnonationalist communities. indeed, liberal societies have often encouraged the aimless pursuit of material self-gratification. liberalism’s most important selling point remains the pragmatic one that has existed for centuries: its ability to manage diversity in pluralistic societies. Yet there is a limit to the kinds of diversity that liberal societies can handle. if enough people reject liberal principles themselves and seek to restrict the fundamental rights of others, or if citizens resort to violence to get their way, then liberalism alone cannot maintain political order. and if diverse societies move away from liberal principles and try to base their national identities on race, ethnicity, religion, or some other, different substantive vision of the good life, they invite a return to potentially bloody conflict. a world full of such countries will invariably be more fractious, more tumultuous, and more violent.

That is why it is all the more important for liberals not to give up on the idea of the nation. They should recognize that in truth, nothing makes the universalism of liberalism incompatible with a world of nation-states.

National identity is malleable, and it can be shaped to reflect liberal aspirations and to instill a sense of community and purpose among a broad public.

For proof of the abiding importance of national identity, look no further than the trouble russia has run into in attacking Ukraine. russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine did not have an identity separate from that of russia and that the country would collapse immediately once his invasion began. instead, Ukraine has resisted russia tenaciously precisely because its citizens are loyal to the idea of an independent, liberal democratic Ukraine and do not want to live in a corrupt dictatorship imposed from without. With their bravery, they have made clear that citizens are willing to die for liberal ideals, but only when those ideals are embedded in a country they can call their own.

LIBERALISM’S SPIRITUAL VACUUM: liberal societies struggle to present a positive vision of national identity to their citizens. The theory behind liberalism has great difficulties drawing clear boundaries around communities and explaining what is owed to people inside and outside those boundaries. This is because the theory is built on top of a claim of universalism. as asserted in the Universal Declaration of Human rights, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”; further, “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” liberals are theoretically con-

THE LIBERAL CLAIM OF UNIVERSALISM CAN BE HARD TO RECONCILE WITH A WORLD DIVIDED INTO NATION-STATES THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE ENSHRINED IN LIBERALISM IS ONE OF TOLERANCE: THE STATE DOES NOT PRESCRIBE BELIEFS, IDENTITIES, OR ANY OTHER KIND OF DOGMA cerned with violations of human rights no matter where in the world they occur. many liberals dislike the particularistic attachments of nationalists and imagine themselves to be “citizens of the world.”

Nationalists complain that liberalism has dissolved the bonds of national community and replaced them with a global cosmopolitanism that cares about people in distant countries as much as it cares for fellow citizens.

Nineteenth-century nationalists based national identity on biology and believed that national communities were rooted in common ancestry. This continues to be a theme for certain contemporary nationalists, such as Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban, who has defined Hungarian national identity as being based on magyar ethnicity.

Other nationalists, such as the israeli scholar Yoram Hazony, have sought to revise twentieth-century ethnonationalism by arguing that nations constitute coherent cultural units that allow their members to share thick traditions of food, holidays, language, and the like. The american conservative thinker Patrick Deneen has asserted that liberalism constitutes a form of anticulture that has dissolved all forms of preliberal culture, using the power of the state to insert itself into and control every aspect of private life. significantly, Deneen and other conservatives have broken with economic neoliberals and have been vocal in blaming market capitalism for eroding the values of family, community, and tradition. as a result, the twentieth-century categories that defined the political left and right in terms of economic ideology do not fit the present reality neatly, with right-wing groups being willing to countenance the use of state power to regulate both social life and the economy.

There is considerable overlap between nationalists and religious conservatives. among the traditions that contemporary nationalists want to preserve are religious ones; thus, the law and Justice party in Poland has been closely aligned with the Polish Catholic Church and has taken on many of the latter’s cultural complaints about liberal europe’s support for abortion and same-sex marriage. similarly, religious conservatives often regard themselves as patriots; this is certainly true for the american evangelicals who formed the core of Trump’s “make america Great again” movement.

The substantive conservative critique of liberalism— that liberal societies provide no strong common moral core around which community can be built—is true enough.

This is indeed a feature of liberalism, not a bug. The question for conservatives is whether there is a realistic way to turn back the clock and reimpose a thicker moral order. some U.s. conservatives hope to return to an imagined time when virtually everyone in the United states was Christian. but modern societies are far more diverse religiously today than at the time of europe’s religious wars in the sixteenth century. The idea of restoring a shared moral tradition defined by religious belief is a nonstarter. leaders who hope to effect this kind of restoration, such as Narendra modi, india’s Hindu nationalist prime minister, are inviting oppression and communal violence. modi knows this all too well: he was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was racked by communal riots in 2002 that left thousands dead, mostly muslims. since 2014, when modi became prime minister, he and his allies have sought to tie indian national identity to the masts of Hinduism and the Hindi language, a sea change from the secular pluralism of india’s liberal founders.

THE GOOD LIFE: The conservative critique of liberalism contains, at its core, a reasonable skepticism of the liberal emphasis on individual autonomy. liberal societies assume an equality of human dignity, a dignity that is rooted in an individual’s ability to make choices. For that reason, they are dedicated to protecting that autonomy as a matter of basic rights. but although autonomy is a fundamental liberal value, it is not the sole human good that automatically trumps all other visions of the good life.

The realm of what is accepted as autonomy has steadily expanded over time, broadening from the choice to obey rules within an existing moral framework to making up those rules for oneself. but respect for autonomy was meant to manage and moderate the competition of deeply held beliefs, not to displace those beliefs in their entirety. Not every human being thinks that maximizing his or her personal autonomy is the most important goal of life or that disrupting every existing form of authority is necessarily a good thing. many people are happy to limit their freedom of choice by accepting religious and moral frameworks that connect them with other people or by living within inherited cultural traditions. The U.s. Constitution’s First amendment was meant to protect the free exercise of religion, not to protect citizens from religion.

successful liberal societies have their own culture and their own understanding of the good life, even if that vision may be thinner than those offered by societies bound by a single doctrine. They cannot be neutral with regard to the values that are necessary to sustain themselves as liberal societies. They need to prioritize public-spiritedness, tolerance, open-mindedness, and active engagement in public affairs if they are to cohere. They need to prize innovation, entrepreneurship, and risk-taking if they are to prosper economically. a society of inward-looking individuals interested only in maximizing their personal consumption will not be a society at all. states are important not just because they are the locus of legitimate power and the instruments for controlling violence. They are also a singular source of community. liberal universalism on one level flies in the face of the nature of human sociability. People feel the strongest bonds of affection for those closest to them, such as friends and family; as the circle of acquaintance widens, their sense of obligation inevitably attenuates. as human societies have grown larger and more complex over the centuries, the boundaries of solidarity have expanded dramatically from families and villages and tribes to entire countries. but few people love humanity as a whole. For most people around the world, the country remains the largest unit of solidarity to which they feel an instinctive loyalty. indeed, that loyalty becomes a critical underpinning of the state’s legitimacy and thus its ability to govern. in certain societies, a weak national identity can have disastrous consequences, as is evident in some struggling developing countries, such as myanmar and Nigeria, and in some failed states, such as afghanistan, libya, and syria.

THE CASE FOR LIBERAL NATIONALISM: This argument may seem similar to ones made by Hazony, the conservative israeli scholar, in his 2018 book, The Virtue of Nationalism, in which he advocates a global order based on the sovereignty of nation-states. He makes an important point in warning against the tendency of liberal countries, such as the United states, to go too far in seeking to remake the rest of the world in their own image. but he is wrong in assuming that the existing countries are clearly demarcated cultural units and that a peaceful global order can be built by accepting them as they are. Today’s countries are social constructions that are the byproducts of historical struggles that often involved conquest, violence, forced assimilation, and the deliberate manipulation of cultural symbols. There are better and worse forms of national identity, and societies can exercise agency in choosing among them. in particular, if national identity is based on fixed characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or religious heritage, then it becomes a potentially exclusionary category that violates the liberal principle of equal dignity. although there is no necessary contradiction between the need for national identity and liberal universalism, there is nonetheless a powerful potential point of tension between the two principles. When based on fixed characteristics, national identity can turn into aggressive and exclusive nationalism, as it did in europe during the first part of the twentieth century.

For this reason, liberal societies should not formally recognize groups based on fixed identities such as race, ethnicity, or religious heritage. There are times, of course, when this becomes inevitable, and liberal principles fail to apply. in many parts of the world, ethnic or religious groups have occupied the same territory for generations and have their own thick cultural and linguistic traditions. in the balkans, the middle east, south asia, and southeast asia, ethnic or religious identity is de facto an essential characteristic for most people, and assimilating them into a broader national culture is highly unrealistic. it is possible to organize a form of liberal politics around several cultural units; india, for example, recognizes multiple national languages and has in the past permitted its states to set their own policies with regard to education and legal systems. Federalism and the concomitant devolution of powers to subnational units are often necessary in such diverse countries.

Power can be formally allocated to different groups defined by their cultural identity in a structure that political scientists call “consociationalism.” although this has worked reasonably well in the Netherlands, the practice has been disastrous in places such as bosnia, iraq, and lebanon, where identity groups see themselves locked in a zero-sum struggle. in societies in which cultural groups have not yet hardened into self-regarding units, it is therefore much better to deal with citizens as individuals rather than as members of identity groups.

On the other hand, there are other aspects of national identity that can be adopted voluntarily and therefore shared more broadly, such as literary traditions, historical

narratives, and language, food, and sports. Catalonia, Quebec, and scotland are all regions with distinct historical and cultural traditions, and they all include nationalist partisans seeking complete separation from the country to which they are linked. There is little doubt that these regions would continue to be liberal societies respecting individual rights were they to separate, just as the Czech republic and slovakia did after they became separate countries in 1993.

National identity represents obvious dangers but also an opportunity. it is a social construct, and it can be shaped to support, rather than undermine, liberal values. many countries have historically been molded out of diverse populations that feel a strong sense of community based on political principles or ideals rather than deterministic group categories. australia, Canada, France, india, and the United states are all countries that in recent decades have sought to construct national identities based on political principles rather than race, ethnicity, or religion. The United states has gone through a long and painful process of redefining what it means to be an american, progressively removing barriers to citizenship based on class, race, and gender—although this process is still incomplete and has experienced many setbacks. in France, the construction of a national identity began with the French revolution’s Declaration of the rights of man and of the Citizen, which established an ideal of citizenship based on a common language and culture. in the mid-twentieth century, australia and Canada were countries with dominant white-majority populations and restrictive laws regarding immigration and citizenship, such as the notorious “White australia” policy, which kept out immigrants from asia. both, however, reconstructed their national identities on nonracial lines after the 1960s and opened themselves up to massive immigration. Today, both countries have larger foreign-born populations than does the United states, with little of the United states’ polarization and white backlash.

Nonetheless, the difficulty of forging a common identity in sharply divided democracies should not be underestimated. most contemporary liberal societies were built on top of historical nations whose understandings of national identity had been forged through illiberal methods. France, Germany, Japan, and south Korea were all nations before they became liberal democracies; the United states, as many have noted, was a state before it became a nation. The process of defining the american nation in liberal political terms has been long, arduous, and periodically violent, and even today that process is being challenged by people on both the left and the right with sharply competing narratives about the country’s origins. liberalism would be in trouble if people saw it as nothing more than a mechanism for peacefully managing diversity, without a broader sense of national purpose.

People who have experienced violence, war, and dictatorship generally long to live in a liberal society, as europeans did in the period after 1945. but as people get used to a peaceful life under a liberal regime, they tend to take that peace and order for granted and start longing for a politics that will direct them to higher ends. in 1914, europe had been largely free of devastating conflict for nearly a century, and masses of people were happy to march off to war despite the enormous material progress that had occurred in the interim.

The world has perhaps arrived at a similar point in human history: it has been free from large-scale interstate war for three-quarters of a century and has, in the meantime, seen a massive increase in global prosperity that has produced equally massive social change. The european Union was created as an antidote to the nationalism that had led to the world wars and in that respect has been successful beyond all hopes. but russia’s invasion of Ukraine augurs more disarray and violence ahead. at this juncture, two very different futures present themselves. if Putin is successful in undermining Ukrainian independence and democracy, the world will return to an era of aggressive and intolerant nationalism reminiscent of the early twentieth century. The United states will not be immune from this trend, as populists such as Trump aspire to replicate Putin’s authoritarian ways. On the other hand, if Putin leads russia into a debacle of military and economic failure, the chance remains to relearn the liberal lesson that power unconstrained by law leads to national disaster and to revive the ideals of a free and democratic world.

FRANCIS FUKUYAMA is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and the author of the forthcoming book Liberalism and Its Discontents (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022), from which this essay is adapted.

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | IsLAMAbAd

NEws corporate corner PSW organizes an interactive demo of tiPP with trade & investment officers ISLAMABAD: In collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan Single Window (PSW) organized introductory sessions on the Trade Information Portal of Pakistan (TIPP) for the Trade & Investment Officers (TIOs) posted at Pakistani embassies abroad to give them an overview of the portal and its various features. More than 40 TIOs serving in Trade Missions in the Middle East, Africa, Americas, Europe, and Central and Southeast Asia attended the sessions spread over two days to accommodate the different time zones.

The sessions were conducted by PSW Domain Officers, Mr. Umair Mehmood Siddiqui and Mr. Hafiz Mohammed Ahmed.

The TIOs were given a walkthrough of the portal and briefed on the available services and features including the digital library of trade laws/regulations, smart search features, guided journey, and trade directories. The briefing was followed by interactive Q&A sessions.

The TIOs appreciated PSW’s efforts in developing the portal for guidance of foreign businesses and individuals engaged in international trade with Pakistan as well as the overseas Pakistani community who frequently require information on customs duty and other taxes levied on consumer goods, used vehicles and mobile phones. The Trade Information Portal provides a single access point for all cross-border trade-related information. Over 530 laws, regulations, procedures, and other trade-related measures from over 77 government agencies have been completely digitized and can now be accessed online. The portal was launched on March 31, 2022 in line with Pakistan’s commitment under the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement and can be accessed at www.tipp.gov.pk. TIPP is an initiative of the PSWC, a public sector company, notified as the ‘operating entity’ of the PSW system under the provisions of the Pakistan Single Window Act, 2021. pr

Army officer, soldier martyred in South Waziristan ambush A Pakistan Army officer and a soldier embraced martyrdom during an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district, the military in a statement on Tuesday.

“On night 11/12 April 2022, fire exchange took place between security forces and terrorists in general area Angoor Adda, South Waziristan District,” military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said.

Troops effectively engaged the terrorist’s location and killed two militants. “Weapon and ammunition were also recovered from the terrorists,” it added.

The ISPR said the militants remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces.

During intense exchange of fire, Major Shujaat Hussain (age 30 years, resident of Toba Tek Singh) and Sepoy Imran Khan (age 27 years, resident of Naseerabad), after having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat [martyrdom], it said.

A clearance operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area. “Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave officers and soldiers further strengthen our resolve.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack in the tribal area and paid tribute to the “sons of the nation who fought against terrorists and were martyred in defence of the motherland”. Last week, two soldiers were martyred and an officer injured during an intelligence based operation (IBO) conducted by the security forces in Singi, near Mashkai in Balochistan.

According to the ISPR, the security forces conducted an operation in the area between the night of April 7 and 8 on information of the presence of terrorists. “During the operation, two valiant sons of soil, Naik Tajwali and Sepoy Osama embraced Shahadat while one officer got injured,” the military’s media wing said. staff report

K-ElECtRiC SECURES US$ 100 millioN to bolStER KARAChi’S tRANSmiSSioN ANd diStRibUtioN NEtWoRK KARACHI pr

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OMMITTED to creating sustainable cities and communities under UN SDG 11, KE achieved another milestone by securing USD 100 million in financing from Dutch Development bank FMO to enhance its transmission and distribution network across spanning 6500 km2 operational territory. These funds will be channeled towards providing its customers with secure, safe, uninterrupted, and reliable power supply.

The signing ceremony between KE and financing partners FMO and Proparco took place on Tuesday at the FMO’s Future of Energy Conference held at the Hague, Netherlands. Head

of Treasury and Corporate Finance Muhammad Farrukh represented KE on the occasion and was joined by Ar-

pr

A large number of faithful hailing from twin cities offering Namaz e Taraweeh on daily basis at Faisal Masjid who have been provided every possible facility in wake of special arrangements made by Faisal Masjid Islamic Centre of Dawah Academy as per directions of H.E. Dr. Hathal Homoud Alotaibi, President, International Is-

iane Ducreux Head of Head of Power and Infrastructure Division at Proparco and Huib-Jan de Ruijter, Chief Invest-

ment Officer from FMO along with senior management from both organizations.

The utility intends to use the funds to extend its infrastructure to previously unserved areas within its operational territory, bringing more residents into its growing customer base of 3.2 million. Alongside this, safety is a key priority of the investment plan that KE has outlined. Approximately 12,000 PMTs of KE’s distribution high loss network has already been converted to insulated Aerial Bundled Cables which provide power with safety, and the USD 100 million financing will accelerate the company’s efforts to convert its remaining network while removing hazards such as illegal hook connections (kundas) which create an unsafe environment for the public.

PTCL Group posts 3.2% revenue growth in Q1, 2022

ISLAMABAD pr

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, has announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, at its Board of Directors’ meeting held in Islamabad on April 13, 2022.

During the first quarter of

2022, PTCL Group successfully managed to keep the topline growth momentum, which has further strengthened its market standing as an integrated telecom services provider in Pakistan.

Growth in revenue is mainly driven by strong performance in the consumer segment led by Fixed Broadband, Mobile Data, Business Solutions, and Microfinance services that supported the Group in achieving 3.2% growth

in revenues over the comparative period despite the challenges of increase in Advance Income Tax (AIT) and reduction in Mobile Termination Rates (MTR).

PTCL Group Highlights • PTCL Group’s revenue of Rs 35.1 billion in Q1, 2022 is 3.2% higher as compared to the same period of last year.

• The Group’s profitability remained under pressure due to significant hike in power tariffs, devaluation of the Pak Rupee against USD, higher interest rates, and other factors like upfront costs associated with the acquisition of 4G spectrum and related network rollout. The Group has posted a net loss of Rs 1.6 billion.

• PTCL continued its growth by posting 3.5% YoY revenue growth in Q1, 2022.

• PTML’s (Ufone) revenue grew by 1% YoY as compared to Q1, 2021.

• U Bank continued its growth momentum and has achieved a 13% growth in its quarterly revenue over the same period of last year.

AIOU commences M.Ed., MA Education teaching practice workshops from April 18 ISLAMABAD pr

Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU) will hold face to face teaching practice workshops of M.Ed and M.A Education for the semester Autumn, 2021 from April, 18. These workshops will be held in the Regional campuses of the University. Timing of the workshops will be from 1 pm to 5 pm. As per schedule of these workshops, released by the university, workshop of course code 3600 will be

held from 18th to 20th April, while the teaching practice workshops for course codes 6554,6555,6550 and 6551 will be held from 18th to 23rd April.

According to Dr. Malik Tauqeer Ahmad Khan, Director Regional Services, letters have been sent to students to attend the workshops. Moreover workshop schedule has also been uploaded on students' CMS portals and has also been made available online on University website. It should be noted that students belonging to Mirpur, Muzaf-

Large number of faithful offer Namaz E Taraweeh at Faisal Masjid ISLAMABAD

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lamic University. According to Incharge Faisal Masjid Islamic Centre, Dr Qari Zia ur Rehman , Dawah academy has made special arrangements for the faithful. He apprised that Qari Muhammad Nauman and Qari Ehsan ullah are Aima for namaz e Taraweeh. He said that the Dawah Academy shall also hold Qiyam ul lail in the last decade of the Holy month of Ramadan. On the directives of IIU President, Incharge Protocol and Public Relations, Nasir Farid

also visited the Faisal Masjid and reviewed the arrangements for Namaz e Taraweeh.

Meanwhile, In the light of the special directions of IIU President, Dawah Academy has also finalized special arrangements for the mutakifeen as large number of faithful shall sit for Aitikaf at Faisal Masjid in the last ten days of Ramadan. H.E. Dr. Hathal Homoud Alotaibi has desired that no stone shall be left unturned to provide best facilities to the faithful.

farabad, Gilgit, Skardu and Abbottabad have been merged in Islamabad region, similarly students from Bahawalnagar have been merged into Sahiwal region, While students from Sindh and Balochistan have been merged into Karachi region. Students who did not attend last semester's workshops for the above mentioned courses given the opportunity by depositing reappear fee. DRS has advised the students to contact their concerned Regional offices for further details.

No increase in prices at Utility Stores Corporation during Ramadan Relief Package: USC ISLAMABAD: More than 4 million families have benefited since April 1st from USC's Ramzan Relief Package. Some sections of the media, has misquoted the fact of increase in the price of sugar at utility stores, which is contrary to the reality. Since the start of Ramadan relief package, there has been no change in the rates. Moreover, the condition for availing subsidy is a valid ID card. The average basket per CNIC consists of 40 kg of flour, 5 kg of sugar, 5 kg of ghee, 2 liters of oil and other subsidized items, this quantity of subsidized items is sufficient for a small family. The aforementioned subsidized items can be bought by every valid CNIC holder and if a customer buys more than these quantities, normal rates will apply. Sugar and ghee rates have not been increased since the first day of the package and these items are being sold at the same rates as at the onset of Ramzan relief package. pr

Power suspension schedules for today ISLAMABAD: 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 14th April, 06:00am to 10:00am New Kaliam, Old Kaliam, HPT-III, Industrial, Sohdran, Quaid abad, Pir Wadhai, Bagh Sardaran, Carriage Factory, Zubair Shaheed, Bolani, Sohawa Court, Matwa, Ara Bazar, Main Bazaar, Millat Chowk, Line Park, KSM-1, Pepli, Balkasar, Daul tallah feeders, 8:00am to 10:00am Rahara, CM Pak Zong, Isolation Hospital feeders, 06:00am to 11:00am, DM Textile, Rata, Mangtal, Gulshanabad, BB Shaheed, Major Masood, Industrial, Railway Colony, Muslimabad, Ahsanabad, Gulzar Shaheed, Dhok Hasso 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

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

10 FORIGEN NEWS

DozeNs kIlleD IN lANDslIDes, flooDINg After tropICAl storm hIts phIlIppINes MAniLA

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AFP

HE death toll from landslides and floods in the Philippines rose to 58 on Wednesday, official tallies showed, as rescuers dug up more bodies with their bare hands in villages crushed by rain-induced avalanches.

Most of the deaths from tropical storm Megi — the strongest to hit the disasterprone archipelago this year — were in the central province of Leyte where a series of landslides devastated communities.

At least 47 people died and 27 were missing after waves of sodden soil smashed into farming settlements around Baybay City over the weekend, local authorities said. Just over 100 people were injured.

Three people were also killed in the central province of Negros Oriental and three on the main southern island of Mindanao, according to the national disaster agency.

Search operations for survivors in Pilar village — part of Abuyog municipality in Leyte — resumed at first light Wednesday, with boats carrying rescuers to the coastal

community of around 400 people a day after a landslide pushed most houses into the sea.

“We have five casualties, one unidentified,” Captain James Mark Ruiz of Abuyog police told AFP. Around 50 survivors have been rescued from the village, the Bureau of Fire Protection said on Facebook Tuesday.

Raymark Lasco, a radio operator at the

Abuyog disaster agency, told AFP that “many people” had died.

“I can’t give you exact details… because our operation is ongoing,” he said.

Search operations have also resumed around Baybay City after the rain stopped, enabling emergency personnel to access hard-hit areas, Mayor Jose Carlos Cari told CNN Philippines.

“In some barangays (villages), we’re just doing retrieval,” Cari said.

Rescuers have been using their bare hands and shovels to reach victims buried by the landslides.

A Philippine Coast Guard video shared on Facebook Tuesday showed rescuers carrying a mud-caked woman on a stretcher from one of the devastated villages, while other victims were piggybacked to safety.

The military has joined coast guard, police and fire protection personnel in the search and rescue efforts, which have been hampered by bad weather.

Whipping up seas, Megi forced dozens of ports to suspend operations and stranded thousands of people at the start of Holy Week, one of the busiest travel periods of the year in the Philippines.

Megi came four months after super typhoon Rai devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Scientists have long warned that typhoons are strengthening more rapidly as the planet becomes warmer due to climate change.

Notre-Dame slowly reviving three years after fire PARis AFP

Three years after the devastating fire, NotreDame cathedral in Paris is mostly cleared of a thick layer of soot as an army of craftsmen race to meet a deadline to reopen in time for the 2024 Olympics.

Ahead of the anniversary of the blaze on Friday, the mammoth cleaning job of the walls, vaults and floor is almost completed, restoring the cathedral to its original whiteness. The inferno that engulfed the 12th-century Gothic landmark on April 15, 2019, caused its central frame to collapse and ravaged the famous spire, clock and part of the vault — shocking millions around the world. The cathedral typically welcomed nearly 12 million visitors a year, as well as hosting 2,400 services and 150 concerts.

As an icon of the globally beloved city, the fire triggered an outpouring of generosity with nearly 844 million euros in donations collected from 340,000 donors in 150 countries to date, according to the public body overseeing the restoration.

The gaping hole left in the building is now filled by a forest of scaffolding.

The first stage of the titanic project involved clearing the rubble and burnt beams, reinforcing the flying buttresses, and removing the deadly dust unleashed from 450 tonnes of lead in the structure.

A temporary metal scaffolding had to be built for the task, which was completed last summer at a cost of 151 million euros, largely on schedule despite a three-month pause in 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many of the tasks have been farmed out

69th anniversary of CIA mind control program Agencies In 1954, a prison doctor in the southern US state of Kentucky isolated seven black inmates and fed them “double, triple and quadruple” doses of the psychoactive drug LSD for 77 days straight. “They may have died without knowing that they were part of the CIA’s highly secretive program to develop ways to control minds — a program based out of a little-known Army base with a dark past, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Washington in the Maryland town of Frederick,” writes author Stephen Kinzer, formerly based in Turkiye, who investigated this ultra-secret project Exactly 69 years ago, on April 13, 1953, then-CIA Director Allen Dulles launched the psychedelic mind-control program codenamed MKUltra to manipulate the mental states and brain functions of an individual by covert injection of high dosages of psychoactive substances and other chemicals. Testifying before a joint US Senate committee in 1977, CIA Director Stansfield Turner admitted that the project intended to study “the use of biological and chemical materials in altering human behavior.” MKUltra was preceded by two drug-related experiments, Project Bluebird and Project Artichoke. According to Kinzer, the CIA project “was a continuation of the work begun in WWII-era in Japanese facilities and Nazi concentration camps on subduing and controlling human minds.” He has documented that MKUltra’s use of mescaline on unwitting subjects was a practice pioneered by Nazi doctors in the Dachau concentration camp. In a 1985 verdict, the US Supreme Court found that the CIA indirectly funded 162 different secret projects that were “contracted out to various universities, research foundations, and similar institutions.” In total, at least 80 institutions and 185 researchers participated, but many were unaware they were dealing with the CIA. Although the program was shut down in 1964, there is ample evidence that intelligence agencies continued the project in their domains. These mind-control methods are no longer limited to science fiction and are now exploited by the intelligence agencies to control the minds of leaders.

to specialist workshops around France.

They include dismantling and cleaning the huge 18th-century organ, the largest in France, that was spared by the fire but coated in lead dust.

The stained glass windows, several statues and the 22 large-format paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries have also been sent for restoration.

The next major phase is to reinstall the medieval wooden framework of the nave and choir, and the 19th-century spire — which the team hopes will be completed in the first half of 2023.

A thousand trees have already been cut down in national and private forests across France in preparation.

Meanwhile, stones are this week being extracted from quarries to start rebuilding the damaged vaults.

Tests have been carried out on two of the cathedral’s 24 chapels to practise the techniques needed to recreate their original colours. Work was slowed down in March by a major surprise, when a lead sarcophagus and the remains of a decorative stone dividing barrier from the 14th century were discovered in the ground.

As well as restoring the building to its former glory, the diocese has plans to add a few new touches, integrating contemporary art and old masters, along with a more modern lighting system, moveable benches and biblical phrases projected on the walls in different languages.

A new system for visitors and worshippers will mean that when they return to the iconic cathedral in 2024, they will enter through the large central door rather than side doors.

Not only Viagra: Brazil military also bought penis implants, says lawmaker BRAsiLiA AFP

After revelations that the Brazilian military had bought Viagra pills for its troops, a lawmaker claimed Tuesday it had also acquired 60 penile implants — for reasons that were not divulged. Congressman Eliaz Vaz, who also exposed the Viagra spending, said the defense ministry had “approved the purchase of 60 penile prostheses.” The ministry did not respond to an AFP request for comment. “The question we ask is: why is the (President Jair) Bolsonaro government spending public money to pay for these prostheses?” Vaz said in a note sent to AFP. “The Brazilian people struggle to get medicines… and yet a group (of people) is treated with expensive prostheses.” Vaz said the ministry had bought 60 “inflatable silicone penile” implants at a cost of between 50,000 and 60,000 reais (about $10,600 to $12,800) each, for three different military hospitals. The total cost was more than $700,000. He said he had obtained the information via the government’s so-called “transparency portal,” which allows access to details on public spending.The congressman said he would report the matter to federal prosecutors for investigation. On Monday, the military came in for stiff scrutiny after Vaz revealed a purchase of 35,000 units of “the little blue pill” — another name for Viagra, eliciting a flurry of jokes on social media. The order was for sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. The defense ministry replied the pills were “to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension,” or a type of high blood pressure. The explanation did little to stem social media users’ mirth. “This explains why the military’s support for Bolsonaro just rises and rises,” quipped one, playing on the far-right president’s tight relationship with the armed forces. “Some say these pills are to help the armed forces f*** democracy even harder,” wrote satirical news site Sensacionalista.

China lists US human rights abuses worldwide, rebuts Washington’s report Agencies As New Yorkers experienced a horrible shooting incident again on Tuesday, the US State Department released a new report on the human rights situation in other countries including China, and the accusations made by the US were based on the same disinformation which serves its hegemonic diplomacy, said analysts.

On the same day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also listed US abuses on human rights inside and outside America, including failed gun control, discrimination against immigrants, war crimes in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, as well as the terrible handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused more 985,000 deaths of American people, in response to the Washington’s report.

Chinese analysts said that playing the card of human rights is an old and pointless trick played by the US to attack the countries who disagree with Washington’s policies or those who refused to submit to US hegemony, and the report released by the US has nothing to do with human rights.

With the decline of US national strength and its problematic economic performance, the US record on human rights within or outside America will keep worsening, and the more US authorities play the card of human rights, the more it would backfire on Washington, as more and more people will find the US hypocritical, and the self-dramatizing fairytale of “the US is a beacon of democracy and human rights” will be a joke and mocked by other countries again and again, experts said.

Hypocritical report: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the same groundless accusations with disinformation against China on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Xizang (Tibet), and also criticized the human rights violations of multiple countries that have strategic conflicts or diplomatic divergences with the US at a press conference on the release of the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Tuesday.

The US human rights report and remarks made by Blinken “neglect the facts, call white black, and are full of political lies and ideological bias,” said Zhao Lijian,

a spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, at Wednesday’s routine press briefing.

Zhao listed US human rights violations including having the highest COVID-19 infections and deaths despite having the most advanced medical equipment and technology, indulging hate crimes and racial discriminations against Asian, Latin and African immigrants in the US, ignoring gun violence and using human rights to cover up its hegemonic actions externally, secret prisons worldwide, creating more than 20 million refugees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and 900,000 deaths of civilians in the US launched socalled “global war on terror.”

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the US narrative of accusing the Chinese human rights situation remains boring and ridiculous, and the report is not even worth serious analysis.

“For instance, US officials clamor about Xinjiang year by year, but US media like CNN can’t even identify Xinjiang on the map, and those US elites dare to pretend that they care about Xinjiang. So why would we pay attention to their report about Chinese human rights?” Lü noted.

Zhao said the Chinese people have their judgment on China’s human rights situation, and the international community has witnessed the Chinese government’s governance capability, and these will not be smeared by a US report or a few words from some US officials. “The US used the so-called human rights report to stigmatize China and attack many countries and regions worldwide year by year, to shape the image as ‘human rights judge’ or ‘human rights example’ for itself. This just exposed the hypocrisy and double standards of the US.” Just look at the terrible credibility and reputation of many mainstream Western media in China. Chinese people already treat them like fake news producers or propaganda machines with no neutrality but only ideological bias, and these have proven that the US narrative on human rights is not convincing to the Chinese public, Lü said.

Also on Wednesday, a man in New York set off

smoke grenades in a crowded Brooklyn subway car and then opened fire, the local police said. At least 29 people were injured, according to US media.

“Tragedies like the mass shooting at a subway in Brooklyn are repeated, as a result of the proliferation of firearms. Such violence has become the most serious human rights malady,” Zhao said.

“At least 10,362 died of gun violence, including 131 mass shootings in 2022,” according to data provided by the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit research group on US gun violence, Zhao noted. “Wasn’t those alarming numbers worth noting? Weren’t lives and the security of its own people worth nothing?” Zhao said, while commenting on US arrogance to point a finger at others on human rights.

The public security situation in the US has deteriorated in recent years and violent crimes abound. There were 693 mass shootings in 2021, up 10.1 percent from 2020. More than 44,000 people were killed in gun violence, according to the Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2021 released by China’s State Council Information Office on February 28.

The report also highlighted the country’s growing discrimination against ethnic minority groups, especially people of Asian descent with around 81 percent of Asian American adults saying violence against Asian communities is rising.

‘Human rigHts’ for Hegemony: According to the website of the US State Department, the US has released such a report annually in the past five decades, and the report for 2021 covers 198 countries worldwide, but the US itself is not included.

And the report is nice to US allies but harsh and aggressive toward countries that have divergences or conflicts with the US, such as Russia and China, with analysts saying that this proves that the report serves US hegemonic diplomacy and has nothing to do with human rights. For example, the Biden administration labeling Russia with “genocide” without an independent investigation is a typical US tactic, which was also used in the Kosovo War, said Jia Chunyang, an expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Thursday, 14 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

DEtEriorating political situation in sri lanka will not Disrupt pakistan sEriEs

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NewS DeSk

Australia appoint Andrew McDonald as cricket coach AFP

Australia’s top cricket body appointed Andrew McDonald as national coach on Wednesday, two months after the shock departure of Justin Langer.

McDonald, 40, secured a four-year contract in the top position after winning praise for his performance as interim coach since Langer’s abrupt resignation on February 5 shook the cricket world.

He is taking on one of the highest-profile jobs in Australia, where cricket is an essential part of the country’s identity and the team’s exploits grip much of the nation.

“I am honoured to be given this incredible opportunity for what is an exciting period ahead,” McDonald said after being confirmed in the job by Cricket Australia.

“My plan is to build on the growth,

depth and experience of the squad while working collectively with the group and across the game,” he said in a statement.

Langer left after failing to win the public support of key players including captain Pat Cummins, despite guiding Australia to a 4-0 Ashes victory over archrivals England and a maiden T20 World Cup title.

Langer was also credited with overhauling a toxic Australian cricketing culture that led to the 2018 “Sandpaper-gate” ball-tampering scandal.

In the run-up to Langer’s departure, disgruntled players had complained anonymously to Australian media about his intense coaching style.

By contrast, limited-overs captain Aaron Finch praised former Test allrounder McDonald’s “calm approach” in the interim job.

‘Fantastic job’ “He never seems to get

flustered by any situation or result — it’s all about the process and making sure your preparation and attention to detail is 100 percent,” Finch told reporters shortly after McDonald took over.

Cricket Australia said McDonald will be the head coach in all formats but some white ball series may be led by an assistant to alleviate the “significant workload ahead”. “I think he will do a fantastic job,” former Australia Test captain Michael Clarke said Tuesday on the eve of McDonald’s widely anticipated appointment.

He warned, however, that Australia would be under pressure to perform with McDonald, who had been an assistant to Langer since 2019.

“To me, it looks like this is exactly what the players want, which puts extra pressure on them if they don’t perform,” Clarke said in an interview with Sky

Sports Radio.

As captain, Cummins in particular would face “extreme pressure”, Clarke predicted.

“He’s had Justin Langer sacked, pretty much… he’s come out and said this is what the players wanted,” Clarke said.

Cummins has denied that a player revolt was behind Langer’s resignation, saying he had tried to show respect for “proper process” by not intervening publicly to support or criticise him.

McDonald, who has red hair and was inevitably nicknamed Ronnie, played four Tests for Australia with his biggest knock a 68 against South Africa.

A right-arm fast-medium bowler and handy right-handed batter, he also played for Victoria and South Australia before turning to coaching, starting as head coach with Leicestershire in 2014.

Ukraine hope BJK Cup tie will bring distraction AgeNCIeS Ukraine’s players hope to provide some much-needed distraction for their compatriots this week when they face the United States in the Billie Jean King Cup but concede it

is difficult to keep their thoughts from drifting to the war back home.

The two teams will meet on Friday and Saturday in Asheville, North Carolina in a qualifier for the BJK Finals in November, with the tie being held against the backdrop

CMYK

pcB sent players’ wives to keep an eye on them during india’s 2012 tour: ashraf NewS DeSk

Pakistan and India have always had differences ever since the separation. The differences have carried forward in all aspects including cricket. Both cricketing nations haven’t played a bilateral series since 201213 and despite efforts made by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the Indian government remains uninterested to play a helping hand.

The last time Pakistan traveled to India was under the reign of Zaka Ashraf, who was the sitting PCB chairman. While talking to Cricket Pakistan, Zaka revealed that PCB made a decision to send the wives along with the players on their tour to India to avoid any mishaps or controversies. “During my time when our team went on a tour to India, I advised that all the wives of the players will accompany them. This decision was taken so that no controversy could be created as Indian media is always on the lookout for that,” he added. “The wives meant to also keep a check on the players.” Zaka Ashraf further revealed that during his time, the BCCI “promised” to visit Pakistan and play a bilateral series. “We should always try to restore ties with the Indian government in regards to cricket. The biggest advantage we have right now is that General Bajwa is currently occupying the position and he himself wants to see Pakistan cricket prosper, Ashraf said. “They invited us for a short series and once we went there, I met with BCCI chairman at the time Narayanaswami Srinivasan.

He promised India’s participation on Pakistan soil granted if foolproof security is given,” he claimed.

RI Lanka is facing an economic disaster as the country is facing crippling 12-hour power outages, and an extreme scarcity of food, fuel and other essential items such as medicines. The deteriorating situation in the country, however, will not impact the cricketing world as Sri Lanka is expected to stick to the ICC schedule which also includes Pakistan’s tour.

Pakistan is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for two Tests and three ODIs. The tour is set to take place in July but the dates and venues are yet to be announced.

Both cricketing boards will convene at a suitable time to iron out the details, it has been reported. Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official disclosed that Sri Lankan cricketing board remains hopeful of conducting the series as planned.

“The cricketing activities in Sri Lanka are happening. There has been no word from Sri Lanka and the series is scheduled to go as planned,” he said.

Sri Lanka recently appointed former England coach Chris Silverwood as their national cricket team’s coach. He will replace Mickey Arthur and will conduct his first assignment against a touring Bangladesh side.

CANBeRRA

SPORTS 11

of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”.

Ukraine captain Olga Savchuk and team member Katarina Zavatska said if they go on to win the Finals later in the year, they would happily swap the trophy for peace in their country.

“We also think at least maybe our match, our tie, will give our people some things to get their mind off,” Savchuk told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s probably impossible, but at least some hope. I think it’s also very important that we play, we fight and we try to win.”

The seven governing bodies of tennis have each donated $100,000 to relief efforts in Ukraine while the United States Tennis Association will contribute a further 10% of their overall ticket revenue from this week’s qualifier.

King, a 12-times Grand Slam singles champion in whose honour the revamped Fed Cup was renamed, will be donating $50,000. Former world number 103 Zavatska said her mother, grandmother and some others moved to her apartment in France, where she trains, during the first week of the war.

“It’s very tough. Every day it’s tough. There is no one day that we don’t think about it,” said the 22-year-old, whose father and some other family members remain in the western Ukrainian city of Rivne.

“First week it was tough to do anything. Just to be even around, I don’t know, surrounded by people, who listen to music, who laugh, who live, who talk, it was impossible. I understand people have to live, but at that time… What I can do is play tournaments, earn money, send this to my family to help them because nobody has a job right now there in my family. Everybody is just home. They have nothing to do to earn.”

Barcelona in need of rare European home victory against Frankfurt PARIS AFP

Barcelona have toiled at home in continental competition this season but they will need to find a way past Eintracht Frankfurt at the Camp Nou on Thursday if they are to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Catalans needed a second-half Ferran Torres strike to come from behind and draw 1-1 with Eintracht in Germany in the first leg of their quarter-final last week, leaving the tie open going into the return. Barca have won just once at home in Europe this season, edging Dynamo Kiev 1-0 during their failed Champions League group-stage campaign. Since dropping into the Europa League — the first time they have taken part in the second-tier European competition since 2004 — they have drawn at home to both Napoli and Galatasaray before getting the job done in the return. There may be no away goals advantage anymore, but the current form makes Barcelona clear favourites to advance to the last four with Xavi Hernandez’s team unbeaten in 15 games, a run that has lifted them back up to second in La Liga. That means they are unlikely to have to win the Europa League to return to the Champions League next season, but they still want to finish the season with silverware and are eyeing a place in the final in Seville on May 18. Eintracht are in mid-table in the Bundesliga and have not won any of their last five matches but they have lost only once to Spanish opposition — against Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup final. Whoever emerges victorious at the Camp Nou will play either Lyon or West Ham United in the last four.

Those sides meet in France with their quarterfinal tie also finely poised after a 1-1 draw in London, where West Ham held out despite having Aaron Cresswell sent off in the first half. “We didn’t play well and we can only play much better next week,” said West Ham manager David Moyes after the first leg. They will be without French international defender Kurt Zouma due to injury for the return against a Lyon side struggling domestically and who have fitness worries of their own.

Goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and midfield duo Houssem Aouar and Tanguy Ndombele all came off injured playing at the weekend and Lyon would be seriously weakened without that trio. On the other side of the draw, Rangers must overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit as they play host to Braga at Ibrox, and the winner of that tie will face either Atalanta or RB Leipzig in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Leicester City go to the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven in the Europa Conference League hoping to progress to the first European semifinal in their history.

Thursday, 14 April, 2022

prayer tiMings

NEWS

FIrSt BLow: MQM-P won’t joIn SHArIF’S CABInEt ISLAMABAD

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staff report

uTTAHIDA Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) will not join the cabinet of Shehbaz Sharif who is scrambling to piece together an administration even two days after being elected as the prime minister.

The party, which is based in urban Sindh and has seven members in the 342-seat National Assembly, instead wants the agreement it made with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) imple-

mented in letter and spirit “for the well-being of Karachi”, it told Sharif who visited its headquarters in Bahadurabad neighbourhood of the provincial capital.

“The commitments are significant, which need to be fulfilled,” party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said.

“MQM-P wishes to extend its support to the broad-based government from the outside,” The News reported.

The report added the decision has already been conveyed to Sharif with whom convener Siddiqui discussed the formation of the cabinet “in detail”.

Imran Khan to reveal ‘bigger surprise’ at Lahore rally: Farrukh Habib Former prime minister Imran Khan will give a “bigger surprise” than his previous ones at a public rally in Lahore, said a senior PTI leader.

Talking to the press, PTI member Farrukh Habib, announced that Imran Khan will give a “big call to the public” in Lahore on April 21, when his political party plans to protest at Minar-e-Pakistan.

“It [the announcement by Khan] will be a surprise plus,” Habib claims. The PTI leader further said that his party will begin its public campaign from today (April 13) by holding a large gathering in Peshawar.

After which it will hold a protest in Karachi, on April 16, and then in Lahore, on April 23. He also added that his party plans to hold conventions for women, lawyers and social media activists at a later date. “We want to give a clear message to [Shehbaz Sharif] that an imported government is not acceptable,” said Habib, “We will not let this government work.” Imran Khan’s PTI resigned from the National Assembly on Monday, refusing to sit in the parliament after Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister and Khan was ousted in a noconfidence vote. The PTI is also demanding that immediate polls be held in the country, confident that it can return to power. news desk

Sharif orders to arrest power outage

However, Siddiqui did not comment on former Karachi mayor and colleague Waseem Akhtar’s remarks where he criticised Sharif for not mentioning commitments with the MQMP in his maiden speech after being elected premier.

KARACHI VISIT: Sharif arrived on a day-long visit to Karachi earlier in the day and chaired, among other meetings, a consultative meeting on the development projects.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Miftah Ismael, Siddiqi, Jamiat

ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JuI-F) leader Maulana Asad Mehmood, Akram Durrani and concerned officials accompanied him.

Sharif along with the leaders of allied parties will pay his respects at the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The purpose of the visit to the mausoleum is to reiterate the observance of the golden principles of the founder of the nation aimed at the progress and prosperity of the country.

Sharif will also visit the Sindh Chief Minister’s House where he will be briefed about the civic problems of the metropolitan.

Gen Aslam Baig terms audio clip attributed to him as ‘fake’ ISLAMABAD app

Former Army Chief General (retd) Aslam Baig Wednesday termed an audio clip taking round in social media platforms as ‘fake’ and a ‘conspiracy of the enemy against the Pakistan Army’.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen (R) Haroon Aslam and Maj. Gen (R) Ijaz Hussain Awan also termed audio clips attributed to them as fake and a part of malicious propaganda to tarnish the image of the Pakistan army.

In an audio statement, General Aslam Baig condemned the fake audio clip attributed to him and refuted the vile and absurd statements that are taking rounds in the social media, saying that its a bid to tarnish the repute of the army and against

the top leadership of the army.

“Army is my identity, my glory. Every soldier, every officers is respectable to me”, General Aslam Baig said.

“To speak against the army, to speak against its dignity is an immoral idea for me,” General Aslam Baig said, adding that army has given me this recognition.

“As long as Allah has given me life, my mind, my heart and tongue will continue to speak the truth in His glory,” said General Baig. He said that the movement against Pakistani army is a conspiracy of our enemies.

“Do not be a part of this conspiracy of the enemies against the army. Do not tarnish its clean character and actions. Allah Almighty does not like such things,” General (R) Aslam Baig added.

Chinese premier felicitates PM Shehbaz on election ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the concerned authorities to take immediate measures to arrest power outages, vowing he will not let gas and electricity crises hit the country.

Sharif on Wednesday was chairing an emergency meeting on energy. The meeting discussed a strategy to control electricity load-shedding and the provision of petroleum products.

The country witnesses an acute upsurge in power outages during summers. The newly-elected premier directed the concerned ministries to take steps to immediately control load shedding, besides finding reasons behind excessive power outages. He warned that he would not tolerate any laxity on the part of ministries in this regard. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, and officials of petroleum and finance ministries participated in the meeting.

Shehbaz vowed that he would not let the country confront the gas and electricity crisis. He said the previous PTI government used to make tall claims that the country was producing electricity in excess.

If we have enough power, then why we are still facing load-shedding, he wondered. The premier also issued important instructions regarding petroleum products. staff report

Shehbaz Sharif for bringing Karachi Circular Project under CPEC contInueD froM pAge 01

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday congratulated his Pakistani counterpart Shahbaz Sharif on his election as prime minister.

In his message, Li described China and Pakistan as “unparalleled all-weather strategic cooperative partners,” hailing the “rock-solid” and “unbreakable” relations and friendship between the two countries.

Facing profound and complicated changes in international and regional situations and prolonged impacts of COVID-19, China and Pakistan have been supporting each other to overcome challenges together, with their “ironclad” friendship further enhanced, he said.

Li said he looks forward to making joint efforts with Sharif to carry on the traditional friendship between the two countries, consolidate political mutual

trust, build a high-quality ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor, and deepen and expand allround practical cooperation.

He expressed readiness to work with Sharif to forge an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era. This will not only benefit the people in China and Pakistan, but also contribute to regional and global stability and

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:12 am iftar: 6:31 Pm

islamabad sehr: 4:12 am iftar: 6:38 Pm

karachi sehr: 4:52 am iftar: 6:54 Pm

fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 3:22 am iftar: 6:41 Pm

islamabad sehr: 4:22 am iftar: 6:48 Pm

karachi sehr: 5:02 am iftar: 7:04 Pm

IHC orders FIA to remove Imran aides from ECL LAHORE: A day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the placing by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of key aides of former prime minister Imran Khan — Shahbaz Gill, Shahzad Akbar and four others — on the Exit Control List (ECL), it rebuked the agency over its failure to abide by the directive and ordered that the two be immediately taken off the list.

“The government should demonstrate that it will not take actions based on revenge,” Chief Justice Athar Minallah said, before adding that his court would not allow it either.

He further directed the FIA director general not to “harass” social media activists.

The decision was announced on a petition filed against placing them on the no-fly list a day earlier. Gill and Akbar filed the petition through their counsels, pleading with the court to order the removal of their names from the list.

The petitioners maintained that the foreign travel ban placed by FIA is illegal as no cases or inquiries were underway against them.

The plea asked the high court to immediately remove the “illegal” travel ban.

The FIA has placed the names of six key aides of former Khan on a stop list. The names include Khan’s former principal secretary Azam Khan, Gill, Akbar, Punjab Anti-Corruption Director-General Gohar Nafees, and FIA Punjab chief Mohammad Rizwan.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social media head Dr Arsalan Khalid’s name has also been added to the stop list, sources added. staff report

Zahoor Ahmed Agha steps down as Balochistan governor Days after Imran Khan was deposed as prime minister by a noconfidence vote in the National Assembly, Balochistan Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha on Wednesday tendered his resignation.

As per details, the governor has sent his resignation to President Dr Arif Alvii, an official handout issued by the Governor’s Secretariat said.

“I would continue to play my role for the development of country and nation,” Agha said in a statement after tendering his resignation.

The outgoing governor belongs to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and is one of the hardcore workers of the former ruling party. Former PM Imran Khan had picked him from bottom and appointed him as the governor of the province.

He was appointed as the governor on July 7 last year after the resignation of Justice (retd) Amanullah Khan Yaseenzai.

Earlier, governors of Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) announced they were resigning from their gubernatorial posts, saying their conscience prohibited them from working with “culprits of corruption”.

In his resignation letter submitted to President Alvi on Monday, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, who is a PTI leader, said: “I refuse to work for culprits who are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation on account of serious charges of corruption and financial misconduct of billions of rupees”.

He said that ‘conscience’ did not allow him to accord state protocol to PM-elect Shehbaz, who he said was “facing serious charges of corruption”.

He also mentioned the allegations of ousted premier Imran that foreign elements hatched a conspiracy with opposition parties to remove him from power through a no-trust motion.

Ismail also held state institutions responsible for failing to take any action on “letter-gate” and “foreign-sponsored conspiracy” against former premier Imran.

“While I shall continue to strive for achieving true sovereignty of our motherland under the command of my able leader, Imran Khan, I believe that holding this office any further will be a violation of my self-respect,” he maintained.

K-P Governor Shah Farman also tendered resignation from his office, announced a governor house spokesman.

Farman had earlier announced that he would step down from his office if PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the country’s prime minister. staff report

PTI doesn’t intend to quit assemblies: Ayaz Sadiq ISLAMABAD

The share of the provincial government is Rs686 billion whereas the federal PSDP share is Rs487 billion, the chief minister said, adding that the total cost of public-private partnership projects, at an advanced stage, was Rs176.9 billion and the total viable gap fund for the projects was Rs32 billion every year. The chief minister requested the prime minister to issue necessary directives for the issuance of sovereign guarantees for mega projects and allocate Rs10 billion per year to finance provincial governments’ annual obligation of Rs32 billion. At this, the prime minister assured the chief minister that the federal government would support the Sindh government.

development, he added.

The Chinese premier said he is confident that Pakistan will make new achievements in promoting the stability, development and progress of the country.

Sharif, a brother of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took the oath as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan on Monday.

FAJR SUNRISE 4:15

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) does not intend to quit the assemblies, rather it is creating a fake impression on the issue.

Talking to the media, he said there is a proper procedure to submit a resignation, which includes appearing in person before the National Assembly speaker.

“Resignations are not given the way the PTI members have submitted

theirs. They deliberately avoided rules for the process.”

Ayaz Sadiq alleged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had turned a blind eye to the wrongdoings of PTI government and instead targeted their rivals. “We believe that there was a nexus between the PTI leadership and NAB, and it has now been proved,” he added.

He demanded that the names of entire NAB staff should be put on the Exit Control List (ECL) for their alleged corruption during the PTI-led government.

They were “living beyond means” as evident from their extravagant lifestyle, he

alleged, and called for investigation in that regard.

To a question about the reservations of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the PML-N leader said the MQM-P is a part of the government and their agreement in that regard is in place.

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said the National Assembly deputy speaker is pressurising the National Assembly secretariat on the issue of the resignations.

“The deputy speaker is violating the laws […] Suri has said that he identifies the members based on their signatures, but according to the rules, every member

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

should be present in person for submitting their resignations,” Sherry Rehman said.

The PPP senator said several PTI lawmakers are contacting the opposition parties to express their reservations over Imran Khan’s policy of taking resignations forcefully.

Lashing out at the PTI for not following the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court’s orders, Sherry Rehman urged the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of the party’s action.

“This politics of burning property down and dividing will not work anymore,” she added.