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monsoon fury: 17 dead Quran’s desecration attemPt to in rain-triggered trigger muslim-christian hostility: Pm incidents in Punjab
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Friday, 7 July, 2023 I 18 Zil Hajj, 1444
ASKS SWEDISH GOVT TO CLARIFY POSITION AS TO WHY IT ALLOWED SUCH ACT UNDER PROTECTION
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ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
RIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said the desecration of Holy Quran was an attempt to create animosity between the Muslims and Christians and any recurrence of such condemnable act, would in no way be tolerated. The prime minister, in his address to the joint sitting of the parliament, urged the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene an urgent session to invite the Muslim world leaders, adopt a condemnatory resolution and also warn the Swedish government and such individuals against the recurrence of such condemnable acts.
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JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENT CALLS ON INT’L COMMUNITY TO TAKE SERIOUS ACTION TO PREVENT SUCH INCIDENTS IN FUTURE
The incident took place last week when a man, who fled from Iraq to Sweden several years ago, tore up and burned a copy of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque on the first day of Eidul Azha there. The act has drawn strong criticism from several countries, including Pakistan, Turkiye, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq and Iran, as well as the European Union. The premier urged the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to form a committee with a mandate to formulate recommendations for their onward dissemination to the world including international organisations so that such acts could be averted. He said as per their belief, Muslims revered all religions and revealed books
including the Bible as Holy Quran ordained patience and harmony. He said despite that, such deliberate Islamophobia acts were being carried out to pit Muslims against Christians. He said that despite their belated condemnation, the Swedish government would have to clarify its position as to why they allowed such an act under the protection of their police on the day when the Muslims were celebrating Eidul Azha. The prime minister urged the parliamentarians to condemn the act of Swedish police and make it clear that the Muslims could even sacrifice their lives to protect the sanctity of the Holy Quran. He said the peaceful protests should not be construed as weakness and that no one should complain about the conse-
quences if such condemnable actions were repeated. He said as the country would observe the Sanctity of Holy Quran Day on Friday, the whole nation should stage rallies across the country to condemn the desecration of Holy Quran and convey their sentiments to the world. Calling for using all political and legal options to avert recurrence of such acts, the prime minister also thanked the OIC for convening a special meeting in which they also adopted a condemnatory resolution and put forward suggestions. He said Pakistan was not against the freedom of speech but no one had the right to desecrate any one’s belief or fan hatred in this garb.
LAHORE
STAFF REPORT
As many as 17 people lost their lives on Thursday while 49 others were injured in multiple incidents of roof and wall collapses across Punjab as rain continued to wreck havoc in parts of the province for the second consecutive day. According to a PDMA and Rescue 1122 statement, the girder roof of a house, near Bandianwala bridge in the city’s Amar Sidhu area, collapsed due to heavy rainfall, killing four people — including three children under the age of 10. Another child, aged 10, was injured and shifted to the Lahore General Hospital. In a separate incident, 14 others were injured as a wall of the Government Mozang Teaching Hospital, adjoining a neighboring building, collapsed. According to another Rescue 1122 statement, the wall collapsed onto the hospital’s waiting area, leading to the “waiting shade” collapsing and injuring 14, who were then shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. According to the PDMA, six deaths were reported in Gujranwala after a “weak wooden structure” inside a three-storey house collapsed.
Two International banks surrender primary dealer license in FY24 g
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NUMBER OF PRIMARY DEALERS DROPS FROM 12 TO 10 IN RECENT APPOINTMENT PROFIT
MARIAM UMAR FAROOQ
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced the appointment of Primary Dealers (PDs) and Special Purpose Primary Dealers for the Fiscal Year 2023-24. Upon evaluation of all applicants under the criteria laid down in the rules, 10 institutions have been selected for roles as PDs and two were selected for SPDs. 10 selected PD include 9 banks and 1 development financial institution. These are: Bank Al-Falah Limited, Habib Bank Limited, MCB Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, JS Bank Limited, Pak Oman Investment Company Limited, United Bank
Limited, The Bank of Punjab and Citi Bank N.A-Pakistan Operations 2 selected special-purpose primary dealers include the Central Depository Company of Pakistan and the National Clearing Company of Pakistan These dealers will be participating in the investment of Government Securities including Medium Term Bills (MTBs) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) for the next year 2023-24. Why has the number of primary dealers decreased? The recent selection of primary dealers marks the lowest number ever appointed in the last eleven years. Conversely, the highest number of PDs appointed was in the fiscal year 2021-22. In the fiscal year
2021-22, the SBP received a notable influx of applications for the status of primary dealer with 13 applications for primary dealer status and 2 applications for special purpose primary dealer status. All of these applications were successfully approved. In the subsequent fiscal year of 2022-23, among the 13 primary dealers from the previous year, Faysal Bank and Allied Bank decided to withdraw from their primary dealer status. However, Habib Metropolitan Bank joined as a primary dealer for the first time. Faysal Bank’s decision to drop its primary dealer status was influenced by its transition towards Islamic banking, which prevented them from underwriting conventional debt. Profit reached out to Allied Bank to inquire about its decision, but no response was re-
ceived. Consequently, the number of primary dealers reduced to 12, accompanied by 2 special purpose primary dealers. In the recent appointment of primary dealers and special purpose primary dealers for the fiscal year 2023-24, two additional banks have chosen to opt out of their primary dealer status, resulting in a total of 10 primary dealer appointments. These banks are Standard Chartered Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), both of which are international banks. According to an industry source, the primary reason for these two international banks surrendering their licenses is the requirement for primary dealers to underwrite 5% of each auction. This implies that primary dealers must commit to purchasing
5% of the bonds offered in every government bond auction. However, due to country risk, these two banks are restricted from assuming even this level of exposure to the Government of Pakistan. Furthermore, the industry source informed Profit that another international bank might also surrender its license in the near future. What is the role of these dealers? All the dealers, primary and special purpose primary dealers, are required to participate in primary auctions of government securities (PIBs and MTBs). These dealers actively take part in the primary market by submitting bids in the auctions conducted by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) periodically.
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