Friday, 15 April, 2022 I 13 Ramzan, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 287 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
‘ConspiraCy not mentioned’, demarChe was given on ‘interferenCe’, says dg ispr about Lettergate
ISLAMABAD
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staff report
irector-General inter-Services Public relations (iSPr) Major General Babar iftikhar has categorically said that the word ‘conspiracy’ was not mentioned in the communiqué issued following the meeting of the National Security committee (NSc) last month. “As far as the military’s response about the NSc meeting, the stance was fully given and a statement was issued which clearly shows what was concluded in that meeting,” the chief military spokesperson said at a press briefing on thursday. He was responding to a question related to ousted PM imran Khan’s claim that foreign conspiracy was hatched to topple his government. “the words are in front of you, the words are clear. Was there any word such as conspiracy used? i do not think so,” Gen Babar said and added that the
government can declassify the minutes of the NSc meeting if it so desires. However, he added that the demarche was issued to the foreign country over the use of undiplomatic language which tantamount to interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan. Major General Babar also stated that chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa is not seeking an extension and will neither accept one. He added that the chief will complete his tenure in November this year. “Let me put this to rest. the chief of army staff is neither seeking an extension nor will he accept an extension. No matter what, he will be retiring on the 29th of November 2022.” talking about the role of the armed forces in the country’s politics, Babar said the army has “nothing to do with politics” and said the institution has decided to remain apolitical in the future as well. “A better word than neutral is apolitical for describing our role,” said the
Coronavirus in
pakistan
CONFIRMED CASES:
1,526,952
LAST UPDATED AT 7:59 AM ON 14 APRIL 2022
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
NEW CASES:
0
123
RECOVERED:
DEATHS:
1,487,144 30,362 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
576,469
505,528
KPK:
BALOCHISTAN:
219,308
35,481
AJK/GB:
ISLAMABAD:
43,303/11,722
135,141
army spokesperson.” the briefing to the journalist comes on the heels of the recent Formation commanders’ conference during which the military’s top brass assured that the “Pakistan Army is aware of its responsibilities and shall continue to defend territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan against all internal and external threats under all circumstances”. “this decision was not taken to harm or benefit anyone. this is the constitutional role of armed forces which we are trying to fulfill.” “Whatever happened during the last few days, is not part of the constitutional process? it is not the army’s place to offer someone an Nro.” Gen Babar also dismissed rumours of the establishment meeting opposition parties before the vote of no confidence against imran. “there is no truth to this,” he said and added there were no such contacts and “no deal” was done. reaffirming that the army or the establishment had the “best relations with the government”, the head of the military’s media wing assured there was no disagreement between the institutions. “i would say that the army chief has very good personal relations with imran Khan and mutual respect and it will stay the same. Parties and governments change but the army meets them all and there are no issues or problems.” When asked about the events on the night of April 9 and rumours of an impending martial law, Gen Babar said there was no such thing happening at the time. “Do you have any evidence of it? Are courts under the Army? our courts are free and if something happened at the courts, it was their own action.” “it is the duty of everyone to strengthen democracy and the strength of our democracy are our national institutions. Whether it’s the parliament, the Supreme court or the armed forces. Pakistan will progress with democracy.”
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Stalemate persists as PML-N, PPP fail to agree on new cabinet ISLAMABAD staff report
Despite multiple meetings between the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and other coalition partners, the new coalition set up has yet to reach understanding over the formation of federal cabinet. Sources privy to the development told that PML-N and PPP held talks on late Wednesday over the formation of federal cabinet after ousting the Pti government. PML-N delegation was represented by Ayaz Sadiq, Saad rafique and rana Sanaullah while from PPP was represented by Yousaf raza Gillani, Sherry rehman, raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Naveed Qamar at the talks. Sources said that PML-N once again insisted PPP joining Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led federal cabinet. the PPP delegation suggested giving its ministries in a new coalition set up to other allies including the MQM-P, BNP and BAP.
Imran Khan says ‘reference against Justice Isa was a mistake’ ISLAMABAD staff report
Former premier imran Khan has admitted that the filing of a presidential reference for the removal of Supreme court’s Justice Qazi Faez isa was a mistake. the former prime minister conceded his “mistake” during a meeting with the insaf Lawyers Forum (iLF) members on tuesday. the purpose of the meeting was to activate the party’s legal wing in the present scenario wherein the Pti’s social media activists were being harassed by the law enforcement agencies. Several participants of the meeting have confirmed to the express tribune that the ex-PM admitted that the filing of a presidential reference against Justice isa was a mistake as the then relevant officials had misguided his government about the facts of the case. imran was not interested in pursuing the reference against the Sc judge for the last couple of years. it has been learnt that former attorney general for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan had convinced him that Justice isa was an honest judge and he was misled in this case.
it emerged earlier that the federal cabinet under consideration will likely to have 12 ministers from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and seven ministers from Pakistan People’s Party. Moreover, JUi-F will likely to be given four ministries, MQM two ministries, while BNP-Mengal, ANP, Jamhoori Watan Party and Balochistan Awami Party will also be given cabinet portfolios. Moreover, the name of PML-N Senator Azam Nazir tarar has been under consideration for the slot of Leader of the House in the Senate. PM Shahbaz Sharif held meetings with the leaders of allied parties and thanked for his nomination for the office of the prime minister and supporting him in the election. Shehbaz Sharif called on PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur rehman, MQMP convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Akhtar Mengal, Khalid Magsi, Shahzain Bugti, Aslam Bhootani and other leaders of the allied parties but failed to evolve consensus yet.
more inside
‘Broadsheet did not tender an apology to Nawaz Sharif’: NAB chief shocks PAC STORY ON BACK PAGE
A senior Pti lawyer said that imran believed that one section within the superior judiciary was annoyed with the party because of the filing of the reference against Justice isa. “even though the architect of that reference was someone else,” the lawyer added. However, senior lawyers say that imran, being the chief executive of the country, could not be absolved as the reference was filed on his instructions. Separately, Pti Secretary Asad Umar has announced that a petition would be filed in the islamabad High court challenging the harassment of the party’s social media activists on thursday |(today).
Pti islamabad District President Ali Nawaz Awan will file the petition through Advocate chaudhry Faisal Hussain. the draft of the petition, available with the express tribune, read: “the iHc is requested to immediately stop the unlawful and illegal raids and harassment of the party workers.” the petition prayed the iHc to act strictly within the four corners of the constitution and law and to refrain from violating and disrespecting the privacy, honour of the families and households of the political workers and preserve the sanctity thereof.
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iHc orders FiA to stop harassing Pti’s social media activists, workers STORY ON BACK PAGE
PTI to move court against ECP decision of delimitation of constituencies: Fawad STORY ON PAGE 02
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Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
PML-Q fiLes aPPeaLs against LHC verdiCt in Punjab CM eLeCtion LAHORE
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Staff RepoRt
UNJAB Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Secretary General Kamil Ali Agha on Thursday filed two intra-court appeals in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against her Wednesday’s verdict in which it had restored Deputy Speaker Sardar Daust Muhammad Mazari’s powers. In his appeal, filed through Imtiaz Siddiqui, Elahi made the deputy speaker, assembly secretary, inspector general of Police (IGP), Punjab and chief secretary respondents, and argued that the LHC chief justice had not applied the relevant law while restoring
the powers of the deputy speaker. “The CJ gave the decision by ignoring the assembly rules and the constitution,” read the appeal. Elahi went on to add that in this situation, authorising Mazari to supervise the election for Punjab CM would be against the law. Furthermore, the petition read, that the petition filed by the deputy speaker in the LHC was inadmissible for the hearing from the word ‘go’. It was stated in the petition that the assembly’s proceedings could not be challenged in a court of law. “Therefore, the verdict given by LHC’s single bench be declared illegal, unconstitutional and null and void. The CJ’s decision be suspended until the court gives its decision on this petition,” the appeal concluded.
Pti to move court against eCP decision of delimitation of constituencies: fawad
The LHC had yesterday rejected a plea filed by Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz to convene the Punjab Assembly session to elect a new chief minister early. Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti in a short decision ordered to hold the Punjab Assembly session on April 16 as was convened by the deputy speaker early. Shehbaz — a contender for the CM’s post — had filed a plea in the LHC for holding early elections, while Mazari had moved the court for the revocation of his powers. Rejecting Shahbaz’s plea, Justice Bhatti asked the deputy speaker to hold the vote 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 11 am on the polling day. The CM’s office has been vacant for
US congratulates Sharif on becoming prime minister ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said his party has decided to challenge the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for fresh delimitation of constituencies. In a tweet, he said delimitation of the constituencies was possible only after a new census. The former minister claimed that this step would make the electoral process controversial. The process had been delayed because the PTI government told the ECP to wait as it wanted to hold a fresh ‘digital census’ ahead of the 2023 elections, which would have necessitated its own delimitation exercise. However, on Friday, the ECP decided to complete the delimitation without waiting for the digital census. The body has also announced the delimitation schedule for the national and provincial assemblies for the next general elections. From today, no new administrative unit will be formed anywhere in the country, the body said in a statement on Monday.
Pakistan re-elected to un Committee on ngos: foreign ministry ISLAMABAD
sharif orders inquiry into islamabad Metrobus service delay ISLAMABAD
The United States on Wednesday congratulated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who took office after the ouster of Imran Khan. In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed Pakistan as “an important partner on wide-ranging mutual interests for nearly 75 years” and said the US values their relationship. “The United States congratulates newly-elected Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and we look forward to continuing our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan’s government,” said Blinken. The United States views a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as essential for the interests of both of our countries,” he added. Sharif was sworn in on Monday after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote that he attempted to thwart. A joint candidate of the combined op-
Staff RepoRt
position, Sharif secured 174 votes in the 342-member National Assembly. Khan maintained that he was the victim of a US plot that sought his removal. Blinken’s statement came two days after the Western-friendly Sharif, 70, took the oath of office. Despite Blinken’s warm tone, ana-
lysts said they do not expect Washington to seek a significant broadening of ties, but to remain mostly focused on security cooperation, especially on counterterrorism and Afghanistan. Analysts said they expected Sharif to be preoccupied with pressing domestic issues, especially trying to contain a serious economic crisis.
AJK PM steps down amid no trust move by party rebels MUZAFFARABAD Staff RepoRt
Staff RepoRt
Pakistan has been re-elected for the seventh time to the United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday. “Pakistan’s election to the Committee reflects the confidence of the international community in its role and contribution to the work of the United Nations,” it said in a statement. The election took place on Wednesday at the UN Economic and Social Council in New York. As a member of the committee on NGOs, Pakistan will continue to promote cooperation between the UN and civil society organizations working alongside governments to improve the lives of people all around the world, the foreign ministry said. “Pakistan has a diverse and thriving civil society. We have always encouraged and demonstrated the commitment towards appropriate participation of civil society in multilateral discussions aimed at finding solutions to the common challenges confronting humanity,” it added.
nearly two weeks since ex-governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar — who was removed from his position last week — accepted Usman Buzdar’s resignation on April 1.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Abdul Qayyum Niazi on Thursday tendered resignation from office to avoid a no trust motion set to be voted today. The resignation comes on the heels of the no trust motion carried against Prime Minister Imran Khan who had appointed Qayyum Niazi as Prime Minister AJK. Interestingly, the no confidence
motion was tabled by rebels of the PTI lawmakers led by senior minister AJK Sardar Tanveer Ilyas who has accused Niazi of nepotism and wrongdoing. Ahead of the resignation, Niazi sacked five members of his cabinet on Thursday. The ministers include Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Abdul Majid Khan, Ali Shan Soni, Khawaja Farooq and Akbar Ibrahim. A spokesman for the AJK prime minister said that the ministers were shown the door on charges of misconduct, corruption and suspi-
cious activities. The sackings came two days after a no-confidence motion was submitted against Niazi. AJK Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Anwar-ulHaq had called the session for voting on the no-confidence motion on April 15 at 10:00 am. The motion, submitted on Tuesday by the Tanveer Ilyas faction of the ruling PTI, bore the signatures of 25 members of the Legislative Assembly. Senior Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas had been nominated as a candidate for the seat of prime minister.
SHC grants protective bail to PPP MP in Jokhio murder KARACHI Staff RepoRt
The Sindh High Court (SHC) granted three-day protective bail to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MP Jam Abdul Karim and other suspects in the murder
of Nazim Jokhio on Thursday. The suspects had appeared today before the court which granted them three-day protective bail. The court also directed them to move anti-terrorism court within three days for further proceedings.
It merits a mention here that Abdul Karim has been facing a trial in the murder of Jokhio who was tortured to death allegedly by his brother for filming some foreign guests hunting houbara bustard in rural Sindh in November last.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday ordered an inquiry into an inordinate delay in the initiation of the Islamabad metro bus service. He directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to operationalise the service from April 16. Sharif visited the Peshawar Mor station and reviewed the on-ground progress of the project. The service was launched by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017 and was due to become functional in early 2018. Sharif directed to run the service from Peshawar Morr to Islamabad International Airport in order to facilitate the passengers travelling towards the airport. He also ordered a feasibility study as per Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules for two additional routes — from Rawat and Bhara Kahu — connecting the airport. He directed to establish a metro bus station at the motorway for better connectivity and to enhance the benefit of the service to a maximum number of people. Terming it “severe negligence”, Sharif expressed dismay over the delay in the materialisation of the project as Rs16 billion had already been spent on the mega project of public importance. He termed it “unfair” towards the general public whose tax money had been consumed, however, the return facility was being denied to them. He directed the officials concerned to make ToRs of the inquiry to assess the reasons for the delay that led to the loss of national wealth. The prime minister suggested ensuring the installation of racks in the buses to accommodate the luggage of passengers en route to the airport. He also directed running free of cost service for a trial period until the installation of ticketing machines. Sharif, after assuming office on April 11, had ordered to make operational the Islamabad metro bus service within five days. During the visit, PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Hanif Abbasi and Anjum Aqeel accompanied the prime minister. The officials of the National Highway Authority and CDA briefed the prime minister about the project. It was highlighted that initially 30 buses would be run on the 24kilometre-long track from Peshawar Morr to Islamabad International Airport, while 15 buses will be taken from Punjab Mass Transit Authority, Rawalpindi till the new fleet is added to the metro service.
Sharif orders ‘Pakistan speed’ to fix stagnant economy ISLAMABAD afp
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Thursday the economy had stagnated under his predecessor Imran Khan, setting the tone for possibly months of bitterness before an election that must be held by October next year. Sharif, sworn in Monday after Khan was ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament, is still finalising his cabinet but has called for “Pakistan speed” to hurry along with development projects and fix the economy. On Thursday, the leader visited a metro
bus project in Rawalpindi and complained about the pace of infrastructure development. “Almost all sectors of economy remained stagnant under IK,” he later tweeted, referring to his predecessor by his initials. His early-morning visit came after Khan on Wednesday night held a huge rally in Peshawar. Khan — along with most of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers — quit the national assembly after losing Sunday’s noconfidence vote, saying he would take his fight to the people to press for an early election. On Wednesday, Khan said he would
stage twice-weekly rallies across the country until a new poll date was set. “Young people, get ready, I will take to the streets with you. I will go out in every city, and I will continue to go out until they are forced to hold the election.” ‘Pakistan sPeed’: Sharif, younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, set out his stall on Tuesday by ordering the government to adopt a six-day workweek, instead of the previous five, and bringing forward office opening hours to 8:00 from 10:00 am. His “Pakistan speed” policy is an exten-
sion of a similar programme he introduced as chief minister of Punjab where he was credited with launching a series of high-profile — and vote-catching — projects. The government would take unspecified “emergency measures” to stabilise the economy, Sharif’s office said later, focusing on steps to improve the condition of ordinary people. Sharif inherits crippling national debt, galloping inflation and a feeble rupee — although analysts say Khan also took over a broken economy in 2018 that was further battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Khan’s ouster heralds the return of two
dynastic parties that have dominated Pakistan politics for decades. Sharif’s centrist Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) joined forces with the centre-left Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — fiefdom of the Bhutto family — to press the no-confidence vote. Khan tried everything to stay in power after losing his majority in parliament through defections by his own lawmakers and a coalition partner — including dissolving the assembly and calling a fresh election. But the Supreme Court deemed all his actions illegal and ordered them to reconvene and vote.
Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
Power division HoLds forMer govt resPonsibLe for Power Load-sHedding
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AHMAD AHMADAnI
HE Power Division has held the former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government responsible for the on-going power load-shedding and declared that power generation capacity was not an issue but the power plants were shut due to lack of fuel and technical faults. Sources privy to the development informed that power division while briefing the newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the availability of petroleum products and the electricity load-shedding during a hurriedly called meeting has made surprising revelations regarding the hourslong power load shedding currently being made across the country. Sources said that the power division has held former PTI government responsible for the power outages and presented a charge sheet of former government’s ‘incompe-
tence’. They said the division has informed the premier that there was no capacity shortage of the electricity in the country, but the power generation plants were shut due to fuel shortage and technical faults. Total 18 power generation plants of 3605 megawatt capacity are currently not producing electricity only because of technical faults while nine power plants with 3535MW power generation capacity are shut due to fuel shortage, said sources. “Most of the power plants have closed power generation due to administrative failure while few plants have shut down electricity production because of the poor policy decisions of the previous PTI government,” said sources. They added that the former government did not bother to remove even minor technical faults relating to conveyor belt problem, boiler leakages, steam turbine issues etc of the power plants on time. According to the sources, Nandipur
power plant and Sahiwal Coal power plant that can produce electricity at cheap rates have stopped power generation due to unavailability of fuel. Meanwhile, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has taken notice of the continued power load-shedding and summoned the heads of the closed power plants due to fuel or technical faults to appear before the authority on Friday (tomorrow). NEPRA has also asked the heads of closed power plants to submit explanations regarding the suspension of power generation from their power plants. Similarly, NEPRA has summoned National Power Control Center (NPCC) and Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) to appear on Friday. Moreover, NEPRA while taking notice of the complaints of power consumers has asked DISCOs and K-Electric to appear before the authority on 19th April, 2022 and submit an explanation regarding the ongoing power load-shedding.
Govt increases 10pc pension of pensioners ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The government has increased the pension of federal government pensioners with effect from April 1, 2022 which was announced by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif after taking oath of office. The Finance Ministry issued an office memorandum on Thursday that until further orders an increase in pension will be admissible to all civil pensioners of the federal government including civilians paid from defense estimates as well as retired armed forces personnel and civil armed forces personnel. The increase will also be admissible on family pension granted under the pension-cum-gratuity scheme, 1954, liberalized pension rules, 1977 on pension sanctioned under the central civil services (extra ordinary pension) rules as well as on the compassionate allowance.
The OM further stated that if the gross pension sanctioned by the federal government is shared with any gov-
ernment in accordance with the rules laid down in part-IV of Appendix-III to the accounts code volume-I, the amount of the increase in pension will be apportioned between the federal government and the other government concerned on proportionate basis. The increase in pension will not be admissible on special additional pension allowed in lieu of pro-retirement orderly allowance and monetized value of a driver or an orderly. The benefit of increase in pension sanctioned in this office memorandum will also be admissible to those civil pensioners of the federal government who are residing abroad (other than those residing in India and Bangladesh) who retired on or after 15.08.1947 and are not entitled to, or are not in receipt of pension increase under the British government’s pension (increase) Acts. The payment will be made at the applicable rate of exchange, the notification concluded.
OGRA proposes price hike in petroleum products from April 16 AHMAD AHMADAnI The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has proposed the government to jack up per litre prices of petroleum products by upto Rs51.52 effective from April 16, 2022. Sources disclosed that OGRA has forwarded its working to the Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) for consideration and further necessary action. They said that OGRA has sought a gigantic
price hike upto 35.7 per cent in the per litre prices of petroleum products from April 16, 2022 for the remaining half of the current month of April 2022. They said the OGRA has asked the government to approve Rs51.32 per litre (35.7per cent) in the price of high speed diesel (HSD), Rs21.30 per litre (14.2 per cent) in the price of petrol (Motor Spirit), Rs 36.05 per litre (28.7 per cent) in the price of Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO) and Rs38.89 per litre (32.9 per cent) in
the price of light diesel oil (LDO) for the remaining half of the current month of April, 2022. Existing notified petroleum levy and GST rate in petroleum product price is zero and OGRA’s working is also based on zero petroleum levy and GST rate, the sources added. Sources in the oil industry said that the new government of Shehbaz Sharif will face public anger if it approves propos ed hike in the prices of petroleum products.
Supernet book-building done and dusted SUPERNET LIMITED SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES ITS SECOND DAY OF BOOK-BUILDING AND PULLS THROUGH WITH A MASSIVE OVERSUBSCRIPTION OF 1.4 TIMES SAAD TAnvIR Supernet Limited, a subsidiary of Telecard Limited, has successfully crossed the Rs475 million it had initially targeted from its initial offering at the GEM board. The book-building process was concluded with an oversubscription of 1.4 times, whereby the company received bids worth Rs659 million in the two days of the process, 12th and 13th April. The company also mentioned that share prices clocked in a premium of Rs12.5, attaining a strike price of Rs22.5. This gives a glimpse of the market sentiment towards IT companies going for Initial Public Offerings on the PSX. Supernet was the first IT company to list on the freshly constructed Gem board, where a diverse range of investors participated including institutions investors, high-net worth individuals, and Roshan Digital Account holders. The offering comprised 21,111,121 Ordinary shares, portraying 18.81 percent of the total paid up share capital post-offering of Supernet Limited at Rs10 face value. Moreover, the Price Earnings (P/E) ratio of Supernet was significantly lower compared to that of the remaining IT industry, clocking in at 6.7x compared to the average IT sector P/E of 22x. “Market sentiments are very positive towards tech companies. This can be judged from the fact that tech sector is trading at a P/E of approximately 20, while the average market P/E is 5,” said Topline Securities
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CEO Mohammad Sohail. The book-building of Supernet will also help create a conducive environment for future tech companies going for Initial Public Offerings. There is extensive demand for tech stocks in this era, where a boom in the tech industry can be observed throughout Pakistan. With the exponential growth of technology companies; investors feel that technology stocks can yield them an above average growth. The company has drafted an extensive expansion plan, for which the proceeds shall be utilized. The objective is to accelerate Supernet’s growth into different business segments including Cyber Security, Power Solutions, and IT & Infrastructure Solutions. The funds shall be siphoned towards working capital and capital expenditure for the provision of network infrastructure at customer premises including routers, switches, optical fiber, LAN and Wifi infrastructure. Additionally, raising equity will help the company scale up its computing capabilities, including servers, storage, cloud services and enterprise applications besides power infrastructure and cyber security. Founded in 1995 and acquired by Telecard Limited in 2004, Supernet is one of the key enablers for adoption and implementation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) offering a portfolio of local-global integrated communications infrastructure solutions to telecommunication companies, defense industry, and the public sector.
They, however, said that the new government is not likely to approve a hike in the prices of petroleum products ostensibly to win the sympathies of the already burdened masses. An official of the petroleum division on condition of anonymity said that if the government does not increase the price of petroleum products then it will have to give approximately Rs30 billion worth subsidy from April 16, 2022 for the remaining half of the current month of April.
Highest level of remittances during March 2022: sbP nEwS DESK The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday said that the workers’ remittances soar to highest level in history during March 2022. Taking to Twitter to share the details, the SBP said that workers’ remittances rose to their highest level in history at $2.8 billion in March 22. “Cumulatively, remittances have risen to $23 billion during the first 9 months of FY22, up 7.1% over the same period last year,” the central bank said. According to details, the country received remittances of $678 million from Saudi Arabia, $515 million from United Arab Emirates (UAE), $401 million from Britain and $300 million from United States (US) during the month of March. It is pertinent to mention here that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves fell by $720 million to $11.31 billion in a week, central bank data showed on Thursday. The SBP said the central bank’s reserves were recorded at $11.31 billion during the week that ended on April 1, down $720 million compared to $12.047 billion on March 25. Overall reserves held by the country, including net reserves of commercial banks, stood at $17.47 billion as of April 1, the SBP said, adding net foreign reserves of banks dropped by $340.95 million to $6.15 billion.
Car prices increase by almost 50pc in two years GHULAM ABBAS While the government has decided to conduct a forensic audit of the historic jump in car prices in the country, industry sources claim prices have surged by around 50 per cent because of the rise in input cost during the past two years. An auto industry representative attributed the historic jump in prices to increasing input costs owing to exponential hike in freight charges, rupee devaluation and rise in petroleum and steel prices. Apart from the frequent increases made by the local car manufacturers/assemblers, numerous automakers have recently announced significant price increases on vehicles. The price of local cars had slightly come down last year following the government’s decision to slash taxes and duties. However the prices again went up by over 35 per cent for the currency devaluation and freight charges. Recently, an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) announced a price increase of Rs200,000 to Rs1.2 million on their vehicles while another Japanese car manufacturer announced a price hike of Rs250,000 to Rs400,000. Almost all the other car makers geared up to follow suit. In March, car assemblers increased car prices for the third time post annual budget. The first round of major price hike came in November 2021, the second one came in January when the government reversed the tax benefits given in the FY 2022 budget, and the last price hike came in March, again on account of cost pressures. “The freight rates have gone up over 250% in a year. These in-
creased rates are feeding the inflation beast in almost all sectors and auto is no exception. There has been a global hike in automobile prices, specifically since the pandemic started,” said Syed Zafar Ali, an automotive expert. “In Pakistan the situation is grave as these factors are complemented by rupee dollar disparity and increased duties and taxes on the sector,” he reasoned. “The manufacturers would definitely pass on the increase in the cost of production and high cost of raw material to the customer. We have witnessed an increase of almost 50% in car prices in Pakistan in the last 2 years,” he said. To add to the cost of production in various sectors including the auto industry, steel prices have also gone up by 28% since the start of this month. Due to this local steel manufacturers have cumulatively increased prices by 55% in the last 12 months to maintain margins. Following the frequent jump in car prices in the country and complaints registered by the customers, the Ministry of Industries last month has decided to probe the matter through conducting a forensic audit of the issue by hiring services of private firms. Interestingly, despite the historic hike in prices of locally assembled/manufactured cars, their sales still continued rising in the country. As per a data shared by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), car sales in March went up by 25 percent as compared to February while the industry showed growth of 30 percent when compared to sales it recorded in March 2021.
Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
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NEWS
Pakistan rEady to ElEvatE BilatEral rElations with China to highEr lEvEl: PM ISLAMABAD
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staff report
AKISTAN is ready to join hands with China to deepen bilateral cooperation and elevate relations between the two countries to a higher level, which is the voice of over 200 million Pakistani people, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said. In a meeting with Pang Chunxue, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad earlier this week, Shahbaz noted that the Pakistan-China friendship is unique, unshakable and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of the two countries. Whenever Pakistan was faced with internal, external difficulties or major challenges, China has always stood firmly with Pakistan, he said, adding that Pakistan regards China as its steadiest friend and closest partner. Every Pakistani government has been committed to promoting friendship with China and no one in the world can undermine this friendship, the Pakistani prime minister said. A major development has been wit-
nessed in Pakistan-China relations in recent years, and bilateral cooperation in political, economic, diplomatic and other fields has been deepened in an all-round way, opening a new chapter in the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said. The CPEC is not only a major project of mutual benefit, but also a precious gift from the Chinese government to Pakistan, Shahbaz said, adding that Chinese enterprises have overcome numerous dif-
Bilquis Edhi in stable condition after congestive heart failure Bilquis Bano Edhi, the wife of renowned humanitarian and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, is reported to be in a stable condition after she was rushed to a private hospital three days ago when her blood pressure suddenly dropped. “Though she is not in a serious condition, she will remain in the hospital for a couple of more days,” said the spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation Muhammad Bilal. Bilal added that Bilquis has congestive heart failure and she has already undergone a heart bypass twice. First Lady Tehmina Durrani also visited her during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s maiden visit to the port city on Wednesday. The foundation’s spokesperson said that Durrani always pays a visit to Bilquis whenever she is in Karachi. “She enquired and immediately went to the hospital to see Bilquis aapa,” he added. Earlier, Pakistan’s towering philanthropist and humanitarian was declared the ‘Person of the Decade’, along with human rights rapporteur of the UN Prof Yanghee Lee and the US ethicist Stephen Soldz. A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation told APP that as per the domino effect verdict, announced on Friday by the Impact Hallmarks, Bilquis Edhi was declared the most impactful person of the first two decades of the 21st century. Bilquis Bano Edhi is a professional nurse and she heads the Bilquis Edhi Foundation. She has spent more than six decades of her life serving humanity in need. Her charity has saved over 42,000 unwanted babies so far by placing “jhoolas” [cradles] at the Edhi Homes and centres across the country. staff report
ficulties and challenges to facilitate Pakistan’s development. After the completion of a number of CPEC energy projects, Pakistan’s energy shortage situation has rapidly improved, he said, adding that Pakistan would have still been short of electricity without those projects. China seeks peaceful development and win-win cooperation, and the CPEC is a very illustration of that, Shahbaz noted. Pakistan will continue to increase
input into the CPEC, work with China to expand cooperation fields, and overcome all bottlenecks and obstacles to speed up the CPEC construction, he said, adding that Pakistan will make every effort to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel in Pakistan. Pakistan looks forward to learning from China’s successful experience in poverty alleviation and vocational training, and pushing forward bilateral cooperation at a “new Pakistan speed”, he added. Pakistan welcomes more Chinese investment in its agricultural modernization, industrialization and digitalization and hopes that more Chinese enterprises will set up joint ventures in Pakistan and export products produced in this country to China and the rest of the world for mutual benefit and win-win results, Shahbaz said. In his maiden address to the National Assembly of Pakistan or the lower house of the parliament after being elected as the country’s prime minister on Monday, Shahbaz said that developing PakistanChina relations is the most important thing and a priority in Pakistan’s diplomatic policy, noting that China is a timetested friend of Pakistan and the great and eternal Pakistan-China friendship can never be shaken by anyone.
BP, SEDF join hands for provision of subsidized financing to SMEs in Sindh National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SEDF) have signed an agreement for Institutional Collaboration for Provision of Subsidized Financing to SMEs in Sindh. The agreement aims to encourage farmers to adopt modern agricultural practices and foster economic development in Sindh. SEDF aims to promote opportunities in Agri value chains, Mining & Mineral processing, and Innovation & Technology for multiple economic benefits on growth, intermediary services and productivity. It seeks to introduce interventions to improve efficiency and profitability. SEDF is striving to develop entrepreneurial ability in the rural economy of Sindh through various initiatives of technical assistance and mark-up subsidies.While, NBP has the vision to be the Nation’s leading bank enabling sustainable growth and inclusive development. pr
Pak-China experts discuss practical challenges in water governance ISLAMABAD staff report
Nazim Jokhio Murder: ATC to decide on fate of police challan KARACHI staff report
The murder case of Nazim Jokhio which involves PPP MNA Jam Abdul Karim and Jam Awais among the key suspects has been transferred to the antiterrorism court (ATC) for trial process. The administrative judge of the ATC who was previously hearing the proceedings said that it was now upto the trial court to accept or reject a challan submitted by investigation officer of police in the murder case. On Wednesday, in a major development in the Nazim Jokhio murder case, the names of PPP MNA Jam Kareem Jokhio, his brother MPA Jam Awais Jokhio and six others were eliminated from the case. The investigation officer of the case, Siraj Lashari, submitted the challan to the anti-terrorism court. In the challan, Haider, Mairaj and Niaz have been nominated as accused in the case.
The judicial magistrate Malir had ordered to include anti-terrorism clauses in the Nazim Jokhio murder case. Earlier, in October 2021, the family of Nazim Jokhio claimed that PPP MPA Jam Awais Gohram Jokhio and his men had allegedly tortured Nazim to death as he tried to stop his foreign guests from hunting houbara bustards in the Memon Goth area of Karachi. Police registered a murder case against PPP MPA Awais, his brother MNA Jam Kareem and others. They detained Awais but Jam Kareem left the country and flew to Dubai. Police nominated detained MPA and four others as accused in their charge sheet and showed MNA Jam Kareem as an absconding suspect in the case.
Experts from Pakistan and China at an online International conference discussed practical challenges in water governance for their respective countries. The conference was organized by Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future. The moot was aimed at providing a premier interdisciplinary platform for relevant stakeholders and experts to discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and practical challenges in water governance in Pakistan and China. Maryam Raza, Deputy Director, Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future in her opening remarks highlighted that the conference theme holds a lot of significance in this period as rapid population growth, fast urbanization, increasing economic development, and climate change have led to a global water supply crisis. She said, “it is important to learn from our neighboring countries like China about their achievements in water governance and related sectors.” Prof. Youwei Qin, Associate Professor, Hohai University, Nanjing, China mentioned that due to the impact of climate change, Pakistan and China are at risk of droughts, floods, etc. It is difficult to deal with flood problems of rivers that are in the residential areas with a huge population. Dr. Zhong-kai Feng, Professor of College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing, China mentioned that China has made great efforts and achieved success in addressing water resources problems by using many effective engineering measures. He was of the view that the useful measures may provide comprehensive references for Pakistan’s agricultural and water policy reforms as well. The conference was moderated by Ms. Laraib Fatima Hassan, Communication Executive, Pakistan Research Center and was attended by 40 participants from Pakistan and China.
Imran vows to continue struggle for supremacy of people’s rights, democracy PESHAWAR Monitoring report
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan here Wednesday night reiterated to continue the political struggle for supremacy of the rights of people and democracy in the country. Addressing a big public gathering here, he said that his political struggle for supremacy of people’s rights, democracy and protection of the country’s interests had been started with a new spirit. He said Pakistan was a strong sovereign country and no foreign power had the right to make interference in the country’s internal affairs. Imran said that he would lead rallies and hold public meetings in all major cities including Karachi and Lahore in the upcoming days to mobilise the public for general elections. He said early elections were a panacea for
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all problems. Khan said that a historic resolution against Islamophobia had been passed by the United Nations due to his government’s efforts. The PTI chairman said that he had worked hard for the supremacy of the judiciary and had never broken laws. Imran said today was the age of social media and nothing could be hidden from people. He said the people of Pakistan knew about the circumstances that led to his ouster, adding he would continue to struggle against the menace of corruption. He said he had never compromised on the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan. Khan said thousands of innocent Pakistanis were martyred in about 400 drone strikes from 2008 to 2018 while tribal people of merged districts were forced to migrate to safer places in the country.
He said the people of KP had paid a heavy price in the war against terrorism. He said Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam. Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister KP said that KP was the stronghold of PTI and its people were standing with Imran Khan like a solid rock. He said Imran Khan had never compromised on the country’s sovereignty and integrity and his struggle was for the rights of the people. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Central Vice President PTI had accused the Indian Prime Minister of not allowing the burial ritual of the great Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Gillani who was laid to rest at the night. He demanded a judicial commission to investigate the alleged Lettergate. Awami Muslim League President Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said that people were standing behind Khan.
Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
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‘COnSPIrACy nOT MEnTIOnED’, DEMArChE WAS gIvEn On ‘InTErfErEnCE’, SAyS Dg ISPr ABOuT LETTErgATE contInueD froM pAge 01
Mushaal urges IIOJK people to observe April 24 as Black Day on Modi’s visit ISLAMABAD staff report
Mushaal Hussein Mullick, the Chairperson of Peace and Culture Organisation and wife of jailed Kashmiri Hurriyat leader, Muhammad Yasin Malik, has urged the Kashmiri people to observe April 24 a Black Day when fascist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Mushaal Hussein Mullick in a statement in Islamabad said Modi is visiting the occupied territory to hold meetings with representatives of Kashmiri Pundit community to express his sympathy with them after the release of the propaganda film ‘The Kashmir Files.’ She said in the propaganda film is about exodus of Kashmiri Pundits from IIOJK, which is being portrayed as Hindu Pundits genocide by Muslims. Mushaal warned that the fascist premier’s visit will be focusing on permanent settlement of Kashmiri Pundit in IIOJK to change the demography of the valley in sheer violation of international law. She said that the brutal forces unleashed a fresh war of terrorism ahead of the scheduled visit of Modi, as the IIOJK continued to bleed due to Indian barbarism. The Hurriyat leader lamented India has been denying Kashmir’s right to self-determination for 75 years and now it is utilizing all energies to change religious composition of Kashmir to convert Kashmir a Muslim majority into minority region. She went on to say that unfortunately the world powers and human right organisations are well-aware of the worst human crisis in the valley but observed criminal silence. She said that every Kashmiris’ life is at the mercy of brutal Indian troops, as 16 Kashmiris have been martyred by Indian troops during the previous month of March.
What is the fate of Sehat Card facility after ouster of PTI govt? With the PTI no longer in power, Pakistanis signed up for the Sehat Card service have been worried sick at the possibility of the service being discontinued due to a change in those running the government. In a post gone viral on Instagram, a Lahore-based doctor narrated a heart-breaking incident at the emergency ward he was working at from the night before the original day of voting on the no-confidence motion against Khan, April 3, 2021. “In the rear holding bay of our ER, I found this patient, a 50 yr old man, who had been admitted into Neurology but he wasn’t shifted yet. […] I went back to the counter and asked what options did we have for this family. And I got told there’s only one option. ‘The Sehat Sahoolat Insaf Health Card’ but it only gets activated in the morning.” The doctor then assured the patient’s son that they can stay in the hospital till the card gets activated but he came up with a concern if the card would still be accepted the next day [the day of voting when Imran Khan was initially expected to be dismissed]. But the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has given the public an assurance that a change in government won’t affect the medical facilitation being provided under the Sehat Saholat Programme, an initiative by the PTI-led government. In a statement on Twitter, the healthy ministry rubbished all the fears and speculations about the fate of the Sehat Card facility. The health ministry also tweeted out a list of hospitals you can go to if you want to avail the facility. staff report
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HERE will never be another martial law in Pakistan,” said the military spokesperson. Dispelling another rumour regarding the army chief’s absence from the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the army spokesperson said Gen Bajwa was “not well”. “He was not well that day and had not even come to the office. That is a simple explanation and there is nothing more to it.” Referring to former premier Imran’s visit to Russia, Gen Babar said the army was on board with the decision to go to Moscow and said there was “institutional input” that he should go. “It was not in anyone’s wildest dreams that they [Russia] would start the war when the prime minister was there and it was obviously very embarrassing”.
Answering a question regarding the United States asking for operational bases within Pakistani territory and former premier Imran Khan’s reply of “absolutely not”, the military spokesperson clarified that if bases were asked for, the “army would have the same stance”. “And in reality, they did not even ask for bases and there was no mention of it on any level.” During the media briefing, the DG ISPR also said that rallies were a part of democracy and the army has “provided an enabling environment to the people by risking its lives”. “There is nothing wrong with people coming out and expressing their thoughts,” he added and further said that some stability was returning to the country but it would take time to keep it sustainable. “Political stability drives everything. National security rests on it.” In regards to the ‘malicious’ social
ISLAMABAD Pakistan Red Crescent (PRC) Sindh Branch in collaboration with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) on distributed 3000 “Panda Pack” schoolbags among Pakistani students in 56 government-run schools in Tharparkar. The panda packs distribution was supervised by Muhammad Sajjad, Disaster Management Manager, PRC-Sindh, and Zulqarnain Wash Officer, PRC- National Headquarters in Islamabad. Apart from stationery, lunch boxes, geometry boxes, and practical books for ex-
tions in exchange for the use of a base in the country, and they have effectively required that they sign off on any targets that either the CIA or the military would want to hit inside Afghanistan,” a New York Times report said in August last year. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William J. Burns “made an unannounced visit in recent weeks to Islamabad, to meet with the chief of the military and the head of the directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence”, the report added. It also revealed Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has had frequent calls with the Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa about getting Islamabad’s help for future US operations in Afghanistan. Interestingly, the report was refuted neither by the government nor the military which is usually quick to respond in such scenarios as demonstrated by its response to a recent BBC story.
Imran Khan says ‘reference against Justice Isa was a mistake’ contInueD froM pAge 01 “The actions of the respondent Federal Investigation Agency and the police may very graciously be held illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional as well as in violation of the court’s directions passed pursuant to the judgement dated 03.11.2020 in W.P 2939/2020, titled Rana Muhammad Ashraf Versus Federation of Pakistan.”. The petition stated that with the change of regime, the party had been targeted by the respondents on behest of their political opponents. Therefore, an onslaught has been unleashed upon the party activists, especially the social media users who openly support PTI. This alarming fact of harassment and illegal raids and has been brought to the notice of the party leadership by different party activists including the users of Twitter and other social media platforms including Facebook etc. “It is also on the record that many social media activists belonging to Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf including (but not limited to) Dr Arsalan Khalid, Azhar Mashwani, Muhammad Waqas, Salar Sultanzai, Wasif Kazmi and many others along with their families have been harassed on behest of the ruling party and threatened by the officials of the respondent authorities for dire consequences to aid and help to satisfy the political vendetta against the workers of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf, especially
those who are associated with the profession of journalism and using social media platforms to provide general public with correct and unfeigned facts of the state affairs. The proof of this harassment, in the form of the messages of the victims on the social media, has been placed on record.” The petition further read that the respondents had avoided revealing the details about the alleged criminal offences and also intently concealing the details of law under which the houses of the party activists had been raided and their families subjected to humiliation and unlawful harassment. It also stated that the respondents were impeding the fundamental right of freedom of expression and free speech to appease their new owners. “The respondents have miserably failed to abide by their legal and constitutional duties. The respondents have involved in the impunity for crimes against its citizens, particularly those who are engaged in the profession of journalism, using social media as platform to keep masses informed regarding the political situation in the country.” The plea read that the officials of the FIA Cyber Crime Wing and police officials fearlessly violated the directions and orders of this court and willfully disobeyed its mandatory commands. “Hence, [they] are liable to be proceeded against under the contempt of court and all other enabling laws that are enforceable for the time being in Pakistan.”
Karachi to experience heatwave from today: PMD The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast a heatwave starting today (Thursday) in the port city. According to chief meteorologist Sardar Sarfaraz, the temperature today is likely to remain between 35˚C and 37˚C, while tomorrow, it is expected to stay between 36˚C and 38˚C and the temperature is likely to hover between 35˚C and 37˚C. The chief meteorologist said that there has been an increase in the air pressure near western Balochistan. “The temperature will intensify due to changes in the direction of the wind,” he added. Sarfaraz also said that winds from the west will blow for most of the day. staff report
3,000 China-funded ‘Panda Packs’ distributed among schoolchildren staff report
media campaign against the armed forces, when the spokesperson was asked what the military was doing to curtail the activity, Gen Babar said it is the responsibility of the government to take measures according to law as the military does not have the power to do so. The briefing coincides with an attempt by Imran Khan, who was ousted from the office of prime minister over the weekend through a contentious vote on no-confidence, to build an anti-West narrative around the developments by blaming an American plot for the toppling of his government. Among the reasons that led Khan to believe the Joe Biden administration was not pleased with him was his blunt response to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s subsequent refusal to provide bases for further operations inside Afghanistan. “In discussions between American and Pakistani officials, the Pakistanis have demanded a variety of restric-
ercises have been provided in the Panda Pack to benefit children in rural areas. Speaking at the event, PRC-Sindh Provincial Secretary Kanwar Waseem said that around 48 percent of the population of Sindh lived in rural areas, where educational facilities were not up to the mark. He maintained that the distribution of school bags among students of Tharparkar was a highly welcome initiative. He added that China has always been on the forefront in helping Pakistan in the time of need. The Secretary also thanked China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and Red Cross Society of China for their generosity and in-
terest in Pakistan. In his speech, Disaster Management Manager PRC-Sindh Muhammad Sajjad appreciated the cooperation of the District and Taluka education Officers in distributing these Panda Pack school bags in Taluka Diplo, Islamkot, and Mithi, in the Tharparkar District. He mentioned the close friendship between Pakistan and China and highlighted that China has been investing in Pakistan’s education sector to promote literacy and lift the education standard. Sajjad expressed confidence that with China’s help, the far-flung areas of Pakistan will get the right to quality education.
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ECP bans announcement of development projects for 14 Sindh districts KARACHI: The election commission on Thursday prohibited announcing development projects for Sindh’s 14 districts ahead of the local government polls in June. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday announced the first phase of the local government polls in Sindh. The ECP has also cancelled weekly off days in the election commission and the offices of the Returning and District Returning Officers. Transfers of officers have also been banned in all provincial departments, autonomous corporations and authorities. Moreover, general leaves of officers and the staff in 14 districts of Sindh will be conditioned with prior permission from the election commission. The first phase of local government polls in Sindh will be held in Khairpur, Sukkur, Ghotki, Naushehro Feroze, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpur Khas, Umarkot, Tharparkar, Larkana, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot and Jacobabad districts on June 26. The ECP has said that nomination papers can be submitted from May 10 to 13 and scrutiny of nomination papers will be held from May 16 to 18. The election symbols will be issued to the candidates on May 28, the ECP said adding that the result of the first phase of the local bodies elections in Sindh will be announced on June 30. Earlier, on March 10, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced to hold phasewise local government polls across Sindh in May. staff report
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DG ISPR speaks Talks about NSC meeting
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NTEr-sErViCEs Director-general maj gen Babar iftikhar has finally spoken out on Thursday about the National security Council meeting which discussed the cable about an alleged Us-backed conspiracy against the then imran Khan government, at a briefing on Thursday. He restricted himself to pointing out that the meeting’s press release had not used the word ‘conspiracy’. He added that demarches were issued for reasons other than conspiracy, and in this case for undiplomatic language. This is a contradiction of mr Khan’s narrative, which claims that he was thrown out because of a foreign conspiracy. The NsC meeting was given great weight by PTi supporters who said it proved the armed forces accepted there was a conspiracy afoot. The opposition, now the government, had demanded that the armed forces, whose chiefs were all present at the meeting, make their position clear. Even now that it has taken office, it has also made it clear that it would like to probe the matter further, through a parliamentary committee. mr Khan’s rhetoric about the letter may need some dialling down now, and the online smear campaign, of which the formation commanders’ conference had to take notice, is evidence that things might be getting out of hand. mr Khan’s implication is that those who do not support him are part of the conspiracy. This does not just make the opposition traitors, but by default also the armed forces. While both the PPP and the Pml(N) have had their grievances against the armed forces, they have never gone to the extent of accusing them of a lack of patriotism. it was also heartening to hear general Babar say that the military was neutral in politics. That neutrality will have to be firmly maintained, especially considering the past. The loudness of the complaints from the PTi over the conspiracy theory show one of the dangers of refusing to interfere after having done so. Those who have learned to rely on help, are resentful. However, the constitutional path is not just right, but also the least troublesome.
If Imran doesn’t work what went wrong, he won’t be able to right himself At Penpoint M A NIAZI
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mraN Kham is angry, and by his lights, he has every right to be. after all, he has been ousted from the Prime ministership by a vote of no-confidence, despite all the efforts made to prevent that vote taking place. most of the reasons he will give himself for his ouster will be self-serving, such as the conspiracy theory, but he must also deduce what went wrong with his government, and what he could have done to prevent that fall. imran should realize a number of things. The most important is the need for realism. if he gets wrong the reasons why he fell, he will not be able to rectify those errors, or take the steps necessary for poisoning himself for a return to office. The foreign conspiracy seems just like that, a convenient explanation which will prevent an objective analysis of what went wrong. His position is somewhat reminiscent of the PPP’s insistence in 1990 and 1996 that the elections were rigged. as a matter of fact, it insisted that in 1988 and 1993, when it won, the elections had been rigged against it. The problem with such explanations is not just that they are based on the false premise that the party’s defeat means rigging, that their opponent is incapable of appealing to the electorate more. Both the PPP and the PTi had as their opponents mian Nawz sharif, and his election wins can be explained by macro-scale political factors, while his defeats can probably be explained by the same. Then there is the question of which page of the book was the winner reading from. One of the more important concepts is that of the PHP, the Pakistan Hakumati Party, with the slogan “We never change our party first; the government does.” The members of the establishment are all PHP members in good standing, but The PHP is not the PTi. sure, some PHP members have been lent to the PTi, in the form of electables, as well as allies, but their true loyalty does not rest with imran. That helps explain why the attempt to use the Foreign Office, and the supreme Court, to back the ‘foreign conspiracy’ claim, failed. if the PHP had wanted to use these pillars of the establishment, it would have done so without compunction. That is what the PTi wanted, having conflated state and party. The establishment is the only party which has achieved this: it is assumed that the establishment’s
Delivering on the economic front Most crucial test before new Prime Minister
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HaHBaZ sHariF’s election as Pm was widely hailed by the business community which expressed confidence in his ability to stabilize the country’s crumbling economy. The new Pm however is not required to please the business community alone ignoring the concerns of the agriculturists, the salariat and millions of rural and urban poor. razak Dawood’s theory of total concentration on accumulation of capital, helped the construction lobby earn billions but the profits failed to percolate to the public at large. What will be needed is a just balancing of interests of all sections of society. The Prime minister will also have to prove by his actions that his promise to bring the socio-economic development of smaller provinces at par with Punjab was no demagoguery. Equally challenging would be to satisfy the international financial institutions. We have been told by the Pml(N) leadership that the new government would restart negotiations with the imF for balance of payments support. On Wednesday the World Bank slashed Pakistan’s growth forecast to 4.3percent. The Bank maintains that last-ditch energy subsidies by the outgoing government put an additional burden on thr budget and threatened the imF programme. The PTi had taken the decision to win the sympathy of the common people overburdened by the rising prices and service charges. The new government too cannot afford to ignore the common man and would therefore have to devise means for his uplift without reneging on the agreement with the imF which amounts to walking on a tightrope. an urgent task is to start preparing the new budget. mr sharif has formed a National Economic advisory Council (NEaC) consisting of leading industrialists and economists to find a way out of the prevailing economic crunch. What is needed is the selection of a new finance minster without delay assisted by a team not representing powerful lobbies, but individuals who are well cognizant of the country’s social and political issues. The Pm needs to pay heed to what prominent Pakistani economist atif mian said last week. mian hoped that the incoming government will learn from what happened to the economy under imran Khan and what they themselves had done wrong in their previous tenures.
Getting famous or getting with it marks is n
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lagiarism is a fraud and an offensive act that we all need to acknowledge and prevent. it is quite disappointing that some new writers steal others’ handy and worthy ideas and argue that these pieces are jotted by them and their own and their personal ideas are included. i am an avid reader. i have been reading newspapers daily since the day when the coronavirus first came and caused a total shutdown almost all around the world. But, sometimes i just feel that the same ideas which were published before are getting published without any change except the writer’s name and title of topics. How shameful is it to see people knocking over the ideas of other writers who struggled and spent much time writing these write-ups! it is unfortunately true that in Pakistan plagiarism has become a highly common act among the students who plagiarize, intending to gain better marks, and such actions are mostly done on the internet where the students search for whatever they want first they copy it, secondly paste it, then they make some changes and at last, they claim it as their piece. let’s talk about some facts and reality-based circumstances. recently, one of my letters was published in a newspaper on the theme of “Echoes in The Void” and just after 6 days of the publication, i saw a letter which contained my ideas and the writer was also someone who i know. it simply means that he is plagiarizing and is doing fraud less to others and more to himself. We all should understand that plagiarism is a blemish on the glories and it has satisfactions neither
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interests entitle it to use the state machinery to pursue its own interests. That interest had extended to a tail wagging the dog, as the establishment determined the orders it was to receive, by ensuring that a government was elected which depended on it. imran came to office because of the help offered his party by the establishment. This should not hide the fact that all countries have an establishment, but those establishments do not necessarily rule. Take the example of Vladimir Putin. What could be more symbolic of the old soviet establishment than a KgB colonel? That has not happened in Pakistan. it does provide certain advantages, however. There are none of the problems of management faced when one drafts a civilian like imran or Nawaz sharif. another reason, perhaps, is that while there are a large number of civilian officials in the isi, none have ever risen to become Dg, and other officers are rotated in from the army, serve a tenure, and are then rotated out. as a matter of fact, a large number of those rotated in as colonels are very often on their last postings before retirement. so they would probably not be young enough to rise to the top as Putin did. and that only happened because of the instability russia was experiencing. still, odder things have happened. adolf Hitler was an unemployed ex-corporal of a defeated army doing a little work for a military intelligence outfit when he was sent to gather information on a small party. Well, he joined that party, became its chief, and the rest is history. One of the major issues facing the nation is whether the conspiracy theory has anything in it. it is important to understand that whether or not it is true, the supreme Court had to give the decision it did,and the National assembly had to proceed to a vote on the motion. if indeed any member has taken money to vote on a no-confidence or any other motion, that is a corrupt practice, for which he can be prosecuted, and as a result of conviction, disqualified and unseated. There will have to be a prior judicial process, and a ruling from the Chair won’t cut it. The detailed judgement of the supreme Court is awaited, and the short order did not comment, but the evidentiary value of the communication on which the threat claim has been made is limited. if indeed, there has been a cable from the ambassador reporting a conversation, hearsay is not admissible. The concept of accusation being proof of guilt is only something that imran and his supporters accept.
is the PTi now going to claim that the supreme Court and the army are part of the conspiracy along with the opposition? There has already been an online campaign against the military serious enough for a formation commanders’ conference to take notice. imran’s hopes of returning depend on his getting back on the same page. He might have learnt the wrong lessons from the neutrality of the army, that it was not caused by his governance or the economic situation, but by the naming of names by mian Nawaz sharif. it is possible to see the PTi as the intended successor of the PPP, and it is possible to see it adopting the same sort of attitude towards the military, of suspicion unless it is on the same page. The hybrid regime was introduced as a solution to the military’s need for a civilian interface. The problem is that while imran had the skills to push military-friendly possibilities to the public, now he can use the same skills to push hostile policies. another key question is that of the allies. They are inclined towards the largest party, but it is not necessary that they stay, as the present no-confidence vote showed. imran might have noticed that his biggest weakness was his dependence on smaller parties. These parties could not be stopped from switching sides by article 63a. True, PTi floor-crossers (who had been electables) did not vote for the opposition, but the possibility they might do so wasa what kept the smaller parties on the side of the opposition. getting an absolute majority is attractive, but does not solve matters. in 1997, the Pml(N) obtained an absolute majority, and with allies had a two-thirds majority. Everyone knows how that ended. as a matter of fact, the military coup against Zulfikar ali Bhutto came after he got a two-thirds majority in the 1977 election. it is almost as if the military will not tolerate any leader who has the power to amend the Constitution. Pakistan has kept up the tradition of not having a single Pm hold office for the entire life of a Parliament. Back in 1985, Ziaul Haq gave himself the power of dismissing the government. Politicians resisted, and the President was given the power of dissolving the National assembly. Now, it seems, we are back to square One. Though imran is no longer in office, he is still in politics. His avoidance of Parliament cannot last, because apart from shutting himself out of important decisions about the caretaker Pm and the CEC, he will need a major constitutional revision which can’t hjappen without going to that Parliament. at an age when he should be playing with his grandchildren, he is out in the wildernes seeking a role.
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for the writer nor reader as they know these pieces are not self-made. To be honest, plagiarism is also done by well-reputed writers but they are intelligent, and one can even say creative. They make necessary changes and a total change of narration. Here is a lesson one can get that one can collect ideas from others’ handy pieces. Please do not take me wrong, but if you are bookish you probably know that some book authors try to convince their readers by indicating other books like Jeff Keller in his book Attitude Is Everything points out Napoleon Hill’s book Think and grow rich. Keep in mind that it is not plagiarism but research and narration. i will give you some tips on how to write by collecting ideas without being plagiarized but in another write-up because this writeup is getting lengthy which i do not want. Do you know why new writers and journalists are being encouraged to copy others’ ideas? There are two factors. The very first is to be famous and gain prestige in a shortcut. The second and most hurtful reason is that they plagiarize just because of getting marks and scores. But alas, they are not aware of the consequences which can be a cause of losing creativity and credibility. Yes, my dear readers! plagiarism has a very high impact on your creativity and it can be said that it can limit your mind if you do not avoid plagiarism. Hence, we should neither plagiarize nor encourage others to do so to protect and boost our creativity. Furthermore, every known writer who encourages plagiarism should know that if he or she is a stu-
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dent, can be suspended or ousted under the law of copyright. as a result, we all know that he will be eradicated and the community will think bad words about him like he is a cheater, is not original, he is fake, he is a fraud, and so on. The new writers should avoid plagiarism in order not to be called by dishonouring names as mentioned above, and they should know that plagiarism makes them limited and their creativity of writing and thinking will be affected. i only want to say that copying others’ ideas does not satisfy one’s self because the person knows that the ideas are not original. moreover, those who plagiarize will lack ideation and originality. We should give time to boost our creativity, not to copying others’ struggles. Please do not take me wrong, i did not mean to hurt you by writing this piece. god knows my intention is just to make you realize how plagiarism is impactful, guilty, and immoral. i hope the readers understand and discourage the fraud of copying others and cheating others including oneself. The newspapers should also ensure that the ideas do not contain plagiarism and are of the sender’s own to discourage plagiarism in the country. However, thanks to the editors who edit articles and letters of writers to avoid plagiarism but should be the priority of editors so that both writer and editor will not feel the guilt of plagiarism. read to know, write to live.
Copying others’ ideas does not satisfy one’s self because the person knows that the ideas are not original. Moreover, those who plagiarize will lack ideation and originality. We should give time to boost our creativity, not to copying others’ struggles.
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06-07 Comments - 15th April 2022_Layout 1 4/14/2022 11:01 PM Page 2
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COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
Increase in traffic load and hurdles in easy mobility across city i will like to drive the attention of the concerned authorities through your publication on the rising issue of heavy traffic load and its effect on the environment. lahore has witnessed an increase in motor vehicles in a short period which has turned out to be a major hurdle in easy mobility, especially during peak hours. gulberg and its suburbs are the zones of major economic activities of the city and the magnitude of traffic has increased immensely in these areas. state-of-the-art flyover and underpass are already constructed at Kalma Chowk and the signal-free main boulevard is doing justice with their roles in sharing the traffic load. The need of the hour is infrastructure reforms because of the increase in traffic flow. long ques of cars with running engines are damaging the environment stems in the said areas due to traffic jams and congestion. Extension and remodeling of roads will help to counter the traffic issues for easy mobility. Planned infrastructural reforms are stewards of development for a country, proactive swift actions on the said issue will help in easy mobility and will also help to curb noise and air pollution which will be a dynamic step toward green and breathable lahore. UMAR MAHMOOD LAHORE
Yogi Adityanath: A rising star of Indian politics A rising BJP star
Dr rAjkuMAr sINgh
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lECTED with sweeping majority of votes second time in march 2022 as the Chief minister of india’s largest and most populous state Uttar Pradesh, Yogi adityanath, basically a Hindu monkturned-politician, not only broke several previous records but also established a number of new and imitable lessons for the indian politicians and to some extent useful for global politicians who take it as a profession and want to contribute something unique and non-traditional in this arena. as politics is a game of numbers, he continued to appease mass of the people by his honest policy and transparent behaviour and found people’s love, affection as well as timely/valuable support first in 2017 and subsequently in the recent assembly elections which made him an icon of indian politics for the days to come along with a functional model of a Chief minister, although his second successive crushing victory was not easy as there were so many parties, having a significant number of fixed votebanks with large gathering of caste-followings, mainly on the part of samajwadi Party and Bahujan samaj Party headed by akhilesh Yadav and mayawati respectively. in the context both Yogi adityanath and the state Uttar Pradesh itself have a proud to feel that their province is also able to control the National politics at New Delhi on account of being an assembly of 403 seats, who backed 80 seats for lok sabha out of 543 and 31 out of 245 members of rajya sabha with record voters of more than 150. The net result of his visible honesty and tireless efforts in politics turned the face of state game from caste to development which tried at his level best to accommodate all, a symbol of inclusive growth and development oriented. Born on 5 June 1972 in a village of Pauri garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, now in the state of Uttarakhand, with the name ajay singh Bisht and in a family of four brothers and three sisters, he happened to be second. after completing his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Hemwati Nandan Baghuguna, garhwal
University, in the 1990s he left his home primarily to join the ram temple movement and about the same time became the disciple of mahant avaidyanath, the chief of the gorakhnath math. With the start of the ram temple movement by the Bhartiya Janata Party in the 1980s his guru came together with the BJP to move further. according to a French professor, Christophe Jaffrelot, Yogi adityanath belonged to a tradition of Hinduism propagated earlier by Hindu mahasabha and his guru mahant avaidyanath too was the disciple of mahant Digvijay Nath who participated in the movement initiated by the Hindus to capture the Babri masjid in ayodhya on 22 December 1949. although, despite being in the politics of ram mandir and the BJP, when he, for the first time, was elected as a member of indian lower House, lok sabha, in 1998, launched a new organization called Hindu Yuva Vahini and became wellknown for his activities in the eastern part of the province. as a result, he represented the constituency of gorakhpur five times in succession in 1998,1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was also elected mahant or high priest of the gorakhnath math after the death of his guru avaidyanath on 12 september 2014. in the post-Janata party disintegration phase, its earlier ingredient the Bhartiya Jana sangh, in the year 1980, reconvened itself as the Bhartiya Janata Party and made a thin start with 11 seats in the state assembly of 425. it however, got popularity in the coming decade when the party attached itself to the agenda of ram mandir and remained committed to the ram Janmabhoomi movement launched by the Vishva Hindu Parishad and other nationalist groups. as a result of this rising graph, the party scored a clear mandate in 1991 and Kalyan singh was appointed as the state’s first OBC chief minister but his government fell in the wake of the demolition of the Babri masjid on 6 December 1992. Even in the assembly election of 1996 no party was able to get a clear majority and after one year of President’s rule in the state the BJP and BsP agreed to a six-months formula of chief ministership. This experimentHaving failed, the BJP tried several stalwarts from Kalyan singh to rajnath singh, but none proved effective and it lost power in 2002, paving the way for the samajwadi Party and Bahujan samaj Party who
ruled the state till 2017, until the coming of Yogi adityanath in march. Just before Yogi the assembly election of 2012 went in favour of sP and mulayam singh Yadav appointed his 38-year-old sonakhilesh Yadav as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. However, a clear indication was given by the verdict of the 2014 lok sabha polls, in which the BJP won 71 seats out of 80 and broke the record of the last three decades only because it had exploited unprecedented voter turnout witnessing a unique coalition of cross-caste Hindu votes. after the ample favourable environment at national level, the election for Uttar Pradesh assembly seats were held in the first quarter of 2017 in which the BJP got a thumping majority of 312 seats and Yogi adityanath was appointed as the Chief minister. The earlier regimes of both mulayam singh Yadav and mayawati openly used the caste, communal politics and their image of musclemen that had ruined the state and the graph of corruption, entry of criminals into the politics, nepotism and favouritism, unemployment, deteriorating law and order all taken together took the state in deep sea. adityanath assumed the charge of the state’s chief minister on 19 march 2017, in a keen contest among the party leaders for the post. since his elevation, he delivered positive results on all counts and satisfied the mass of the people without any distinction on the basis of caste, community, religion, region or anything else. Even his works and full-proof arrangement in curbing and mitigating pandemic covid- 19 was praised everywhere. His clear policy and impartial implementation thereof presented him as an efficient chief minister of the province. The credit for coming back second time in the assembly election of 2022, was given to none but the pair of modi and Yogi, the present and future hope of indian politics. like the first, the second term of Yogi adityanath, beginning in march 2022, will prove its usefulness in the all-round development of the state in days to come.
The credit for coming back second time in the assembly election of 2022, was given to none but the pair of Modi and Yogi, the present and future hope of Indian politics. Like the first, the second term of Yogi Adityanath, beginning in March 2022, will prove its usefulness in the all-round development of the state in days to come
The writer is presently Professor and Head, Department of Political Science and Dean of Social Sciences at B.N. Mandal University, Madhepura (Bihar), India. His 19 books published in addition to 900 articles in national and international journals and daily newspapers from 25 foreign countries.
Ideas WE work really hard at our jobs and produce wonderful results for our bosses; we work extra shifts, late hours, and even weekends. We give million-dollar ideas in weekly meetings; we are excited, energetic, and enthusiastic. a cup of tea and something strikes, a silly gup-shup with a colleague and we are back at our desk creating something new. a small appreciation and we are on cloud no. 9 with our sparkling file on innovative strategies for clients. Why not then, we do not have the confidence to take risks for ourselves and start our own business. Why do we wait for divine intervention, dreaming of unicorns and rainbows, and end up under the pile of work in our nine to five jobs, which are actually 24/7, and we are stuck? There are many opportunities around us if we look carefully. The real estate sector offers many such platforms and avenues. government policies had been friendlier during the pandemic. amnesty schemes from the government proved to be a potent booster to the real estate and eventually for the business community. many projects began making use of this amnesty, such as raising apartments’ buildings with high-end brands, like aaa associates offering plenty of such schemes and also investments starting from as low as around six lacs. lately, trends have been observed that foreign investors, especially estate developers from Dubai are interested to bring large sums to invest in real estate in Pakistan, opening opportunities for development for local businesses and investors. With the OiC summit held in Pakistan recently, the country’s improving image and outreach to friendly nations, and CPEC already blooming at a larger canvass, we are optimistic to see a brighter future. The real estate sector makes up to 60 – 70 percent of the contribution to Pakistan’s economy. The net worth of real estate is more than $300 billion. Not limited to brick and mortar but targeting audiences with lifestyle up-gradation opportunities, the real estate sector is at the core of every citizen’s plans. Educated, young and aspirational people have entered the real estate market, like the leaders at aaa associates is a young and enthusiastic lot with eyes to the future and grounded on earth with practical strategies to advance business. studying the market trends, researching productive factors, understanding government policies, and proactive approaches have led to organized and systematic work in the real estate sector. Expanding the job opportunity bracket, opening gates for smaller investors, and providing secure platforms, the real estate sector has come a long way. involvements of reliable names in the business, and action-based strategies where results are tangible and visible, and things are not limited to paperwork only, have increased the confidence of the investors to spend in the sector for larger revenues. The road from here is uphill and undulating, traversing through darker valleys – the real estate sector is, however, proving to be the knight in the shining armour, leading from the front. MARYAM NAWAZ KAYANI ISLAMABAD
Pakistan’s Dilemma THE global focus, as rightly noted by Pakistan National security advisor (Nsa) moeed Yusuf, is gradually shifting from geopolitics to geoeconomics; so is the nature of big-power rivalries. The ongoing contestation between the United states and China somehow reminds the world of the bygone Cold War era. The trade war initiated by Donald Trump in 2018 with the imposition of punitive tariffs on China has lately metamorphosed into a full-fledged New Cold War. it has been further aggravated by the imposition of fresh sanctions and forging of anti-China alliances like Quadrilateral security Dialogue (QUaD) and aUKUs by President Joe Biden. Not surprisingly, the effects of this power tussle would also be felt by Pakistan as it maintains strong bilateral ties with both states. By and large, the interaction between the United states and Pakistan has largely been tumultuous, with brief bouts of relative normalcy and occasional bonhomie occurring intermittently to the point that there have been multiple instances when the United states hadn’t shied away from placing stringent sanctions on Pakistan under various pretexts. Whereas, China has always extended diplomatic, economic, military, and technical assistance to Pakistan and due to the convergence of interests both the countries consider each other as close strategic allies. in view of Pakistan’s peculiar geopolitical compulsions and geoeconomic imperatives, its options look limited. On the one hand is the United states, which is till date the biggest donor of foreign aid to Pakistan. Whereas, on the other hand is China, which has brought the biggest foreign direct investment (FDi) worth around $60 billion to Pakistan in the shape of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan’s partnership with China is time-hallowed, and cannot be compromised in view of any ephemeral economic exigencies. lastly, it would be in the best interest of Pakistan to strike a wise balance by maintaining prudent partnership with both parties and not let itself be used as a mere melting pot of competing global geostrategic interests in the region. FARAH KHAN ABRO HYDERABAD
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08 WORLD VIEW
The unsToppable rise of hindu naTionalism ADITYANATH CALLED MUSLIMS ‘TWO-LEGGED ANIMALS’ WHOSE ‘PRODUCTION’ NEEDED TO STOP
THE BJP HAS ALSO FOSTERED AND WEAPONIZED ISLAMOPHOBIA TO GREAT EFFECT, FURTHER UNIFYING THE COUNTRY’S 966 MILLION HINDUS WHILE MAKING LIFE INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT FOR ITS NEARLY 200 MILLION MUSLIMS
only at the literal edges of India, mostly in states where Hindus are not the overwhelming majority of residents. It will lead to the hardening of India’s tiered democracy. Muslims already do not enjoy the same rights in practice that other citizens do, and regions on India’s borders, such as Indian Held Kashmir, are watching as the Indian government increasingly uses the military to restrain dissent. As the BJP’s power grows, both discrimination against Muslims and the repression of outlying states are likely to worsen.
Foreign AFFAirs HartosH singH Bal
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n March 25, Yogi Adityanath—a saffron-clad monk from the right-wing, Hindu-fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party—was sworn in for a second term as chief minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. For two hours that morning, temple bells rang at ceremonies organized across the state to mark the occasion. It was in keeping with the image that Adityanath has sought to project: heir to Indian Prime Minister narendra Modi, and a leading figure in the BJP’s attempt to turn India into a Hindu nationalist state. Adityanath’s victory was a remarkable feat. He is the state’s first chief minister to win reelection in the past 30 years, and he did so despite his government’s disastrous mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state has a large and underreported pandemic death rate, and for weeks, bodies floated down the Ganges River. Patients struggled to cope with insufficient hospital beds and oxygen scarcities. But the BJP nonetheless captured 255 of the 403 seats in the state legislature, a margin that exceeded even its own expectations. Uttar Pradesh is India’s biggest state, home to a population of over 200 million people and accounting for 80 out of the 543 seats in the national parliament. When the BJP first selected Adityanath to be its chief minister after sweeping the state’s 2017 elections, many analysts were surprised. Adityanath had served as the head of a prominent Hindu seminary and had been indicted for threatening violence against Muslims. His extremism—Adityanath once called Muslims “twolegged animals” whose “production” needed to stop— was out of line with the party’s professed commitment to emphasizing economic development. But Adityanath’s attitude was indicative of the central government’s plans, and he has helped amplify Modi’s agenda. In late 2019, India passed new citizenship laws that distinguished Muslims and Christians from people belonging to religions that originated in India, namely Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. The laws, which threaten to strip citizenship from hundreds of millions of people, provoked widespread protests. Adityanath’s state government responded with harsh measures, including seizing property from demonstrators (a penalty that was halted by the Indian Supreme Court). Attacks on Muslims have increased across India since Modi took power, most recently during an April 10 outbreak of communal violence that coincided with a Hindu festival. But the upsurge has been particularly acute in Uttar Pradesh, where Adityanath has carried out a “law-and-order” policing campaign that disproportionally kills Muslims. Many analysts have chalked Adityanath’s reelection up to direct cash transfers and food deliveries to the poor during India’s severe lockdown. But this makes little sense; the BJP performed worst in some of the poorer regions of the state. And Adityanath’s win is part of a broader trend. Despite a sluggish national economy, the BJP has had a remarkable series of victories across the country, including Modi’s triumph at the federal level in 2014, his surprise overwhelming reelection in 2019, and a series of other state victories—many in places where Hindu nationalists had never before found success. Of the six state contests decided this February and March, the BJP won five. The secret to the BJP’s successes is far deeper—and far darker—than economics. For years, Hindu nationalists have worked to consolidate various parts of the faith into a unified political movement. They have very successfully organized high-caste Hindus, who sit at the top of the religion’s hierarchy and make up most of the Indian elite. But the party has managed to gain support from many marginalized, low-caste Hindus as well by emphasizing that they, too, belong within Hinduism and by providing them with representation, almost all in the party’s lower ranks. The BJP has also fostered and weaponized Islamophobia to great effect, further unifying the country’s 966 million Hindus while making life increasingly difficult for its nearly 200 million Muslims. The result has been a discriminatory political juggernaut that—as the state elections show—reaches its limits
A CENTURY IN THE MAKING: In 1925, a doctor from central India named Keshav Baliram Hedgewar established the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a far-right paramilitary group dedicated to creating a unified Hindu faith. From its inception, the group disdained Muslims and Christians, and its architects drew inspiration from European fascists as they built their organization. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the RSS’s leader from 1940 to 1973 (and still its most influential figure), endorsed Adolf Hitler’s Final Solution as a model for how India should deal with its Muslims. The Indian government briefly banned the organization in 1948, after a longtime member assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. But over the following decades, the RSS gained respectability as it found just slightly more subtle ways to menace Muslims. In 1983, for instance, the RSS, through one of its affiliate organizations, launched a movement to tear down a famous mosque in the Uttar Pradesh city of Ayodhya and replace it with a Hindu temple. Three years earlier, it created a new political party—the BJP—in order to contest and win elections. The BJP soon caught on at the state level, capitalizing, in part, on the Ayodhya temple movement. In 1991, it won an election in Uttar Pradesh for the first time. A year later, the state administration and police stood aside as a large mob led by senior party leaders illegally demolished the mosque. This violence did little to deter upper-caste Hindus—namely Brahmins (the traditional priestly caste), Kshatriyas, (the warrior caste), and Banias (the trading caste)—from becoming BJP supporters. They are a powerful bloc. Although these castes account for less than 15 per cent of the Indian population, they control much of the country’s intellectual life and its finances, and they have been attracted by the BJP’s message of Hindu greatness, which feeds directly into the selfimage of the upper castes (and which accompanies the party’s Islamophobia). Many also saw the BJP as a bulwark against various smaller parties that drew support from lower-caste groups. But the RSS also began building support among lower Hindu artisanal castes, and even among the traditionally oppressed Dalits. It has done so by taking advantage of the almost infinitely graded hierarchy of caste, working to get votes from the Hindu groups not well represented by India’s political parties. Even political parties that represent an overarching caste group, such as Dalits, tend to be dominated by the group’s largest member caste. This has allowed the BJP to reach out to other members and win them over. Although each such caste was not numerically very large, by accumulating support from many of them, the BJP was able to build a substantial political base. Indeed, even communities lying outside the fold of Brahminical Hinduism, such as India’s more than 75 million Adivasis—people who belong to the country’s aboriginal groups—have begun to support the BJP in large numbers over the past three decades. That is, again, thanks in part to the RSS’s efforts. Through its affiliates, the RSS has opened hundreds of schools among the Adivasis, and it has labored to inculcate a Hindu ethos in regions where it was largely absent. The organization has also worked with missionary zeal to try to match various Adivasi deities with members of the vast pantheon of Hindu gods, turning traditional Adivasi religious observance into a manifestation of Hinduism. notably, the RSS refuses to use the term “Adivasi” since it denotes original inhabitants, and the organization insists that the Indian subcontinent’s first people were Hindus. (Instead, the RSS refers to these aboriginal groups as Vanvasi, or forest dwellers.) Today, the RSS has tens of millions of members, making it perhaps the largest nongovernmental organization in the world. It is certainly one of the most powerful. The RSS lies at the center of a vast web of groups, including one of India’s largest trade unions. It boasts a students’ association, a teachers’ wing, a women’s wing, and a lawyers’ association. The BJP now has an annual income more than five times as large as its main political rival, and it is broadly backed by the media—in no small part because the press is largely controlled by upper castes. But even as it has grown, the ideological core of the RSS has remained unchanged. According to its doctrine, citizens of India must believe that their country is not just their motherland but also their holy land—a definition designed to leave out Muslims and Christians, whose most sacred locations lie elsewhere. The RSS has been named in many of the country’s most prominent cases of mob violence targeting both religious groups. In 2002, it helped carry out a violent pogrom against
Muslims in the state of Gujarat. At the time, Modi was the state’s chief minister. The violence has, in turn, further empowered the RSS. Modi won reelection in Gujarat by playing on antiMuslim violence, referring to relief camps for Muslim victims of the Gujarat pogroms as “baby producing factories.” He won reelection as prime minister by drumming up fears of Muslims entering India from Bangladesh. And his choice to lead Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath, won reelection by describing the contest as a battle between the 80 percent and the 20 percent: a clear reference to the state’s 40 million Muslims, who represent roughly 20 percent of the population. Adityanath’s “80 versus 20” language also illustrates his party’s national electoral strategy. Most of India, like most of Uttar Pradesh, is Hindu, so if the BJP can polarize the country along neat religious lines, it can easily win power. It is a strategy that appears to be succeeding. It is, after all, hard to come up with an alternative explanation for why Modi and Adityanath have stayed in office. In terms of secular governance, there is little that either has done that stands out. Since Modi came to power, the Indian economy has grown significantly more slowly than it did under his predecessor, and internationally the country is at a loss for ideas. China keeps squeezing India along the two countries’ long and poorly defined border. India’s continued dependence on increasingly outdated Russian arms, despite Modi’s repeated declarations that India must be self-reliant, has left the country unable to take a clear position on the Ukraine war. Adityanath, meanwhile, has presided over similarly lackluster growth and a humanitarian disaster. But for those who support the two leaders, such issues are secondary to their real achievements. As the RSS prepares to celebrate its centennial in 2025, its vision of a Hindu nation is more tangible than ever. Modi has trampled on the autonomy and rights of Indian Occupied Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state. His citizenship laws are marginalizing hundreds of millions of non-Hindus. Adityanath has aggressively persecuted his state’s Muslim population, as well. now that he will govern Uttar Pradesh past the RSS centennial, it seems likely that the organization will finally construct a massive temple in Ayodhya—at the exact site where the mosque was illegally brought down. MARGINAL AND MARGINALIZED: Can the RSS be stopped? There are certainly limits to its cultural project. Although the BJP overwhelmingly won the most recent batch of state elections, it overwhelmingly lost the northwestern state of Punjab, taking just two of its 117 seats. The reason for that is both clear and telling: over 60 percent of Punjab’s residents are Sikhs, for whom the promise of a “purified” Hindu nation holds little appeal. The BJP has also been effectively locked out of the southern state of Kerala, where more than 40 percent of the population practices a different faith, and where even the Hindus have a strong sense of a distinct cultural identity. Finally, it has been unable to break through in India’s southernmost state, Tamil nadu. This last state is an interesting case; among the regions that lie outside the BJP’s reach, it is the only one that is overwhelmingly Hindu. But, as in Kerala, Tamil nadu’s Hindus have a strong cultural identity of their own, and it is not within the RSS’s Brahminical vision.
These states, however, all fall on India’s periphery. Everywhere else, the BJP is either in power or not far from it, including in places where the party’s brand has long been toxic. In March 2021, for example, the BJP came in second in the eastern state of West Bengal, which traditionally leans left and has a Muslim population of nearly 30 percent. It is an accomplishment that is difficult to overstate. Before 2021, the party had never won more than three seats in its 294-person legislature, and it had not received more than 11.4 percent of the vote. In 2021, it won 77 seats and 38 percent, respectively. India’s core is already bigger than its outlying areas, and its population is growing faster than theirs. The current allocation of seats to the Indian Parliament is based on the 1971 census, and a long-overdue readjustment would have to give even greater weight to states such as Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is strong. Indeed, the BJP’s hold on power in India seems so secure, and so set to grow, that its ideology is unlikely to be challenged even by opposition political parties. Today, no organization can hope to seriously bid for power by alienating the expanding Hindu core of the country. It seems likely, then, that the RSS will eventually succeed in imposing its vision on dissenters—both those within its central states, such as the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh, and those who lie outside, such as the Sikhs and the Tamils. The result will be oppression on an enormous scale. More than 400 million people either do not subscribe to Hinduism or do not practice the kind of Hinduism that the RSS holds supreme. They will nonetheless be subject to what is, ultimately, an imperial project that attempts to homogenize the Hindu population while ensuring that India’s Muslims and Christians are relegated to second-class citizenship. For regions in the periphery, this will mean the constant threat of forced cultural assimilation. For instance, the country’s home minister has announced that Hindi will be made compulsory until tenth grade (class 10) in the country’s northeast, which has no real links with the language. It will also mean a constant risk of facing economic exploitation. Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil nadu far outperform India’s core on almost all development indicators, and the Indian union, where finances are centralized, already transfers these states’ wealth and resources to the areas which are doing far worse—and where today the BJP gets most of its support. This process will only be aggravated. For the Muslims within the core, the situation is set to worsen. They will face increasing political and economic marginalization, the constant threat of mob violence, and the constant threat of state violence. The ultimate result will be their complete disempowerment. For the BJP, this disempowerment is both an ends and a means. The whole project of a Hindu nation has little meaning if it is not juxtaposed against an Islamic threat from within. Ironically, this means that even as the BJP seeks to reach out to the Dalits—the former untouchables—and bring them within the fold of Hinduism, it is succeeding in creating a new set of untouchables: the Muslims of India. HARTOSH SINGH BAL is the Political Editor of The Caravan in New Delhi and the author of Waters Close Over Us: A Journey Along the Narmada.
Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
ECP rEjECts PlEA frOm BAlOChIstAn gOvt tO POstPOnE lg POlls
corporate corner
ISLAMABAD
CEO Descon Engineering Limited Taimur Saeed received an award for Best Supplier fom SABIC. pr
I2C Powers American Express Payment network for fintechs And fis Around the globe KARACHI: American Express and i2c Inc, a provider of digital payment and banking technology, today announced an expanded global, multi-product agreement that will enable fintechs and financial institutions around the world to develop and scale innovative payments solutions for consumers and businesses on the American Express global payments network. The agreement signals that the American Express network is ‘open for business’ with fintechs by creating a plug-and-play onboarding platform to bring innovative products to market at speed. The Amex/i2c platform also gives fintechs access to American Express’ unique benefits including Amex Offers, the Resy dining program, and exclusive access to ticket presales, as well as leading protections and fraud mitigation capabilities. With i2c and American Express, fintechs will get access to pre-certified partners, including bank issuing BIN sponsors, making it faster and simpler to bring their payment innovations to market. pr
4,455 vehicles with tinted glasses fined ongoing Year during special campaign
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staff report
HE Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday rejected a plea from Balochistan government to postpone local government elections in the province. During the hearing, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja said that the ECP could not withdraw its decision to hold local government elections and if the provincial authorities will make an excuse then the matter would be taken up with the Supreme Court of Pakistan. “Shall we tell the apex court that the provincial authorities are not cooperating with the election commission
ISLAMABAD Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of the Naval Staff, Pakistan Navy visited PAF Air War College Institute, Faisal today. On his arrival, he was received by Air Vice Marshal Hussain Ahmed Siddiqui, President Air War College Institute. The Chief Guest congratulated the
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) fined 4,455 vehicles having tinted glasses ongoing year during special Campaign while special enforcement squads have been constituted for effective action against those vehicles having tinted glasses. Following directions of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younis, ITP has accelerated efforts to take action against those vehicles having tinted glasses. Special enforcement squads have been constituted for the purpose which has been also directed to remove tinted glasses from vehicles. Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Mazhar Iqbal has also urged the citizens to follow. He also appealed to avoid using tinted glasses and follow traffic rules to ensure safe road environment in the city. He has directed to take strict action against the tinted glass vehicles as per law with a purpose to eliminate the VIP culture. The SSP ordered to check every violation and issue violation ticket to every violator. "The elimination of VIP culture and equal application of law are our main objectives which would be achieved at every cost," he maintained. He also directed his staff to continue education campaign and inculcate traffic sense among the road users along with the enforcement of law. He also stressed the need to bridge the gap between police and public through polite attitude and by demonstrating sense of responsibility. The SSP (Traffic) said that this campaign will remain continue in the coming days to curb this violation effectively. The SSP said that Zonal In-Charge would be solely responsible if any vehicle with tinted glasses was observed on roads. He directed officials of police squads to accelerate action against tinted glass vehicles and said that he would himself review the performance on regular basis in this regard. pr
for holding local bodies election?” asked the CEC.
AWCI team for achieving the educational standards worthy of an institute of the highest caliber meeting the modern challenges in aerial warfare. Addressing the Air War Course participants, CNS paid rich tribute to the role and sacrifices of the Pakistan Armed Forces for the defence and security of motherland. He said that we must keep abreast to the emerging technology and
Pakistan has reported no death in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has risen to 1,526,952. The nationwide tally of fatalities stands at 30,362 on Thursday. According to the latest figures by the National Institute of Health (NIH), at least 123 persons were tested positive for COVID-19 across the country in the past 24 hours. Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khy-
should make endeavors to deal with the grey hybrid conflicts, coercion and cyber warfare. He further stated that without jointness, military objectives cannot be achieved in the wake of rapid transformation in today’s warfare. PAF Air War College Institute is the prestigious institution of Pakistan Air Force, where mid-level officers of Pakistan Armed Forces and friendly countries are prepared for assumption of key Command and Staff appointments. The course participants are exposed to over a hundred subject matter experts including: Civil & Military Professionals, Diplomats, Scholars / Academicians, Lawyers, Industrialists, Scientists, Economists and Media Personnel. Exclusive Interaction with foreign faculty and strategists is also ensured to provide depth and academic rigor to the course
26,000 teachers apply for transfers in Punjab LAHORE staff report
As many as 26,000 teachers in Punjab applied for transfers to different cities of the province, it was reported on Thursday. The last date to apply for transfer for the teachers was April 13. As many as 16,000 female teachers and 12,553 male teachers applied on open merit for transfers. About 9,000 applied for transfers in accordance with the wedlock policy. About 2,100 teachers who got promotions also applied for transfers. As many as 2,115 teachers
applied under mutual transfer category. School education department
Pakistan reports 123 COVID-19 cases, no death in 24 hours ISLAMABAD
Sikandar Sultan Raja further shared that they were in coordination
Chief of the Naval Staff visits paf air War College Institute
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staff report
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ber Pakhtunkhwa. Till now 13,559 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 8,097 in Sindh, 6,322 in KP, 1,023 in Islamabad, 792 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in GB. Furthermore 576,469 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 505,528 in Punjab, 219,308 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 135,141 in Islamabad, 43,303 in Azad Kashmir, 35,481 in Balochistan and 11,722 in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan has so far conducted 27,830,633 coronavirus tests and 24,792 in
the last 24 hours. 1,487,144 patients have recovered in the country whereas 259 patients are in critical condition. The COVID-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 0.49 percent. So far, 133,700,569 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 52,317 in last 24 hours. 120,246,974 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 114,127 received their second dose in last 24 hours. The number of total administered doses has reached to 243,800,641 with 182,469 in the last 24 hours.
said that applicants’ verification has been kicked off and all transfer orders will be issued by April 23.
with law enforcing authorities and the provincial authorities should not worry regarding the law order situation. “Tell us under which law shall we postpone the elections?” the CEC asked the counsel representing the Balochistan government. Another ECP official during the hearing said that the apex court has clearly stated that the ECP was responsible for holding elections in the province. “We have completed delimitation process in the Balochistan province,” the special secretary of the ECP said. The CEC further said that the general elections are currently not in sight and they have to implement the Constitution with regard to local bodies elections.
Power suspension schedules for today ISLAMABAD pr
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 15th April, 06:00am to 10:00am Bella Road, Shakreela, Sangohi, Nathwala, Safder Shaheed, Mashine Mohallah, Langer pur, Japan Road feeders, On 16th April, 06:00am to 10:00am, Chara, Pipli, Balkasar, Karyala 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.
AIOU: Admissions to close on April 18, examinations begins from 25th ISLAMABAD: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has set April 18 as last date for 2nd phase admissions for the semester Spring, 2022. Programs offered at this stage include: Associate Degree Programs, B.Ed, BS, BA, BBA, Postgraduate Diploma Programs and Certificate Courses. Admission forms and prospectuses for all the programs are available online at the University website www.aiou.edu.pk. According to the Controller of Examinations, Dr. Muhammad Ajmal Ch final examinations of BA (Associate Degree), Associate Degree in Education, Associate Degree in Commerce, Associate Degree in (Human Resource Management, Islamic Banking and Marketing), B.Ed, BBA, BS Accounting and Finance and Certificate courses will start simultaneously across the country from 25th April and will continue till 22nd June. Date-sheet has been uploaded on the University's website (www.aiou.edu.pk) while roll number slips have also been uploaded on students' CMS portals. The University has set up examination centers have been set up across the country to facilitate students at the nearest places of their residence and wok. pr
Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
10 FORIGEN NEWS
IndIa open to addItIonal $2 bln aId for SrI lanka wIth eye on ChIna: SourCeS
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AgEncIES
NDIA is willing to commit up to another $2 billion in financial assistance to Sri Lanka while also supporting the island nation with food and fuel, five sources told Reuters, as New Delhi tries to regain ground lost to China in recent years. Sri Lanka, hit by its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 and on the brink of its first debt default, has been asking friendly nations including India and China for credit lines, food and energy. The Asian giants have already committed billions of dollars in financial support. “We are definitely looking to help them out and are willing to offer more swap lines and loans,” said an Indian source aware of various discussions with Sri Lanka. A senior government source in New Delhi said Sri Lanka’s warning on Tuesday of defaulting on debt payments was a worry,
but that “we can still give them up to $2 billion in swaps and support”. read more Another source familiar with Sri Lanka’s thinking said it was seeking India’s help to roll over some $2 billion in dues, such as those owed to the South Asia-focussed Asian Clearing Union. The source said the response had been positive from India. All the sources had direct knowledge of the matter or had been briefed on it, but they declined to be named as the discussions were private. India’s government and its central bank, as well as Sri Lanka’s foreign and finance ministries, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. India has so far committed $1.9 billion to Sri Lanka in loans, credit lines and currency swaps. Sri Lanka has also sought another $500 million credit line for fuel. China has extended a $1.3 billion syndicated loan and a $1.5 billion-yuan denominated swap, while negotiations are ongoing
for more loans and credit lines. One of the sources said New Delhi was keen for its southern neighbour to cut its reliance on China. Sri Lanka has an outstanding debt of about $3.5 billion with China – or 10.8% of the island’s total – and Beijing has also built ports and roads in the country. “We want them to reduce their debt levels from China and we want to become stronger partners,” said the source. CUTTING TIES: India has also sent ships with sugar, rice and wheat – items of which it has a surplus, unlike China – to Sri Lanka ahead of the country’s Sinhala and Tamil New Year on Thursday. Four of the sources said though New Delhi had not formally made cutting Sri Lanka’s reliance on Beijing a condition for offering help, it had been able to make the Sri Lankans realise that it was in a better position to support them than China. Sri Lanka is due to formally start loan
negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on Monday, and one of the Indian sources said that would be critical in New Delhi agreeing to more aid for the country. Sri Lanka’s central bank said on Tuesday it had become “challenging and im-
Paris attacks suspect says he changed his mind at last moment PARIS AFP
The last surviving suspected assailant in the deadly 2015 Paris attacks told a court Wednesday that he changed his mind about going through with the killings at the last moment. “The objective I was given was to go to a cafe in the 18th” district in northern Paris, Salah Abdeslam told the special Paris court hearing the case. “I’m going into the cafe, I’m ordering a drink, I’m looking at the people around me — and I said to myself: ‘No, I’m not going to do it’,” he added. For the plaintiffs in the case, including the loved ones of victims of the November 2015 attacks that killed 130 people, this was testimony they had been waiting months to hear. Abdeslam, 32, said he was told about plans for the attack in Paris on November 11, two days before they were carried out. That happened at a meeting in Charleroi, in Belgium, with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is accused of having masterminded the attacks. Until then, said Abdeslam, he thought he was going to be sent to Syria. Instead, he was told he had been chosen to carry out an attack using an explosive belt. ‘A shock for me’: “It was a shock for me, but he ended up by convincing me,” he added. “I ended up accepting and saying,
‘Okay, I’ll go ahead with it’.” But at that meeting, he was given no details about the targets for the attack. When he ultimately did not go through with the attack, he told the court how he took his car and drove around Paris at random until it broke down. Then he got out and walked, he said, say-
ing his memories of that period were “confused”. Pressed by the president of the court Jean-Louis Peries, he said only that he knew what he had been supposed to do. “My brother, he had a belt, a Kalashnikov, I know he’s going to open fire, I know he’s going to blow himself up, but I didn’t know the targets.”
The attackers killed 130 people in suicide bombings and shootings at the Stade de France stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and on street terraces of bars and restaurants on November 13, 2015, in France’s worst peacetime atrocity. Abdeslam’s older brother Brahim opened fire on a cafe terrace before blowing himself up. Earlier in court, another defendant, Mohamed Abrini, said Abdeslam simply had not had the nerve to go through with the attack. Abrini, who is accused of having provided weapons and logistical support to the attackers, said he had seen Abdeslam when he turned up at a safe house a day after the attacks. “He was exhausted, tired, he looked pale,” said Abrini. One of the organisers of the attacks had yelled at him for not having blown himself up. “I think he told them that his belt hadn’t worked,” said Abrini. Abdeslam told the court last month that in fact, he had ben lying about the malfunction. After surviving the attack, Abdeslam fled to the Molenbeek district of Brussels where he grew up. He was captured in March 2016. Alongside Abdeslam, co-defendants are answering charges ranging from providing logistical support to planning the attacks, as well as supplying weapons.
Bolsonaro downplays Brazil army’s Viagra order BRASILIA AFP
President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday downplayed the Brazilian military’s recent purchase of Viagra, which drew scrutiny from opposition lawmakers and a flurry of jokes online. “It was maybe 50,000 pills total. With all
due respect, that’s nothing,” the far-right president said at a meeting with Evangelical Christian ministers at the presidential palace, two days after revelations the armed forces had purchased a sizeable order of sildenafil, the active ingredient in the erectile-dysfunction drug. “Obviously, that’s mostly for retirees and inactive service members,” he added, repeating the defense ministry’s explanation that
the drug would in fact be used by the military to treat high blood pressure and rheumatism. Bolsonaro, a former army captain, did not comment on the military’s latest titterprovoking episode: news on Tuesday that it had also acquired 60 penile implants. But he attacked the media for swelling the whole thing out of proportion. “We take abuse every day from a press
that acts in very bad faith and is ignorant on the matter,” he said. The purchases were revealed by an opposition lawmaker who obtained the details through a freedom of information request. They triggered no shortage of jokes on social media, where bemused users shared drawings of tanks with limp cannons and cracks about upping the military’s morale.
possible” to repay external debt, as it tries to use its dwindling foreign exchange reserves to import essentials like fuel. Street protests have gone on for more than a month against shortages of fuel, food, power and medicine.
thousands form human chain hailing un designation of March 15 as antiIslamophobia day ISLAMABAD AnAdolu Agency
Thousands of Pakistanis formed a human chain on Thursday to commend the UN for declaring March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The event took place in the Jhang district of the northeastern Punjab province under the umbrella of the Muslim Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank, which has long been voicing against Islamophobia. Donned in white shalwar-kameez (long shirt and loose trousers), the participants demonstrated different formations, including “Thank You UN”, and ” Islam is Peace” stretching 100 feet (30 meters) each in length and breadth. Flags of 57 Muslim countries were prominently arranged around the UN logo. On March 15, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution designating March 15 International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The resolution was introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It marks the day when a gunman entered two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 victims and injuring 40 others on March 15, 2019. Addressing the event, Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali, the chief organizer of the event, observed that the rising tide of Islamophobia, particularly in the West, poses a serious threat to humanity and world peace. Thanking the UN for adopting the resolution, he urged the OIC to adopt a convention on combating Islamophobia. The nonMuslim countries, he opined, may later be encouraged to ratify the proposed convention.
Jerusalem’s Christian churches resist Israeli settlers JERUSALEM AFP
Churches in Jerusalem are up in arms against Jewish “radicals” who are settling in the Christian Quarter and threatening a fragile religious balance in the ancient Holy City. “We have a major problem here,” said Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is split into historic Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters. “Jerusalem also has her Christian character, and that is what is threatened,” he told AFP, as Christian worshippers readied for Easter celebrations.
The patriarch charged that hardline Jewish settlers, known for a push to take over properties of Palestinian families, are also waging a campaign for control of Christianowned lands. “Those radicals are driven by their ideology,” Theophilus III said. “Their ideology is the syndrome of messianism, when they claim ‘we want to redeem the Holy Land from the profanes’.” The nationalist settler group Ateret Cohanim has worked to “Judaise” east Jerusalem — a Palestinian sector illegally annexed by Israel according to the UN — by purchasing real estate through front companies and then moving Jewish settlers in.
Since 2005, the group and the Orthodox church have been engaged in a complex legal wrangle over ownership of an Old City hostel at the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Christian Quarter. The dispute took a fresh turn on March 27, when settlers took over part of the Petra Hotel by “breaking and entering”, according to the Greek Orthodox Church. Theophilus III said the Israeli government “promised us that they will try their best to deal with this issue, and put pressure on those radical groups to get out”. But, after more than two weeks, the settlers are still there, he said. “It seems that the state doesn’t have the
power or the will to (put pressure) on those people,” he added. ‘Big, big drama’ Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli anti-settler group Peace Now, said the dispute is “a big, big drama, because it’s such a strategic place at the entrance to the Christian Quarter, a huge compound where they can bring hundreds of settlers.” Ofran warned that “if they succeed, this is changing the whole character of the Old City — and of course of the Christian Quarter.” About 300 Jewish settlers already live in the Christian Quarter. The churches have voiced alarm about the trend, as well as acts of vandalism and anti-Christian aggression, arguing the prob-
lem extends beyond the ancient heart of Jerusalem. On the outskirts of the Old City, on the Mount of Olives where several prominent churches stand, Israel plans to expand a park that will encroach on land belonging to Christian institutions. The three communities concerned — Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Franciscan — sent a strongly worded letter to the authorities in February. “In recent years, we cannot help but feel that various entities are seeking to minimise, not to say eliminate, any non-Jewish characteristics of the Holy City by attempting to alter the status quo on the holy mountain,” they wrote.
Friday, 15 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD
SPORTS 11
Zverev cruises into Monte cArLo LAst 16, ALcArAZ crAshes out MOnTe cARLO
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reuters
ORLD number three Alexander Zverev outclassed Federico Delbonis 6-1 7-5 in Monte Carlo on Wednesday to reach the last 16 of the Masters tournament after top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Felix-Auger Aliassime crashed out. Zverev, who took to the court as the highest-ranked player remaining in the tournament, lost the first four points of the match but breezed through the first set in just over 20 minutes and dropped only three points on serve. The 24-year-old was tested by Delbonis in the second, fighting back from 2-4 down and winning the next 11 points to move within a game of victory before converting his third match point. “It’s not bad for a change of surface after
Miami, you have to take that into consideration a little bit. I’m happy with the win,” said Zverev, who lost to Norwegian Casper Ruud in the quarter-final of the hardcourt event. The German’s best run in the Principality tournament was 2018 when he reached the semi-finals, while he exited last year in the third round. “I know that I have to play much better,” Zverev added. “This is the only Masters on clay that I haven’t won. I’m very motivated to do that and hope I can show it on court this week. Earlier, unseeded American Sebastian Korda mastered the windy conditions to topple world number 11 Alcaraz 7-6(2) 6-7(5) 6-3 in an entertaining battle that lasted just over three hours, with both players struggling for rhythm. “After losing to a Spaniard in Indian Wells and serving for it, it was nice to get a victory today,” said the 21-year-old Korda,
who pushed Rafa Nadal to a third-set tiebreak at the California tournament. “It was a crazy match!” Korda will take on compatriot and Indian Wells winner Taylor Fritz after he beat former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 63 4-6 6-4 while Zverev will face Pablo Carreno Busta, who advanced after Alexander Bublik retired in the third set. Miami Open champion Alcaraz followed top seed Novak Djokovic out of the tournament and was joined by Auger-Aliassime as the Canadian world number nine fell 6-2 76(2) to an inspired Lorenzo Mussett in front of a raucous crowd. Last year’s finalist Andrey Rublev prevailed 2-6 6-1 6-4 over Alex de Minaur, fourth seed Ruud saw off Holger Rune 76(5) 7-5 and Jannik Sinner got past Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5 6-3 in other second-round matches.
Dale Steyn names Babar Azam as best batsman across all formats news Desk Legendary South African pacer Dale Steyn has voiced his opinion regarding the debate of who is currently the best batsman right now. Steyn conducted a Q&A session on Twitter on Thursday afternoon where he answered a number of fans who asked him all sorts of questions. One question which attracted Steyn was regarding the best batsmen across all formats. His response was direct and to the point; he named Babar Azam and added, “he is pretty darn good.” Babar Azam has risen to prominence in the world of cricket and his name has been on everyone’s list. Earlier today, Shane Watson named Babar as his second-best batsman in Test cricket ahead of Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root. Babar’s performances have remained sensational across all formats and his display in the recently concluded Australian series also attracted high praise from legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
Rashid Latif calls Babar Azam as Bradman and Lara of this era news Desk Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has made a bold claim by calling current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam as the Don Bradman and Brian Lara of this era. The 53-year-old also went on to label the 27year-old ahead of the Pakistan legends like Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq “I had tweeted back in 2019. We were on the tour of England. I had written everyone’s name whom I had played with – Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Yousuf, Younus, Saqlain. But he is ahead of them all. I am talking about a long time ago. He’s obviously become a big player since”, Latif said on Cricket Den’s YouTube channel. “We can’t compare because here I’m not only talking about Babar. All these guys, Virat, Rohit, Williamson – all these cricketers who are playing
ODIs, they are batting with 10 fielders”. Latif also stated that only one batter in Pakistan is better than Azam and he named former opening batter Saeed Anwar. “I’ll talk about Saeed (Anwar). There hasn’t been a batter quite like him. Undoubtedly, the No.1 batter Pakistan has ever produced. I have seen him from close quarters and trust me, he was a charismatic player. He hardly would practice. So, to compare eras wouldn’t be fair”, he said. “Today there are five fielders inside the circle. Back then, there used to be four. Anwar or Inzamam would eat the bowlers if one fielder was less outside the circle. They were greats of that era. He (Babar) is the Bradman and Lara of this era. That’s the thing”, he further added. Since making his debut in 2015, Babar has registered 2851 runs in 40 Test matches for Pakistan and has bagged 4261 runs in 86 ODI fix-
Iniesta won pretty much everything with Barcelona and Spain but the legendary midfielder risks seeing out the tail end of his glittering career in the mire of a relegation dogfight. The 37-year-old joined big-spending Vissel Kobe in Japan in 2018 after making more than 600 appearances for Barcelona, where he won the Champions League four times and scooped nine La Liga titles. But the 2010 World Cup winner is now facing the possibility that he could become embroiled in a relegation battle for the first
time in his storied career unless his side can quickly turn their season around. Vissel have made a disastrous start to the J-League campaign and sit one spot off the foot of the table after failing to win in 10 games so far. Iniesta has looked badly off the pace at times and suffered the indignity of being nutmegged in the build-up to an FC Tokyo goal last week as Vissel threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 3-1. They fired manager Atsuhiro Miura last month and replaced him with Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Lotina, a man whose CV includes relegations with five different clubs in his home country. “Where we’ve been coming up short is that we haven’t been
news Desk Australia’s historic tour of Pakistan brought a lot of joy to the fans as they welcomes the Aussies with open arms, while players also left the country with many joyful memories. One of the fans’ favorite was No.1 ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne. Altough, he didn’t manage to put up exempelary performances, his name was on the tongue of almost every Pakistan because of his wholesome attitude. In the 39th episode of PCB Podcast, the 27-year-old called Pakistan tour an ‘eye-opening experience’ and how the country exceeded his expectations. “It’s been an amazing tour. The Pakistani people have really accepted the Australian (cricket) team. It was like a home game with the amount of crowd noise we’ve got in some of the matches,” Labuschagne said. “It’s been really an eye-opening experience as well, to what Pakistan’s like, obviously when you, haven’t been to a country, there’s a lot of speculation. You obviously paint a picture in your mind but, the country itself as far exceeded my expectations in terms of the picture and what the people are about,” he added. He revealed that he made new friends in the Pakistan side. “Cricket on the field has been really hard and competitive. But there’s been such great times and I’ve had a really good time with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan, even Abdullah Shafique and Imam-Ul-Haq when they’re batting. It’s been really exciting and enjoyable that you can play a series where it’s competitive, but also friendly. Off the field, you can have a laugh about things that have happened and stuff like that.” It must be noted that Australia won the Test series 1-0 but faced a defeat in three-match ODI series by 2-1. The visitors claimed a win in one-off T20I.
Faisalabad man arrested for threatening Australia cricket team FAisALABAD Monitoring report
tures. Meanwhile, he has also made 2686 runs in 74 T20I outings.
Iniesta’s Japan move turns sour Agencies
“Felt like playing at home” Marnus Labuschagne on Pakistan tour
making the most of our chances and we haven’t been able to see games out defensively either,” Iniesta, who lifted 32 major trophies with Barcelona, said earlier this season. “All we can do is keep looking for a win and keep trying to improve,” said the midfielder, who turns 38 next month. It was not supposed to be like this when he moved to the port city of Kobe in 2018 from Barcelona on a three-year deal worth a reported $30 million a year. In May last year he signed a two-year extension for what will surely be his final contract as a player.
CMYK
Faisalabad police on Thursday arrested a man for allegedly threatening to hurt the Qantas cricket team during a phone call to the interior ministry of Australia. According to police, Irfan, a resident of the Sarfraz Colony neighbourhood, had made a phone call to the ministry and threatened to hurt the visiting team. Rana Mazhar ul-Haq, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Ghulam Muhammad Abad police station, arrested the accused on the report of the special branch, recovering the cell phone which he had used to make the call. A further investigation against him was underway.
Vissel are Japan’s richest club and are owned by tech billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, the head of e-commerce giant Rakuten. Iniesta has lined up at Vissel alongside German World Cup-winner Lukas Podolski and former Spain teammate David Villa, and now plays with ex-Barcelona pair Bojan Krkic and Sergi Samper. But Iniesta has found success hard to come by in Japan, with an Emperor’s Cup win in 2019 the only trophy he has managed to add to his massive collection. Lotina, who took charge for the first time in Vissel’s 1-0 defeat to Cerezo Osaka on Sunday, is aware he has a big job on his hands. “We are getting information from people at the club to find out what has happened to put us in this situation,” Lotina said after his new job was unveiled last week. “When this happens it’s usually not for
one reason, but several reasons.” Iniesta and Vissel will hope to spark their dismal season to life when they head to Thailand to play in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, with their first game on Tuesday against Hong Kong’s Kitchee. They will also face the host country’s Chiangrai United, but not Shanghai Port, who withdrew this week because of a tough lockdown imposed on the Chinese city to fight a coronavirus surge. Lotina believes Vissel “still have time” to haul their season back from the brink of disaster and it would be a shock if they fail to top their Champions League group. “We haven’t had much time and I wasn’t able to do everything that I wanted to, but today’s game has been very useful for me to see how we can improve from now on,” Lotina said after Sunday’s defeat.
Friday, 15 April, 2022
prayer timings
NEWS
‘BroAdSheet did Not teNder AN APology to NAWAz ShArif’: NAB Chief ShoCKS PAC ISLAMABAD
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ATIONAL Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal shocked the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday when he claimed that the man who had apologised to former premier Nawaz Sharif had no connection with the UK-based asset recovery firm Broadsheet LLC. Without naming the CEO of asset recovery firm Broadsheet, Kaveh Moussavi, the anti-corruption watchdog said that Broadsheet had not apologised to Sharif and the one doing so was someone else, adding he didn’t want to go into details and interfere in politics. “Broadsheet has not apologised; the one who has apologised is someone else,” the chairman of the NAB chief said, adding that, “basically, he [Moussavi] has no connection with Broadsheet”. The revelation came during the PAC meeting when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s leader Khawaja Asif asked Javed Iqbal if he could share the breakdown of Broadsheet inquiries over the years.
Iqbal replied he was ready to provide a complete breakdown of Broadsheet inquiries but asked that the report of Broadsheet Inquiry Commission, prepared by Supreme Court Justice (retd) Azmat Saeed Sheikh, be first read as it had addressed the issues in detail, saying if anything was left to be answered then he would. Following the report, Asif highlighted that the head of the Broadsheet had apologised to Sharif on grounds that Broadsheet couldn’t find anything against him, but Iqbal denied the same. When Asif emphasised that the man making the apology had been associated with Broadsheet for a long time, Iqbal replied that he didn’t want to go into details and interfere in politics. A few seconds later, he assured Asif he would satisfy the concerns regarding the query by providing every detail but once again asked for the commission’s report to be read. He also clarified that Broadsheet was contacted years before he took charge as the NAB chairman. Admitting the fact, Asif said he wanted to know how many cases were registered and probes were ordered, convictions were secured and how
Bilawal struggles in defending Pakistani dynastic politics during CNN interview Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari struggled to defend the practice of dynastic politics in Pakistan during an exclusive interview with CNN’s journalist Becky Anderson. During the live interview, the PPP chairman was asked whether the criticism regarding political dynasties in Pakistan is valid, to which Bilawal replied that such dynasties exist elsewhere, comparing the situation to Hillary Clinton’s political aspirations after her husband, Bill Clinton, had served as the 42nd President of the United States. Interrupting him, Anderson stated, “no, that is not a good answer, it was a really important question”. Bilawal then struggled to reply to the question, vehemently stating one can criticize nepotism but ultimately “who the people decide they want, that is what matters”. The PPP leader then proceeded to divert the question back to Imran Khan’s party and countered that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is rife with dynastic politics. “In his [Imran Khan] federal and provincial representatives, he relies heavily on Pakistan’s dynastic families.” Bilawal then stated that he was forced into Pakistani politics, “I didn’t choose this life, it chose me.” He recounted that his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by a military dictator and his mother, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by terrorists. As the interview drew to an end, the PPP leader stated, “for whatever reason people end up doing politics, we believe in democracy”. Earlier during the interview, Bilawal was asked whether he could confirm the speculation surrounding his post as foreign minister, to which he declined to answer. The PPP leader admitted it was “difficult” for his party, the second-largest within the coalition government, to accept him as working with their main political rival, the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N). “However, whatever the party decides will be in the better interest of the country.” staff report
much recovery was made with the help of Broadsheet. “I just want these few details,” he said at which Iqbal quipped that the details being sought would be enough for writing a book, assuring he would provide the same. Recently, Moussavi had issued an apology to the PML-N supreme leader through a video interview with a private TV channel for allegations of corruption. “We found a lot of plundered wealth [linked to others], but I can categorically state after virtually 21 years of investigation that not one rupee was related to Mr Nawaz Sharif or any member of his family. If anyone says otherwise they are lying,” he said. “I have no hesitation in issuing an apology to the former prime minister for my being party to a scam and scandalous nonsense masquerading at the National Accountability Bureau,” Moussavi said, adding, “NAB is a fraud through and through.” Broadsheet was contacted by former military ruler General Musharraf to probe political opponents, including the Sharifs, years ago. AMenDMentS to nAB LAw: Meanwhile, Javed Iqbal also spoke about the suggestion that the new government should bin NAB or amend the
National Accountability Bureau Ordinance of 1999, saying “amendments are always proposed keeping personal interests and cases in view”. Iqbal urged that his suggestions based on his experiences should also be taken if it is finally decided that the law should be amended. “Amendments to NAB Ordinance should be based on how much help would it provide in eradicating corruption,” Iqbal said, “it shouldn’t be the reason of change that who will get how much benefit.” He said that parliament should strengthen NAB via legislation. Recently, senior PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi urged the new government to dissolve NAB, saying its chairman was “fully under the control” of former premier Imran Khan. Abbasi had also advised the government to hold its officials accountable who allegedly tortured and looted people for years during the PTI regime. He had also said that the NAB chief used to take instructions from the previous government, and a member of Imran’s cabinet used to direct the bureau chief to lodge fake cases against the opposition.
IHC orders FIA to stop harassing PTI’s social media activists, workers ISLAMABAD staff report
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to not harass the PTI’s social media activists and party workers. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued the orders to the watchdog while presiding over the hearing for a petition submitted by the PTI’s Ali Nawaz Awan. The petition had mentioned the federation of Pakistan, inspector generals for Punjab and Islamabad, FIA’s director general (DG) and its Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) director as respondents. The petition had requested the court to order the respondents to stop the harassment of and conduct illegal raids on the PTI’s party workers, to refrain from violating the honour and privacy of the workers’ families and to declare the FIA and police’s actions as illegal. Among other directions, while hearing the case, Justice Minallah summoned the CCW director tomorrow and ordered the DG FIA to strictly
implement standard operating procedures. He said the court would have listened to the matter even if it was brought up at night. Awan was represented in the court via his counsel Advocate Faisal Chaudhry. “You know how the court dealt with the FIA?” Justice Minallah asked Chaudhry, referring to the court’s actions while hearing matters related to the Peca Ordinance. Chaudhry claimed that those behind such activities and actions against PTI supporters were supporting the present government. To this, the chief justice remarked that Chaudhry had said something which could have dual meaning. The PTI counsel said actions was being taken against the party’s supporters following the change in government after Imran Khan’s ouster via a noconfidence vote. “FIA conducted two raids on the house of [PTI’s] social media head Dr Arsalan Khalid,” he recalled. Chaudhry wondered due to what allegations and under which law the FIA had conducted the raid on Dr Khalid’s residence.
Resignations of 123 PTI lawmakers accepted by acting NA speaker: Farrukh PTI leader Farrukh Habib on Thursday said the resignations of 123 legislators of his party had been accepted by acting speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Suri. A notification has also been issued in this regard, the ex-minister said in a tweet. Habib, a former state minister in the recently dissolved government of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, said general elections had now become inevitable in the country after the acceptance of resignations submitted by the PTI lawmakers. In all, the PTI has 155 members in the 272member House, of them, 20 are dissidents who
have been served notices by the party. The decision of the remaining 12 lawmakers remains unclear. Meanwhile, former prime minister Khan has written a letter to the ECP, saying that no member of the PTI should be nominated to any committee as the party lawmakers had already tendered their resignations from the lower house of the parliament on April 11. “In the wake of foreign intervention into internal affairs of Pakistan and the events and circumstances related thereto, PTI decided not to be the part of the ultra-constitutional exercise of regime change and formation of an imported government,” he wrote in the letter. staff report
FAJR SUNRISE
ZUHR
ASR MAGHRIB ISHA
4:15
12:09
3:47
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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
Soldier matryred in North Waziristan ISLAMABAD: During an operation in North Waziristan, a soldier was martyred Wednesday night, the ISPR said. “On 13 April 22, fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists in general area Isham, North Waziristan District. Own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location. However, during intense exchange of fire, Sepoy Asmatullah Khan (age 28 years, resident of Mianwali), having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat,” the statement said. The statement added that sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area. “Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR concluded. staff report
Qasim Suri delays NA session for electing new speaker till April 22 ISLAMABAD: Acting Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Thursday changed the schedule of the lower house session from April 16 to April 22 apparently to delay the election of the new National Assembly speaker. “The National Assembly session, which was scheduled to be held at 4pm on April 16, will now be held at 3pm on April 22,” said an official handout. “The change in the schedule has been made by the acting speaker under Rule 49(2) of the Rules and Procedure for the Conduct of the Business in the National Assembly 2007,” it added. Earlier, a schedule for the election of National Assembly Speaker had been released according to which the new speaker of the assembly was to be elected on April 16. The nomination papers were to be submitted and scrutinised on April 15. It is pertinent to mention here that former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser had resigned from his position a few days ago apparently for his reluctance to preside over the assembly session that removed Imran Khan as the leader of the House through a vote of no-confidence. staff report
PM Shehbaz says ‘Pakistan wants to take multifaceted relationship with UK to next level’ Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Thursday his UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, for offering him felicitations on holding the office of the prime minister, saying he wants to take the multifaceted relationship with UK to the next level. A day earlier, PM Johnson congratulated PM Shehbaz and said that he wanted to work with Pakistan’s newly elected premier. “The UK & Pakistan have a longstanding relationship and our people share deep ties. I look forward to working together on areas of shared interest,” the UK’s PM had said. On Sunday, following the ouster of PTI chairman Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif was elected as Pakistan’s 23rd PM. Responding to the UK PM’s statement, PM Shehbaz vowed to expand the bilateral ties and strong friendship between the two countries. “Thank you Mr. Prime Minister for your message of felicitation. Pakistan and UK share deep-rooted & broad-based ties. I look forward to working closely with you to further expand our longstanding friendship & take our multifaceted relationship to the next level,” said PM Shehbaz. On Sunday, Shehbaz took oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Since then, congratulatory messages from heads of state around the world have started pouring in for PM Shehbaz. In the wee hours of Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and vowed to continue cooperation with the new Pakistan government. Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had also congratulated Shehbaz on becoming the 23rd premier of Pakistan. staff report
Imran Khan approaches SC to impose lifetime ban on dissident lawmakers Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan approached the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking a lifetime ban from contesting elections for defecting lawmakers. The petition named the Election Commission of Pakistan, speaker of the National Assembly, Federation of Pakistan through the secretary cabinet division, and secretary of the ministry of law and justice as respondents. It was submitted in the apex court by PTI lawyer Babar Awan earlier today, and has requested the formation of a full court comprising all judges of the Supreme Court to “hear and decide this intricate question of interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution”.
In his petition, the former prime minister argued that defection, also commonly called floor crossing, was against Article 63A of the Constitution which states that a parliamentarian can be disqualified on grounds of defection if he “votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to election of the prime minister or chief minister; or a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or a money bill or a Constitution (amendment) bill”. “All members of the National or Provincial Assembly at the very first session of the
house, take an oath, as stated in the third schedule of the Constitution,” he pointed out. “The oath of members clearly states that they will abide by the Constitution, thus while deviating from the party policy, a member in reality is defecting from the Constitution and is violating his oath to office.” The petition maintained that a National or Provincial Assembly seat in a parliamentary democracy was synonymous to trust place in a member by the political party that brought him/her to the house. “In circumstances where a bar has been imposed, for instance in matter of vote or no confidence against the Prime Minister or the
Chief Minister, it can be said that any act of defection or floor crossing would amount to breach of trust imposed upon the member by the political party and in that case a defecting member cannot at all claim himself to be Sadiq or Amin as stated in Article 63(1)(d) of the Constitution,” the petition said. Floor crossing, Khan explained, also carries along with itself moral implication and therefore erodes the trust the nation has put into the legislative organ of the state and its members. He added that it further usurps the mandate of the people, exposes the system to uncountable humiliation before the
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
international community and sabotages national security enabling foreign enemies to use parliamentarians as a “tool to dislodge a democratically elected government”. Consequently, the PTI chairman contended that a defector parliamentarian cannot “claim a vested right to have his vote counted and given equal weightage” and demanded that such tainted votes should be excluded from the vote count. He called on the apex court to ensure that a lawmaker was first required to resign from his existing seat in the assembly instead of committing defection as provided in Article 63-A of the Constitution. staff report