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What kind of independence is this where we are enslaved by IMF: PM Shehbaz

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  • PM Shehbaz Sharif laments Pakistan enslaved by IMF.
  • PM vows coalition government will take steps to overcome crisis.
  • Premier visits flood-hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif questioned on Thursday the kind of independence enjoyed by Pakistan when the nation is “economically enslaved” by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Pakistan’s political crisis, depleting foreign reserves, delay in the IMF’s loan disbursement, and rupee devaluation have had a hard-hitting impact on the economy, and the country is seeking financial assistance on an emergency basis.

“What have we done since our independence in the last 75 years when we are economically enslaved by the IMF?” he questioned while speaking to journalists during a visit to the flood affectees in Peshawar.

The prime minister said that the coalition government would take decisions that would steer the country out of every crisis — as they face uphill tasks on several fronts.

Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF last month followed by months of deeply unpopular belt-tightening by the government, which took power in April and has effectively eliminated fuel and power subsidies and introduced new measures to broaden the tax base.

The new government has slashed a raft of subsidies to meet the demands of global financial institutions, but risks the wrath of an electorate already struggling under the weight of double-digit inflation.

Following the staff-level agreement and the tough decisions, IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said earlier this week that the country has completed the last precondition — increasing the PDL (petroleum development levy) — for the combined seventh and eighth reviews.

An original $6 billion bailout package was signed by former prime minister Imran Khan in 2019, but repeatedly stalled when his government reneged on subsidy agreements and failed to significantly improve tax collection.

PM calls for joint efforts to rehabilitate flood-hit areas

During his visit to the flood-affected areas of district Tank in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PM Shehbaz said that the collective efforts by federal and provincial governments were inevitable to ensure early rehabilitation of the people affected by flash floods caused by torrential rains.

The prime minister urged the KP government to enhance the compensation of the existing Rs0.8 million for the deceased to Rs1 million for bringing it at par with that of the federal government.

“Financial compensation is nothing [compared to the loss of their dear ones], but it will help them live through the challenges of life […] this is not a competition; this is complimentary; this is our responsibility,” he added.

Pakistan Democratic Movement chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who accompanied the prime minister, said the construction of the Tank Zam dam and other small dams would help save the area and its infrastructure from the floods.

During a briefing from officials, the prime minister was told that the floods had damaged around 11,000 households in the district and caused two deaths besides injuring seven others.

PM interacts with people

The prime minister also took a round of the shelter camps housing the flood-affected people.

He sat to interact with the families and expressed words of affection to the children.

The premier assured the displaced families that both the federal and provincial governments were collectively working for their early rehabilitation.

PM Shehbaz hugged an elderly flood victim after he fell into tears thanking him for sympathising with them and being the first prime minister to be with them in their hour of distress.

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“Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers gets approved by CM Punjab

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At a meeting on agricultural reforms, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the approval of the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers.

Farmers would receive a variety of subsidies through the Kisan Card scheme, and 500,000 small farmers in Punjab will be eligible for loans totaling Rs 150 billion over the course of a year. Each farmer will receive Rs 30,000 for every acre of land used for agriculture.

CM Maryam Nawaz announced during the meeting that a model agriculture center will be constructed in each district of the province with the assistance of the commercial sector, enabling farmers to discard phony fertilizers and medications.

The establishment of a cutting-edge center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops was approved during the conference, and the Agriculture Department was instructed to gather comprehensive data on the production and demand of each crop.

Participants in the conference decided to link the research center with local universities and to give the board authority over administrative matters.

It was also decided to construct a research and development center at Agricultural University Faisalabad with Chinese participation, at a cost of Rs 2 billion.

In addition, it was decided to hire 500 agricultural graduates, update the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board’s organizational structures, provide a bill that forbids the use of agricultural land for residential purposes, and outfit the Agricultural Extension Wing with cutting-edge machinery.

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Khalid Maqbool calls the ‘non-local’ police that were placed in Karachi ‘injustice’.

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Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), described the imposition of “non-local” police and administration on the port city as an injustice for the people, as reported by The News on Friday.

During a labor wing of the party-organized iftar dinner in North Nazimabad, the politician claimed that Karachi had non-local police, calling this an injustice to the city’s residents.

Siddiqui questioned why the province’s capital city had a non-local police force, pointing out that other major centers in Sindh had their own citizens working in state and federal organizations.

We are going through numerous political phases as a country, and we are forced to use non-local administration and law enforcement. However, the MQM-P has once again reclaimed from the non-locals the mandate of the province’s metropolitan districts,” Siddiqui stated.

Siddiqui claimed that “ghair maqami,” or non-local, bandits were killing young people in Karachi through street violence, citing the city’s growing number of youth fatalities from such incidents.

“Young people in the city are being brutally murdered by out-of-town bandits during Ramadan,” the MQM-P leader claimed.

He went on to say that Sindh’s “racist” administration had been given free rein and that although his party had been silent throughout Ramadan, it will now speak out about the deaths of young people in the city at the hands of outside bandits.

Siddiqui emphasized that if it took going to the streets to defend women’s honor, the MQM-P would not think twice about making any sacrifice. The ad hoc organizing committee of the party was also present at the occasion.

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CM Gandapur and Mohsin Naqvi pledge to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

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To put an end to terrorism in the province, it was resolved during the conference to step up intelligence-based initiatives.

The deaths of the Chinese nationals in the suicide assault in Shangla were regretted by both leaders. Effective counterterrorism measures were directed by the federal interior minister.

He asserted that the enemies’ and miscreants’ despicable acts could not break the resolve of the Pakistani people.

According to Gandapur, the province’s government is committed to doing everything within its power to combat terrorism and safeguard the lives and property of its citizens.

It is important to note that a suicide bomber in KP’s Bisham crashed his car packed with explosives into a caravan of Chinese nationals, killing at least five of them along with their local driver.

A suicide bomber struck one of the coaches in the convoy of twelve cars en route from Islamabad to Dasu Dam in Kohistan with a vehicle carrying explosives.

Six individuals were killed when the targeted vehicle crashed into a deep ditch due to the fire produced by the explosion.

There is a sizable dam at Dasu, and there have been previous attacks there. Thirteen people were murdered in a bus explosion in 2013, and nine of them were Chinese nationals.

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