ZULFIQAR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday faced criticism for blaming the US for his ouster.

At a seminar on regime change in Pakistan, organised by Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) where Imran Khan was the chief guest, noted analyst Ayaz Amir alleged that ‘the plot’ was not actually hatched in the US, rather it was “cooked” at a city few yards from the federal capital.

“This Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and Shehbaz Sharif who you blame [for ousting your government] are the willing partners and mere accessories in this regime change conspiracy but there are hardly two to three people who orchestrated the whole plan,” he claimed.

In his speech, the PTI chairman did not respond to the questions raised by Amir and instead reiterated his party’s long-standing demand of an inquiry into the ‘regime change conspiracy’ in the country.

He said the people involved in this political engineering donot want a thorough investigation into the conspiracy, adding for the sake of the country’s future, a probe into it is a must.

He said that the country’s future would be at stake if efforts to destroy state institutions went unchecked, adding the incumbent regime would destroy all the institutions to protect ill-gotten wealth stashed in foreign banks.

The amendments in the NAB law, he added, the imported regime was meant to clear themselves from graft cases, as the anti-graft body would no longer be able to investigate them under the new law.

Speaking about the performance of his party’s government, he said that all sectors were performing “exceptionally” well and the Economic Survey released by the incumbent regime is a testimony to it.

The PTI chief said his party did not shift the burden onto the people despite, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) pressure.

Khan also announced that his party would move the Supreme Court against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC’s) verdict in a case pertaining to the election of Hamza Shehbaz as Punjab chief minister.

He also complained of interference in by-elections to be held in Punjab in July by “unknown powers”, saying his party candidates have informed him of getting calls from unknown numbers which must stop.

Other speakers including lawyers, diplomats, journalists, and others also spoke on the occasion and reiterated their full support to Khan for his ‘immediate election’ demand in the country.

Former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan said that a presidential system, or single executive system, is the only way forward to put the country on path to development.







Cigarette makers launch illegal promotion campaigns

ISLAMABAD: Local cigarette manufacturers have launched illegal cigarette promotion campaigns to encourage young people to smoke, committing clear violations of the Ministry of Health’s advertising laws on cigarettes.

According to the details, the Ministry of Health’s Tobacco Advertising Guideline 2009 prohibits the advertising of cigarette packs and no cigarette company can offer free cigarette reward schemes, cash prizes or usage of images of an animal or human element to sell cigarette brands.

Recently, local cigarette companies are violating the rules in the market and posters of free items, cash prizes, free cigarettes, discounts, etc are being hung in the market. But interestingly all anti-tobacco NGOs have reportedly remained silent on these violations.

According to a former high official of the Ministry of Health, four-five years ago, only three or four anti-tobacco NGOs were working on anti-tobacco issues. During the last few years, dozens of NGOs have been registered that started working on the anti-tobacco agenda.

He further said that if we analyze the working of these NGOs, we will see there are many NGOs among them that are registered only in the documents. But these “single room” NGOs are reportedly receiving millions of rupees funding from some unregistered international organizations as well as from front-men of alleged cigarette manufacturers.

Detailed analysis of working of these NGOs clearly depicts that the targeted technical events and regular media statements are not talking about the evasion of duties and taxes by the local cigarette manufacturers.

Surprisingly none of these single room NGOs has highlighted the blatant violations of advertising and marketing laws by local cigarette manufacturers, he added.—SOHAIL SARFRAZ





Pir Sabir Shah elected chairman of Senate body

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources has elected Senator Pir Sabir Shah as its new Chairman, here on Thursday.

The position of Chairman Standing Committee on Water Resources became vacant after Dr Musadik Masood Malik took oath as Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources.

Senator Quratul Ain Murri proposed the name of Senator Pir Sabir Shah as chairman of the committee which was seconded by Senator Taj Haider. On being elected as chairman committee of the Water Resources, Senator Sabir Shah thanked the members of the committee and said that he would earn the trust of his colleagues.

The newly-elected chairman of the committee called for working together to fulfill the responsibility entrusted to them.

Senators termed water issue as a major problem of the country and assured their full support in this regard. Senator Taj Haider said that the agriculture sector needs to be developed to alleviate poverty which is interlinked with the appropriate and timely distribution of water.

Senator Humayun Mohmand remarked that unfortunately water issue has been neglected, adding that the water level below the ground is declining rapidly which calls for impactful actions to be taken at the earliest.

The meeting of the Standing Committee was attended by Senators Taj Haider, Quratul Ain Murri, Muhammad Humayun Mohmand, and Gurdeep Singh, along with Joint Secretary Senate Secretariat, Rabia Anwar and other Senate officials.







Atlas Battery accelerates efforts to enter Turkish market

KARACHI: After the phenomenal success of Automechanika Johannes-burg, Atlas Battery, one of South Asia’s leading battery manufacturers, dominated yet another Automechanika event in Istanbul, Turkey. The 15th edition of the conference hosted 825 companies, bringing together industry players from all over the world for an invaluable exchange of technological knowledge and innovation.

Automechanika is the world’s biggest B2B trade fair brand, with 17 shows across several countries, making it the ideal platform for networking and presenting products and services.

Atlas Battery has a significant history with the platform and has always supported Automechanika’s incredible contributions to the global automotive market. From Dubai to Kenya, Atlas Battery has been supporting Automechanika in its efforts to make the automotive after-market accessible to as many buyers as possible.

It participated in the event under the banner of TDAP (Trade & Development Authority Pakistan) to introduce a wide range of batteries, from four-wheelers and two-wheelers to deep cycle and solar batteries. Atlas Battery has become the pioneer of solar power products in its endeavours to support a greener Pakistan.

Atlas is now gearing up to launch itself in Turkey where the industry leaders of the region have shown their proclivity to embrace it with open arms. Eager to bring a wide variety of meticulously crafted products to the discerning consumer, Atlas Battery is confident of this being the start of a mutually beneficial relationship that transcends time.

Being the only major battery manufacturer from Pakistan, this was Atlas Battery’s second time at Automechanika Istanbul where it got a chance to not only display the diversity in its products, but also educate people about the offerings.

Pakistan’s Consul General Bilal Pasha Khan visited Atlas Battery’s stall at the exhibition and met with the company’s senior executives, appreciating the company’s efforts to promote Pakistani products on foreign soil.

GM Marketing Mohsin Khan believed that it is integral for the company’s growth to participate in such endeavours that strengthen Pakistan’s global presence.—PR







PACRA maintains entity ratings of Habib Metropolitan Bank

KARACHI: Habib Metropolitan Bank is differentiated on the basis of its superb ability to serve trade-related needs of its customers, and therefore enjoys a leading position in the industry.

The ratings of Habib Metropolitan Bank (HabibMetro) are vested in the brand strength of the bank, flanked by a family of astute bankers. The bank is also associated with a diversified and financially strong international bank-Habib Bank AG Zurich (HBZ). This association helps in assimilating the parent’s best practices into HabibMetro, while fostering control environment with enhanced level of oversight.

Additionally, it is a part of House of Habib, which has a strong array of business in Pakistan mainly large industrial and corporate units. The benefits continue to accrue in terms of non-markup income. The bank has a strong forte in the business hub of Pakistan in terms of its presence and contribution of deposits and advances.

The Bank grew its customer deposit base by 10.6 percent, wherein it enhanced its current account deposits by 21.5 percent. The bank continues to remain focused on improving its deposit mix. The bank’s emphasis in terms of its loan portfolio is evident by the growth of 28.9 percent in performing advances, led by its presence in textile.

Overall infection ratio improved to 4.0 percent (CY20: 5.8pc) owing to decline in absolute NPLs. Due to the low monetary policy rate for major period of CY21, as well as improved current account deposits, HMBL’s cost of funds declined, resulting in a reduced markup expensed. This resulted in inched up net mark up income of the bank. This progress, along with growth in non-markup income, resulted in the growth in profitability.

As at December 31, 2021 the bank’s CAR declined to 14.10 percent (CY20:16.79pc). Pakistan’s economy has gone through several varied phases in last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Banking sector continued to flourish with high profitability.

Going forward, the macro-economic environment is beset with myriad challenges due to heightened interest rate, tightening of demand, rupee depreciation and higher infection. This has repercussions for the entire system including banking. The ratings are dependent on the management’s ability to augment its position generally in the banking industry and particularly in its market niche-trade finance in the wake of rising competition. Any weakening in asset quality will in turn put pressure on the bank’s profitability and risk absorption capacity.—PR

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Entity

Rating Type Current Previous

(25-Jun-22) (25-Jun-21)

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Action Maintain Maintain

Long Term AA+ AA+

Short Term A1+ A1+

Outlook Stable Stable

Rating Watch - -

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