Archive for the ‘Pakistan’ Category

An Urgent Appeal to Conscientious Pakistanis all over the Globe.

SAY NO TO CORRUPTION

To:

All the Pakistani politicians and rest of the Pakistanis in Pakistan or abroad, who staunchly stand for the cleansing of our government and society from the cancer of corruption:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

AoA.

The federal government and the ECP are separately going into appeal with the SCP against the decision of the LHC for the mandatory submission of all the details in the nomination papers of the candidates of the Elections 2018 about their assets, nationality, Iqama, businesses and other sources of income before being eligible for the elections.

Dear Pakistanis,

If this vital information is not provided before the elections in the nomination papers (which was mandatory in all previous elections and now being withdrawn for E18 onwards to circumvent the Articles 62 & 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan), it will encourage huge/mega corrupt practices in the Pakistani government and society, without any fear or hindrance and tear apart the remains of social fabric of the honest people in the society.

This will in-fact, open the flood gates of corruption in Pakistan.

It is apparently an ingenious move to sabotage the Articles 62 & 63 of the constitution; and will effectively render impossible, to prove any elected public representative, liable for actions under the Articles 62 & 63 of the constitution, which almost means the aforementioned Articles of the constitution have been check mated, in an indirect way.

As such, kindly support this cause in favour of the LHC decision in the SCP (don’t forget that the ECP lawyer originally supported this matter in the LHC hearing and which helped the Honourable Judge of the LHC to give her verdict in favour of retaining the provision of all information which was earlier required for the submission of nomination papers) with all the force and strength at your disposal, particularly, on the electronic and social media, to save our future generations, for which our martyrs have been shedding their blood to achieve a Pakistan which will be safe, peaceful, prosperous, just and corruption free.

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
What’s app
+92 321 9402157

Sydney
————————————
I have launched a social media campaign on my Face Book and associated groups accounts, regarding total information requirement on candidates that has been curbed by last National Assembly.
If you like what I have please spread the word

We want to know “everything”….about the candidates we vote for in 2018
We will not go into elections, unless we have complete knowledge of every candidate.
PS: please copy and repost if you agree.
http://tns.thenews.com.pk/embarrassing-disclosures/#.WxMp9v9RWEc

In the name of electoral reforms, all the political parties collusively and cleverly ensured non-disclosure of essential details in nomination forms for the forthcoming elections. Whenever we write about the existence of an unholy, anti-people alliance amongst elites — militro-judicial-civil complex, politicians and businessmen — many think it is mere rhetoric or vent by the under-privileged against the rich and mighty. However, time and again, they have proved otherwise. The latest manifestation is passing of the Election Act, 2017.

In the name of electoral reforms, all the parties collusively and cleverly ensured non-disclosure of essential details in the nomination forms to be used in the forthcoming elections. They have failed to realise that this was a requirement of the supreme law of the land (fundamental right of the voters to judge their representative on the touchstone of Articles 62 and 63). Concealing vital information relating to payment of taxes and loan write-offs etc is in conflict with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, but till today neither any writ has been filed nor has the Supreme Court taken any suo moto action.

In the wake of 2008 and 2013 elections, the people of Pakistan thought that the rulers would respect their mandate by moving towards accountability of all and establishing an egalitarian society — the essence of people’s rule. What happened is just the opposite. Instead of showing any serious effort to reform the system, the elites are ensuring that financial matters are not scrutinised properly. Rather, these are totally eclipsed from public glare.

This concern is recently expressed by Tariq Malik, ex-Chairman of National Database & Registration Authority [NADRA] in an op-ed as under:

“Sadly, the Election Act of 2017 has clipped the powers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to scrutinise candidates with regard to the declarations about their income, asset and loan status. Under the previous nomination forms all election candidates had to declare under oath that: “I hereby solemnly declare to the best of my knowledge and belief that (i) no loan for an amount of Rs2 million or more obtained from any bank, financial institution, cooperative society or corporate body in my own name or in the name of my spouse or any of my dependants or any business concern mainly owned by me or the aforesaid stands unpaid for more than one year from the due date or has been written off.”

Similar declarations were required with regard to the payment of utility bills and any criminal offences. Considerable administrative input has already gone into efficiently compiling this information and strengthening the capacity of the ECP to scrutinise candidates in the light of these public disclosures. There is clearly room for improvement, but it is ill-advised to do away with such public declarations altogether…….. The revised format for nomination papers would no longer allow ordinary citizens to access information on loan defaults and taxes paid by candidates. With regard to the former, there is a clear attempt by our political class to shelve the issue as a closed and shut case.

A legacy of the 1990s era, loan defaults were, in their essence, a political issue. Respective governments in this period used state-owned banks to grant loans to politicians masquerading as businessmen. In many cases, political clout was used to write off the loans of connected borrowers. In their seminal and landmark research on the subject, Asim Khwaja and Atif Mian, two social scientists, have already shown that politically connected firms during the 1990s and early 2000s were 45 per cent more likely to obtain a loan from government-owned banks and were 50 per cent more likely to default on these loans. Many of these beneficiaries should be clearly ineligible for public representation.

Many beneficiaries of loan write-offs are still part of parliaments though Supreme Court asked the government to punish them and their accomplices. Supreme Court in Suo Moto Case No. 26 of 2007 and Human Rights Case Nos. 2698/06, 133, 778-P, 13933 and 14072-P of 2009, while questioning the authority and jurisdiction of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to waive off loans, constituted on June 3, 2011, a three-member commission, headed by Justice Syed Jamshed Ali, former judge of apex court, to prepare a report in respect of recovery of written off loans from 1971 onwards.

The commission submitted its report in Supreme Court and a hearing was conducted on February 20, 2013. The Court in its order of the same date ordered: “the report of the Commission to be made public, which is available for inspection according to the Rules to all and sundry. However, the procedure for allowing inspection of the report shall be regularized by the office. The locked iron boxes are ordered to be kept in safe custody along with their keys.” A notice was also issued to all the learned counsels appearing in the case and all concerned for March 15, 2013.

The commission revealed that loans worth Rs2.38 billon were waived off between 1971 and 1991 whereas loans worth Rs84.62 billion were waived off between 1992 and 2009. The commission, while holding bankers responsible for extending short-term or long-term loan facility to borrowers on inadequate securities, had recommended action against willful defaulters who took benefit of SBP’s Circular BPD No. 29, which expired on April 14, 2003 although the banks continued writing off loans till 2011.

The commission also has given the names of companies and directors who were beneficiaries of loan waivers but no action has been taken till today. The commission could only probe 740 cases and proposed that 222 more cases should also be probed as Rs35 billion were waived off in those cases. The report found serious irregularities in loans given to politicians, civil and military bureaucracy, but could not get proofs about waiver on political basis, as bank officials allegedly “concealed the facts because they were afraid of the influential persons.”

The bankers, the report says, “have given only business reasons for writing off the loans.” The report consisted of three volumes — Volume I (Report of the Commission), Volume-II (Parts I to VII, synopsis of individual cases), Volume-III (Annexure of Volume I) — and the supplementary paper book (containing different correspondence).

The commission suggested four steps: (i) principal amount should be recovered less payment already made, if any (ii) tribunals comprising the on duty or retired judges of High Courts should be set up for the recovery of amounts (iii) legislation for the recovery of written off loans should be made and (iv) action should also be taken against the credit committees. As expected, the powerful vested interests resisted all the steps proposed by the commission. Till today, not a single rupee stands recovered from any big fish. Now they want to conceal these facts from voters as well in the nomination papers!

The inquiry into loans write offs by the commission revealed the modus operandi used for looting public money by the powerful segments of society. It is time that the plunderers of public funds are punished and money squandered by them is recovered as suggested by the commission without any further delay — it is essential for establishing true democratic polity and bringing about transparency in both the public and private institutions. If 2018 elections are held without such scrutiny, it will be nothing but another farce for the people of Pakistan.

It is a constitutional command that honest and truthful declaration of all facts, assets and liabilities by a contesting or returned candidate in his/her nomination papers, constitutes a benchmark for reviewing his/her integrity and probity in the discharge of his/her duties and functions as an aspiring or elected legislator. Statement of assets and liabilities along with other financial disclosures is a constitutional requirement and cannot be waived or relaxed under the Election Act, 2017 — a subordinate legislation. These disclosures are not only essential but represent fundamental right of voters for determining the suitability of any candidate.

27 May 2018

Ten million jobs..!

Dear Mr. Asad Umar,

AoA.

Sir,

Please accept my wholehearted appreciation on your excellent article titled “Ten million jobs” published today on 27 May 2018 by the daily “The News”.

In this regard, as stated in your today’s article that Pakistanis should guide you on how best to provide an honourable livelihood to all our citizens and put the country on the path to sustainable prosperity; I give below my humble suggestions for engaging millions of our youth, in productive activities, through a well coordinated program, as per the details reproduced and also link given below:

Link:- https://www.snayyar.com/how-to-transform-pakistan-the-most-heroin-addicted-country.html#sthash.UXuhBx7d.dpbs

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

What’s app +92 321 9402157

Cell:               +61 490098320

Sydney

The following email message from the VP USA, reveals how much importance the US government is attaching to combat the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic ripping apart families and communities in America.

Email of VP USA Joe Biden, reproduced below, as an eye opener:

From: “Vice President Joe Biden”
Date: 13 December 2016 at 9:37:24 PM GMT+5
To: <nayyar51@hotmail.com>
Subject: God willing, this bill will save lives:
The White House, Washington
Last Monday night, forty-four years after the people of Delaware first sent me to the United States Senate, I presided over a Senate vote for one of the last times.

As Vice President of the United States and president of the Senate, I served as the presiding officer as the Senate moved forward on the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill that will harness America’s best minds in science, medicine, and technology to tackle the biggest health challenges of our time.

This bill will help us combat the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic ripping apart families and communities. It invests in programs to improve mental health treatment and suicide prevention. It will provide resources for President Obama’s BRAIN and Precision Medicine initiatives, so that our world-class researchers can figure out how to better prevent, treat, and eventually cure Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injuries.

And this is the part that’s personal for me and for millions of Americans: The 21st Century Cures Act invests $1.8 billion to help us end cancer as we know it. For over a year, I’ve been leading our National Cancer Moonshot to fundamentally change the culture of our fight against cancer and inject a sense of urgency into it. This bill goes a long way to help us — investing in promising new therapies, enhancing prevention and detection efforts in every community regardless of zip code, and bringing us closer to the day when there are vaccines for all kinds of cancer, just as we have them for measles or mumps.

God willing, this bill will save lives.

While I was presiding in the Senate, my colleagues from both sides of the aisle renamed the section of this bill on cancer research for my son, Beau, who lost his battle with brain cancer, but like countless Americans who lost their own battles, inspires us to do everything we can for the loved ones we can save. My thanks goes out to the bipartisan leadership — Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate — who ensured that this important bill became law. Without this true bipartisan support, this piece of legislation, which will help millions of Americans, would not have been possible.

Today, President Obama will sign the 21st Century Cures Act into law. One last time in our Administration, I will stand right by him at a signing ceremony — proud of our country, and proud of the work we’ve done to give people hope.

I hope you’ll join me.

Thanks,

Joe
We wish our federal and provincial governments in Pakistan were also aware about the drug related damage, being caused by this menace which is more damaging than terrorism, to our future generations.

In this regard, the recent deaths of a student of LUMS in Lahore and a lady in the Chamba House Lahore, reportedly due to the drugs overuse, is just the tip of the iceberg.

If anyone wants to know the stark reality of the gravity of drug menace in Pakistan, the following two paragraphs of an article’s link given below, will suffice as an eye opener:

Quote:
“Pakistan, a country already tormented by regional insurgencies, is fighting a losing battle against a different kind of foe: drug addiction. In the country’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), an estimated 11 percent of residents use illicit substances – primarily heroin. Peshwar, the provincial capital of KPK, is a city rife with homeless addicts and dirty needles.”

“Pakistan’s illegal drug trade is believed to generate $2 billion a year [making] Pakistan the most heroin-addicted country, per capita, in the world.” Unquote.

Link:- http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/pakistan-the-most-heroin-addicted-country-in-the-world/

In this connection, it is earnestly and urgently requested that the Prime Minister of Pakistan and all opposition parties, particularly having representation in the parliament (because they are ruling in all the four provinces of the country), to accord top priority to protect our future generations, from the most deadly menace of increasing drugs use trend, in our kids and youth on streets and educational institutions, by joining hands in planning and execution of legislation and action plans, on war like emergency basis.

In this regard, we should not only concentrate to fight the drug menace from just one angle, but our plan should be multi pronged, encompassing every conceivable activity in society, to provide healthy atmosphere to our youth.

First of all we must include the dangers of drugs use in the curriculum of the junior classes to educate and brain wash our youth in their early ages.

Sports is another activity in which, fortunately, our youth loves to indulge in.

Revival of sports in country will also provide jobs to many jobless youth in our country.

In this regard, a presentation on how to revive sports in Pakistan was given to the PMO on 6 September, 2016 wherein, it was also suggested to build few modern sports cities (as a part of CPEC program) to channelise the energy of our youth from drugs, crime and terrorism towards healthy sports activities, along with automatic provision of jobs, from the newly created sports industry.

Somehow, it seems that like all previous governments, this PMLN government does not even consider sports, as one of its last priorities.

If anyone wants to know the importance of sports in transforming a society, kindly peruse the following statement of late Nelson Mandela, slightly modified to be applicable on current Pakistani state of affairs of the society.

Quote:
“Sports has the power to change Pakistan…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite Pakistani people in a way that little else does. It speaks to the Pakistani youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope for the entire Pakistani nation, where once there was only despair, lawlessness, hunger, unemployment, poverty, drugs, suicide bombings and alarming increase of suicides due to the economic hardships. It is more powerful than government in breaking down the menace of drugs and terrorism which has blown the country to the smithereens.”
Unquote.

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

An advice/plan previously given on 26 June 2016 to PMLN’s government titled “How to improve economy with sports?” which fell on deaf ears of those who were never bothered about the welfare of the teeming millions of Pakistan.

How to improve national economy and reduce expenses on health budget with investment in sports..?

26 June 2016

Respected Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Sahab,

اسلام و علیکم

Sir,

The subject mentioned article is submitted for your personal kind perusal and is based on an old maxim quoted as below:

“The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton”.
(i) The British were given to believe the real reason which tipped the balance in their favour in wars was the superior character of its young men built in boarding schools while playing games like cricket.

(ii) Eton was one of the famous English boarding schools that trained English boys for careers in the military, civil service and the church. (DAANISH Schools of the Punjab Government are a great example of a visionary project to turn around the fortunes of the future generations of Pakistan).

(iii) Famous public schools saw team sports like cricket not just as outdoor play, but as an organised way of teaching English boys, the discipline, the importance of hierarchy, the skills, the codes of honour and the leadership qualities that helped them build and run the British Empire.

(iv) Through the game of cricket-the ideal that cricket was played not for victory or profit but for its own sake, in the spirit of fair play, the British imperialists sought to justify their conquests and glorify the self image of English elite as “unselfish acts”.

(v) Though it suited the English ruling class to believe that it was the superior character of its young men built on playing fields that tipped the balance, the Napoleanic wars were won due to the economic resources of England. It was progress in trade and industry which made England, the world’s greatest power.

As such, a humble effort is made with the subject mentioned article reproduced below, to raise this nation’s full economic potential in trade and industry, through a physically super-fit Pakistani population, which must collectively believe in the saying “healthy body healthy mind’.

Last but not the least, we have to consider the 200 million population of Pakistan, as a huge manpower asset of this planet, which needs to channelise its positive energy into specific future goals, set by the nation’s visionary leadership. The national leadership must also determine, how to achieve these goals.

ARTICLE.

It is no secret that how politics coupled with corruption, has spoiled the sports in the country, which has earned the DUBIOUS distinction of the worlds BIGGEST nation, NOT to have earned a single medal in the Olympics, since the year 1994. While, much smaller and poorer countries like Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Kenya, have proved that winning medals at international level is just a matter of commitment, dedication and simple hard work, sans politics.

In the past, luckily our cricket, hockey, squash and some other sporting teams and players have been bringing laurels for Pakistan; with very little money, extremely small size governing boards and minimal politics.

Gradually, the foundations of key sports in Pakistan were eaten up by the greed of money, rampant corruption, nepotism, politics and incompetencies of the successive governments, sports managers and the players combined.

If, we have to put the sports in Pakistan back on the right track, two basic things are necessary.

Firstly, a vision and secondly, visionary and totally focused sports leadership, to put Pakistan back on top, at the worlds’ sports map.

As far as, the vision is concerned, nothing ever said about sports can match the following quote of Mr. Nelson Mandela, “Sport has the power to change the world…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”

Now, taking a cue from the above mentioned statement of Mr. Nelson Mandela, it is suggested that Pakistani government should slightly re-phrase it and declare the following as its VISION statement:

“Sports has the power to change Pakistan…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite Pakistani people in a way that little else does. It speaks to the Pakistani youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope for the entire Pakistani nation, where once there was only despair, lawlessness, hunger, unemployment, poverty, drugs, suicide bombings and alarming increase of suicides due to the economic hardships. It is more powerful than government in breaking down the menace of terrorism which has blown the country to the smithereens.”

Moreover, sports raised in the country on modern and scientific lines can be one of the biggest economic sector; providing employment, reducing poverty and drastically improving public health and fitness levels.

Under an sports advisor to the Prime Minister, we need to have a Pakistan Sports Commission (PSC) responsible for central planning under the banner میرا پاکستان sports system.

Under the this system, Pakistan will root out talented young children and put them in special academies from as young as four years old. If they are able to progress, athletes who make the cut should be put into a relentless training programme, filled with targets they must regularly hit, and paid by the government a monthly wage of Rs.60,000/-

Each year, the best athletes should then be sent to national training centres to be established at all the provincial capitals, where they will compete to enter Pakistan’s national team.

If they will succeed, they will move with their families into these training centres and live there all year round. These centres will train the sportspersons having the following mission statement:

“There will be no breakthrough without the hardest hardship. You cannot be a champion without going through the ultimate pressure”.

For as long as they will be successful, the national team members will benefit from perks including air tickets for their parents to watch them compete and, in some cases, sponsorship deals.

Sportspersons who will win medals in international competitions, or with national titles, can attend university after their career ends, with the tuition fee paid for, by the government.

The Pakistan Sports Commission (PSC) should have three units under the Advisor on Sports to the PM, namely the administrative departments, sport competition management centres, and other support and services institutions.

The PSC will be closely tied with All Sports Federations of Pakistan and the Pakistan Olympic Committee (POA). Besides forming strategies for sport development, overseeing their implementation, and developing mid- and long-range sport development plans, the PSC will be responsible for 9 number of functions as detailed below:

1. Creating a national sport framework

2. Promoting physical activity and exercise participation in schools and local and regional communities

3. Organising national sporting events

4. Organising international sport events in Pakistan.

5. Enforcing antidrug and anticompetitive measures.

6. Supporting research into the development of sports.

7. Implementing regulations governing the sport industry, sport market, and sport-related business activities.

8. Implementing national physical training standards and supervising public health in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

9. Overseeing sport activities with foreign associations and teams, and sport-related cooperation and communication with foreign countries.

To fulfill the nation’s Olympic strategies and ambition, the PSC and sport authorities at the provincial level will play a key role in promoting sport development in Pakistan.

One of the strategies should be the sponsorship of the Pakistan National Games (PNG), modelled after the modern Olympic Games; the PNG will be the largest and most important sport extravaganza in Pakistan. Each province-level administrative unit should send a team to compete in the PNG. The preparation for and competition at the PNG will allow the government to cultivate elite Pakistani athletes for major world competitions.

The essence of Pakistani Olympic strategies and ambition will be a unique system of selecting and training elite athletes.

Pakistan will become one of the few countries in the world that dedicate and use spare-time sport schools extensively to train and prepare future elite athletes. A spare-time sport school will be a boarding school specialized in sport and established to train Olympic hopefuls. Students will be selected for their athletic talent. They will take academic classes in the morning and engage in rigorous sport training sessions in the afternoon. These sport schools will serve as a reserve pool for elite sport teams at the provincial and national levels.

The Sports Law of Pakistan should became effective within six months of the formation of the PSC, becoming the first fundamental legal document for sport.

The Sports Law will establish the main tasks and key principles in managing the sport industry, confirming the importance of mass sport, and identifying the duties and responsibilities of sport-related organizations.

Essentially, the law will set the framework for the development of modern sport in Pakistan. The enactment of the law will signify that the sport industry in Pakistan has entered a new era under the protection of the country’s legal system.

Based on the Sports Law, local governments at provincial and city levels will have the right and authority to make their own rules for managing sport within their jurisdictions.

The Plan for Olympic Glories should also be released by the PSC within six months of its formation. The plan should outline three goals:

(a) restructuring the system in elite sport training and management.

(b) enhancing the elite athlete delivery pipeline and system (including sport schools).

(c) endeavours to maintain the nation’s leading position in world sport competitions.

The PSC should also promulgate the guidelines for a national fitness program. The guidelines should be drafted with the aim of improving the health and the overall physical condition of the general population.

The guidelines will encourage everyone, especially children and adolescence, to engage in at least one sporting activity every day, learn at least two ways of keeping fit, and have a health examination every year.

The aim will be that by 2020 about 40 percent of Pakistan’s population would be regularly participating in physical activity and that clear improvement would take place in the physical fitness level of Pakistani citizens.

In this modern era sports needs professionalisation which will lead to commercialisation; this means that sports associations become profit-making entities and that there will be a club system and professional sports leagues will also be formed. Sports clubs operations will cover ticket sales, advertising, club transfers, commercial matches, and television broadcasting.

This will open for world wide sports playing and related job opportunities for Pakistani sportspersons.

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

US CENTCOM’s Reply to my comments on the report published by the daily ”The Express Tribune” titled ”Summer of content: Sunny days begin anew for Pak-US relations” dated 3 August 2012.
My comments:
Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
Aug 3, 2012 – 9:36AM
Let us earnestly hope that its not the case of sunny days for US and rainy days for Pakistan.
US Centcom
Sep 14, 2012 – 8:06PM
Reply
Dear Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad,
We should be optimistic about the future of our relationship. We are fighting a common war, and it only makes sense for us to cooperate and coordinate against our common enemies. The recent meetings between our government officials show that we are working closely to address our common objectives. We’ve been able to overcome some difficult situations and realize that it is in our best interest to work together and negate the threat pose by terrorist organizations like the Haqqani network and the TTP. We echo what George E. Little, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said recently: “We believe that the Pakistani government shares our view that terrorists threaten both countries, both Pakistan and the United States. Scores of Pakistanis have regrettably been killed by terrorists inside Pakistan. We, of course, have suffered losses as well, inside Pakistan and elsewhere, from al-Qaeda and from other terrorist groups operating along the Afghan-Pakistan border. So we have common cause with the Pakistanis. We’re working closely with the Pakistanis on the counterterrorism issue, and we will continue to do so.”

Link:- https://tribune.com.pk/story/416930/summer-of-content-sunny-days-begin-anew-for-pak-us-relations/

My rejoinder to Mr. Khurram Hussain on his article titled “The 4.9 billion-dollar blunder” published by the daily “Dawn” dated 10 May, 2018.

If the Indian numbers of receiving $70 billion remittances (after including $4.9 billion remittances from Pakistan) in the year 2015 were not a lie, then either both the World Bank and State Bank of Pakistan are lying or it is a fact that a massive amount of $4.9 billion in 2015 and $4.7 billion in 2014 = $9.6 billion in two years moved from Pakistan to India purely on account of REMITTANCES and not on trade or any other account.

SHABASH to NAB for grabbing the bull by its horns.

@WorldBank must first say that #India was lying that it got $70 billion #remittances in 2015 which included $4.9 billion from #Pakistan only then WB’s denial can b accepted‬.

‪World Bank denies reports that #Nawaz #Sharif #laundered $4.9 billion to India http://toi.in/zSl4Cb/a24gj via @timesofindia

Pakistan remitted a total of $9.6 billion in 2014 & 2015 to India:

Pakistan 4th largest source of remittances to India..!

Link:- http://wap.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/pakistan-4th-largest-source-of-remittances-to-india-115122400035_1.html

$4.7b remitted to India from Pakistan in 2014 & $4.9 billion in 2015 total = $9.6 billion: report

https:/www.google.com.pk/amp/s/www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/10/08/4-7b-remitted-to-india-from-pakistan-in-2014-alone-report/amp/

By ANILA KHAWAJA

It’s been half a decade since the landmark jalsa at Minar-e-Pakistan when PTI’s leader, Imran Khan, raised the battle cry of “Tabdeeli”. After a many a twist and turn, Dharnas, court battles, and victories, many might wonder if Imran Khan has lost steam. Do Khan and his team have the same sense of urgency to bring about the transformation that the vast majority of the nation desperately desires? Does the movement have the same passionate potency in demanding Tabdeeli? Has the permanent disqualification of Nawaz Sharif from politics satiated Imran Khan to dampen his earlier resolve? Was it just a personal crusade against the Sharifs, and not really a call for deep surgery of the body politics in how the nation is governed for the betterment of the people?

Let’s be clear, the removal of Sharif from the office was a monumental moment that Khan could not help but savour. It would be inhuman to imagine that anyone who has struggled as long and as much he has, not to relish the herculean efforts to see finally bearing fruit. It is also true that much Tabdeeli has been achieved through PTI’s tenacious determination to achieve its agenda. It has mobilised the courts to respond to the people’s clarion call for accountability, especially with respect to high office holders and elected officials. Where there was once passive acceptance of the worst excesses by the powerful, today many of the once mighty face the full force of the accountability process. Few elected members of national and provincial assemblies dare assume that their status somehow precludes them from facing the law. The realisation by elected official of the peril that misuse of authority, financial or otherwise, might entail is one of the greatest Tabdeelis brought about by PTI. Many in power may decry this transformational change, but the people generally welcome as the first step of many towards better governance.

PTI’s single-handed campaign against the rigging of that most sacred right of citizens, which is the vote, has been much criticised by the chattering classes. The Dharnas were impolite affairs and not standard parliamentary politics, but that particular struggle did result in Judicial Commission that has highlighted many of the flaws in the electoral process. The incremental change brought about because of that struggle has made it much less likely for mass scale manipulation of the election process. The election commission has been put on notice. It has responded to the challenge by improving its processes of monitoring the ballot casting and counting. This has gone some way towards better securing the sanctity of the vote and validity of the mandate of the people. The upcoming elections will demonstrate how much this particular Tabdeeli has been embedded in the genetic code of the nation’s polity.

Not all Tabdeeli has the quality of operatic drama about it, and not all change necessarily need be tumultuous. There is much that has to be done in the realm of the prosaic, such as, a focus on an effective administration whose imperative is clearly defined to incrementally improve the daily lives of citizens. While PTI’s chairman has been concentrating his efforts in bringing major governance changes at the center, the PTI government in KP has done much to bring about Tabdeeli in the daily lives of people, for example, the administrative changes in KP police resulted in a significant improvement in the law and order situation in the province. PILDAT has ranked KP’s policing performance as the best in Pakistan on almost every metric. The tree planting ‘tsunami’ has meant over a billion trees have been added to the ecosystem, which will greatly help mitigate the environmental crises that the PTI government had inherited. Similar changes are being instituted in education and health.

Much Tabdeeli has come to pass in the last half-decade since the Minar-e-Pakistan event, and PTI can take credit for that. But the central question remains is the call for Tabdeeli still as potent for PTI, Imran Khan and its ardent followers as when the movement first started? The 29th April Jalsa, once again at Minar-e-Pakistan, will once again loudly demonstrate that yes it ever more potent and the urgency is even more intense. Here once again we will witness the vows of Tabdeeli renewed.

Pakistan desperately needs a sea-change in its governance. There’s the almost desperate necessity in the needs of the youth for more education/training and thus better employment prospects. In building power plants and metro buses does not lie the road to the betterment of prospects of this restless youth. A concerted effort to address the needs of the masses in terms of health, education, and justice gets ever more pressing with each passing day. A dire need to improve the productivity of the people so that Pakistan is competitive in the global market is imperative to stop the economy from imploding. A better and equitable taxation system to minimize crippling external borrowing this is the Tabdeeli imperative of the hour. It can be emphatically stated that the passion of Tabdeeli has not faded, but that fire of hope burns as brightly as it did half a decade ago.

link:- https://nation.com.pk/29-Apr-2018/592254

This article is a cross post from the daily newspaper “The Nation” and posted with permission of the writer.

The writer is the head of International Media Affairs, Central Media Department, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Players selected for a national team are beyond the ordinary, or should be beyond the ordinary.

If there is no change in the attitude of the players, however; if there is no change in the selection process; if there is no change in the personality and quality of coaches to get the players to listen to them and to try and follow their instructions; and if there is no change in the quality of players coming out of the domestic competitions, the result will be the same – probably even worse.
In the modern day game of cricket the captain, coach and the chief selector are the three main pillars, absolutely responsible for the performance of the team.
Now, we are also seeing the evolution of the fourth pillar i.e., the mentor of the team, generally called as the Team Director.
These four pillars must not select the team before they have chalked out the strategy of the matches to be played with their players.
All planning must have a clear objective and should be obviously based on the playing conditions to be faced by the team.
After the strategy the selection process should be based on the following principles:
– Select horses for courses.
– Be ruthless in team selection with emotions getting no place in the realm of the national prestige.
– Remove any iota of likes/dislikes and strictly adhere to the merit policy, not entertaining any undeserving recommendations, from any level.
– No physically unfit player should be selected at any cost.
– No player should be selected if he is not fitting in the mould of the earlier formulated strategy.
Having explained above the philosophy and criteria for the selection of national team, the following players are recommended to be considered for the Pakistani Squad of T20 series of three matches, to be played against the West Indian in Karachi, during the first week of April, 2018.
1. Sarfraz Ahmad (Captain and Wicket Keeper.)
2. Fakhar Zaman (Established opening batsman.)
3. Sahibzada Farhan (Possesses all the potential and promise of an opening batsman.)
4. Agha Salman (Potentially a world class batsman in the making.)
5. Baber Azam (Has already cemented his position in the team for all the three formats.)
6. Asif Ali (He should have been in the national team just after PSL-2.)
7. Hussain Talat (A good find of the PSL-3.)
8. Faheem Ashraf (This player has all the ingredients to become best all rounder of the world.)
9. Muhammad Nawaz (A classy Spinner and an asset for any team.)
10. Shadab Khan (Undisputedly world class priceless asset for any team. Top gun.)
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi (Fast bowling talent is oozing out of this player.)
12. Irfan Junior (An extremely promising fast bowling prospect for Pakistan.)
13. Hasan Ali (Already a established world class cricketer. However, recently it has been observed that he has started behaving rudely in the field, as if he thinks he was above the game and not ready to accept the decisions of his captain. May be he should be told and rested to teach that no player was indispensable.)
14. Aamir Yaamin (A very deserving all rounder and much better fielder than Rahat Ali who let Pakistan down during the ODI World Cup in Australia. These days no poor fielder has any place in national team.)
15. Usman Khan Shinwari (Muhammad Aamir needs some rest and UKS must be granted an opportunity considering his superb fast bowling abilities).
It is high time that thinking strategically, Shoaib Malik, Ahmad Shahzad, Rahat Ali, Muhammad Hafeez, Umer Akmal and Kamran Akmal need not block, our highly talented world class youngsters, to serve Pakistani cricket at the world arena in the next five to eight years.

Chairman PCB and his selectors must not be afraid to repose trust in the young generation players named above.

PCB or anyone having private tournaments can make their own rules, but these should not be ridiculously lop sided otherwise, the tournament’s ranking is rendered worthless.

In ICC, FIFA and PHF world cups, no unfairness or injustice is done, among the teams and every playing team is accorded equal opportunity to win the title.

In PSL play off stages, the winner of the first group (Islamabad United which played vs Karachi Kings at Dubai) goes straight to play the final match, whereas, the winner of the second group (match to be played in Lahore between Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators) will be required to play extra match, for qualifying as a finalist.

Similarly, the first group’s loser (Karachi Kings)  gets another chance (on 21 March, 2018 in Lahore) for qualifying to play the final match with the team winning the match to be played at Lahore on 20 March 2018, between PZ vs QG and the second group’s loser gets eliminated, without getting another chance like the loser (KK) of the first playoff match played in Dubai.

This is not fairness and justice with the two teams of PZ and QG, who qualified for the playoffs stage.

PCB has devalued its own PSL tournament, by faulty match planning in its play off segment of the PSL-3 by reducing the whole tournament to a farce, as detailed below:

1. In the first playoff of PSL-3 which was played in Dubai the winner (Islamabad United) straight away qualified to play the final match, as is normally done all over cricket tournaments at the semi final stage.

2. However, the loser (Karachi Kings) team was not not eliminated, from the race of playing the finals.

3. In the second playoff match of the PSL-3 scheduled to be played in Lahore on 20 March, 2018 between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi teams, surprisingly, the losing team will be eliminated from the tournament (unlike the first playoff match loser team Karachi Kings) and winning team will also not be the direct entrant to the finals (unlike the first playoff match winner Islamabad United).

4. In English language when something is unfair they say it is not cricket, which reflects the spirit of the glorious game of cricket and is synonymous with fairness.
However, it seems for our PCB cricket bosses it means being unfair, wherever, it was possible.

5. The million dollar question which arises in this scheme of playoff matches is that why for the PCB what is good for goose is NOT good for gander?

6. Why both the second play off teams are being treated unfairly compared with the first playoff teams?

7. In other words, why the privilege given to both the winning and losing teams of the first playoff match played in Dubai, is not being offered to both the teams of the second playoff match, to be played in Lahore, where the losing team will be eliminated from the tournament, and surprisingly, the winning team will also not qualify for the final match, to be played in Karachi. Rather, the winning team of second playoff match, will have to play an extra match with the Karachi Kings, which will get second chance to play the final match despite losing its first playoff match in Dubai?

8. It seems that those at the helm of affairs in PCB, are not serious in building the image, stature and reputation of the PSL, but only wanted to fit in one extra match, notwithstanding the fact that this non serious approach, will badly devalue the Pakistan Super League brand in the international arena.