E-Paper PDF 26 October 2018 (ISB)

CMYK

friday, 26 october, 2018 I safar 16, 1440 I rs 19.00 I vol Ix no 117 I 16 Pages I Islamabad edition

Pakistan won’t take dictation from any country

STORY ON PAGE 02

Govt blames NePRa FoR taRiFF hike g

FInAnce mInISter UmAr SAYS tArIFF IncreASe wIll generAte ADDItIonAl rS130Bn, wIll not AFFect 70Pc conSUmerS ISLAMABAD

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GHULAM ABBAS

inance Minister asad Umar Thursday claimed that the Pakistan Tehreeke-insaf (PTi) government had nothing to do with the increase in electricity rates as the nePRa had recommended the price hike “before the PTi government had even taken shape”.

“Our government had nothing to do with even a penny of this hike,” the minister said while addressing a press conference, flanked by information Minister Fawad chaudhry and Power Minister Omar ayub Khan.

The government has increased the electricity price by just Rs 1.27 per unit, unlike the Rs 3.82 per unit increase recommended by nePRa [national electric Power Regulatory authority], the finance minister said, adding that this determination of the price hike was completed in august.

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ASSertS no conDItIonS AttAcheD to SAUDI BAIloUt, PAKIStAn to PlAn For ImF AFter receIvIng eStImAteS oF FInAncIAl ASSIStAnce From other coUntrIeS

“after the economic coordination committee’s (ecc) decision and its sanctioning by the federal cabinet today, the average price hike (per unit) will be Rs 1.27 instead of Rs 3.82, which is less than one-third of what was recommended.”

The minister informed journalists that the government had saved 70 per cent consumers from additional burden in the recent electricity tariff hike, which is expected to generate an additional Rs 130 billion.

Under the new tariff, those domestic users consuming less than 300 units of electricity – almost 70 per cent of the users —will not be charged any extra amount. Domestic consumers using between 300 and 700 units will have to pay Rs 17.6 per unit instead of Rs 16 per unit earlier – an increase of 10 per cent, whereas those consuming over 700 units will have to pay Rs 20.7 per unit against the present tariff of Rs 18 per unit, an increase of 15 per cent.

For the commercial consumers, those

using less than 5KV of electricity – almost 95 per cent of overall commercial consumers – will see no change in the tariff and will continue paying Rs 18 per unit. However, the tariff for consumers using over 5KV will pay Rs 19.68 per unit instead of Rs 16 per unit. according to finance minister, the tariff for zero-rated industrial sector will also see no change in a bid to boost exports. The decision will help the government recover at least Rs 130 billion from the consumers on account of tariffs. additionally, consumers will also pay Rs 21 billion in sales tax.

The government has also maintained the reduction in tariff for tube wells at Rs 5.35 per unit, which was announced by previous government in its last few months.

Finance Minister Umar said that the government will not exceed the Rs 105 billion limit of subsidy it announced in the budget for power sector.

Pakistan army stands by Kashmiris, says gen Bajwa

STORY ON PAGE 02

Death toll from Saudi airstrike in Yemen rises to 21

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

STORY ON BACK PAGE

sC summons 20 Pakistanis Us, eU nations demand explanation who own foreign properties for crackdown on aid groups g

LONDON: Special Assistant to PM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar calls on UK PM’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Gareth Bayley. PID

FIA rePort SAYS eStImAteD worth oF ProPertIeS owneD BY 894 PAKIStAnIS In UAe IS AroUnD $100Bn

Pakistan, Britain discuss extradition of suspects, money laundering cases STORIES ON PAGE 03

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In letter wrItten to PM Khan, foreIgn dIPloMats say Ingos dId not get any exPlanatIon why govt had ordered theM out STORY ON PAGE 02

Khashoggi’s murder was ‘premeditated’, says Saudi prosecutor STORY ON BACK PAGE

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02 NEWS

Friday, 26 October, 2018

Pakistan won't take dictation from any country FO SPOKESMAN SAYS ‘THERE’S NO QUESTION OF ANY COUNTRY PRESSURISING PAKISTAN FOR SOMETHING WE BELIEVE IS IN OUR NATIONAL INTEREST’ ISLAMABAD

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HE Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said that there is no question of Pakistan being pressurised over its national interests by any country. “There is no question of any country applying pressure on Pakistan for something which we believe is in our national interest,” FO Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal said while addressing his weekly press briefing.

The FO spokesman also commented on United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent statement about his country’s South Asia Policy, emphasising that peace in the region in interlinked.

“Peace and stability in Afghanistan is also vital for eliminating the menace of terrorism inside Pakistan and the region in general,” he said while adding, “Both Pakistan and the United States are currently engaged

SAYS PAKISTAN AND US MAKING JOINT EFFORTS TO BRING PEACE TO AFGHANISTAN THROUGH POLITICAL SETTLEMENT BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS

along with other regional stakeholders to pursue a political settlement in Afghanistan.

We want an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process”.

Commenting on the recent elections in Afghanistan, Dr Faisal said that it was a positive development; however, the allegations regarding the Kandahar attack have been whipped out of thin air.

“Afghanistan has not shared any substantial evidence,” he stated. While speaking about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Dr Faisal said that the Kingdom, besides announcing a financial package for Pakistan has also showed great interest in establishing an oil refinery and exploring the country’s mineral resources.

He also said that the premier had also discussed the problems being faced by the Pakistani diaspora in Saudi Arabia. “Reduction in visa fee for Pakistani workers

by Saudi Arabia is a significant step to-

wards increasing our workforce in the Kingdom,” he stated.

In response to a question about Pakistan’s mediation role in Yemen, he said Pakistan has always worked towards establishing the best of relations amongst the Muslim countries and it will continue to aim for the same goal in future as well.

Responding to a question regarding the current spate of violence in Indianheld Kashmir (IOK), Dr Faisal said, “Pakistan is not afraid of holding dialogue with India. It is our considered position that resolution of all issues lies in the dialogue process”.

However, expressing grave concerns over the deteriorating situation in IOK, the spokesperson said that Pakistan is actively highlighting the plight of Kashmiri people at every forum.

“Pakistan salutes the courage and commitment of Kashmiri people in the face of Indian brutalities,” he concluded.

US, EU nations demand explanation for Pakistan's crackdown on aid groups IN LETTER WRITTEN TO PM KHAN, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS SAY INGOS DID NOT GET ANY EXPLANATION WHY GOVT HAD ORDERED THEM OUT ISLAMABAD AgeNcIes

Western nations, including the United States and European countries, have expressed “serious concerns” to Prime Minister Imran Khan about a crackdown on aid groups, diplomats said.

Pakistan has long viewed foreignfunded aid groups with suspicion and many members of the powerful military believe that Western countries often use such groups as a cover for spying.

Diplomats and foreign journalists also face severe restrictions on their movements in the nuclear-armed nation.

At least 18 international aid agencies, most of them working on human rights issues, were ordered to leave Pakistan over recent months after being refused registration.

The countries have written a letter to Khan saying the groups did not get a proper explanation for why the government had or-

dered them out and they criticized a “lack of transparency” in the registration process.

“We are writing to express serious concerns with respect to recent developments,” the countries said in the letter seen by Reuters. Four diplomats confirmed its authenticity. “Restriction on civil society risks affecting Pakistan’s international reputation as a genuine partner on human developments and undermining the confidence of the international donor and business community,” they said in the letter.

Neither Khan’s office nor the foreign ministry had any immediate comment on the letter, which was signed by envoys from the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Norway and Switzerland. The European Union ambassador signed on behalf of the 17 EU countries with missions in Pakistan, including Britain and France.

A similar letter was sent to the Interior Ministry in September, diplomatic sources say. The 18 aid organizations were appeal-

ing against their expulsion orders, issued late last year to 27 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in all.

The Western envoys said the impact of expelling the groups would be “significant”, and warned that it would imperil some of the development goals championed by Khan, who was elected in July on a populist platform to help the poor.

“Restricting INGO operations will affect millions of poor Pakistanis. In 2017 alone, the INGO sector reached 34 million people with humanitarian relief and development assistance,” the counties aid in their letter, referring to international NGOs. “This will mean thousands of Pakistanis employed by INGOs and local partners may lose their jobs.”

One of the 18 groups facing closure, ActionAid, which focuses on education, poverty alleviation and human rights, said this month the expulsion of the groups was part of a broader pattern.

“Pakistan’s decision to shut down ActionAid and other International NGOs is a worrying escalation of recent attacks on civil society, academics and journalists,” the group said. Media groups have warned of a more difficult environment for them with increasing censorship and threats from the military, which denies intimidation.

Pakistan Army stands by Kashmiris: Gen Bajwa RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said that Kashmir issue continues to be a “core unresolved agenda” and reiterated Pakistan’s support for the right to self determination. “We stand by the Kashmiris in their just historical stance,” Gen Bajwa said during a visit to troops deployed at the Sarpir and Pandu sectors on the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Gen Bajwa appreciated the “operational readiness and high morale” of the troops and said Pakistan Army is “fully invested in peace and stability of the region”. “However, we are ready and resolute in defending the motherland against any misadventure,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as saying by ISPR. The COAS’s statement comes days after violence across India-held Kashmir (IHK) left at least 14 people dead. The victims included six who were killed when an explosion occurred among a crowd protesting against Indian occupation. Pakistan has repeatedly called for resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. stAff RePoRt

PIA ‘misplaces’ Afghan envoy’s luggage twice in one week Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Omar Zakhilwal claimed on Thursday that his luggage had been misplaced by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) twice in a week when he travelled from Islamabad to Kabul. Taking to Twitter to express his annoyance, Zakhilwal said, “Second time in a row in a week my suitcase goes missing on Islamabad-Kabul PIA flight and then ends up in UK. Could it be just coincidental mismanagement?” Although the Afghan envoy mentioned Pakistan’s national carrier in his tweet, the PIA did not reply to Zakhilwal on the social networking platform despite being known to respond to the queries on time. Reacting to the matter, PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar said that a complaint has been lodged by the passenger and the matter is being investigated. News Desk

Shahid Masood flees court after judge rejects pre-arrest bail ISLAMABAD: TV anchorperson and Pakistan Television (PTV) former chairman Dr Shahid Masood on Thursday escaped the premises of a special court of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after it rejected his application for a pre-arrest bail linked to his alleged involvement in embezzlement of Rs 38 million.

The accused anchor fled from the court before the decision was read, therefore, the FIA team present in the court could not arrest him after the decision was read. Raids to arrest Dr Masood are being conducted. According to the prosecution, Dr Masood had signed an agreement with a fake company to negotiate PTV’s grant rights with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the coverage of matches played in Pakistan which resulted in PTV suffering great losses. Special Judge Central Kamran Basharat Mufti rejected the anchorperson’s application for confirmation of his interim pre-arrest bail which he had obtained in June after the Islamabad District Court had issued non-bailable warrants for Dr Masood’s arrest on FIA’s request in June. The judge further directed the authorities to arrest Dr Masood and present him before the court. Lawyer Shah Khawar argued on behalf of Masood before the court. The former PTV chairman had left the court before the decision on his application was announced. stAff RePoRt

Banning USA, European INGOs Pakistan’s internal matter, says Russia ISLAMABAD: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that banning of USA, European based International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGO) by Pakistan is its internal matter. Speaking during a weekly press briefing on Thursday, Maria Zakharova said it will be not fair to comment over an internal issue of Pakistan. However, she confirmed that in the recent past, unfortunately several USA, European based INGO’s along with number of media houses were not conducting the activities officially stated in Russia. The response came in reply to a question about Russia’s stance on the recent successful operation by Pakistani Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) against hostile INGO’s working against Pakistan’s national interest by instructing them to leave Pakistan, several of which were USA and Europe based. INP

Government accepts demands of USC employees ISLAMABAD INP

A three-day long sit-in held by the employees of the Utility Stores Corporation at D-Chowk came to an end on Thursday after government agreed to the demands put forth by the protesters, reported multiple media outlets.

Several employees of the country’s biggest state-run retail chain had gathered in D-Chowk from all over Pakistan for the fulfilment of their demand for permanent contracts and

for likely closure of the stores.

“The federal government has accepted the demand of not privatising the Utility Stores Corporation,” announced Syed Arif Hussain Shah, the chairman of the All Pakistan Utility Stores Corporation Union, during Thursday night.

Shah said that the government has given one-month time to resolve the issues of daily wages and contract employees of the stores, adding that it has been decided the Ministry of Finance will give an approval to pay the remaining salaries of the store workers

with November’s pay. He also warned that the union would protest again if these promises are not fulfiled.

After the successful talks, the protesters packed their things and cleared the area.

Earlier, the protesters said that they will not call off the sit-in until the authorities concerned fulfill their demands: withdrawal of the plan of privatising utility stores and to clear their outstanding payments.

While chanting slogans, the protesting employees said that the gov-

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ernment is not providing relief to the poverty-stricken people.

The employees of the Corporation had urged the government to settle Rs 27.6 billion worth of its subsidy claims which are pending over the last seven years creating a financial crunch for the corporation, leading to its possible closure.

The employees had made it clear that they will continue to protest until all their demands are fulfilled, including the permanent employment ones.

Meanwhile, police officers had

blocked the road heading to Parliament House in order to maintain law and order situation in the federal capital.

Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Political Affairs Naeemul Haque tweeted earlier on Tuesday that all the demands made by utility stores employees seem equitable and acceptable to the government.

In his tweet, Haque said that PPP and PML-N had destroyed utility stores and made it bankrupt in the last 10 years. Further, he added that these two parties were “now trying to incite some miscreants.”

Friday, 26 October, 2018

sc summons 20 Pakistanis who own foreign ProPerties ISLAMABAD

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HE Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday ordered the government to present in court 20 Pakistanis who had declared their foreign properties in the previous government’s amnesty scheme on Nov 1.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, who was heading a three-member bench, issued the orders while hearing a case pertaining to the foreign accounts held by Pakistanis.

During Thursday’s hearing, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Jahanzaib Khan, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Bashir Memon, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Tariq Bajwa and the attorney general appeared before the court.

The FIA submitted in the court a report detailing foreign properties of Pakistani citizens.

“You’ve stated that the foreign properties owned by Pakistanis are es-

Govt blames NEPRA for tariff hike CONtINueD frOM pAge 01 NO CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO SAUDI ASSISTANCE: Responding to a question, the finance minister said that Saudi Arabia had not set any condition for the financial package it offered to Pakistan during the recent visit by Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis did not make any demands that we refused to meet, he said, adding that they will stand by Pakistan’s side in “our time of need”. Clarifying the conflicting reports about the actual amount of the package, the minister said that the total amount under deferred payment for oil comes to $9 billion ($3 billion every year for three years). To prop up foreign reserves, Saudi Arabia will provide $3 billion, taking the total volume of financial package to $12 billion, Umar said. The finance minister clarified that there is no direct Saudi involvement in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which he emphasised, remains a bilateral venture between China and Pakistan. “One month ago, when the Chinese finance minister came to Pakistan, we spoke to him about CPEC projects,” he said.

“The entire programme is a bilateral project.

Underneath the CPEC there are many more plans, in which we had discussed whether we can invite a third country to invest — to which China agreed. In this context, we had talked to Saudi Arabia for a project, and other countries could also join this.” Umar asserted that there is no direct linkage of Saudi Arabia and CPEC. To another question, the finance minister said that bailout amount Pakistan will seek from International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be determined once Islamabad receives expected estimates of financial assistance from friendly countries. “The government is working on securing alternate means of funding as IMF contracts impact the entire financial system of a country,” he said in response to a question. Regarding the recent protests by Utility Stores employees in Islamabad, the finance minister said that PM’s Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood had been asked to formulate a plan to make the Utility Stores Corporation viable.

CRACKDOWN AGAINST POWER THEFT: On the occasion, Minister for Power Omar Ayub announced that the government is all set to start a crackdown against major defaulters and power thieves, with the first phase starting from Lahore on Saturday. It will be followed by similar operations in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). “The estimate for power theft is Rs250 billion while the amount for payable bills has reached Rs800 billion,” the minister informed.

Moreover, the government has decided to install meters on transformers to identify power theft, he added. The power minister said that the circular debt was presently recorded at over Rs1,250 billion which included Rs650 billion in current payables.

timated at $100 billion,” the CJP said while addressing the FIA chief. “A dam could be built in Pakistan with such a huge amount.”

While briefing the bench, Memon revealed that 894 Pakistanis have properties in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Out of these, 374 individuals have taken advantage of the government’s amnesty scheme, 150 people have admitted that they have properties abroad, 69 people said they have shown their properties in their tax returns and 82 people denied having any property abroad.

The FIA DG said that 150 people out of the total 894 own 203 properties, with each estimated to be worth a minimum of Rs50 million. He also told the SC that 35 politicians and their associates own properties in Dubai. It was further stated that nine ‘benamidaars’ have been identified as well as 150 “extremely rich individuals who own properties worth Rs30 billion”.

“When will you take action [against the suspects]?,” the CJP asked Memon, who responded that the FIA has re-

strained itself for two months because of the government’s amnesty scheme.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Bajwa informed the court that it is now “very difficult” to launder money of the country.

When asked by the CJP why the government was not taking action against the identified suspects, the attorney general stated that the government could not arrest these people under the law.

The SBP chief informed the court that the agency has details of foreign properties of several people, but possesses no details of their bank accounts and neither do their banks fall in the jurisdiction of local laws.

The court was further informed by the SBP governor that the UK has initiated information sharing with Pakistan from September 1.

At this, the bench ordered that 20 people who own properties abroad be produced in the court at the next hearing and directed the AG to issue notices and arrest individuals who have trans-

ferred funds abroad illegally and to present 10 individuals before the court who have not paid their taxes.

The hearing of the case has been adjourned till November 1.

After the hearing, AGP Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted a list of 20 Pakistanis who have claimed amnesty 2018 including Waqar Ahmed of Lahore, Naushad Haroon Chamdia CEO Std. Securities (pvt.) Limited of Karachi, Muhammad Amin of Karachi, Zubair Mueen of Lahore, Sheikh Tahir & Majid Kapur of Sialkot,Islam Salim of Karachi, Agha Faisal of Quetta, Syed Muhammad Ali of Karachi, Nayar Sheikh of Lahore, Khawaja Muhammad Ramzan of Lahore, Muhammad Saeed Minhas of Gujranwala, Imtiaz Fazal of Multan, Fawad Anwar of Karachi, Abdul Aziz Rajkotwala of Karachi,Noureen Sami Khan of Islamabad, Humayun Bashir of Karachi, Shujhur Rehman Goraya of Lahore, Sardar Mumtaz Khan of Islamabad, Sardar Dildar Ahmed Cheema of Lahore and Faisal Hussain of Karachi.

Nawaz avoids questions on PM Khan's NRO remarks ISLAMABAD stAff RePoRt

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday avoided questions regarding Prime Minister Imran Khan's NRO statement, saying he did not listen to the PM's address.

Nawaz appeared before the accountability court in Islamabad for the hearing of the National Accountability Bureau's references against him when he was bombarded with questions by journalists regarding the PM's address. When asked about Saudi Arabia's financial deal and PM Imran's address he said, "I seldom watch TV and did not listen to his [Imran's] address."

CAPITAL FZE: Earlier, Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head Wajid Zia informed the accountability court that the original copies of source documents pertaining to Capital FZE were presented to the court in the Flagship Investment case.

“The two documents received from Goveronica Authority had mentioned Nawaz Sharif as the company’s board chairman, while another one had stated the former

GOVERONICA DOCUMENTS STATED NAWAZ AS CAPITAL FZE BOARD CHAIRMAN, WAJID ZIA TELLS COURT prime minister as its marketing manager,” he said.

Zia said that accused Hassan Nawaz had told the JIT that he himself arranged money for the establishment of Capital FZE. “The same money was given to Quint Paddington later,” he said while quoting Hassan Nawaz during the cross-examining before Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik, who is hearing corruption references against the former premier and his sons.

Nawaz also appeared before the court along with his legal team.

During the course of proceedings, defence counsel Khawaja Haris continued Zia’s cross-examination on the fourth consecutive day.

He said that Hassan Nawaz also told the JIT that the financial statement of Capital FZE was prepared by his accountant. The team did not ask about the financial statement of Quint Paddington during question-

ing, the JIT head said.

He said the JIT did not involve any accountant of Hassan Nawaz into the investigation process nor did it mention Hassan as the owner of Capital FZE in its report.

“The [Joint Investigation] Team it also did not find any documents that showed Nawaz Sharif as an owner or shareholder of the company,” he added.

The JIT head admitted that no witness had given the statement that former prime minister was the owner of the company, adding, however, the team had approached Jufra Authority in Dubai to know what connection the accused had with Capital FZE. He said that the JIT had written in its report that Hassan Nawaz had established Capital FZE and Nawaz Sharif had been receiving salary form it. According to Jufra Authority, the former prime minister was associated with the company as board chairman, he said.

Zia also rejected the allegations of forgery and tampering levelled by the defence lawyer. Later, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till Friday (today).

Pakistan, Britain discuss extradition of suspects, money laundering cases LONDON AgeNcIes

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Thursday met British Home Secretary Sajid Javid in London.

The two discussed issues of mutual interest, particularly those related to the provision of mutual legal assistance, extradition requests, prisoner transfer agreement and steps to curb money laundering as well as recovery of assets acquired through illegal means.

They also discussed matters pertaining to assistance and support on technical matters, analytical advice and skills capacity building. Akbar also held meetings with other representatives of the UK government. The premier’s special assistant met Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor

of the International Justice & Organised Crime Division Debbie Price and Head of the UK Central Authority Philomena Creffield.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed on working closely at an operational level and enhancing collaboration in the areas of information sharing. Progress on specific cases for extradition requests made to the UK government was also discussed.

The premier’s special assistant also called on UK Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Champion and Member of Parliament John Penrose at Portcullis House to discuss strategies for making joint efforts in curbing corruption and plugging existing loopholes at home and abroad.

Later on, he visited the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where he was received by UK Special Representative on

Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) Gareth Bayley. Both sides discussed bilateral issues and expressed their commitment to work closely together.

Bayley expressed the British Government’s firm commitment to support Pakistan in its resolve towards fighting corruption and carrying out the accountability process for justice to ensure transparency.

Earlier this month, Akbar had said the government has finalised a broad-based mutual legal assistance law to obtain evidence from foreign jurisdictions about financial crimes and mega corruption cases involving Pakistanis.

Addressing the media on October 14, he had said Pakistan has already signed a treaty with Britain which will help speed up the investigations into different high profile asset cases.

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Peshawar Sikhs get pass on helmet law peSHAWAr stAff RePoRt

The Sikh community living in the provincial capital has been allowed exemption from wearing helmets due to their religious headdress. Minority member Sardar Ranjeet Singh had raised the issue in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly after which the city’s traffic police allowed the exemption. Peshawar SSP Traffic Kashif Zulfiqar said that police would cooperate with minority communities. As many as 60,000 Sikhs live in KP. City Traffic Police Lahore has also declared it mandatory for people to use helmets. This policy applies to bikers, pillion riders, and women and children. This new policy for citizens to wear helmets has resulted in criticism from the people who are demanding the withdrawal of the order. With the new policy of the city government, the helmet prices have also gone high and out of peoples’ reach. A normal helmet is priced at Rs1,600 to Rs1,800 while a quality helmet is for Rs2,500 to Rs3,000 in the market.

Stop threatening opposition, Fazlur Rehman tells govt Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman on Thursday asked the ruling party to stop threatening the opposition, terming PM Imran Khan’s mandate as “fake”. According to media reports, he said the government who got a stolen mandate should not make threats to the opposition, he said. “Who has asked for NRO?” Fazl inquired in reply to PM Khan’s Wednesday statement that his government will not any NRO to the politicians in graft cases. He said those talking about accountability had themselves dissolves the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission.

Commenting on the efforts to unite the opposition against the government, Fazl said that 75% of the work has been done and the opposition would unite to play a role in the parliament. He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif has asked for three days before an all parties conference. Fazl mocked the premier by saying that he’s “aware of PM Khan’s family who give up too easily.”

Fazl and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari have met more than once in the past few days in an effort to unite the opposition and call an APC. Zardari said Monday he was up for uniting the opposition parties against the government, saying the country does not seem to be running this way. News Desk

04 ISLAMABAD PRAyER TIMINgS FAJR SUNRISE

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Hashoo Group hosts five-ensemble violin performance ‘stradivaria’

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LAHORe Hashoo Group, which owns the Pearl Continental and Marriott Hotels in Pakistan, has hosted the third of a five-ensemble violin performance “Stradivaria” at Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore.

The performance kicked-off on Wednesday with a press meet with Ambassador of France Dr Marc Barety and Ambassador of German Martin Kobler, who spoke of the completion of a centennial since the end of World War I. Aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation between the countries, the performances will also be held in two other cities of Pakistan.

tribal leader among two killed in Khyber BARA

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Community suffers as rift between mCi, CDa Deepens MARKETS INUNDATED WITH ENCROACHMENTS AWAIT CITY MANAGERS ATTENTION

PRESS RELEASE

Friday, 26 October, 2018

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SHAH NAWAZ MOHAL

HE infighting between Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) has left the city’s denizens and business community suffering at the hands of encroachers inside markets and marakiz, poor maintenance of public amenities and dilapidated infrastructure, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The lack of provision of basic amenities like parking, roads, clean pavements and footpaths, filter plants, and public toilets in major markets of the capital including Blue Area, F-10 Markaz, F-8 Markaz, G-10 Markaz, I8 Markaz and others have irked both the denizens who frequent these markets as well as the business community. The main markets are slowly turning into ruins due to the absence of these basic amenities.

According to sources, unresolved issues between the old guard, CDA, and the newly-established MCI are

behind the neglect of the capital’s markets. These issues include the pending court cases of CDA’s employees against their merger with MCI coupled with the recent decision of CDA’s high-ups to ask back for 20 formations previously given to them including health services, Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), sports and culture, engineering, geological laboratories and other formations.

Last month, the capital’s foremost civic agency was put under the Ministry of Interior as Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaaf’s (PTI) new government had decided to disband the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

Interestingly, the infighting between different entities refuses to waver even though the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Capital Police, MCI and CDA work under the same ministry now.

On the other hand, the rampant corruption, massive scams, mega scandals, multiple investigations and overall inefficient performance by capital’s foremost civic agency has been in doldrums since the times of Kamran Lashari, a decade ago.

The MCI, since its inception has locked horns with the CDA multiple times over the distribution of assets and finances. The MCI decries of being treated unfairly, however, the

high-ups in CDA seem in no mood to part with the power, pelf and privileges they have been accustomed to.

Both the CDA, which has bureaucrats and deputationists at the helm of its affairs, and the new entrant MCI, crowded by local representatives vying for already scarce resources and braving pressure from voters of late, have come face to face after the4 2018 General Election.

The MCI, with its overwhelming strength of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Chairmen headed

by Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz, close friend of Mian Nawaz Sharif and ardent loyalist of PML-N, is beset with problems and issues ranging from lack of approvals for funding to not being handed complete control of directorates by CDA even after two and a half years of its incorporation.

It is pertinent to mention here that the precarious situation of MCI persists as PTI, after bagging all three seats from the capital, has set its eyes to bring substantial changes in the corporation. The stage had been set by Finance Minister Asad Umer, who has recently demanded that Islamabad Mayor and Deputy Mayors hand in their resignations since they failed to resolve the basic issues of their people.

Whether such changes will bring in a change in the lives of denizens and the business community is yet to be seen.

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Two persons including a tribal leader were killed in separate incidents of firing in different areas of Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Thursday.

The first incident took place in Botan area of tehsil Maidan in the far-flung Tirah valley where armed men gunned down a leader of Qaumi Sarishta identified as Maza Khan and fled the scene.

In the second incident, armed men gunned down 45-year-old Pisham Gul hailing from Khogakhel Shinwari in the main bazaar of tehsil Landi Kotal. Bodies of the deceased were shifted to different hospitals of respective areas. Separate cases were registered against the murderers and investigations have been launched too.

MIAN ABRAR

Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul on Thursday inaugurated the Turkish Food Festival at a press conference where guests had the opportunity to meet the renowned chefs of Çırağan Palace Kempinski, Istanbul with a quote from a famous Turkish novelist equating Turkish food to a civilisation in itself.

Serena Hotels as part of its cultural diplomacy initiatives have invited Serdar Ongel, Sous Chef, Davut Kutlugun, Chef de Partie, and Servet Kanat and Pastry Chef de Partie to bring the flavours of Istanbul to Islamabad.

The eight-day festival will be held at Zamana Restaurant and a lucky draw would be held on the last day of the festi-

SATURDAY

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ensuring rule of law, protecting human rights religious obligation: fJa DG ISLAMABAD INP

Director General, Federal Judicial Academy, Mr. Hayat Ali Shah has said that it is not only our international, constitutional and moral obligation but also a religious obligation to ensure the rule of law and protect human rights.

He stated this while addressing the certificate awarding ceremony on conclusion of four-day training course for judges to upgrade their skills and knowledge on “Human Rights and Rule of Law” Hayat Ali Shah also enlightened the participants about the Last Sermon (Khutba Hajtul-Widah) of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W).

The Director General FJA also thanked the UNODC Pakistan, for their support to conduct this unique training course.

Speaking on the occasion, International Law Enforcement Advisor UNODC Pakistan, Mr. Erwin Versteeg stated, “There is a direct link between terrorism, human trafficking, illicit drugs crimes and money laundering.

An efficient judiciary is a cornerstone of the rule of law because it serves to protect human rights and helps secure social progress and human development.”

Sounding his optimism, Mr. Erwin said that, “I hope that this new partnership with the Federal Judicial Academy would have been truly rewarding for trainees. Training course such as this will go a long way in strengthening the capacity of the judiciary.”

Twenty two Additional District and Sessions Judges from all over Pakistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (twelve men and ten women) were awarded certificates in the ceremony.

This four days training course, first of its type, was supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Pakistan.

suspected killer of Haripur journalist arrested in Chaman NewS DeSk ISLAMABAD: PTCL Chief HR Officer Syed Mazhar Hussain along with PTCL female employees and female family members of male employees at Breast Cancer Awareness session held at PTCL headquarters. PRESS RELEASE

Turkish cuisine isn't just food, it's an entire civilisation, says envoy ISLAMABAD

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val i.e. November 1, for two return tickets for Istanbul and a two-night stay at the Çırağan Palace. The Turkish Embassy has also arranged a waiver on the Turkish Visa application service charges from Gerry’s International.

As significant as food is in Pakistan, it is also an important part of Turkish culture.

Influences and interactions between the cuisines of countries surrounding Turkey as well as a fusion of Asian and European cuisines are reflected in the Turkish cuisine which uses a lot of vegetables, meat (mostly lamb and beef), cereals and yogurt.

Ambassador Yurdakul said, “Firstly, I would like to thank our chefs and musicians who came all the way from Turkey to promote their culture among our Pakistani brothers and to Serena Hotel for supporting such an event here in Islamabad. Turkish cuisine, formed by the in-

termingling of peoples, is a geographyoriented delicious kitchen. When the Turks migrated from Central Asia towards Anatolia, they brought the elements and practices they picked up along the way, including the food culture”.

Moreover, the ambassador told that empire characteristics of the Seljuk and Ottomans tastes have contributed to the diversity of Turkish Cuisine. “Turkish cuisine is one of the best in the world. So, I am sure that people who come to Serena Hotel this week will enjoy the food,” he said.

Islamabad Serena Hotel General Manager (GM) Mr Michele Galopin said, “Serena is delighted to welcome back sous chef, Serdar Öngel, chef de partie, Davut Kutlugün and pastry chef de partie and chocolatier, Servet Kanat, who are responsible for many of the superb meals at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski in Istanbul”.

“Serena Hotels delighted to be able to give our guests the opportunity to experience unique aspects of other cultures and countries. We collaborate with diplomatic missions to successfully conduct such festivals and we are privileged to collaborate with the Embassy of Turkey and the enchanting Çırağan Palace to transport the flavours of Istanbul to Islamabad,” he added.

Dating back to the 17th century, the only Ottoman imperial palace and hotel on the Bosphorus, Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul is unique in its splendid style, superb location, fascinating view and resort ambiance. It is also renowned for its superb hospitality and the rich variety of restaurants, from the ultimate Ottoman dining experience at the Tuğra Restaurant to the delicious comfort food and regional specialties of the Laledan Restaurant.

Haripur police announced that it arrested one of the two suspected killers of a journalist, a local media house reported.

It was reported that Sohail Khan a 28year-old correspondent of a local daily, was gunned down on October 16 and as per the murder FIR, Ali Sher and Hamayun Mussarat, sons of Mussarat Iqbal of Hattar village were named as suspects.

DPO Mansoor Amman told a news conference that the investigators tracked down the location of the suspects’ with the help of intelligence agencies.

The location was in the Chaman area of Balochistan, following which a police team arrested Hamayun as he was trying to cross into Afghanistan. Ali Sher, however, is still out there and will be held very soon.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president Afzal Butt warned that the journalists would launch a series of protests across the country before staging a sit-in outside parliament house if the killers of Haripur-based two journalists were not arrested without delay.

WORLD VIEW 05

Friday, 26 October, 2018

Jamal Khashoggi’s murder hurt american interests, not Just american values RECENT SAUDI ACTIONS HAVE SET BACK US OBJECTIVES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

ATlANTic

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RiCHARD FoNtAiNE

oST observers have seen the murder of Jamal Khashoggi as the latest example of an age-old tension in U.S. foreign policy: the pursuit of national interests versus the defense of American values. our leaders, this reading goes, abhor the brutal killing of a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, but security and economic considerations must temper their reactions. The government of Mohammed bin Salman is, after all, a friendly autocracy whose dollars buy our weapons and whose oil exports supply global markets. The United States needs Saudi help in opposing Iran, its support for a Middle East peace deal, its intelligence and operations to fight terrorism, and its commitment to ensure regional stability. Better, then, to signal displeasure at this latest horror but leave the broader relationship relatively undamaged—or even unchanged.

A balance between interests and values is implicit in statements by President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo about the strategic partnership between Washington and Riyadh. Calling Saudi Arabia a “very strong ally,” the White House advisor Jared Kushner explained

that “we have to be able to pursue our strategic objectives,” while “deal[ing] with what is obviously a terrible situation.” others, like foreign policy scholar Walter Russell Mead, have urged Washington not to “ditch Riyadh in a fit of righteousness.”

But this frame represents a misreading of both the incident and the last several years of Saudi foreign policy. It’s also likely to encourage the wrong policy response. The hard reality is that the Khashoggi murder is one in a series of recent Saudi actions that have set back U.S. objectives in the Middle East—and Saudi ones as well. Continued partnership with Riyadh is possible and even desirable, but only if Saudi Arabia changes its approach.

The most prominent example of recent Saudi misfires is the grinding war in Yemen. Launched as a short-term operation to marginalize then-limited Iranian support for Houthi rebels, the conflict has dragged on for more than three years, with no end in sight. Riyadh and its Emirati allies have failed to reinstall the ousted government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and Iranian influence in Yemen is greater today than it was before the war began. As the conflict drags on, the belligerents have produced countless civilian casualties and induced famine and cholera. The war redirected Saudi and Emirati bombers away from the U.S.led effort to hit Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq, and it has undermined our shared aim of containing Iran’s regional expansion.

The Saudi-initiated embargo of Qatar proved no wiser. Accusing Doha of sup-

porting terrorism and sympathizing with Iran, Riyadh—with no warning to Washington— joined the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain in severing diplomatic links, closing travel routes, and cutting off trade ties. The Saudi government issued public demands, apparently believing that combined pressure would induce Qatar to cave. But Doha didn’t fold, and the embargo only drove it closer toward Iran, which sensed economic and geopolitical opportunity in the Arab Gulf vacuum. Now Washington struggles to maintain productive relations with Qatar, host of the largest U.S. military base in the region, as well as its security partners in the Saudi-led bloc. The net result, as a State Department spokesperson put it, is an American “desire to see the Gulf dispute eased and eventually resolved, as it benefits Iran.”

Another false step was the Saudi kidnapping and forced resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, again after no consultation with Washington. Riyadh’s purported goal was to sideline Hezbollah—part of Hariri’s coalition government—as well as its Iranian sponsor. After being lured to the kingdom, Hariri resigned on Saudi television under obvious duress. As demanded, he blamed Iran. When a Houthi missile from Yemen landed near Riyadh, the Saudis went on to accuse Beirut of an act of war and order the evacuation of Saudi citizens from Lebanon. Yet the effort stemmed from a deep misunderstanding of Lebanese politics, and all of the measures backfired. Hariri regained power within weeks, and in the aftermath of the pecu-

CBI: Comical Bureau of Intrigue

liar affair, Hezbollah emerged stronger than before. The result was the empowerment of an organization explicitly hostile to the United States and Israel.

Now the Khashoggi killing, wholly apart from its moral offensiveness, will make it far harder for the Trump administration to cooperate with Saudi Arabia on security and other matters, given the political backlash it has prompted in Washington and capitals around the world. In carrying out the attack in Istanbul, the Saudi government rested a measure of its fate in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who ordered the distribution of criminal evidence to the media. Erdogan no doubt recalls the crown prince’s characterization of Turkey (a troublesome but enduring American and NATo ally) as part of a “triangle of evil” that wishes to reestablish the ottoman-era Islamic Caliphate.

These incidents do not tell the entire story of American interests in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh shares intelligence, collaborates on counterterrorism operations, and has cracked down on illicit finance. It has relaxed its previous hostility to Israel and reduced its support for extremist ideology abroad. And the Saudis are still capable of leveling an oil supply shock—particularly in an era in which the Trump administration expects their barrels to make up for diminishing Iranian exports—that would affect global prices and thus American consumers.

Yet Saudi Arabia is a less valuable strategic partner to the United States today than it was before Jamal Khashoggi’s horrific killing.

Riyadh conference and the protest boycott THERE IS NO FEAR OF A LACK OF INVESTORS OR INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES WORKING IN AND WITH SAUDI ARABIA AS LONG AS IT HAS HIGH FINANCIAL LIQUIDITY

WILL THIS GOVERNMENT, OR ANY GOVERNMENT RUN BY OTHER PARTIES, WANT TO MAKE CBI A STATUTORY BODY?

Times of iNdiA SAUBHik CHAkRABARti

What is the world’s most unenviable top cop job now? Interim chief, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Nageshwar Rao, picked by the Prime Minister-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, has the toughest remit in any public service – to stop people from laughing at the institution he leads.

The agency can now fairly be called the Comical Bureau of Intrigue, with its two erstwhile senior most officers, director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana, sent on leave, while different courts deal with disturbingly dramatic plaints made by both.

These are golden days for reporters on the CBI beat, as all sides will inevitably provide more strategic leaks. Those details will have a bearing on the specific controversies framing the CBI mess. But as people outside the government-media complex consume news reports on a Doon and St Stephens educated meat exporter alleged to be close to those in the opposition and a sent-on-leave CBI bigshot who is alleged to be close to those in power, to name only two characters in a multi-starrer burlesque, the general and justified response will be to laugh at the utter absurdity of it all.

The government is also squarely responsible because all of this has happened under its watch. Its decision to send away both warring CBI officers and ask a special investigation team (SIT) to probe allegations and counter-allegations, while entirely sensible, doesn’t even begin to address the question why the Verma vs Asthana dramedy was allowed to play out for as long as it did.

BJP has made a consistent claim since 2014, when it stormed into power, that one of the defining differences between its government and the one run by Congress is that the latter

was prone to dysfunction while the former is always in charge. At least on the CBI question, that claim is in tatters.

The really troubling perceptional question for BJP here is not so much whether it was using CBI as a political tool. That charge has been made against Congress for far longer. What is hurting and will likely hurt BJP is popular perception that its government appeared helpless as the CBI story moved from chaos to farce.

Therefore, countering the Congress charge that Verma was “targeted” because he was apparently “thinking” of a Rafale probe may be politically necessary right now for BJP. It may also be relatively easy to do so – how does Congress know what Verma was thinking, is the obvious retort. But the bigger political job for BJP is to convince people that on the CBI issue, it is back in control. Because for the first time since 2014, and weeks away from the beginning of a long election cycle, the opposition has the chance, if it is minimally clever, to build a narrative that this government, too, is prone to dysfunction.

So, BJP will hope that the SIT will keep Verma and Asthana busy, that courts won’t upend its interim arrangement for CBI, that Rao will step up to the plate and appear as an officer in charge, and that CBI investigations into non-CBI corruption cases will make news.

Note, however, that there are many things here that the government does not control or may not be able to control. For example, one known unknown right now is how the Supreme Court will respond to the ex-CBI chief being sent on leave. The other problem can be whether the accused in various CBI high profile cases supervised by Asthana will benefit from corruption charges against him.

So, the perception of chaos may not necessarily go away. Therefore, BJP needs a politically solid and institutionally impeccable talking and action point, a real solution that will help restore CBI’s institutional credibility and prove that the government

is back in charge.

That solution, as many ex-top cops and commentators with domain knowledge of law enforcement affairs have said multiple times, is to make CBI a statutory body through a fresh law. CBI functions under clauses that draw institutional validity from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. Many Supreme Court efforts to institute operational independence for CBI have essentially failed because the agency, as its status is now, is neither de jure nor de facto immune from political interference.

The Election Commission, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General are all constitutional or statutory bodies. That basically means political interference is difficult in these institutions. So should be the case for CBI. CBI also draws its senior officers from the Indian Police Service (IPS) and many IPS officers who man CBI – let’s put it politely – have close encounters with politics. Therefore, CBI as a statutory body should also be mandated to draw its cadre from a wide pool of talent and given its own budget. That’s the best way to secure its future, make it a law-backed autonomous investigative agency that attracts quality candidates because the job offers enormous prestige, good pay and real professional independence.

Were the government to announce it is starting the process of writing such a law to create a new, improved CBI, and that its decision is directly related to the current mess at the agency, no matter how Verma vs Asthana plays out, BJP will always have a winning talking point. Every critic will applaud the decision. Congress will find it pretty much impossible to oppose the decision on principle.

But will it happen? Will this government, or any government run by other parties, want to make CBI a statutory body? Let’s put it this way. It would be great for India if it happens. It would also be greatly surprising if it does.

Whether American leaders prioritize hard-headed security and economic interests, and look at Saudi Arabia through the cold lens of realpolitik, or favor emphasizing values, a reset in relations with Riyadh is badly needed. The goal of U.S. policy should be not merely to punish transgressions but to induce better foreign policy behavior. As such, the Trump administration can use this latest tragic event as leverage. Washington should push Mohammed bin Salman and his government toward greater constructiveness and less adventurism.

It could start by applying sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act to those who carried out the Khashoggi murder, but it shouldn’t stop there. Congress and the Trump administration should condition weapons sales on concrete steps by Riyadh to end the disastrous war in Yemen. They should push hard for a repair of the Gulf rupture. The Trump administration should begin a serious dialogue with the Saudis about how to develop effective regional strategies. Above all, Washington should telegraph that a continued strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia is possible and desirable— but only if Riyadh acts more responsibly and with far greater principle.

The Khashoggi murder has catalyzed global opinion and opened up new possibilities in relations with Saudi Arabia. By demanding better behavior, it’s possible that even such a horrifying event could produce something constructive. That would be an outcome conducive to both American interests and American values.

RICHARD FONTAINE is the president of the Center for a New American Security. He served as a foreign-policy adviser to Senator John McCain from 2004 to 2009.

ArAb News ABDULRAHMAN AL-RASHED It is ironic that the protest boycott of Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the Jamal Khashoggi case is targeting programs related to development, youth, women, social development, and the future.

The mass US withdrawal has not been against political or military activities, but rather against the investment conference, which was launched on Tuesday in Riyadh. Most of the programs scheduled in the conference — which has been boycotted by a number of Western companies and banks — are directed toward reforms in Saudi Arabia, as they include: Empowering youth, giving women equal job opportunities, reducing the role of the government through increased privatization, developing a modern education system, investing in entertainment, and building museums and arts centers, among others.

The boycott seems surprising too because it is imposed by countries and companies that, until recent years, were criticizing Saudi Arabia for being socially closed, religiously fanatic and restrictive of arts and social events, and thus were calling for a greater role for women and the private sector.

The calls for boycotting the investment conference, indeed, have come from different bodies, some of which are extremist Islamic organizations that aim to exploit the Khashoggi case for their own political motives. According to the Wall Street Journal, the website that led the campaign to intimidate companies and individuals participating in the conference is not innocent. In fact, it belongs to a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, but it seems like a reliable, independent website to its visitors.

Actually, there is no fear of a lack of investors or international companies working in and with Saudi Arabia as long as it has high financial liquidity, is ready to open up to the world, is fighting

corruption, and while it is successfully reforming its ponderous bureaucratic systems. A strong indicator of this is that many have withdrawn their decision to boycott the conference at the last minute, and have now sent representatives. The conference has not failed and investment has not stopped.

In truth, I would have understood the boycott had it targeted a military industry conference or a political forum in Riyadh, and I would have considered it an acceptable protest under the current circumstances. However, it does not seem logical to boycott programs and plans with great objectives that were considered an important breakthrough when accepted and announced by Saudi institutions.

The goal has been to lead Saudi Arabia forward on the road of positive transformation and social openness; expand women’s space and opportunities; convince the government to reduce its interventionist role in managing community affairs through expanding the participation of the private sector; and achieve automation, job localization, and an improved standard of living. All these reforms aim to promote real growth, instead of merely relying on oil revenues.

Thus, the goal of all this is to change the perceptions of governments and societies by pursuing internal reform, which is much needed in the Middle East — a region that is always busy with wars and political strife.

The success of Dubai — indeed, the UAE in general — during the past years has motivated everyone to follow suit. When Saudi Arabia started its journey of openness and transformation, this journey came in the form of a social and economic revolution. Today, Saudi Arabia is also motivating the whole region to adopt positive change. This endeavor deserves encouragement no matter what incidents or deaths take place.

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.

06 NEWS

Friday, 26 October, 2018

NACTA, HEC AgrEE To iNCludE CouNTEr-TErrorism iN CurriCulum EFFORTS BEING MADE TO REVIEW EXISTING SUBJECTS TO COMBAT HATE SPEECH, RADICALISATION ON CAMPUS ISLAMABAD

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Staff RepoRt

EEPING in view the rising incidents of extremism in the educational institutions, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) have agreed to review the existing curriculum and include subjects being taught at the international level for combating terrorisms and extremism.

Both parties would work together to find ways and means to bring madrassah and university students closer to deal with the menace of extremism and terrorism, besides making recommendations for its improvement to counter

extremism, hate material, radicalisation and terrorism.

In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed here on Thursday to engage the faculty members and students from universities across Pakistan in developing a national strategy to counter the on-campus extremism.

The MoU was signed by NACTA National Coordinator Khaliq Dad Lak and HEC Acting Executive Director Lt Gen (r) Muhammad Asghar.

The purpose and scope of the MoU are to foster a partnership between the NACTA and HEC to establish a sustained and effective collaboration between the two in combating extremism and terrorism in the country through joint research, collaboration and by consolidating existing research work in the said areas.

This will help in promoting the research culture in the public sector as well as improving the policy-making process.

Besides, it will help enhance awareness/prevention against extremist ideologies and mindset and to provide education on the topics of counter ex-

sC directs probe into illegal sale of indian dTH technology boxes

tremism and counter-terrorism through a participatory approach of the HEC and to increase awareness programs through the support of HEC. Speaking on the occasion, Asghar said that HEC has been very actively promoting the cause of peace at universities.

“The HEC has heavily invested in security at universities,” he stated. He observed that extremism is an international phenomenon which has impacted a major part of the world.

He hoped that the partnership between HEC and NACTA will help sensitise students, faculty and the entire academia on the menace of extremism and terrorism. He said the universities play a very vital role in training youth and inculcating a moderate approach to life in their minds.

He underlined that Islam is a religion of peace and there is a need for promoting the true teachings of Islam. “We hope HEC and NACTA will work very closely in the years to come to address the multi-dimensional causes of extremism,” he concluded.

NACTA’s Khaliq Dad appreciated

Military solution can’t be imposed on Balochistan's people: Babar ISLAMABAD INp

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday constituted a two-member committee comprising member customs and FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] additional director to probe the illegal sale of Indian Direct to Home (DTH) technology boxes in Pakistan.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar made the decision while hearing the grey trafficking case. The apex court directed the committee to submit its reply within 10 days. It asked the member customs to identify the source of smuggling of DTH in the Pakistani market. In his remarks during the proceedings, the chief justice regretted that Pakistan is losing money through smuggling.

Fake bank accounts: laundryman summoned by JiT over shady transaction NewS DeSk After a falooda vendor, a school teacher and a dead man, a fake company was found after a laundryman’s name in Karachi, a private media outlet reported on Thursday.

The washerman, Tariq Saeed, has maintained that he learnt about a company registered after his name after he received a notice from the Joint Investigation Agency (JIT) formed to prove the fake accounts sent him a notice.

Saeed was caught by surprise when he was inquired about a transaction worth Rs14 million on account of purchase of steal. According to the media reports, he had taken a loan of Rs25,000 from a private source to start his business and has no bank account at all.

Saeed has been summoned by FIA in Karachi along with the sale agreement of steal, bills and other bank account details.

However, he said that he is an ordinary worker with no bank account and thus could not produce the documents demanded by the JIT. It is worth noticing that the incident has come in wake of a series of fake accounts identified in Karachi.

A falooda vendor was to be having Rs2.25 billion in Karachi’s Orangi Town after which the FIA had started the probe which is still underway.

HEC for partnering with NACTA in its efforts to counter extremism and terrorism. He said NACTA devises national anti-terrorism strategies, adding that it carries out research on various aspects of terrorism. He hoped that the HECNACTA partnership will help utilise the research conducted related to causes, threats and solutions of terrorism.

The HEC and NACTA will carry out research on topics relevant to terrorism and extremism. The HEC will give NACTA online access to research journals on topics pertaining to extremism and terrorism.

They with mutual collaboration and support will undertake awareness programs and activities for the students in the areas of counter extremism, de-radicalisation and counter-terrorism through seminars, workshops, essay competition, debates, sports events, dramas, cultural activities and social media etc.

They agreed on the point to utilise the FM radio channels of the universities to deal with the terrorism, besides sensitising teachers by undertaking workshops, seminars and discussions programs for teachers.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former Senator Farhatullah Babar has said that the government cannot impose a military solution on the people of Balochistan.

He was addressing a ceremony organised for the launch of Kaiser Bengali’s book ‘A Cry for Justice’ at the Islamabad Club on Thursday evening. Published by the Oxford University Press, the book highlights deprivations of the people of Balochistan.

Farhatullah Babar said that according to official figures placed before the Senate Human Rights Committee sometime back, mutilated bodies of fifty one persons were found during a 2-year period but not a single first information report (FIR) was registered by any relative of the victims.

He said that it goes on to show that the citizen has lost trust in

state institutions for justice. “It also points to a dangerous alienation and disconnect between the state and society in the province,” he added.

“This disconnect has manifested itself in an insurgency that can only be addressed politically and not militarily. The distrust dates back to when military dictator Ayub Khan hanged Baloch Sardar Nouroz Khan and his three sons after luring him to come down from the mountains for talks. It was reinforced when another Baloch Sardar Akbar Bugti was assassinated by another military dictator in his last days in the last decade,” he further added.

The PPP leader lauded the author for highlighting representational imbalance of Balochistan.

“With only 17 members in a house of 342, the voice of Balochistan is drowned. Equal representation in the senate has little impact as the Upper House has no powers in resource allocation,” he stated.

He called for an increase in national and provincial seats for Balochistan, adding that any such move would not be extraordinary.

He reminded the attendees of the ceremony that tribal areas have 12 Members of the National Assembly (MNA) regardless of its population and there was a time when former west Pakistan had same number of parliamentary seats despite a population less than the former east Pakistan.

He said that the recent murmurs of rolling back the 18th Amendment and the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award will only further accentuate the sense of deprivation of the people of Balochistan.

Farhatullah Babar also lauded the author Kaiser Bengali and the Oxford University Press for taking causes of the underprivileged and dispossessed.

The book launch event was also addressed by the author Kaiser Bengali and Professor Aalia Khan.

malala included in gCsE uK curriculum NewS DeSk Youngest Nobel Prize laureate and Pakistani activist for female education Malala has been included in the Religious Studies curriculum for General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in the United Kingdom. This news was shared by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who took to Twitter to express his pride that his daughter’s name had been included in the textbook among names of individuals who have campaigned for human rights, such as the prominent 20th-century civil rights activist Martin Luther King.

According to the official website, the Religious Studies curriculum provides a critical and sympathetic approach to the study of religion as learners reflect on religious responses to moral issues, identify and explore questions about the meaning of life, and recognise the contribution of religion to patterns of belief and behaviour.

Malala, currently a student of Oxford University was shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for campaigning for girls’ rights and education in the conservative Swat Valley, however, she recovered and since then has been a strong advocate of girls’ education and rights across the world.

Namaz-e-Janaza of Baba Haider Zaman offered in Abbottabad ABBOTTABAD INp

The funeral prayers of veteran politician of Hazara Division, Baba Haider Zaman were offered in Abbottabad on Thursday and he was laid to rest in his native village. A large number of people from all walks of life including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani, Senator Javed Abbasi, provincial ministers and elected representatives attended the funeral prayers.

Earlier on October 24, Baba Haider Zaman, the man behind the Hazara province movement, passed away in Islamabad at the age of 82.

He was admitted to a private hospital for a few days owing to protracted illness.

Born in 1934, Zaman grew up in a small district called Dewal Manal, near Abbottabad. He started his political career and struggles in the early 1960s.

He fought his first election in 1962, and the last election in 2013, participated in the movement of MR in 1977 and got arrested.

He also served as a provincial minister, Abbottabad Nazim and district council chairman.

Amnesty asks for 'effective, impartial' probe into Kulgam incident New DeLHI ageNcIeS

Amnesty International India (AII) on Thursday told authorities to carry out “effective, independent and impartial” investigations into an encounter in India Occupied Kashmir’s (IoK) Kulgam area on Sunday which left at least 14 people dead.

AII Executive Director Aakar Patel said, “What transpired in the aftermath of the Kulgam encounter is unfortunate and could have been avoided had the authorities taken extra caution to ensure that civilians would have access to the area only after proper sanitisation of the encounter site was done.”

“In case of any direct or indirect violence between security forces and armed groups, extra caution should be exercised to ensure that civilians in the area do not become collateral damage.

Safety of the civilian population should be of paramount importance.”

It was further reported that

Amnesty “urged the authorities to ensure all those responsible for the incident are brought to justice for their failure to protect the human rights of the population” of IoK. Following the incident, Pakistan strongly condemned the violence in Kulgam and said that it had repeatedly called for resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal during a weekly press briefing on Thursday claimed that “Indian forces had killed 20 unarmed Kashmiris,” adding that “Pakistan stands with the families of Kashmiris”.

On October 21, a large number of demonstrators, some hurling stones, marched on a village in Kulgam where Indian government forces were fighting with an unknown number of suspected Kashmiri fighters.

In the crossfire, three suspects were shot dead but a subsequent explosion at the scene killed five demonstrators. A

sixth civilian injured in the explosion later died at a hospital in Srinagar.

Indian forces also fired shotgun pellets and tear gas at the protesters, leaving at least 30 injured.

After years of peaceful protest, more and more Kashmiris are once again picking up arms as the Indian au-

thorities have refused to consider their demand for the right to self-determination. India has some 500,000 troops deployed in IoK. This year at least 186 armed Kashmiris, 80 anti-Indian protesters and 75 Indian forces personnel have died in clashes across IHK.

Friday, 26 October, 2018

Top CourT wrAps up di KHAN sECTAriAN violENCE suo moTu CAsE CJP ORDERS LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES TO SUBMIT BI-MONTHLY REPORT TO COURT ISLAMABAD

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Staff RepoRt

HE Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday provisionally wrapped up Dera Ismail Khan target killing suo motu case after directing authorities to continue action against ‘miscreants’.

A three-member bench, head by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, also ordered the law enforcement authorities to submit a bi-monthly report to the top court. It also directed that any serious sectarian incident in DI Khan be brought to the court’s attention.

The court announced the decision after the DI Khan’s district police officer informed the bench about measures taken to curb sectarian violence. “Police had conducted joint operations with intelligence

pm imran to ink several agreements during China visit ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Imran Khan will hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang during his visit to China from November 2-5 at the invitation of the Chinese leadership.

During the visit, the PM will discuss a whole range of bilateral issues besides inking a number of agreements, the Foreign Office (FO) announced.

This will be the first official visit of the prime minister to China since assuming office in August 2018.

After his visit to Beijing, the premier will visit Shanghai to participate in the First China International Import Expo in Shanghai, where he will be a keynote speaker.

PM Imran will hold meetings with other world leaders on the sidelines of Shanghai Forum as well as meetings with leaders of the Chinese financial and corporate sector.

He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

agencies in at least three tehsils of the district,” he said.

The senior police official further said that a decrease has been witnessed in target killings as no case was reported in the last two months.

However, the CJP questioned why improvement was only witnessed after the suo motu notice of the court. “Why did the authorities not take action before?” he questioned.

A suo motu notice was taken by the CJP on the recommendation of an SC judge from DI Khan.

In an earlier hearing, the CJP had slammed negligence of authorities to curb sectarian violence in the city. “No concrete steps have been taken for eradication of murders on sectarian grounds,” Justice Nisar had said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government law officer had told the court that a ban has been imposed on the use of the loudspeaker to curb such violence and search operations have also been conducted against miscreants.

The CJP had remarked, “No solid steps have been taken to curb sectarian-related killings in Dera Ismail Khan. The chief secretary should file a report that what action has been taken to address the problem.”

The court had also rejected the IGP’s report over the matter and had said that it seems as if some section officer has prepared the report while sitting in the office.

The CJP had remarked, “Controlling the law and order situation is the responsibility of the government.

Restlessness prevails among the people of the area after seeing the situation.”

Never think you're lesser than men, CJP tells women NewS DeSk Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday put his weight behind women by encouraging them to never lose faith in their abilities, saying they must never think that they are lesser than men.

He was speaking at the award ceremony of the National Women’s Football Championship in Lahore as the

chief guest.

“Sports play an indelible role in a nation’s development. These girls will play a central role in making Pakistan proud with their many achievements,” the top judge opined while lauding the achievements and role of women in the sports arena. The CJP said that the government must hone the skills of athletes by investing heavily in sports in order to see a prosperous and thriving

nation. He stressed that there is a dire need to build sports stadiums and parks for the youth, and called upon the youth to work hard and remain determined to make the country proud.

On Wednesday, during a hearing of a case regarding the disposal of medical waste, the CJP observed that any government that is unable to provide health and education facilities, is a government that failed its people.

KARACHI: Bahria Town International Hospital Karachi on Saturday (tomorrow) will be holding a seminar to raise awareness on Breast Cancer. Free mammography, ultrasound and checkup facilities will also be offered at the 120-bed, state-of-the-art hospital. Participation of a large number of women from Bahria Town Karachi and the entire city is anticipated. pReSS ReLeaSe

NUST, LUMS among top 100 universities in Asia NewS DeSk

NEWS

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policeman martyred in Quetta ambush QUeTTA app

A policeman was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Quetta’s Nawa Killi area early on Thursday. According to police, the deceased cop identified as Mohammad Moosa was returning home from duty at Barori police station when the unidentified gunmen opened fire at him, killing him instantly. His body was shifted to Quetta’s Civil Hospital for post-mortem. On Wednesday, four school children were injured after unidentified men opened fire outside a school in the Kili Shabo area on Wednesday.

According to police, assailants riding motorcycles opened fire at the gate of the school, injuring the students. A hospital spokesperson had said, “The school children, aged between nine and 12 years, are in stable condition.” In 2017, the Human Rights Watch in its report stated that attacks by the Taliban and other militant groups disrupted the education of hundreds of thousands of children, particularly girls, in Pakistan. The 71-page report, “Dreams Turned into Nightmares: Attacks on Students, Teachers, and Schools in Pakistan,” based on 48 interviews with teachers, students, parents, and school administrators in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab, Sindh, and KP, urged the Pakistan government to take measures to make schools safe for students.

‘Key terrorist’ involved in di Khan jailbreak killed DeRA ISMAIL kHAN oNLINe

Muhammad Abid, a most wanted terrorist involved in Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak and attack on police vehicle, was shot dead in a joint operation. Counter Terrorism Department CTD and police in Bagowi North on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan conducted a joint operation on Wednesday which resulted in the killing of the key terrorist.

Abid was wanted to the district police in the central jailbreak and an attack on the police van at the Mission Mor. The CTD and police personnel during the joint operation shot dead Abid while his accomplices fled. The shootout lasted for around 30 minutes before coming to an end with the killing of Muhammad Abid.

Two hand grenades, a pistol and ammunition were also seized.

The police took the action on a tip-off that five armed men had gathered in the area and they were planning some terrorist activity.

The dead body was handed over to the family members.

Two out of 18 cars sold during PM House auction ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Two Pakistani universities, The National University of Sciences And Technology (NUST) in Islamabad and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) have been listed among the top 100 varsities of Asia by QS Asia Universities Rankings 2019.

Both universities have improved their rankings this year and are placed in the top 100 institutions in the QS list, which names about 500 varsities.

NUST climbed up from 112 last year to 87 in the 2019 rankings, while LUMS, which was placed at 103 last year, moved up to 95.

Similarly, Quaid-e-Azam University, that stood at 133 last year, also improved its ranking and is placed at 109 in the 2019 list. Karachi University also made it to the rankings in the 251-260 grouping.

The University of Lahore which was in the 401450 grouping and Lahore College for Women University which was in the 451-500 grouping.

QS evaluates universities based on six indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty students ratio, citation per faculty, international faculty ratio and international students ratio.

The top 10 universities as ranked by QS are: 1) National University of Singapore

2) The University of Hong Kong 3) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) 4) Tsinghua University, China 5) Peking University, China 6) Fudan University, China 7) The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 8) KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, South Korea 9) The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) 10) Seoul National University, South Korea

Only two out of 18 cars belonging to the Prime Minister’s House could be sold during Thursday’s auction. The two vehicles auctioned included a 1986 model car which was sold for Rs 175,000 and a 2016 model 4×4 which gathered Rs 1,810,000. However, not a single bulletproof car was sold during the auction which was held as part of the PM’s austerity drive. According to reports, the bulletproof vehicles are expected to be put up for auction again on November 6, however, the date has not yet been finalised. In the first phase, the government had sold as many as 62 vehicles for Rs 200 million. Seven luxury bulletproof cars were among the cars sold in the auction, while two bomb proof cars did not find buyers. Four models of Mercedes, eight bulletproof BMWs, three 5,000CC SUVs and two 3,000cc SUVs of 2016 model were among the vehicles up for sale. Moreover, 24 Mercedes Benz of 2016 model were also part of the auction.

Two of the cars were 4,000cc bullet-proof vehicles. In his inaugural speech, PM Imran Khan had stressed austerity measures.

The premier stated that he would only keep with himself two employees out of 524 serving at the PM House. He also stated he would only use two cars.

08 COMMENT

Friday, 26 October, 2018

In the role of a mediator Imran Khan’s leap of faith

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hOSe who launched an impetuous offensive in yemen had under-estimated the resilience of the houthis. Instead of returning victorious in weeks or months as they had hoped, the allies have remained bogged down in the quagmire for nearly four years now. the longer the war, the greater the expenditure, and all this amidst condemnations pouring in from all over the world over human rights violations and gross ignominies. What the allies desperately need is an honourable exit which remains elusive. the airstrikes in yemen, according to a Un report published last month, had led to thousands of civilians’ deaths. the houthis who had rebelled against a proSaudi government in their country, consider themselves the aggrieved party. Despite the odds against them they have refused to surrender.

Imran Khan feels indebted to Saudi Arabia for the financial help provided early this week. What is more he has been asked by riyadh to act as a mediator. to be a successful arbitrator one has to enjoy the trust of both the parties and seen by each as an honest broker. So far Khan only enjoys the confidence of riyadh.

Pakistan has successfully kept itself out of the Gulf disputes. Despite being close to the Saudi Kingdom, Pakistan declined to take sides in the Saudi-Iran dispute or the Saudi-Qatar confrontation. On Syria, Islamabad has kept a strongly neutral stance. Pakistan joined the Islamic Military counter terrorism coalition but ensured that the organisation did nothing that was seen to be targeting Iran.

Imran Khan has his work already cut out for him. All the more so because besides being the PM he has decided to retain the portfolio of the interior also. In order to succeed he must not bite off more than he can chew. What goes against him is that he has so far shown little aptitude for diplomacy required from a mediator.

In case Pakistan decides to mediate, necessary ground work should be done by the Foreign Office. the foreign minister has to reach out to the houthis to assess if they are wiling for talks through an arbitrator and what their conditions for reconciliation are.

Raised power rates

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How to get away with murder Will anybody hold them to account?

FaRaz TalaT

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here are many lessons to be learned from last thirty-year history of global imperial politics. One, is that the United States reserves the right to determine which authoritarian constitutes a ‘dictatorship’, and which one doesn’t. the Democratic republic of north Korea fails the test for obvious reasons. But it’s been incredibly interesting watching the US establishment walking over egg-shells to not call General el-Sisi’s military takeover in egypt a “coup”. the house of Saud will never be deemed a ‘dictatorship’ in international media, despite all signs of authoritarian control associated with a classic dictatorship. ‘Monarch’ is a nicer word.

‘Monarch’ invokes a warm image of a welldressed, english aunt waving at the peasantry — now called ‘citizenry’ for reason of political correctness alone – cheering down below. the last three decades of Middle eastern politics have been a Saudi master class on how to get away with human rights violations without as much as a slap on the wrist. Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate is merely the latest in a series of unaccountable atrocities being connected, directly or indirectly, to the Saudi royal establishment.

A typical anti-murder citizen might ask why Saudi Arabia isn’t facing serious repercussions in the aftermath of this murder. A political historian may ask why the Saudi regime is facing even the slightest embarrassment on international stage

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

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Asher John

Joint Editor

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Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

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changer for Saudi Arabia’s global image. this is the cold-blooded murder of an anti-establishment Saudi journalist, who looks like one of your uncles. he’s a prominent political writer, known in the West for his contribution to prestigious sources like Washington Post. every detail of the murder appears something out of a violent film about gang wars. turkish authorities declared the arrival of 15 Saudi officials in Istanbul the day before Khashoggi’s appointment at the consulate where he was murdered. the suspects are linked directly to Saudi security service. A turkish news source is reporting an audio recording captured by Khashoggi’s Apple watch, recovered from his icloud account. the recording details the last horrific moments of the journalist as he was tortured to death inside the Saudi consulate. the Saudi establishment has been accused of committing crime after crime, which is met each time with mild international disapproval. the United States has much to do with this silence, which is financially motivated to give KSA the benefit of doubt, even when doubt is practically nonexistent. President Donald trump, in a case that can only be described as a symptom of late-stage capitalism, put an actual price-tag of $110 billion on Khashoggi’s life. he stated that the United States may not jeopardise $110 billion worth of deals with KSA by condemning this murder.

What would it take to ever hold the Saudi regime accountable for its human rights violations? this is an establishment tied to more Muslim deaths around the world – from bombing of yemen to the casualties of Islamic radicalism around the world – than nearly any other oppressive regime. this is not an opinion at this point, but an actual comparison of statistics.

All we can do is hope for a global moral awakening, because a shift in world economics that benefit Saudi Arabia don’t seem likely in the near future.

Faraz Talat is a medical doctor from Rawalpindi and an ardent traveller who writes frequently about science, social politics and international relations.

Fighting financial terrorism

Unavoidable?

t was only so long that the government could continue delay raising power rates. that the announced it one day after the ‘Saudi bailout’ sweetener just shows that they wanted to treat the people to a little bit of good news before a lot of bad news. yet, according to the government, the raise was inevitable. that is because they faced, once again, such a brokendown system when they took over. And, sure enough, one of the biggest problems is the circular debt. remember PMl-n made a one-time, unaudited rs500b odd payment to bring it down to zero? there must be a reason, then, that it has shot back to rs1,200b now. the government’s explanation is that the raised rates will now feed into distribution companies choked with non-payment and debt. that, coupled with different percentage increase for different slabs, ought to make it as painless, rather as little painful, as possible under the circumstances. But that is only partly acceptable. the thing about slabs is that while the lower bracket gets the least chunk of the raise, it still ends up bearing increased second round costs every time people visit the market.

And while it is not the present government’s fault that the previous administration left the kitty almost completely empty, it’s certainly not the common man’s fault either. And, like it or not, ordinary people are the sitting government’s responsibility.

After a hefty gas price hike, near 18pc rupee devaluation and 275bps increase in the interest rate since December, the power rate rise will further erode the common man’s earnings, already stagnating because of rigid wages and rising prices. Still the prime minister wants the people to accept increased trauma like treatment for cancer. While, to be fair to the government, such statements make perfect economic sense – especially if you’re still bracing for a Fund programme – but not so much from a lower income group voter point of view, for example. even if raising prices in the medium term is unavoidable, the government must realise that accommodating those who cannot afford it is also its responsibility.

now. Why now? For years, human rights Watch has been documenting abuse of foreign labour force in Saudi Arabia, particularly from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan, which is rightfully vocal about human rights abuses in Kashmir, has a history of scandalous silence towards the suffering of its own citizens in Saudi Arabia. no report of racial abuse, torture, unfair trials, non-payment of dues, and even deaths by unsafe working conditions or direct police brutality, have ever shaken the Pakistan foreign office into action. never have human rights violations against Pakistan’s own citizens ever come in the way of Pak-Saudi friendship.

Why now? the Saudis have been involved in a brutal war on yemen for a long time. yemen presently stands at the precipice of the world’s largest famine in the last hundred years, with nearly 12 million people facing starvation. constant reports of strikes against civilian targets, including women and children, have appeared on and disappeared from our news screens without being paid a second thought. even more tragic is the fact that many of these crimes have been dutifully crowd-funded by Muslims around the world, who make repeated trips to the Kingdom’s holy cities for hajj and Umrah. even worse, the Saudi establishment has learned to take this obligatory religious tourism for granted, and has done relatively little to make the pilgrimage safer and more comfortable. In 2015 alone, more than 2,000 Muslims lost their lives in a poorly-organised pilgrimage. the establishment not only refused to apologise for this catastrophe, but lied about the number of casualties – severely underestimating them in their reports. While international monitors like the Associated Press reported 2,400 deaths and many others provided similar numbers, Saudi admitted only 769 deaths. yet the Muslim world rose to defend Saudi negligence, distributing the blame upon “ill-mannered” pilgrims. the world’s tepid response to the aforementioned crimes could be explained through Stalin’s infamous observation: a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is statistic.

It also explains why the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi is something of a game-

It’s about patterns

Faisal ali Raja

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ecently, a gang has been arrested in Karachi that was involved in kidnapping for ransom to provide financial support to its members fighting in various parts of Af-Pak region. Such gangs are reportedly facilitating anti-state elements to carry out terror related activities in the region. Apart from the criminal background of the members of these gangs, the sources of terror financing through kidnapping for ransom has highlighted a range of possibilities where by a terrorist or a criminal group can utilise unconventional methods for accumulating money to sustain terror or criminal activities in a given area. this aspect of terror financing needs to be examined and debated among senior police command so that local law enforcers can conveniently deal with this new threat. Unfortunately, the focus of law enforcement Agencies (leAs) is not on financial aspect of terrorism and most of the cases in which terrorists have been arrested are rarely investigated to determine the potential financial sources used for constantly staging criminal or terror activities in an area. there are five factors which may form the basis for terror financing and hence must be considered while investigating terror incidents. Such cases should therefore be minutely scrutinised and finances involved therein be estimated to determine exact terror threat assessment in the country. First it is essential for us to find out Informal Financial channel Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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Density (IFcD) in a district or a region or a province. By IFcD we mean number of informal financial channels available to cater for the needs of the local population. It includes ease of accessibility, availability and usability of unofficial financial mechanism on daily basis. Greater the IFcD in any district or an area, higher are the chances of terror financing in the region. For example, more than forty persons were arrested by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last month in the suburban area of Peshawar on suspicion of terror financing. Incidentally, Peshawar is among the top cities with high informal financial channels like hundi and hawala in Pakistan.

Second, the population living in a district or a region, if not properly documented, may become an active or a passive source for terror financing.

Such undocumented human habitations abound with people of different parochial belongings and ethnic backgrounds who can easily be used as financial terror carriers to various sleeper cells in the area. the establishment of unauthorised motels, mosques and other private encroachments may become an effective source of funds collection by persons of particular ethnic or religious backgrounds. For example, a B-pharmacy qualified person, belonging to Mardan, was arrested from Korangi on September 21, 2018 by counter terrorism Department (ctD) Sindh, who confessed to have treated more than 32 militants and collected funds for a defunct organisation. Moreover, he also revealed that he had been actively doing this job for last couple of years targeting selective population living in the peripheral area of Karachi. third, frequent movement or migration of people within a given geographic area enhances probability of terror financing. For example, after the advent of Afghan war, a large

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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number of people were displaced and such human unsettlement is still going on which provides chances of terror financing through unconventional means such as transfer of money from one person to another through human channels without involving any financial institution in it.

In this way, hard cash is carried through human medium which can easily be hidden among a swamp of undocumented population and then transported to the desired destination. the porous Pak-Afghan border and high incidence of human movement can easily be used for smuggling of goods and narcotics which, reportedly, can fetch a handsome amount of money for terror purposes.

Four, lack of proper rules and procedures provide ample space to individuals or institutions to manipulate the current system and use it as a launching pad for transfer of small amount of money, which cannot be easily corroborated with any personal terror initiatives. lastly, social media and internet surfing have also multiple terror financing avenues for computer savvy youth in poor backyards of big cities. Anyone can easily upload a video or a message for the purpose of collection of donations with infinite outreach to the community.

According to a report by Pakistan telecommunication Authority (PtA), the social media has become not only a communication platform but also emerged as an effective way of gathering online companies and individuals on any moot point. Since it provides a range of individual communication avenues, therefore such broadcasting techniques can reach out to millions of people without any interruption and blocking. these unchecked free spaces are available to every terror operator who can manipulate their listeners and viewers and can generate huge amount of money through multiple channels. lack of oversight over social media and internet activity also intensifies prospect

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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of terror financing as well. the dilemma with third world countries is that they have an outdated infrastructure but are trying to catch up with modern technological developments which are not sustainable under present infrastructure. As a result it can easily be exploited and maneuvered by an individual, a group or a company to get the outcomes of their choices. these factors point towards major challenges for police and other law enforcers to detect and investigate financial terror transactions in an independent and neutral way.

Unfortunately law enforcement Agencies (leAs) are handicapped by absence of well trained, well-coordinated and well-equipped transnational counter terrorism Force which can take action independently through mutual coordination and information sharing. the current void of unknown financial avenues due to lack of training, low expertise and skills of leAs has enhanced the threat of terrorism manifold. Apart from it, inability to establish personal gains of suspects with terrorism has further complicated the current security environment making it difficult for local law enforcers to understand the complete dynamics of terrorism unfolding in their area of jurisdiction. the counter financial terror regime is all about documenting of unknown population, registering migration patterns, mapping unconventional hinterland or inland routes, determining informal financial channel density and other auxiliary factors. the basic aim is to catalogue human behavioural patterns to minimise the unconventional means of manipulating and hiding finances. Once such archiving takes place, a person remotely sitting anywhere in the world can easily track and trace not only a human movement but also any financial transaction across the globe.

Faisal Ali Raja is a Senior Superintendent of Police.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

COMMENT 09

Friday, 26 October, 2018

Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

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Pay attention to climate change report

Afghan elections amid chaos and mayhem Pakistan should sit back

sulTan MehMood hali

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FGhAnIStAn nonparty parliamentary elections were supposed to take place three years ago, delayed time and again by widening political schisms and worsening security.

On October 20, 2018 voting went ahead under the shadow of a taliban vow to punish those who took part. there was no voting at all in two critical provinces of Ghazni and Kandahar, while 33pc of the remaining polling stations were shut because of security issues.

Wiping out top most Kandahar leadership including General raziq two days before elections instilled fear in the Afghan voter as the taliban carried through on their threat on the elections day. Officials reported widespread violence across the country, with the taliban attacking districts and polling centres, firing mortar shells and exploding bombs in cities. taliban have displayed their reach and influence to strike even the securest of Afghan meetings. the penetration of a taliban affiliate inside the closest security ring of G e n e r a l Abdul raziq, whom they termed “the savage commander of Kandahar”, confirms the influence and ingress of the taliban.

As per careful estimates at least 78 people, including 28 members of the security forces, were killed and least 470 were wounded in attacks targeting

dozens of districts. In Kabul alone, more than dozen explosions were reported by officials. events speak for themselves. taliban’s relentless display of power speaks volumes. their direct dialogue with the US worries many Afghans sitting in the power corridors but is seen as a ray of hope for peace by ordinary Afghans who desire an end to the violence. regional powers including Pakistan have already welcomed an Afghan led dialogue-based solution to Afghan quagmire.

Despite Afghan leadership’s desperate attempts to castigate Pakistan and have it blamed for its own failures, the truth is now evident that the taliban have become a force to reckon with. Unless they are on board any peace talks and negotiations for a final settlement, peace will continue to elude Afghanistan.

President trump’s newly-appointed special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, in his recent visit to the region, including Kabul, Islamabad and Doha, must have found out that there is no other option but to talk to the taliban leadership directly. reportedly, and as claimed by taliban spokespersons, a meeting between the US envoy and the taliban did take place in Doha.

It is ironic that the shootout took place in Kandahar only a week after the Doha meeting. General Miller barely escaped with his life but the governor of Kandahar, the police commissioner and nDS chief were not so lucky. that the executioners were armed guards, purportedly trained by US forces, speaks volumes for the rot that has set in.

Taliban have displayed their reach and influence to strike even the securest of Afghan meetings

the other danger that is threatening Kabul and the region is the advent of the Daesh. After being routed from the levant, they are trying to establish bases in Afghanistan. the redeeming factor is that the taliban recognise the clear and present danger, the Daesh represent and there have been serious clashes between the two protagonists. t h e Daesh did manage to find willing takers in the tehreeke-taliban Pakistan (ttP) for furthering their cause and enlisting for the Daesh franchise. So far, the taliban and the Daesh are antagonists. this is the opportunity that the peacemakers have to keep the Daesh and taliban separate. however patriotic the taliban may be towards Afghanistan, it is a matter of time that in desperation, the two join hands against the corrupt and inept regime in Kabul and the foreign forces in Afghanistan. Such a marriage between strange bedfellows will be explosive and must be avoided. the elections of October 20, 2018 also depict the fragile nature of democracy in Afghanistan. Despite US attempts to plant the saplings, the tree of democracy has failed to take root. Afghans are embedded in their ancient system of Jirga, shura and tribal wisdom. till peace returns to Afghanistan, education becomes all pervasive, any experiments with democracy is likely to be a failure. the taliban know that they can disrupt the democratic process of polling through fear and intimidation. the few that do cast their votes can be easily bought and no true representation of the people will emerge. Perhaps the cart is being put in front of the horse by trying to implant democracy before development and progress.

It may be a more fruitful exercise to make a wholehearted effort for peace by engaging all the stakeholders rather than attempting to usher in development, which any way is flawed because of the rampant corruption prevailing in Afghanistan, where development funds are siphoned away and the people continue to suffer, sans education, health care and other necessities of life.

It is a very precarious situation but since the US and West brought it on and the last time they were in the region but departed hastily after the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan, this time around they must ensure that a logical conclusion is reached. In 1989, armed militias, equipped with state of the art weapons and looking for adventure and targets had morphed into the Al Qaeda and the world saw the devastating results. now the Occident needs to be pragmatic and without playing favourites, it must take a balanced view and let the Afghans take the initiative for peace, even bringing the taliban on board, however bitter it may be.

Pakistan in the meantime needs to take a backseat. It is a stakeholder in Afghan peace since all its own development projects like tAPI, cASA 100 and others are on hold till peace returns. however the oft repeated cliché but true aphorism of it being an “Afghan led, Afghan owned” solution must be acted upon.

We wish our Afghan brothers and sisters well, may their woes be over soon.

We wish our Afghan brothers and sisters well, may their woes be over soon

Sultan Mehmood Hali is a retired Group Captain and author of the book Defence & Diplomacy. Currently he is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host.

the world media labs are now talking about the serious report on climate change released by the IPcc [the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change]. the report has just warned of the far-reaching consequences like deluge, drought, wildfire and scarcity of food to name a few. the human beings triggered by the ongoing revolution in technology have started spreading their wings across all parts of the Planet, almost leaving behind the basic rudiments related to Mother nature like planting trees and keeping the environment clean.

Against these ongoing developments, the countries the world over should come together and forge strong plans regarding these issues keeping the IPcc report in mind. the natural metamorphosis has been happening almost long time now. As one good example, Korkai, a beautiful hamlet in tuticorin of tamil nadu was once the beautiful port area of the Pandyan Kingdom and due to the natural phenomena of seawater receding from the area, Korkai has now become inland, away from Bay of Bengal. this is just one example, I am sure, of how the natural disasters like this have long been happening. More to the point, my native areas like tuticorin, tirunelveli and Kanyakumari are home to rigorous agricultural/fishing activities and natural resources/vistas. I am always doing my bit, encouraging such activities and supporting those engaged in them.

Apart from denuclearising, the international community should work together towards a new green world and making the Planet the safest-ever haven for all.

P SEnTHiL SARVAyA DuRAi Mumbai

What’s India up to?

InDIAn-ArMy chief has indicated that Indian army is being transformed into a ‘lean, mean and flexible’ fighting machine. the min contours of the restructuring are: (a) teeth-to-tail ratio (capital-revenue) will be increased by shedding excess ‘flab. During next three to five years, the army would cut over one lakh troops. the whole army will be converted into ‘a lean, mean, rapidly-deployable and operationally versatile force’ by early-2019. Indian army currently has six operational or regional commands with 14 corps and 49 divisions under them, and one training command. Superfluous divisional hQs under the four strike corps (1 corps at Mathura, 2 corps at Ambala, 21 corps at Bhopal and the new 17 Mountain Strike corps) will be made effective while others will be abolished. About 57,000 ‘flab’ would be re-deployed in cyber, information and psychological warfare. the army chief explained that right-sizing ‘will result in saving money that can be used for upgrading capabilities. A jawan costs the army rs6-8 lakh a year, compared to an officer who earns rs20-22 lakh annually. Simply put, cutting down four or five officers will help save a crore’. (b) A ‘special-operation force’ will be created for deployment on china and Pakistan borders. (c) the modernisation would flatten headquarters at different levels, review cadre and terms of engagement for officers and jawans. (d) rank of brigadier will be abolished. composite and integrated brigades under major generals, with four to five battalions each instead of the existing three, will be created. Divisional headquarters, each of which controls three brigades at present, will be abolished. (e) Armed forces aim at optimal of one-third of vintage equipment, one-third in the current category and one-third in the state-of-the-art category. till recently, the armed forces had 68 per cent of vintage equipment, with just 24 per cent in the current category, and eight per cent in the state-of-the-art category. (f) twenty-five ‘super smart soldiers projects with ‘super-smart weapons’ and missile-and-space shields like S-400 will dominate the space and seas (cosmic age).

India’s war preparations are in line with hindu nationalists’ vision of Akhund Bharat (undivided Bharat).

John hackman, in his book Space is Power: The Seven Rules of Territory (p 136) says, ‘Indian nationalists’ conceive ‘all of South Asia as Bharat hind or Greater India and every resident, not recognisably european or east Asian, as Indian and a hindu under the doctrine of hindutva.

It is hoped that we too are alive to challenge of techno wars in future.

AEiMEn JAVED MALik Rawalpindi

Road accidents everyDAy many people are involved in road accident.

Some are killed and many more are injured. So, it is important for us to learn to in use the roads properly and safely.

Furthermore, as the roads are very busy now a days we should be very careful when crossing one. It is safer to use a pedestrian crossing or an overhead bridge whenever one is available. If there are no crossing, then we must look carefully right and left and cross one. however, we must obey all traffic rules. these are somethings we can do to avoid accidents. the important thing is to stay alert all times.

At the last, I want to say that road safety is very much up to how we use the roads. Use them carefully and we may be able to use them for a long time.

ADnAn nooR Turbat

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Friday, 26 October, 2018

Trump blAmes medIA over 'AnGer' AFTer pIpe bomb pACKAGes WaSHINGTON

F

Agencies

ORMeR US vice president Joe Biden and Hollywood megastar Robert De Niro were the latest targets on Thursday of a spree of suspicious packages and pipe bombs sent to opponents of Donald Trump as the US president lashed out at the media for stirring up “anger”.

Political foes of the Republican commander-in-chief accused him of inciting violence after pipe bombs were sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, CNN and other figures who are loathed by Trump supporters.

With midterm elections less than two weeks away, the president reacted first by calling for unity, but then reverting to attacking the media, which he stepped up early Thursday.

“A very big part of the Anger we

see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News,” Trump tweeted. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!” The spree began on Monday with a device found at the New York home of billionaire liberal donor George Soros. The FBI said a total of seven suspicious packages were sent in New York, Washington and Florida, including to Obama's attorney general eric Holder and two to Maxine Waters, a California lawmaker.

On Thursday, a New York police bomb squad removed a similar looking package sent to De Niro at the TriBeCa Productions company he co-founded, sending it for analysis.

In June, 75-year-old De Niro received a standing ovation at the Tony

Awards in New York for using an expletive to condemn Trump. During the 2016 campaign, the actor slammed the Republican as “blatantly stupid.” 'endless hostility' US media reported that a suspicious device was also addressed to Obama's former vice president, Joe Biden, often rumored as a potential Democratic presidential candidate for 2020, in Delaware on Thursday.

The packages were sent in manila envelopes with bubble wrap, marked with computer-printed address labels. each listed Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as the sender, including misspellings of her last name, the FBI said.

CNN evacuated its New York bureau after a pipe bomb was found in the mailroom together with an envelope containing white powder.

The packaging was addressed care

of CNN to former CIA director John Brennan, who has appeared on the channel as a guest and is perhaps Trump's toughest critic from the national security community.

CNN is known for its often critical coverage of the Trump administration and has constantly provoked the ire of the president.

On Wednesday, Trump condemned the mail-bombs, saying “acts of political violence” have “no place in the United States.” “The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and stop the endless hostility and constant negative, and often times false attacks and stories,” he later told a campaign rally in Wisconsin.

The FBI, US Secret Service and local police have mounted a fullscale criminal investigation, appealing to members of the public to come forward with any information they may have.

UK lawmakers slam BBC for failure to fix gender pay gap Facebook removes 8.7 million child pornographic photos SaN FRaNCISCO Agencies

Facebook Inc said on Wednesday that company moderators during the last quarter removed 8.7 million user images of child nudity with the help of previously undisclosed software that automatically flags such photos.

The machine learning tool rolled out over the last year identifies images that contain both nudity and a child, allowing increased enforcement of Facebook’s ban on photos that show minors in a sexualised context.

A similar system also disclosed on Wednesday catches users engaged in “grooming,” or befriending minors for sexual exploitation.

Facebook’s global head of safety Antigone Davis said in an interview that the “machine helps us prioritise” and “more efficiently queue” problematic content for the company’s trained team of reviewers.

The company is exploring applying the same technology to its Instagram app.

LONDON Agencies

The BBC has failed to live up to its duty to pay men and women the same for equal work, a committee of British lawmakers said on Thursday, in a damning indictment of the publicly funded broadcaster after years of pay scandals.

Parliament’s media committee said in a report that BBC salaries were set by “an opaque system of discretionary decisions by individual managers”.

The BBC has been struggling to address the issue, which was highlighted when journalist Carrie Gracie quit her post as China editor in January to protest the company’s gender pay gap. The BBC later accepted it had underpaid her and agreed to donate back pay to a gender-equality charity.

In 2017, the broadcaster was forced to publish a list of employees earning 150,000 pounds ($194,000) or more a year. Twothirds of those on the list were men. The committee said the imbalance for 2017-18 remained “shocking”, with no women among the top 10 earners.

NEWS DESK The director of the CIA has reportedly listened to an audio recording of the interrogation and killing of Jamal Khashoggi, reported The Independent.

Gina Haspel departed for a trip to Turkey on Monday and people familiar with her meetings there told The Washington Post she had heard the tapes.

Saudi Arabia‘s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, claimed on Wednesday that the journalist’s killers would be brought to justice, before warning anyone against trying to “manipulate” the crisis to drive a wedge between the kingdom and Turkey.

His comments came after Donald Trump said that if anyone in the kingdom’s power structure had known about the plot, “it would be” its de facto leader, the crown prince.

Israel warplanes strike Gaza after rocket fire Gaza Agencies

Conservative lawmaker Damian Collins, who heads the committee, said the BBC had “an even higher level of duty than others to advance equality of opportunity but this it has failed to do”.

“The BBC must take urgent action now if it’s to restore its reputation on equal pay and win back the trust of staff,” he said.

The committee also branded the broadcaster a “disgrace” for pushing on-air staff to work as independent contractors through personal service companies, leaving

some facing six-figure bills for unpaid taxes and others “cut adrift by losing out on maternity pay or sick pay”.

The committee said it was “unforgettable” to hear broadcaster Kirsty Lang recount how she kept working after being diagnosed with cancer because she was on such a contract.

The report said the BBC should pay compensation to those who had been “coerced” into setting up personal service companies.

China, Russia eavesdrop Trump's cell phone conversations WaSHINGTON Agencies

Chinese spies often eavesdrop on President Donald Trump when he uses his unsecured cell phone to gossip with old friends, and Beijing uses what it learns to try to sway US policy, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing current and former US officials.

Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cell phone calls are not secure and that Russian spies routinely eavesdrop on the conversations, but they say the president still refuses to give up his cellular phones, the Times reported.

The officials said US spy agencies had learned from people in foreign governments and by intercepting communications from foreign officials that China and Russia were listening to the president’s calls.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the Times report.

China has a sophisticated approach to-

Have heard the audio recording of Khashoggi’s interrogation and killing, says CIA director

ward the intercepted calls and is seeking to use them to determine what Trump thinks, whom he listens to and how best to sway

him, the Times reported, citing the officials.

Beijing particularly is trying to use what it learns to prevent the current trade war between the two countries from escalating further, according to the newspaper.

Chinese officials rely on Chinese businessmen and others with ties to Beijing to feed arguments and viewpoints to Trump’s friends in an effort to influence him, the Times reported, citing the U.S. officials.

Concerns have been raised on several occasions this year about cell phone surveillance activity in the Washington area. The Department of Homeland Security said in a letter to several senators in March that it had observed activity in Washington consistent with mobile subscriber identity catchers.

An FCC commissioner said at a meeting the issue was serious and the surveillance tools could be used by criminals or foreign actors.

The Washington Post reported in June that a federal study found signs of sophisticated cell phone spying near the White House and other sensitive locations last year.

Israeli warplanes hit Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday in response to rocket fire from the territory into southern Israel, the army said.

The fighter jets targeted a military compound in the northern Gaza Strip and a training facility and a munitions manufacturing and storage site in the south, it said in a statement.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said there were no casualties in the strikes.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the raids were in response to a rocket fired from Gaza which caused no casualties or damage but which evaded Israel's Iron Dome defence system, triggering an inquiry.

It was the first such fire from Gaza since October 17 when a rocket severely damaged a family home in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, prompting some 20 retaliatory air strikes and the temporary suspension of fuel deliveries to Gaza.

French court to trial Sarkozy over illegal campaign financing

PaRIS Agencies

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has lost an appeal against an earlier decision to send him to trial over charges of illegal campaign financing, in a case known as the “Bygmalion” affair.

A Paris court said on Thursday that it had rejected Sarkozy’s appeal.

The Bygmalion affair centers on claims that Sarkozy’s party, then known as the UMP, connived with a friendly PR company to hide the true cost of his 2012 presidential election campaign.

France sets limits on campaign spending, and it is alleged the firm Bygmalion invoiced Sarkozy’s party rather than the campaign, allowing the UMP to spend almost double the amount permitted.

Sarkozy denies charges of wrongdoing.

Friday, 26 October, 2018

‘Govt removinG all bottlenecks to facilitate foreiGn entrepreneurs’ ISLAMABAD

p

STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan has said the government was committed to removing all obstacles in making Pakistan an attractive place for foreign entrepreneurs.

The prime minister made these remarks while inaugurating Pakistan China Glass Manufacturing Complex on Thursday. The complex will be built

by Deli China and JW Sez Group, and will inject approximately $200 million into the economy.

Addressing the audience, PM Imran Khan said Pakistan has a large youth population that could play a key role in the execution of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. He also stressed on the importance of technology transfer from China to Pakistan.

He said a large business delegation would be accompanying him on his forthcoming visit to China, where they would “discuss ways to further

PM SAYS HIS VISION IS TO TRANSFORM PAKISTAN INTO A COUNTRY WHERE OVERSEAS PAKISTANIS AND FOREIGN INVESTORS COULD WORK WITHOUT FEAR strengthen CPEC” and build robust business ties.

He reaffirmed his resolve to build trade ties and expand bilateral relations with China in all areas, adding that the day is not far when Pakistan’s economy would turnaround and attract people back to the country.

“Our Naya Pakistan’s vision is to transform Pakistan into a country where overseas Pakistanis could return and foreign investors could work without any fear,” PM Khan said. “We will bring investment for housing units in line with our vision. It will create massive job opportunities.”

PM Khan appreciated the efforts of JW- SEZ Group for bringing Chinese investment to Pakistan and hoped that the investment would boost the confidence of foreign investors in Pakistan.

KSA says oil market could shift to oversupply in fourth quarter RIYADH AGENCIES

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday the oil market could be shifting towards oversupply in the fourth quarter of the year as oil inventories rise and demand slows, and the top oil exporter will “mirror” such changes in its production.

“We are of the view that the market in the fourth quarter could be shifting towards an oversupply situation as evidenced by rising inventories over the past few weeks,” said Saudi OPEC governor Adeeb Al-Aama. “So we want to be watchful not to overcorrect and cause a substantial inventory build,” Al-Aama, who heads a joint OPEC and nonOPEC committee which monitors compliance and market fundamentals, said after a recent meeting of the panel, known as the JTC, in Vienna.

OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers agreed in June to relax their oil cuts, but the group said on Thursday they may need to change course because of rising inventories and economic uncertainties.

Asked about concerns of slowing economic growth in countries such as China, a major oil consumer, Al-Aama said: “Growth risks are a concern particularly in emerging countries …

we are aware that oil demand responds to global macroeconomic factors and will be responding with our partners proactively”.

He added Saudi Arabia does not push oil to the market but responds to its customers’ needs and said the increase in the kingdom’s oil production over the past months was in response to rising demand.

“Saudi Arabia produces only what its customers ask for, not more. We saw strong demand for our crudes in the third quarter and we have increased our production accordingly,” he said.

Saudi Energy Minster Khalid al-Falih said on Oct. 22 the kingdom would soon raise output to 11 million barrels per day (bpd) from the current 10.7 million. “As we – and other producers – raise production, spare capacity will tighten by the same amount,” Al-Aama said.

“However, in the case of Saudi Arabia, while the remaining spare capacity will tighten further in November, it will definitely not be tapped until there is market demand for it,” he added.

He said oil demand was expected to seasonally fall towards the end of the year. “We have the flexibility to adjust our production to mirror it,” he added.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing on the occasion termed the joint venture as the beginning of cooperation between the two private sectors.

He said his country encouraged establishing such joint ventures to boost Pakistan’s manufacturing capabilities, generate economic activities and create jobs. He added that China was eagerly looking forward to the visit of PM Imran Khan.

The Deli-JW Glassware Co Limited has been established with the collaboration of Deli China and JWSEZ Group and other shareholders.

Pakistan-China Investment Company Limited is facilitating the Chinese investment in Pakistan and assisting in financing of the project. This project is expected to create manufacturing

BUSINESS 11

and construction jobs support the government’s vision to create ten million jobs.

Under the project, a modern worldclass glass manufacturing complex would be setup for the production of premium, export quality glass products in Pakistan, utilising natural resources and latest technology to convert into glassware, float glass and other kinds of glass products.

The project would be set up in the industrial city of Faisalabad on its existing industrial and utility infrastructure. The unit for the processing of key raw materials would be set up in Risalpur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

The event was attended by Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, Minister of State for Communications Murad Saeed, Punjab Commerce Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, JW-SEZ Group CEO Shah Faisal, Deli-JW Glassware Company CEO Wang RongFu, and Anhui Deli Glass Chairman WeiDong.

NFIS proposes amendments to stamp duty laws COMMITTEE SUGGESTS INTRODUCTION OF ESTAMPING REGIME FOR INSURANCE POLICIES ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Technical Committee on Insurance (TCI) formed in pursuance of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) has conducted a meeting to propose amendments to the stamp duty laws administered by the provincial revenue boards.in Islamabad.

The meeting was attended by the members of NFIS – TCI, including the Insurance Association of Pakistan chairman, representatives of insurance companies and the State Bank of Pakistan.

Under the existing laws, insurance companies are required to physically affix the stamps on all insurance policy documents. This poses an administrative hurdle in case of policies that are sold electronically.

During the meeting, progress update of previous tasks was submitted, while new proposals were presented for deliberation. The tasks completed by the NFIS-TCI included formulation of Eng-

lish-Urdu glossary, defining 200 words for use in insurance policy documents and promotional activities, reduction in NADRA verification cost for microinsurance policies and rationalization of enhanced due diligence requirement for the insurance products distributed through digital platforms.

The ongoing tasks included implementation of compulsory group life insurance, motor third party liability insurance and inculcation of insurance related content in academic curriculum at various levels.

The committee suggested that in order to enhance financial inclusion through promotion of technology-based alternative distribution channels, it is essential to remove the bottlenecks and hurdles from the processes and streamline the systems.

Therefore, the committee proposed to introduce an electronic stamping (e- stamping) regime for all provinces for insurance policies to promote distribution of insurance through technology-based channels such as mobile phone, internet, mobile applications etc.

The committee deliberated upon the usage of digital platforms for dissemination of insurance policy documents and affirmed that such methods will not only help in cost saving for the insurers but will also bring efficiencies in the processes, with an improvement in the customer journey. However, the amendment to the stamp duty laws are a prerequisite to practice the aforementioned methods.

PR closes 23 passenger train routes owing to less commercial viability ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistan Railways (PR) has discontinued 23 routes of passenger trains due to high cost of maintenance in these sections and less commercial viability of railways operation. “The restoration of the sections depends upon the availability of resources and commercial viability,” said an official in the Ministry of Railways on Thursday. Giving details of the closed sections, the official said that three routes were discontinued in Karachi Division, including LandhiKorangi, Jamrao-Jhudo-Pithoro, and Karachi Circular Railway, due to lack of commercial viability. Likewise, he informed that six discontinued sections belonged to Sukkur Division, including Tando Adam-Tharushah-Mehrabpur, Nawabshah-Sakrand, KhanpurChachran, Padidan-Tharu ShahMehrabpur, Tando Adam-Sakrand-Padidan -Larkana via Silra Shahdad Kot. The official said that five routes were closed in Rawalpindi Division, including Mandra-Bhaun, Pind Dadan Khan-Khushab, Miani-Bhera, Malakwal-Gharibwal, and Sargodha-Kundian. He further informed that four sections were closed in Peshawar Division, including Mari Indus-Laki Marwat-Tank, NowsheraDargai, Mardan-Charsadda, while Peshawar-Landi Kotal was discontinued as the bridges linking the routes collapsed and were not repaired yet. In Quetta Division, PR has shut down two routes including Bostan-Zhob and Sibbi-Khost, he added.

Agri imports surge by 10pc in three months ISLAMABAD APP

Imports of agriculture inputs into the country during the first quarter of the current financial year increased by 10.70 per cent as compared the imports in the corresponding period of last year.

During the period from July-September 2018, agriculture related inputs including fertilizers, insecticides and medicinal products worth $2.324 billion imported to fulfill the domestic requirements as compared the imports of $2.09 billion in the same period last year. In first three months, about 908,802 metric tonnes of fertilizers valuing $344.173 million were imported as against the imports of 622.819 metric tonnes costing $230.029 million during the same period last year. According the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the import of fertilizers into the country during the period under review grew by 49.62 per cent as compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, 6,517 metric tonnes of insecticides costing $43.531 million were also imported to tackle the requirements during current Rabi season as against the imports of 6,185 metric tonnes worth $42.349 million in the same period last year.

MArKet DAily

Bullish run continues at PSX, index gains 360 points KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Investors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw another good trading session on Thursday with indices inching up further.

The trend of foreign investors remained unchanged and they ended as net sellers on Wednesday with a net outflow of $9.68 million.

According to the news reports, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet gave an approval for increase in average electricity prices by at least Rs1.20 per unit or Rs10.35 to Rs12.91.

The KSE 100 index crossed 40,000 points mark to touch an intraday high of

40,069.40 after gathering 798.28 points.

The index settled higher by 360.79 points at 39,631.91. The KMI 30 index appreciated by 1.60 per cent and closed the day at 67,870.50 after gaining 1,067.32 points. The KSE All Share index was up by 156.61 points to end at 29,082.33. The advancers to decliners ratio stood at 196 to 161.

Trading volumes appreciated further from 333.64 million in the last trading session to 343.85 million. The Bank of Punjab (BOP +1.44 per cent) was the volume leader of the day with 25.47 million shares exchanging hands, followed

by Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTHEM +0.00 per cent) and K-Electric Limited (KEL -3.17 per cent) with

24.47 million and 23.40 million shares respectively.

The largest sector by market capitalization declined, lost 0.28 per cent even though the market trend was positive due to the decline in global oil prices. Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL) was up by 1.42 per cent while Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MARI) and Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) were down by 0.95 per cent and 1.49 per cent respectively.

Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC -0.82) also ended the day in red after the company announced its financial performance for the first quarter of Financial Year 2018-19 (1QFY19). An interim dividend of Rs2.75 was declared by the company. Sales appreciated by 41

per cent QoQ whereas the earning per share improved from Rs3.95 in the same period last year to Rs6.22.

The cement sector managed to gain 2.99 per cent in its cumulative market capitalization. Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK +5.00 per cent) touched its upper-lock for second consecutive session. Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF) appreciated by +4.98 per cent, Pioneer Cement Limited (PIOC) by +3.18 per cent and Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL) by +4.65. D G Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +2.95 per cent) fell from its upper circuit breaker price after EPS dropped from Rs6.48 in the same period last year to Rs0.95.

Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL +4.96 per cent) released its financial results for the third quarter of 2018.

Sales surged by 61 per cent QoQ, while the company’s earnings per share also increased by 663 per cent QoQ (3QFY17 Rs0.11, 3QFY18 Rs0.84).

“The market has welcomed the Saudi package which has eased off the situation Pakistan was faced with of late,” said former EFG Hermes Pakistan chief executive Muzammil Aslam. On Tuesday, PM Khan had struck a 12-month deal for a balance of payments lifeline during a visit to Saudi Arabia, which will deposit $3 billion with Pakistan’s central bank and provide a matching deferred payment facility for oil imports.

12 BUSINESS CORPORATE CORNER

Friday, 26 October, 2018

Govt in no haste to launch dollarbased savinG certificates for expats THE CERTIFICATES ARE SUPPOSED TO TARGET REMITTANCES THAT ARE NOT CHANNELISED AND ARE HELD BACK IN THE RESIDENT COUNTRIES OF OVERSEAS PAKISTANIS ISLAMABAD

W

Indus Motors CEO Ali Asghar spearheads million tree plantation drive. PRESS RELEASE

HBl declares consolidated PAt of rs9.9 billion HBL on Thursday declared a consolidated profit after tax of Rs9.9 billion for the first nine months of 2018, with earnings per share at Rs6.57. Along with the results, the board declared a dividend of Rs1.00 per share (10pc), bringing the total dividend for the nine months of 2018 to Rs3.00 per share. Profit before tax for the nine months of 2018 was Rs17.7 billion. The consolidated Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) as at September 30, 2018 was over 17pc, an increase of 105 bps over December 2017, while the bank’s Tier 1 CAR rose by 75 bps to 12.74pc. HBL’s core domestic business remains robust. Total domestic deposits increased from December 2017 levels to Rs1.8 trillion, maintaining our leading market share at over 14pc. In the first nine months of 2018, the bank added Rs101 billion in domestic CASA deposits, led by a 10pc growth in current accounts. HBL’s consistent deposit growth momentum resulted in average current accounts showing an impressive increase of Rs 80 billion, a growth of 15% compared to the first nine months of 2017. HBL’s domestic loan book increased further over June 2018, reaching Rs 819 billion. PRESS RELEASE

BOP successfully implements int’l core banking system The Bank of Punjab has successfully implemented a state-ofart international core banking system in its entire branch network. The new system is customer centric which will help the bank to offer better service to its customers. In the new system all branches of the bank will be able to service the entire customer base irrespective of the customer’s own branch. It will not only enable the bank to introduce new products and services for its clients but will also achieve better control over banking operations. The new technology platform implemented by the bank has opened up opportunities for the bank for introducing innovative technology based services which were not feasible under the legacy system previously in use of the bank. PRESS RELEASE

ACCA partners with PBC to shed light on ethics LAHORE: The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has teamed up globally with Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and CFA Institute to celebrate this year’s Global Ethics Day. In Karachi, ACCA partnered with The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) and hosted a breakfast roundtable to explore how businesses in the country are preparing for an ethical future in the face of threats and challenges presented by globalisation and technology. ACCA’s partnership with these organisations emphasises its commitment to ethics and professionalism. PBC Chief Executive Officer Ehsan Malik said, “Professional ethics should underpin all corporate activity, as the foundation stone of trust and exchange. It is a big challenge for businesses to integrate ethics in the extended value chain.” PRESS RELEASE

SBP reserves reach $7.8bn The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $14,295.8 million on October 19, 2018. According to details, foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan were recorded at $7,825.0 million, while net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $6,470.8 million. During the week ending October 19, SBP’s reserves decreased by $264 million to $7,825 million owing to external debt servicing and other official payments. PRESS RELEASE

GHULAM ABBAS

HILE the new government is in search of more contribution from oversees Pakistanis in the national economy, the finance ministry is reportedly in no haste to launch a new bond called ‘Overseas Pakistanis Savings Certificates’ (OPSCs).

As per reports, the Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS), which prepared the first ever bond for Pakistani diaspora, has submitted a new summary to Finance Minister Asad Umar for approval. However, reliable sources claimed the finance minister has pended the matter for the time being keeping in view other major and short-term initiatives to strengthen reserves.

According to sources, the finance minister has praised the work of CDNS with regard to

the new bond, saying that the same would be launched at an appropriate time. The previous government had decided to take this initiative in line with other countries like Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Nigeria, with an aim to invite more remittances.

As the existing remittances are largely consumption-driven, the Ministry of Finance, through national savings, has developed a unique product (OPSCs) which aims at targeting the remittances which are not channelised and are held back in the resident countries of the overseas Pakistanis.

As per the documents, such initiative will provide overseas Pakistanis with an attractive opportunity to park their hard-earned savings in more reliable government-backed securities in their home country. It is expected that the OPSCs will send positive vibes throughout the Pakistani diaspora around the globe, and will facilitate in enhancing remittances from the

Foreign companies urged to invest along Punjab highways LAHORE INP

Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has said that foreign investment with regard to improvements in Punjab’s infrastructure would be welcomed, adding that the provincial government “would not utilise direct funds” while international companies would be given projects on build–operate–transfer (BOT) basis.

Talking to representatives of different international companies who called on him on Thursday, Abdul Aleem Khan said that foreign companies can work on establishing economic and industrial zones along the highways and motorways, as it could play an important role in uplifting all the surrounding areas.

He said that investors should earn their due profit but the ultimate benefit should be for the province and its masses.

The senior minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has envisioned putting the country on the road to progress and prosperity, adding that

the incumbent government would end the mismanagements committed by the last regime and such policies would be ended which resulted in financial bankruptcy for Punjab.

He assured the foreign investors of complete security and cooperation so they can work with freely. Aleem Khan also announced he would convene a joint meeting of foreign companies and the concerned officers of different departments on Saturday (October 27) so that all stakeholders could sit together and formulate ways to commence work on development projects.

The senior minister said that investors coming from other countries would be given complete hospitality and there would be “no under the table deal”.

Aleem Khan stressed that the Punjab chief secretary, planning and development chairman, finance and communication secretaries should be present in the next meeting and called for bringing the Punjab Board of Investment under the Planning and Development Department so that matters could be expedited.

banking channel further.

It was learnt that the product offering will make them feel that the government back home cares for them and is coming up with innovative solutions to safeguard their savings by providing both secure and lucrative investment platforms.

The new product of national savings, especially designed for the overseas Pakistanis, is envisaged to be the Pakistan’s first of its kind risk-free and script-less security for the non-resident citizens on tap basis, like all other retail products of the savings.

The product is proposed to be offered in both foreign currency and Pakistani rupees for a tenure of 3 and 5 years with monthly profit.

Keeping in view the regulatory requirement of the international markets, the product is proposed to be launched initially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and then subsequently be rolled out in UK and USA markets and in third and final phase across the globe.

National savings has estimated to fetch an initial investment in the range of $550 million and $1,200 million per annum. This sum is calculated on the basis that if 25 per cent of 4.5 million overseas Pakistanis living in GCC invest a mere $500 per year.

Govt appoints Jameel Ahmad as SBP deputy governor ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed Jameel Ahmad on the post of Deputy Governor of State Bank Pakistan. A notification issued by the Finance Ministry declared Jameel in charge of the Deputy Governor’s post of the State Bank. According to details, Jameel Ahmad, who had been previously serving as executive director of the State Bank, will now perform his duties as deputy governor for a period of three years. In his career, Jameel Ahmad’s had been associated with various sectors of the State Bank which include operations department, banking policy and regulation department, and development finance. Jameel Ahmed is a seasoned banker with more than 26 years of banking experience. He is also the associate member of the Institute of Bankers, Pakistan and fellow member of the Institute of Corporate Sectors of Pakistan. During his educational life, Jameel received his Masters degree in Business Administration from Punjab University. It is pertinent to mention, on July 7, 2017, the then federal government appointed former finance secretary Tariq Bajwa as new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). His appointment came in the wake of sudden depreciation and subsequent appreciation in the value of the rupee against the dollar in 2017. STAFF REPORT

UberMiNi and UberAUtO reaches Peshawar, Multan

Byco Petroleum doubles profits, achieves record turnover

PESHAWAR: Uber, the global smartphone app that seamlessly connects riders to partner drivers, has announced the launch of its affordable transport categories UberMINI and UberAUTO in Peshawar and Multan. This expansion of transport categories follows the success uberMOTO has achieved in both these cities since its launch.

The idea is to increase availability of affordable and safe commute options for riders of Multan and Peshawar, while offering an ideal entrepreneurship model to increase livelihoods for many more in the two cities. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: Pakistan’s largest oil refining company, Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BPPL) on Thursday announced profit after tax of Rs5.02 billion for the 12 months ended June 30, 2018, up from Rs2.18 billion in FY17, depicting a strong gain of 130pc. This translated into a profit of Rs0.94 per share for FY2018, up from Rs0.41 per share in FY17, showing an increase of 129pc. The company’s operating profit also rose 128pc from Rs3.61 billion in the previous year to Rs8.25 billion for FY18. Byco has shown consistent growth in profit after tax for the last four years. The strong growth in profits came as sales volume climbed by 60% and gross turnover increased by 86% to the highest-ever level of Rs 215 billion. Byco reported 88% increase in net sales to Rs 166.29 billion for FY-2018 from Rs 88.42 billion in the prior year. PRESS RELEASE

Huawei brings ultimate midrange smartphone to Pakistan Silkbank declares operating profit of rs2.719bn in nine months LAHORE: It’s that time of the year that Huawei brings their ultimate midrange king to the market and reigns supreme on this price segment. Once again, the company is gearing to launch the nextlevel HUAWEI Y9 2019 – its latest offering as the successor to last year’s HUAWEI Mate 10 lite. The device features an elegant and sleek design and hard-hitting specs that makes it a must-have for everyone. People can pre-order the device from Oct 25 – Nov 02, 2018 for Rs37,999/- and win exciting gifts. The HUAWEI Y9 2019 comes with a 6.5-inch HUAWEI FHD+ display with a breathtaking screen-to-body ratio that provides a unique bezel-less experience.

The 3D curved design lets you enjoy a true cinematic experience on the smartphone while watching videos or browsing through your favorite photos and websites. PRESS RELEASE

The Silkbank Limited Board of Directors on Thursday declared an operating profit of Rs2.719 billion, with a profit after tax of Rs1.235 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. The profit before tax for this period reflected an impressive increase of 70pc versus the same period last year. Net interest income grew by Rs913 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, reflecting a growth of 23 per cent, whereas non-funded income for the same period reflected a growth of 42 per cent over the corresponding period last year. Silkbank’s Gross advances registered an increase of Rs14.29 billion, higher by 16 per cent in comparison with year-end 2017 figures. PRESS RELEASE

Challenges and CommiTmenT define my work:

Tasneem sadaf

Tasneem Sadaf is a young and aspiring designer of Pakistan, who in a little span of time has made a name in the vibrating fashion industry of country through her hard work. Mastering in both women’s and men’s wear, she has showcased her creation on various forums nationally and internationally. Tasneem belives that fashion designing has a strong potential as a revenue generating entity in Pakistan, that is why went to the business community and because of her dedication, designated to the chairperson of Lifestyle Committee at Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce. She also works for SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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Here is a little chat with this energetic and talented woman about her journey and inspirations to date.

When did you start fashion designing?

It has been a 10 year journey so far.

What and who was your inspiration?

My mother was and will always be my inspiration.

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What do you keep in mind when design?

Staying committed and working hard is the force behind all creations. It keeps me going for the better.

What is your preference in designing like; formal, semi-formal, and eastern or western ?

My range is from Bridal to Casual. I enjoy designing all kinds of outfits because they are fun in their own ways!

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You are also a member of FPCCI. How does it help fashion industry in Pakistan?

Discussing fashion at FPCCI progresses us as a nation to recognise our style. Excessive innovation is one word to describe it.

Being a woman, did you face any problems or challenges to build your own business?

Challenges come every now and then, which makes the work more worthy because I enjoy taking onto them.

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What is your message for young female entrepreneurs?

Failure is only a part of success, so keep striving.

aries: There’s no reason to sit around analyzing a situation today. taurus: Your practical plans and high ideals drive a quiet desperation today, especially if you think your moment of opportunity won’t last.

Gemini: Rather than relying on the motivation you receive from your visions of the future.

By KauKaB Jahan

happy birthday

Cancer: You stand to benefit from the bold actions of others, but you must let someone else take control or you’ll never know what they might offer. leo: Although you might fall in love with someone or something today, you won’t likely share your feelings with others now.

Virgo: Someone who crosses your path today might wish they left you alone. libra: Your friends appear to be very receptive to your craziest ideas today, but they are particularly interested in your practical innovations. scorpio: You are walking a funny line between two separate existences today, with one foot in an emotional world and the other in the realms of thought. sagittarius: You are uncharacteristically fascinated with your feelings today as you take a deep dive into the origins of your emotions.

Capricorn: You can’t help but ponder whether you are fully deserving of the impressive accolades you’re currently receiving. aquarius: You are a particularly versatile wordsmith today; you are both clever and evocative in your self-expression.

Pisces: Your theme song today could be Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer.”

CMYK

PolitiCian in to n H il la r y Cl day H er bi r tH s Ce le br a te today.

14 SPORTS

Friday, 26 October, 2018

FIFA chIeF heAdIng For trouble over pet projects ZÜRICH

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Agencies

IFA President Gianni Infantino is set to ignite new opposition Friday over his ambition to introduce two money-spinning pet projects -- a revamped global club cup and a bold new international championship.

Infantino's Saudi-backed plans, which have already been harshly criticised, are on the agenda of Friday's meeting of FIFA's ruling council.

It is unclear whether the council's 37 members will vote on the projects, giving world football's governing body authorisation to implement them.

But opponents are already sharpening the knives, deploring the proposed introduction of new competitions in an overcrowded football calendar while also targetting Infantino himself, accused of seeking to win votes ahead of his re-election bid in June next year.

The World Leagues Forum, which groups professional football leagues, has expressed its strong opposition to the proposed Club World Cup format and the Global Nations League in the past.

This week the influential body addressed a letter to Infantino signed by English FA chief Richard Scudamore and his Bundesliga counterpart Christian Seifert among others demanding that no decision be taken in Kigali. It also lamented the lack of any consultation between FIFA and the leagues.

Forum members apparently accuse Infantino of going behind their backs directly to a few top clubs to discuss the plans for the club competition while the European Clubs Association issued an appeal to FIFA several months ago, apparently unheeded, for talks.

UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin has complained of FIFA's "strange" behaviour while UEFA, speaking via the powerful Professional Football Strategic Council (PFSC), issued a statement expressing concern about the whole process.

pliskova storms into WtA semis after beating Kvitova SINGAPORE Agencies

It said the PFSC "unanimously expressed serious reservations about the process surrounding the FIFA Club World Cup and Global Nations League proposals and in particular the hasty timing and lack of concrete information".

WALKOUT? The 17-member PFSC is led by Ceferin and includes Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain, and Ed Woodward, vice-chairman of Manchester United, two clubs who attended a meeting at which Infantino presented his plans to Europe's biggest clubs.

Ill feeling has reached a point where UEFA delegates may even stage a walkout if their views go unheeded at Friday's Council meeting, according to the New York Times this week.

Infantino is pushing to revamp the Club World Cup, boosting it from seven clubs to 24 in a fouryear format, 12 of them European. Currently, the

competition which elicits little interest outside of Latin America is played every year.

His other project is to launch a biennial league tournament for nations, the Global Nations League, a sort of mini-World Cup with eight national teams competing.

Infantino says he has an offer of $25 billion over 12 years for the two competitions from a group of investors, which the Financial Times has identified as SoftBank from Japan, backed by Saudi Arabia among others.

That money, he promises, will be redistributed to clubs and continental football federations.

Football historian Paul Dietschy told AFP the new club competition was clearly an attempt to pull the rug from under UEFA's highly lucrative Champions League.

"The Champions League will survive," he said, but FIFA "will snatch away some of its income."

Embattled USA Gymnastics names 'safe sport' director LOS ANGELES Agencies

USA Gymnastics, still reeling in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal, named a new director of safe sport education and training on Wednesday.

Child advocate Shelba Waldron will assume her duties in November, charged with “developing and implementing all aspects of USA Gymnastics’ safe sport educational programs and training services”, USA Gymnastics board member Julie Springwater said in a statement.

“She will be instrumental in our efforts to create a culture and environment where members feel comfortable speaking up and are fully trained in effective safe sport practices.”

Waldron has worked before with youth development agencies to create safer environments for children, helping youngsters and those around them recognize the signs of sexual abuse, bullying and other forms of abuse.

“My first task will be to spend time listening and getting to know the USA Gymnastics community — the athletes, club owners, coaches, parents, judges, and administrators from around the country — so I can develop a safe-sport educational and training

program that works for the community as a whole,” Waldron said.

Olympic champions Aly Raisman and Simone Biles are among the Nassar victims who have criticized USA Gymnastics’ response to initial accusations against the doctor

as well as the federation’s actions since he was jailed for life for abusing more than 250 athletes.

Former Republican politician Mary Bono resigned as interim chief of the embattled body days after being named to the job.

Raisman said that Bono’s association with the law firm Faebre Baker Daniels — which advised USA Gymnastics during the Nassar scandal — made her position untenable even if she had not worked with the federation at the time.

The furore that greeted Bono’s appointment this month was another blow to the federation that was forced to part company with chief executive Kerry Perry after a controversial nine-month tenure.

Former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny, who resigned from the post last year, was arrested last week after a grand jury indicted him on felony charges of tampering with evidence in the Nassar investigation.

Czech Karolina Pliskova stormed into the semi-finals Thursday after a convincing straight sets victory against compatriot Petra Kvitova, sending the former Wimbledon champion crashing out of the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Pliskova became the first player into the final four after a 6-3, 6-4 triumph in 83 minutes. Winless Kvitova needed to win in straight sets to keep her campaign alive but struggled throughout to complete a disappointing first WTA Finals appearance since 2015. The result puts pressure on reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki, who needs to defeat unbeaten Elina Svitolina in straight sets to keep her title defence alive. Former world number one Pliskova booked her spot in the semi-finals for the second straight year having also beaten Wozniacki earlier in the tournament. It was Pliskova’s first victory over Kvitova after three straight losses. “It was a huge victory for me,” she told reporters after the game. “It meant a lot to get into the semi-finals after beating her, it’s just special.” Kvitova played down fatigue as a factor after a gruelling season. “I was really feeling well physically and mentally,” she said.

“I still had a lot of positive thoughts in the match to fight and turn it around but it didn’t happen.” Kvitova’s slump in Singapore continued, serving three double faults to be broken in the second game of the match and her confidence spiralled. It was one-way traffic with Pliskova dominating off the baseline and picking off Kvitova’s timid shots to rattle off the opening four games. On the brink of elimination, Kvitova showed some fight by attacking Pliskova’s powerful serve and breaking in the fifth game. But Pliskova regrouped to close it out in 41 minutes and eliminate Kvitova, who had 15 unforced errors in the first set. With the pressure off, Kvitova went for her forehands and it paid off as she began hitting the lines. The 28-year-old broke in the second game and stormed to a 4-2 lead as it appeared a seventh straight match at the WTA Finals would go the distance. But Pliskova rediscovered her rhythm to win four straight games and book a berth into the semis.

Marcelo delivers real boost ahead of clasico against barcelona MADRID Agencies

Real Madrid defender Marcelo trained on Thursday, according to pictures posted by the club, and could be fit to face Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday. Marcelo took a kick to his right ankle late on during Madrid’s 2-1 Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday, casting doubt over his involvement in the upcoming Clasico at Camp Nou. However, photos published on the club website showed Marcelo training, and playing with the ball, without any visible strapping around his foot.

Marcelo insisted he was “fine” after the Champions League match at Santiago Bernabeu but the Brazilian underwent tests on Wednesday. His recovery would be a boost to Madrid, who face Barca after winning just one of their last six games in all competitions.

Mountains galore as 2019 Tour de France route unveiled PARIS Agencies

Tour de France organisers threw down the gauntlet to the climbing specialists when they unveiled the most mountainous edition in the 106-year history of the event, the 2019 edition featuring a record 30 mountain passes and five summit finishes, on Thursday.

With a nod to Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, the 2019 Tour begins in Brussels on July 6 and ends 3,460km later on the Champs Elysees in Paris on July 28, the opening and closing stages about as flat as it gets on the 106th edition.

After Belgium, the Tour heads into the hilly Massive Central region, then down to the Pyrenees before culminating with three consecutive days in the Alps between stages 18-20.

Fans with a taste for classic climbs will not be disappointed, with the Tour-

malet, La Planche des Belles Filles, the Col d’Izoard, the Col du Galibier and the Montee de Tignes all on a menu featuring a record 30 mountain passes and five summit finishes.

“This is the highest Tour in history,” Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Thursday in reference to the record number of climbs. “It’s going to be a tough, tough, tough race,” said fourtime champion Chris Froome.

“I’m disappointed there isn’t more time trialling, I thought there would be, and those five summit finishes mark this out.

“But I can tell you Team Sky is celebrating its 10th anniversary and we really would like to win this Tour,” said Froome.

Marketed as the Centenary of the introduction of the yellow jersey, in 1919 — an innovation for roadside fans to identify the race leader — next year’s edition “is a way of paying hommage to the yellow jersey,” added Prudhomme.

“Combining that with the ‘Grand Depart’ in Brussels is a wonderful way to honour the man who best represents the image of the yellow jersey, cycling’s greatest ever champion, Eddy Merckx,”

CMYK

Prudhomme said.

Although featuring seven mountain and five hilly (or medium mountain) stages, there is also room for seven supposedly flat stages that are best suited to the sprinters.

“We are virtually guaranteed wind on one of those and confident there will be wind on a second one too,” said Prudhomme. Asked where that left the sprinters, Prudhomme said cycling’s fast men were too proud to let a few hills stand in their way.

“Mark Cavendish, the greatest sprinter in Tour history, showed last year the attitude our sprinters have,” he said.

Cavendish last year was one of several sprinters to struggle through a difficult mountain stage only to be eliminated after missing the time cut. “The Champs Elysees is still the most mouth-watering sprint on the cycling calendar and they all want to get there,” he explained.

Britain’s Cavendish, who with 30 stage wins is just four short of Merckx’s Tour record of 34, said: “It might look harder but the 2019 Tour will be easier to finish than the 2018 one, which was virtually impossible for a sprinter like me.”

SPORTS 15

Friday, 26 October, 2018

AussIe collApse WAs lIKe ‘cAr crAsh In sloW MotIon’: FInch ABU DHABI

Mushtaq Ahmed ends stint with national cricket Academy Former legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed has ended his stint as spin bowling coach of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) to take up a consultancy role with West Indies. He is set to become the assistant coach and is on a contract that will need him to commit 150 days in a year. He was to begin with the India tour, but couldn’t link up with the squad because of visa glitches – Pakistani nationals have found it hard to obtain work visas for India due to strained political ties. His first assignment will be West Indies’ upcoming tour of Bangladesh, where they are slated to play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. Mushtaq’s contract with the NCA was renewed for a year in April after weeks of uncertainty. At the time, he was also contemplating offers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies but decided to stay back to put himself in the fray to become Pakistan’s spin bowling coach.

However, he signed a month-long contract as spin consultant with Cricket West Indies before rejoining the NCA. Having previously worked with England, Mushtaq was Pakistan’s bowling coach for 18 months being replaced by Azhar Mahmood last year. Since then, he’s been an integral part of the NCA set up in Lahore. sPORTs DesK

review into Australia team culture due next week: cA MELBOURNE Agencies

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Agencies

USTRALIA’s sensational powerplay batting collapse was like “watching a car crash in slow motion” according to captain Aaron Finch after his side were dismissed for their third-lowest score in Twenty20 cricket on Wednesday.

Finch’s side were bundled out for 89 in the first Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi with Sarfraz Ahmed’s side reducing them to 22 for six in the sixth over.

Pakistan won the game by 66 runs after they earlier posted 155 for eight, to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

“That power play was horrific.

It was carnage.

It was like a car crash in slow motion,” Finch told reporters after his side crumbled at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. “Any time you lose five or six wickets in the power play it’s not ideal.

“The tourists’ run chase was only resurrected by bowlers Ashton Agar (19) and Nathan CoulterNile, who scored 34, with the pair helping them avoid their lowest score in Twenty20 international cricket of 79 against England in 2005. The only other player to get into double figures was the returning Chris Lynn, who scored 14, and opener Finch, who was bowled for a three-ball duck by left-arm spinner Imad Wasim said he accepted a lot of responsibility for the collapse himself.

“I had the responsibility to get us off to a good start and set up the chase,” Finch said.

“When you get out in the first over and don´t get the start needed, that´s not good enough.

“Finch said the team would need to consider making some serious changes to their batting technique before the second game of the series in Dubai on Friday.

His batting lineup, without the suspended Steve Smith and David Warner, was arguably their strongest available with Finch, D’Arcy Short, Glenn Maxwell and Lynn providing some power hitting at the top of the order.

Bravo announces int’l retirement TRINIDAD TOBAGO

A review into the culture of the Australian cricket team would be made public next week and had not been delayed, the chairman of Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday. David Peever, who as re-elected as chairman for another three years at the organisation´s annual general meeting on Thursday, said the report from the Ethics Centre would be released on Monday, after the CA board had discussed it with stakeholders. “There has been no delay,” Peever told reporters. “We didn´t get a final copy of the review until this week. “We have always said they will be released before the start of the international men´s summer, which is what is happening.” CA commissioned the warts and all review of its organisation and the men´s team after a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year threw the team into turmoil. Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft were banned for their roles in the scandal, which prompted a mix of anger and schadenfreude, with media pundits and former players suggesting Australia had brought themselves undone with the aggressive way they played the game. The ball-tampering scandal was also seen as a watershed for the sport in Australia with CA launching the root-and-branch review and ordering a charter governing player behaviour. Since the scandal broke, coach Darren Lehmann has resigned, while chief executive James Sutherland said he would step down from his role after almost 20 years in the job, although he said it had no bearing on his decision.

Agencies

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Trinidadian, who made his West Indies debut in 2004, played 40 tests, 164 one-day internationals and 66 T20 Internationals.

His last appearance for his country came in the shortest format against Pakistan in Sept.

2016.

“Today I want to confirm to the cricket world that I have officially retired from international cricket in all formats of the game,” he said in a statement.

“After 14 years when I made my debut for the West Indies, I still remember that moment I received the maroon cap before walking onto the Lords Cricket Ground against England in July 2004. The enthusiasm and passion I felt then, I have kept with me throughout my career.

“However, I must accept that for me to preserve my longevity as a professional cricketer, I must do as others before have done, leave the international arena for the next generation of players.”

All four were bowled on what turned out to be a particularly benign batting surface.

“I think when that many guys get bowled it´s obviously alarming, particularly on a flat surface that didn´t swing a hell of a lot,” said Finch who was out trying to cut a ball from Wasim that hit middle stump.

“The batting was awful. But we can bounce back. We do have a lot of experience in the team and some good players. One bad day with the bat doesn´t throw everything out the window.”

pak u-15 team beats India 2-1 after Kaka wished good luck BRAZIL sTAff RePORT

Bravo, known for his big-hitting ability and a wide range of slower deliveries, ends his international stint with 2,200 runs at an average of 31.42 in tests.

In ODIs, he finished with 2,968 runs at 25.36, while claiming 199 wickets at an economy rate of 5.41. Bravo plays for the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the Indian Premier League and has also represented T20 outfits in England, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Caribbean.

“I am extremely fortunate to have a career that has taken me across the globe into the most prestigious dressing rooms sharing experiences with all the recent legends of this glorious game,” he said.

Pakistani football team beat neighbouring rival India in the opening match of SAFF U-15 championship after Brazil footballer Ricardo Kaka wished them ‘good luck’ for their endeavour. In his video message, Kaka can be seen motivating the national football team to give their best in the game. “Hello guys, I am Ricardo Kaka and I am here to wish you a very good luck in this tournament,” Kaka said. “Pakistan national team U-15, God bless you in this tournament.

Go, do your best in this tournament, try hard and I think you guys can achieve your dreams and make everybody that loves you very, very proud,” was his message to the Pakistan team. He concluded his message by congratulating the green shirts on making it to the tournament and urging them to “do their best’”. The 2018 U-15 SAFF championship features six Asian countries with host Nepal among others.

Initially in group A, Pakistan was later sent to group B with defending champion India and Bhutan after Sri Lanka withdrew from the event. Following the victory over its arch-rival India, Pakistan will now take on Bhutan on October 27 at the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) stadium in Lalitpur.

Hope's heroics help West Indies tie second India ODI VISAKHAPATNAM Agencies

Centurion Shai Hope hit a last-ball boundary to help West Indies tie the second one-day international against India despite Indian skipper Virat Kohli´s dazzling 157 on Wednesday.

Needing five runs on the final ball to chase down West Indies´ target of 322, Hope — who made a total of 123 — got four off Indian paceman Umesh Yadav as the tourists ended on 321-7 in their 50 overs.

Earlier Kohli became the quickest batsman to reach 10,000 ODI runs on his way to his second successive century and help India amass 321-6 after electing to bat first. The hosts lead the fivematch series 1-0.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav claimed three wickets in what turned out to be the second tied game between the two sides.

The West Indies were in trouble at 78-3 when Hope infused life into their chase and put on 143 runs for the fourth wicket with Shimron Hetmyer, who

blasted 94 off 64 deliveries.

The left-handed Hetmyer, who came into the match on the back of his 106 in the West Indies´ opening loss, smashed four fours and seven sixes to unsettle the Indian bowlers.

Hetmyer though fell short of what would have been his fourth ODI ton after top edging one of Yuzvendra Chahal´s leg

spinners to get caught by Kohli at cover.

Hope then kept his calm to put together another 47-run crucial partnership with skipper Jason Holder to nearly pull off victory for the West Indies.

Hope, who registered his second ODI ton, kept chipping away despite some tight bowling by the Indian pacemen and Holder´s run out.

CMYK

But the day belonged to Kohli who reached 10,000 runs in his 205th innings as he surpassed fellow batting great Sachin Tendulkar, who first crossed the 10,000-run mark in 259 innings in 2001.

“It was a great game of cricket, great to be part of it. Full house and credit to the West Indies team as well, they showed great heart,” said Kohli, adding Hetmyer and Hope had put on a “beautiful partnership”.

KING KOHLI: “The way (the) two teams played it was a fair result,” Kohli added.

“Personally, I´m pretty proud of my innings and my milestone.”

Kohli´s fresh heroics came at the back of his 140 in India´s opening win on Sunday.

Nicknamed “King Kohli”, the prolific run-getter was dropped on 44 by his opposite number Jason Holder off debutant Obed McCoy and made full use of the reprieve.

He put on 139 runs for the third wicket with Ambati Rayudu, who made 73.

Rayudu took stock along with Kohli after India lost their openers for 40 as the batting duo rebuilt the innings and counter-attack. Rayudu was bowled by

spinner Ashley Nurse.

It was an all Kohli show after that, with the star batsman hitting 13 fours and four sixes to take the steam out of the West Indies bowling attack.

Kohli took a single off Nurse to eclipse the 10,000-run mark, before going on to score a hundred with a boundary off Marlon Samuels.

He has also notched up 1,000 ODI runs in just 11 matches this year.

“Really good game of cricket played by both teams. Congrats to Virat, played a brilliant knock and on getting to the 10,000 milestone,” said West Indies captain Holder.

“Shai Hope is a young talent and he played a magnificent knock… Also Shimron Hetmyer showed his consistency again and I felt it was a really good effort by the bowlers.”

McCoy cleaned up Mahendra Singh Dhoni for 20 to claim his first ODI wicket and ended up with two scalps. Nurse was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with his figures of 2-46.

The third match is slated for Saturday in Pune.

Friday, 26 October, 2018

NEWS

PM StreSSeS INteGrAteD APPrOACh FOr WAter CONSerVAtION ISLAMABAD

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StAFF REpoRt

N the maiden meeting of National Water Council on Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan underscored the dire need of integrated approach for conservation, storage, management and efficient utilisation of the available water resources in the country.

Chairing the meeting of the council, PM Khan highlighted the issue of water scarcity to meet the growing demands of increasing population of the country.

He pointed out that no significant attention was paid to water-related issues in the past, saying that there is a need for chalking out a comprehensive road-map, in consultation with provinces and other stakeholders, for the implementation of National Water Policy (NWP). The premier expressed that the National Water Council would serve as an effective platform to discuss and develop consensus among the stakeholders on all issues pertaining to water resource management.

The prime minister was of the view that Council would serve as an effective

platform to discuss and develop consensus among the stakeholders on all issues pertaining to water resource management.

Water Resources Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja briefed the meeting in detail about the contours of the policy and the strategic priorities set in it. The secretary apprised the meeting about the existing water availability and the planned future investments especially towards enhancement of the storage capacity.

WAPDA chairman briefed the meeting about the progress on various projects of water storage and power

generation. Water resources secretary also presented various proposals regarding implementation of NWP. The prime minister directed that the proposals be analysed by the steering committee under the minister for water resources. The steering committee would submit its recommendations in two weeks’ time.

Others who attended the meeting were Minister for Finance Asad Umar, Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for Power Omar Ayub, Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, Minister for National Food Security Sahibzada

Mehboob Sultan, Advisor to Prime Minister Malik Amin Aslam, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, GilgitBaltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, AJK Prime Minister Raja M Farooq Haider Khan, provincial ministers, federal secretaries and chief secretaries.

Jamal Khashoggi’s murder was Oil spill wreaks havoc on ‘premeditated’: Saudi prosecutor Mubarak Village-Churna HRW SAYS KHASHOGGI’S SON SALAH HAS LEFT THE KINGDOM ALONG WITH FAMILY RIYADH AGENCIES File photo

NAB reopens LNG case against Shahid Khaqan Abbasi The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has reopened investigation into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scandal against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a private news channel reported on Thursday. According to the channel, NAB Rawalpindi has decided to summon the senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader for investigation in a LNG deal in which he is accused of awarding an import contract which caused a $2 billion loss to the national exchequer. Shahid Sattar – an energy expert and former member of the Planning Commission and the SSGC board of directors – had on July 29, 2015, registered a complaint against Abbasi, who was then the federal minister for petroleum, for misusing his authority by awarding the import contract. According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to Elengy Terminal in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws. The NAB documents at that time said it had been recommended that the names of all accused in the case, including Abbasi, should be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL). However, no such decision was taken. In February this year, the Supreme Court had fixed a plea filed by Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed seeking disqualification of then prime minister Abbasi over alleged corruption in the award of LNG import contract. The petition requested the SC to order the National Accountability Bureau to take action against Abbasi in this regard. NEwS DESk

FO lodges protest with Dutch envoy over Wilders’ tweet ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday lodged a strong protest with the Dutch ambassador over the blasphemous tweets by Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders.

According to the FO press release, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua called the ambassador of the Netherlands to the FO and expressed concerns over the matter. “The Foreign Secretary conveyed deep concern and disappointment of the government and people of Pakistan on continued and deliberate malicious attempts of the Dutch parliamentarian to hurt the sentiments of hundreds of millions across the world,” it added. Janjua underscored that such acts cannot be allowed with impunity under the pretext of freedom of expression. “These discriminatory incidents spread hate and intolerance and provoke extremism and violence, which were prohibited under human rights laws and standards,” she said while calling upon the Dutch government to condemn and take suitable measures to counter and prevent such actions from taking place.

Consequently, the Dutch ambassador assured that the concerns of the Pakistani government and people will be conveyed to the concerned authorities in the Netherlands. In August 2018, far-right Dutch politician Wilders after large-scale protests in Pakistan. The decision to cancel the contest, which was to be held in the Dutch parliament in November, was greeted with joy in Pakistan. An Islamic party had organised demonstrations in Lahore and Islamabad. About 10,000 supporters of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) called for the expulsion of the Dutch ambassador and for diplomatic ties with the Netherlands to be severed. StAFF REpoRt

Saudi Arabia said Thursday the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul was “premeditated” based on information supplied by Turkey, state media reported.

“Information from the Turkish authorities indicates that the act of the suspects in the Khashoggi case was premeditated,” the public prosecutor said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

“The public prosecution continues its investigation with suspects... to complete the course of justice.”

Saudi Arabia initially claimed Khashoggi left freely after visiting the consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to complete paperwork for his marriage to his Turkish fiancee.

But, as international pressure mounted, the kingdom said on Saturday that the Washington Post contributor and critic of the Saudi government died inside the mission when an argument degenerated into

a fistfight. It later acknowledged that he had in fact been murdered, as Turkish officials said all along.

The kingdom sacked two top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well three intelligence officials and arrested 18 Saudi suspects.

On Thursday, Prince Mohammed chaired the first meeting of a committee his father King Salman has tasked with revamping the intelligence services in light of the Khashoggi crisis.

Meanwhile, the eldest son of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Salah, and his family have left the Gulf kingdom after the government lifted a travel ban, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

“Salah and his family are on a plane to (Washington) DC now,” Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s executive director for the Middle East and North Africa, told AFP, citing a family friend. There was no immediate comment from Saudi officials, but Whitson said that they were apparently allowed to leave after a travel ban on Salah was lifted.

Khashoggi’s son shakes hands with Saudi rulers in awkward meeting after reports of body parts found. FIlE photo

Island coastal belt

An oil spill from an underground pipeline has turned popular picnic location Mubarak Village known for its blue-green water into a black mess, posing a serious threat to marine life. According to media reports, a stretch of the Sindh-Balochistan coastal belt was severely polluted after an oil spillage that wreaked havoc on the entire stretch of the coast from Mubarak Village to Churna Island.

Mubarak Village counsellor Sarfaraz Haroon urged the government to take notice of the matter and lamented that the incident was not the first to threaten the local economy. “If the government does not take the matter seriously, sea life will be completely destroyed [in the area],” he told a local media outlet. He said that turtles, dolphins, whales, and other marine organisms were all on borrowed time unless remedial steps were taken. Besides, the local fishermen demanded a strict disciplinary action against the owners of the company responsible for the spill. NEwS DESk

First Pakistani to be sent into space in 2022 ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Thursday confirmed that the first Pakistani will be sent to space in 2022 and and an approval in this regard had been granted by the federal cabinet.

Addressing a press conference after attending meeting of the federal cabinet, the information minister said that an agreement had been signed to this effect between Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and their Chinese counterpart.

Earlier in July this year, Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 (PRSS-1) was launched by Pakistan from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Centre. The PRSS-1 is the first optical remote sensing satellite sold to Pakistan

by China, and the 17th satellite developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) for an overseas buyer, according to APP. The 1,200 kg satellite PRSS-1 is operating at an altitude of 640 km.

The satellite is helping Pakistan meet its imagery requirements in the areas of land mapping, agriculture classification and assessment, urban and rural planning, environmental monitoring, natural disaster management and water resource management for socioeconomic development of the country. Another flagship satellite, the Pakistan Technology Evaluation Satellite-1A (PakTES-1A), which was indigenously designed and developed by SUPARCO engineers, was also been co-launched with PRSS-1 on the same day. PakTES-1A is a 285 kilogram satellite equipped with an optical payload commensurate with national needs. It has a design life of three years and will operate at an altitude of 610km. The launches were the 279th mission of the Long March rocket series. App

Death toll from Saudi airstrike in Yemen at 21 SANAA AGENCIES

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike at a fruit-and-vegetable market near Yemen’s flashpoint Red Sea port of Hodeida killed at least 21 civilians, including children, the UN humanitarian aid agency said Thursday.

Wednesday’s attack came amid mounting fears of a fresh coalition assault on Hodeida — a city that has been the lifeline for international aid deliveries to Yemen, ravaged by a brutal 3 ½-year war between the Saudi-led alliance and Shite rebels known as Houthis.

The coalition has been trying to wrest Hodeida from the Iranbacked rebels but the campaign, like the rest of Yemen’s war, had fallen into a stalemate.

The airstrike, which hit a vegetable packaging facility in the outdoor market in the town of Bayt el-Faqih, just south of Hodeida,

also wounded 10 people. Initial reports had five dead but the death toll steadily climbed overnight.

The director of the Bayt elFaqih hospital, Abdullah Shahawi, said all the victims were civilians and that at least two children were among the dead.

In the capital, Saana, the rebelrun Al Masirah TV reported a lower casualty figure, saying at least 20 people died and 10 were wounded.

The different death tolls could not immediately be resolved.

Also on Wednesday, three more people were killed and six injured when strikes hit three vehicles on July 7 road in Al Hali District in Hodeida province, the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement Thursday. “Civilians are paying a shocking price because of this conflict,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande. “This is the third time this

month that fighting has caused mass casualties in Hodeida.”

Video footage obtained by The Associated Press showed the aftermath of the strike, with body parts lying scattered across the market and coffins lined up in the hospital.

The video could not be independently confirmed but it corresponded to events reported by the AP. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not respond to multiple phone calls and messages seeking comment.

Journalists have been barred from visiting rebel-held areas in Hodeida, including where Wednesday’s airstrike took place. Yemeni security officials confirmed the strike but didn’t know what the intended target was.

It’s not uncommon for coalition jets to hit civilians and wedding parties, funerals, residential homes and hospitals have been bombed in the past. In August, an airstrike hit

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

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a bus carrying children on their way to school in northern Yemen, killing more than 40.

The growing number of civilian casualties in the war has prompted right groups to call for the suspension of the multibillion-dollar US and European arms sales to Saudi Arabia, for decades among the world’s largest buyers of weapons.

Save the Children said Thursday the cost of basic food items such as flour, rice, salt, sugar and cooking oil has nearly doubled since the conflict erupted in March 2015.

The average income in Yemen has more than halved, meanwhile, falling to just $3.39 a day. The organization also said that 52 percent of the population lives under the international poverty line — up from 30 percent in 2014. “The economic collapse is Yemen’s silent killer; many Yemenis are struggling just to survive,” said Tamer Kirolos, the group’s Yemen director.