E-Paper PDF 10th February 2020 (ISB)

CMYK

Monday, 10 February, 2020 I 15 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 19.00 I Vol X No 222 I 62 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Govt Gives LaL Masjid cLeric 20-kanaL to end staLeMate g

Maulana abdul azIz to leave on tuesday aFter adMIn ProMIses a larGe PIece oF land For establIshMent oF JaMIa haFsa

g

PolIce dePloyed around the Mosque wIthdrawn; FeMale students beGIn to leave PreMIses

Govt, IMF policy level talks today STORY ON PAGE 12

PML-Q, PTI to resume talks today STORY ON PAGE 03

ISLAMABAD staff report

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he Islamabad administration and infamous lal Masjid cleric Maulana abdul aziz finally reached an agreement on sunday to end the stalemate after the administration agreed to allocate the cleric a 20-kanal plot for the establishment of Jamia hafsa in return for his withdrawal from the mosque. as both sides reached an agreement, the police force deployed around the mosque was withdrawn and the female students inside the seminary left the premises. the cleric, holed in the mosque for the past two weeks will reportedly leave the mosque by tuesday. the infamous cleric had been occupying, claiming to be the rightful prayer leader despite a ban on his entry in the premises. the capital administration had issued a notification of his removal last year, but it had failed to appoint a new prayer leader,

paving the way for the cleric to enter the mosque when the administration was busy dealing with other issues. as both sides refused to relent, the Islamabad police had surrounded the mosque to deal with any untoward situation. the police had also barred unidentified people from entering the mosque, with an exception made on Friday. during the phase of negotiations, aziz said that he had started a “movement” against former president Pervez Musharraf because mosques in the federal capital were being demolished and now such incidents have resumed once again.

In response to the cleric’s complaint, the authorities assured him that they will take his grievances to the competent authorities and they will also consider his demand for a settlement in light of the supreme court’s (sc) decision in this regard. the agreement came after the reports that the admin wasn’t ready to implement the cleric’s demands because he wanted

to become the khateeb of the mosque again. the official had also said that he wanted a large piece of land for the establishment of the seminary along with the possession of the plot adjacent to the old children’s library and rs250 million.

Maulana aziz remained khateeb of lal Masjid from 1998 to 2004. he was arrested during the lal Masjid operation in 2007. later, Maulana abdul Ghaffar was appointed as the khateeb and amir siddiqui the naib khateeb on a temporary basis.

In 2009, Maulana Ghaffar had left the mosque after the release of Maulana aziz and the latter had started leading prayers in lal Masjid till 2014 when a ban was imposed on him. amir siddiqui had then led prayers and three months ago was appointed the mosque’s khateeb. an official of the capital administration had acknowledged that there was no khateeb or naib khateeb at lal Masjid after amir siddique was transferred two months ago.

'Flour price hike': PM vows to make example out of hoarders STORY ON PAGE 02

UN chief to visit Pakistan on Feb 14

STORY ON PAGE 02

China virus deaths rise past 800, overtaking SARS toll

Naseem becomes youngest to take hat-trick as Bangladesh collapse dramatically

STORY ON BACK PAGE

in today’s issue

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STORY ON PAGE 15

CMYK

irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 10 February, 2020

02 NEWS

'Flour priCe Hike': pm vows to make example out oF Hoarders ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

RIMe Minister Imran Khan on Sunday assured the nation that the government has begun an “in-depth probe” into flour and sugar price hike across the country and vowed that the culprits involved in the malpractice would face the music.

“I understand the difficulties ordinary people including salaried class are confronting and have decided, come what may, my government will be announcing various measures that will be taken to reduce prices of basic food items for the common man in the cabinet on Tuesday,” the prime minister said in a tweet.

The prime minister added that rele-

vant government agencies have begun doing an in-depth probe into the flour and sugar price hike. “The nation should rest assured that all those responsible will be held accountable and penalised,” he added.

During the incumbent government’s 15 months, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 per kg. In January, the wholesale rate rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage surfaced in the country.

On Friday the prime minister had approved a summary seeking to halt the export of 350,000 tons of sugar and allow the import of 300,000 tons of sugar through the private sector.

The sugar crisis followed a flour crisis in the country which affected major cities such as Karachi, Hyderabad, and Lahore with prices shooting up to Rs70 per kg in some areas.

The prime minister had taken notice of the wheat price hike, ordering a grand operation against hoarders to overcome the crisis.

While chairing a meeting on Saturday, the prime minister had said that his government would go to any extent to provide relief to masses and check price hike of essential commodities including flour, sugar, cooking oil and rice.

No mercy for corrupt elements, says Firdous PM’S AIDE SAYS GOVERNMENT WON’T SPARE THE CORRUPT MAFIA THAT CREATED FLOUR CRISIS IN THE COUNTRY FC man killed in Harnai attaCk A Frontier Corps personnel was martyred while five others were injured after a landmine ripped through their vehicle in Balochistan’s Harnai district on Sunday.

Harnai Deputy Commissioner Azeem Jan Damar confirmed the incident to a local media outlet and said that the FC soldiers were on a routine patrol when their vehicle hit the landmine. The injured personnel were rushed to a nearby hospital as Levies and FC forces arrived at the scene to investigate the incident. NEWS DESK

possibility of indo-pak war on kashmir cannot be ruled out: aJk pm MIRPUR: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said on Sunday that Kashmir was a nuclear flash-point in South Asia and the possibility of war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir could not be ruled out. He was talking to the delegation of newly elected office bearers of District Bar Association Rawalpindi and High Court Bar Association that called on him at Jammu and Kashmir House in the federal capital on Sunday, an AJK government official statement released to the media Sunday night said.

The AJK prime minister stressed the need for an immediate increase of military power to foil the expansionist and nefarious designs of India. “No diplomacy can survive without power and Pakistan is the only country capable to stop India from its expansionist motives in the region”, he added. He said that RSS ideology was working behind the satanic brain of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We are fully aware of the challenges being faced by our beloved country but it is imperative to enhance the military power of the country”, the premier asserted. He also said that India despite all its efforts miserably failed to buy the loyalties of the Kashmiris. “It is high time for us to do whatever we can for our brethren who are the victims of worst state terrorism in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK)”, he added. The AJK prime minister said Kashmiris were rendering matchless sacrifices for the freedom of their motherland. He urged the lawyers to play their effective role highlighting the right to self-determination movement of the

SIALKOT: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday said that the process of ruthless accountability of corrupt politicians will continue in the country and there would be no mercy for corrupt elements.

Speaking to the media in Sialkot, she said that the government was committed to the recovery of every single penny plundered by corrupt elements.

She said that everyone will have to face the ruthless accountability for corruption, as there was no relief for them. She added that no one could escape from the accountability process.

She also said that massive corruption by corrupt politicians had badly paralysed the system in the country, which was being rectified now by the government in the larger national interest.

She further said there were many challenges being faced by

the government to bring direly needed reforms and betterment in this system. She added that there was a status quo system being run in the country for the last 72 consecutive years.

Firdous said that the government was making hectic efforts to ensure the rule of law and justice in the country, as this step was vital now for national development and prosperity.

She said that the corrupt politicians used the law for their personal gains in the country in the past. She added that no one was above the law.

She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was successfully honouring his promises and political commitments, besides, giving maximum financial relief to the common people as well.

Firdous said that the premier’s struggle against the corrupt system and corrupt elements has now entered into its final phase and his dream of “corruption-free Pakistan” will come true.

She said that all those who made precious assets through the unfair means will have to face the ruthless accountability and there will be no relief for them in any shape.

She also said that the corrupt mafia tried to create hurdles to cover their massive corruption, as the mafia understood that they would be sent behind the bars if the prime minister succeeded in his anti-corruption agenda.

The SAPM said that the corrupt and national wealth plunderers are coming out from the jails after getting relief in the shape of the bails being granted to them by the courts.

She said that the government knew about the nexus of the corrupt, who tried to create a flour and sugar crisis in the country. She said that the government was well aware of this nexus, which tried to create an artificial shortage of flour and sugar in the country.

She also said that the corrupt elements invested their black money in creating a crisis of shortage of flour and sugar in the country after facing hurdles in way of making their plundered black money into white money. She further said that the government was strengthening the national institutions for national prosperity. She added that the journey of enlightened, moderated and peaceful new Pakistan was going ahead day by day successfully.

Replying to a question regarding the conversion of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ishaq Dar’s residence into a shelter home, Firdous said that this step was taken for giving the people’s resources back to the people.

She said that the palace was built up with the national wealth plundered by Dar. She added that now the actual inhabitants have reached this palace converted into shelter house by the government for the poor, oppressed and deserving people. STAFF REPORT

Moot on Afghan refugees on 17th ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate a two-day international conference on Afghan refugees on February 17 which would be attended by ministers and senior officials from different countries.

The government of Pakistan, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is convening the international conference to mark “40 years of Afghan refugees presence in Pakistan: A new partnership for solidarity”, on February 17-18.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, ministers and senior officials from around 20 countries, who had been supporting the Afghan refugees across the globe and in Pakistan, would be participating, the foreign office in

a press release on Sunday said.

It said that senior-level participation is also expected from the United Nations, multilateral development banks, civil society, and private sector.

“This conference is taking place at an important juncture when efforts at consolidating peace in Afghanistan are making progress,” it added.

Besides providing an opportunity to highlight the exemplary compassion, generosity and hospitality exhibited by Pakistan, in hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world, the conference will further identify key developments and milestones in the 40 years-long evolution of the Afghan refugee situation; reflect on the lessons learned; identify the challenges; and discuss solutions for voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan.

CM YK

pm summons meeting of govt, party spokespersons ISLAMABAD INP

Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a meeting of the government and party spokespersons on Monday in order to discuss the current political and economic situation of the country. Sources said that the meeting will be held on Monday evening at the PM House and will be attended by some senior leaders of the ruling political party. The economic team of the federal government will brief the participants of the meeting over financial statistics, inflation and strategies. The members will review the recommendations to provide immediate relief to the nationals. Discussions will be held over steps for reducing inflation and prices of essential commodities for daily usage. The members will also hold consultations over the party’s rhetoric regarding the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s plea to get permission for travelling abroad. The government’s rhetoric on media will be reviewed while PM Imran will give guidelines to the spokespersons over the current situation of the country. Sources added that the participants will also discuss meetings of the dialogue committees with the leadership of the coalition partners.

un chief to visit pakistan on Feb 14 ISLAMABAD INP

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will arrive in Pakistan on February 15 along with a 14-member delegation, official sources said on Sunday. The world body’s top official will hold meetings with President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and other distinguished Pakistani citizens during his stay in the country. The UN secretarygeneral will visit the offices of the UN mission in Pakistan. Analysts have said that Guterres’s visit is very important in view of the situation in the region. It is worth mentioning here that Guterres has expressed his concern repeatedly over the situation in the occupied Kashmir territory, once saying that eight million people have been incarcerated and deprived of basic necessities. He had also advised a meaningful dialogue between Pakistan and India for the solution of Kashmir dispute. He had also said that the UN will not change its stance over the situation in Kashmir.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

NEWS

pml-Q, pti to resume talks today LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

FTeR an initial refusal to hold talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after the formation of the new body, senior leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on Sunday said that they were ready to hold talks with the government to save the alliance.

According to sources, a government committee led by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar approached the PML-Q for talks wherein it was agreed that a meeting would be held on Monday to iron out differences.

Meanwhile, on Friday, reports had claimed that PTI senior leader Tareen was reportedly unhappy for being ignored in the new dialogue committees formed by PM Imran. In a meeting with Khattak on Wednesday, Tareen was said to have conveyed his reservations over

some party leaders who were giving the impression that he was responsible for the breakdown in the talks process with allied parties.

The PML-Q had also rejected the new committee, saying the PTI-led government must initiate implementation

only pm imran's resignation will provide relief to nation: marriyum ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday has said that now, only Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s resignation will provide relief to the nation. Responding to PM’s tweet on inflation, the PML-N leader said that if Imran Khan wants to serve the masses, then he should hold search operation in the mills of his companions.

You [Imran Khan] are creating difficulties for the people by increasing inflation with the assistance of sugar and flour mafias, she alleged. The reaction came after PM told that all the relevant government agencies have begun an in-depth probe into the flour and sugar price hikes. The premier said that he understands the difficulties ordinary people including salaried class are confronting. My government will be announcing various measures that will be taken to reduce prices of basic food items for the common man in Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he told. INP

pak army rescues two foreign mountain climbers RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Army Aviation pilots rescued two foreign mountain climbers from Broad Peak, Baltoro Glacier, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday. In a statement, ISPR said that climbers — Donald Allen Bowie from the United States and Lotta Henriikka Nakyva from Finland — were part of an international winter expedition attempting to summit Broad Peak but were “stranded en route due to sickness”. Last week, the French military conferred medals on the Pakistan Army Aviation pilots who rescued a French mountaineer from the Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth highest peak, in a daring late-night rescue mission in 2018. In January 2018, French mountaineer elisabeth Revol was rescued from the Nanga Parbat, known as the ‘killer mountain’, in extreme weather. According to the ISPR, Army Aviation pilots had rescued her on the request of the French embassy. STAFF REPORT

on matters negotiated between the two parties before embarking on new talks.

“We will not talk to the new forum comprising Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood,” PML-Q leader Chaudhry

Moonis elahi had said.

“First the promises and commitments made by the earlier committee consisting of senior PTI leader Jehangir Tareen and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak will have to be fulfilled. Only then, the PML-Q will talk to the new body,” he had announced.

The Chaudhry brothers, Shujaat and Pervaiz, had said that talks with the government would only be held after previously negotiated matters become a reality.

Speaking about the newly-formed committee, the PML-Q leaders had said that making unilateral changes “creates distrust and urged the federal government to refrain from creating such a pattern”. earlier on Friday, Pervaiz elahi while speaking to a delegation of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper editors (CPNe) had said that PTI should refrain from treating its allies as its “second wife”, revealing growing divide in the ruling coalition led by PTI. “The government should not consider its allies as its competitors and should honour the promises it made when it formed an alliance with them.

We had different experiences as allies with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PTI. Our best alliance was with PPP because former president Asif Ali Zardari did more than he promised,” he had emphasised.

Fazl announces second round of anti-govt protests from Feb 23 NEWS DESK Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday announced that he will launch a campaign against the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government by holding public gatherings in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad in the coming days.

The veteran politician made the announcement after holding a consultative meeting with allied parties in Lahore. Fazl further said the JUI-F and its allied parties will hold a public gathering on February 23 in Karachi, in Islamabad on March 1 and March 19 in Lahore. The JUI-F chief said that he discussed the Azadi March and establishment of a constitutional and elected government in the country with Allama Sajid Mir of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith. Talking about other opposition parties, the JUI-F chief said, “No doubt, the opposition has become divided due to some policies of big parties and the government has taken advantage of it.” He added that the JUI-F was focused on how all the parties will join each other on a mutual platform to deliver a message of unity to masses. Criticising the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), he said that the situation had changed after the passage of bills pertaining to the extension of the services chiefs.

Addressing PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Illahi, he asked him to unveil the “secret” behind the

ending of JUI-F’s Azadi March in November last year. “The secret was that the JUI-F’s sit-in was called off after assurance that the prime minister will resign and new elections will be held after three months,” the maulana revealed. The JUI-F chief further said that the party will think about inviting the Chaudhry brothers if they change their position.

“Our movement has shaken the building of the government,” he said and refused to accept the legitimacy of the government. He alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan was enjoying a fake government. He said that there was no contact between him and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif as well as PPP chief Asif Zardari since they voted for extension in the services chiefs’ tenure.

“The PPP and the PML-N are not a part of our movement so far,” he said. However, he said, the doors for discussion are open if the PML-N or the PPP approach them. While talking about the ongoing inflation, Fazl held flawed policies of the government responsible for the situation. “Inflation has taken the right to live from the people. Poor people are no more able to purchase rations,” he said, adding that the situation was forcing people to commit suicide. “We are standing by the people and we are struggling to establish an able and representative government,” he said. The JUI-F chief added that there are a lot of new taxes and tariffs for electricity, gas and petrol are increasing multiple folds.

03

Bilawal condemns cuts in higher education budget ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has condemned cuts in the higher education budget by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government compelling the public sector universities to take loans from the private sector to run their affairs. In a statement, the PPP chairman expressed grave concern over the fact that 104 public universities in the country were passing through the worstever financial crisis in their history. Of the required Rs158 billion budget, the puppet government is not ready to allocate even half of it, he added. Bilawal pointed out that some of the most prominent universities of the country, including the University of Peshawar are not able even to pay the salaries and pensions to their staff while research and higher education had been severely neglected. “The puppet government has demolished the economy of the country under the very nose of its selectors, pushed millions below the poverty line, overseen sky-rocketing inflation and price-hikes, unleashed unemployment and have dragged the country into a social, economic and political quagmire. STAFF REPORT

pakistan lodges protest with india over ceasefire violations ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) summoned Indian Charge d’ Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia to register strong protest at the ceasefire violations by Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in Chirikot Sector. According to the FO spokesperson, due to the indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian forces, Mir Muhammad embraced martyrdom while 32-year-old Iffat Naz, wife of Muhammad Arshad, both residents of Kakuta village, sustained serious injuries. Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, South Asia and SAARC Director General Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri underscored that such senseless Indian acts, in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding.

Ghanwa Bhutto joins PTM rally in Karachi PTM HOLDS GATHERINGS IN KARACHI AND LORALAI TO MARK DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMAN LONI NEWS DESK The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) on Sunday held a rally in Karachi to mark the first death anniversary of their comrade Arman Loni– allegedly killed during a police crackdown on a PTM protest in Loralai last year– and also demanded the release of its chief Manzoor Pashteen.

PTM had maintained that Loni was killed in a police crackdown and demanded that the Balochistan government take notice of his death. However, a later report did not find any marks of violence or injuries on the deceased’s body.

In a first, Ghinwa Bhutto, the chairperson of

the Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto party, also joined the gathering to show solidarity with the rights-based alliance.

The PTM had obtained permission to hold the public meeting, which is being held at an enclosed place, with a crowd of 300-350 people, Deputy Inspector General (east) Amir Farooqi told a local media outlet. He added that the demonstrators had assured authorities that they will abide by the law.

The PTM also held a gathering in Loralai, thronged by a large number of people. “Despite all the threats, crackdowns, arrests, closing of jalsagah and usage of all the state machinery to stop people from coming out, we have made it once again.

Massive crowd at PTM Loralai Jalsa,” tweeted PTM leader and MNA Mohsin Dawar.

PTM chief Pashteen was arrested in Peshawar and was booked on sedition charges in four cases.

He was later transferred to DI Khan and subsequently got bail in two cases. His arrest, however, had prompted countrywide protests, resulting in a further police crackdown on PTM supporters.

PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework. The party has been critical of the state’s policies in the country’s tribal belt, where a massive operation against terrorists was conducted in recent times leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances.

04 ISLAMABAD

Monday, 10 February, 2020

WEATHER UPDATES MONDAY

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FDE plans to ban tEachErs From running privatE schools ISLAMABAD

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APP

eDeRAL Directorate of education (FDe) has planned to ban the public sector schoolteachers of Islamabad Capital Territory running private schools.

The homework in that regard has been completed by the directorate, the sources said while talking to APP. They said the teachers of public sector schools would not be allowed to open their tuition centres so that they could only focus on their respective schools and colleges. Strict action would be taken against the teachers, who were not performing well in the schools, they informed.

The draft of a new policy has also

been prepared under which the professional and hardworking teachers of private sector schools would be brought to the public sector schools to improve the standard of government educational institutions besides improving the quality education.

The attendance of teaching and nonteaching staff would be ensured to 100 percent and action would be taken against the violators, they said.

They said politics and time pass behaviour of the teachers in schools would be discouraged as both these habits had caused a huge loss to the quality of education in the public sector educational institutions in the past due to which people had started enrolling their children in private sector schools.

In order to restore the public trust in

the governments schools, the quality of education of these schools, colleges would be ensured, he added.

Out of 14000, around eight thousands files have been uploaded online under efiling initiative of FDe, they said.

FDe, the sources said, has also decided to start secondary level classes at evening in all primary schools of the ICT rural area. These classes would be started in next session as the basic work in that regard has been completed, the confirmed.

The teachers to be bounded to teach in the evening classes in case of need and they would be given honorarium in that regard, they added. New educational institutions were also being established in ICT to cater the shortage of schools in the federal capital, the sources told.

Peshawar BRT ‘third generation’ bus project, says Yousafzai ISLAMABAD APP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Shaukat Ali Yousafzai has said that the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was the only third generation bus project across the country.

“All other BRTs in Pakistan are of the second generation,” he said in a statement issued here on Sunday.

As per the approved PC-I, he said the cost of the Peshawar BRT was Rs 66.437billion, while the cost of the corridor construction was Rs 28 billion which translated it into Rs 1.04 billion per kilometer (km).The total Project cost included various new features which did not own by the other BRTs in the country, he added.

He said the features of Peshawar BRT included construction of 27km

masood urges uK to play role in resolving Kashmir dispute ISLAMABAD PPI

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has urged the UK Government to play a decisive role in resolution of long standing Kashmir issue as per UN resolutions.Addressing a public gathering of Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora at Coventry, Sardar Masood lauded the role of different political parties in UK Parliament for arranging two successful Kashmir Solidarity conferences. He said UK Parliament must take a serious notice of deteriorating human rights situation in Occupied Kashmir.

main corridor (13km elevated, 11km at grade and 3km underground section), 31 modern stations and development of seven feeder routes (68km) with 154 bus stops. The project also included bus fleet , procured in project budget, façade to façade development throughout the entire corridor, cycle track and pedestrian path construction along the full corridor and universal accessibility throughout in the stations, the minister added.

Three state-of-the-art bus depots construction with development of commercial facilities to generate revenue for the project, construction of underground shops and commercial plazas, construction of Park and Ride and KPUMA Building, compensation to LARP, ITS and Cycle Sharing and Bus Restructuring Programme were also among the other features owned by the Peshawar BRT.

Kites in the sky despite ban RAWALPINDI APP

Kite-flying is going on unchecked in different parts of the city and Cantonment areas despite ban on kite flying.

A number of kites of different colours and sizes can be seen on the sky in various areas including, Amar Pura, Darya Mohalla, Ghulshan Dadan, Asghar Mall,Naz cinema, Shakrail, Muslim Town, Sadiqabad, Tench Bhatta, Dheri Hassnabad, Lal Kurti, Bakra Mandi,Dhamyal, Dhoke Syedan, 22 numeber, Harley Street, Jawara Morr, Peoples Colony, Masrial Road, Kiani Road and other areas. Moreover, the sale of kites and strings was also being carried out in different parts of the city. When asked, Muhammad Atif, a kite flying lover, was of the view that people could enjoy for some time through kite flying.

He admitted that despite the fact that it was banned, some people wanted to celebrate it for the sake of their happiness. However, Latif Ch. who is witnessed of an in-

cident in which a man sustained injuries due to kite-flying string, spoke totally in favour of ban as it could save a number of lives. He pointed out that strings made of glasswire or metal had claimed several precious lives and a number of incidents had taken place in different cities in the past when persons particularly while riding on bikes sustained fatal injuries. City Police Officer (CPO) Muhammad Ahsan Younas said all arrangements had been made to nab the violators of the ban. He said a complete ban was imposed on selling kites and other material to discourage this practice and save the precious lives. He informed that several kite sellers were sent behind the bars during this month and thousands of kites and kite flying string rolls were recovered from their possession.

20 chinese flights land in islamabad amid coronavirus scare ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has beefed up the screening process at country-wide airports as 20 Chinese flights landed at Islamabad International Airport after an outbreak of coronavirus. According to the airport sources, a total of 20 flights reached directly from China to Islamabad, carrying more than 2100 passengers. “The health ministry has increased the screening process at the country-wide airports aimed at halting the entry of any suspected case of coronavirus in the country,” they said. It is pertinent to mention here that the death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 800 in mainland China on Sunday, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be “stabilising”. With 89 more people dying — most in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak — the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome nearly two decades ago, according to figures from national health authorities. INP

pakistan, morocco agree to enhance bilateral ties ISLAMABAD: The second round of Pakistan-Morocco Bilateral Political Consultations has concluded in Islamabad. The talks focused on entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, commercial, security and people-to-people contacts. Both sides discussed various facets of on-going cooperation, and ways to further deepen mutually beneficial engagement. enhancement of trade ties, visa facilitation, business, cultural and educational exchanges and defense cooperation also came under review. PPI

Students to plant 45m trees to combat climate change PESHAWAR APP

Around four million students across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are all set to back the provincial government in its endeavors to combat climate change challenges with a target to plant 45 million saplings in one-day on February 20.

It is for the first time in history of the country that such a large number of students from KG to PhD level would participate in spring afforestation campaign in a bid to achieve the target of additional one billion saplings under 10 Billion Trees Afforestation Program (BTAP) in KP by 2023.

Following successful implementation of first phase of BTAP2014-17 under which more than 1.20 billion saplings were planted over an areas of 230,000 hectares and 4509

enclosures, registering six percent increase in KP’s total forest areas ie 26.3 pc in 2018 against 20.3pc in 2013, the government has decided to launch 10BTAP in all four provinces with major share to KP of additional one billion plantation in next four years.

The national afforestation programs would be successful only when people of all walks of life including local communities were financially empowered like wildlife trophy hunting programs and giving them a sense of ownership to properly look after the plantations and mother trees for regeneration of natural forests resources and its socio-economic impact on their lives.

Talking to APP, the Provincial Minister for environment, Forests and Wildlife, Syed Istiaq Urmar said, “Global warming and climate change loom large and posing serious threats to

developing countries like Pakistan in terms of food insecurity, environmental degradation, health, renewable energy and water resources, we have decided to plant 45 million saplings in spring season by engaging four million students of schools, colleges and universities including those from merged areas on February 20”.

He said PTI government was vigorously pursuing PM’s Plant for Pakistan Program keeping in view the climate change threats and planned this key initiative to be taken under an inclusive MoUs signed among the elementary and Secondary, Higher education and Forest Departments to achieve the targets set by Ministry of Climate Change, Islamabad.

The Minister said students of Government and Private educational institutions from Chitral to D.I Khan and

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South Waziristan to Kohistan would participate in the special afforestation drive.

He said if every student plant at least 10 saplings then 40 million saplings would easily be planted during spring.

Muhammad Tehmasip Khan, the Project Director said participation of such a large number of students would immensely help achieve plantation target of 80 million seedlings in spring season in KP including erstwhile FATA against 100 million target set for this year.

The Project Director said 10BTAP has been extended to newly merged areas where its vast land would be utilized to achieve the set targets. He said farmers, Village Developmental Committees (VDCs), general public, officials of national building departments, defense forces, civil society and NGOs would also be involved during spring plantations in

erstwhile FATA. Tehmasip said lands for 10BTAP has been identified in merged areas and more suitable afforestation sites are being searched in Bajaur, Khyber, South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Orakzai, Mohmand and Kurram tribal districts.

He said the selection of species for 10BTAP has been completed and would be utilized keeping in view climate and soil conditions of the areas. Under range land policy, around 1375 hectares and 10 watershed areas would be treated.

In VDCs, mostly comprises of local tribesmen would be involved to help Forest Department in protection of new afforestation in merged areas for at least five years. Under farms forestry scheme, free ornamental and fruits plants would also be distributed among people, who provide lands for the national afforestation campaign.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

NEWS

05

PM orders auction of China will win, and soon governMent vehicles, useless equiPMent within 90 days YAO JING

PREMIER WANTS PENDING ALL DECISIONS AND TASKS WILL BE PROMOTION CASES TO BE RESOLVED CARRIED OUT THROUGH TASK WITHIN 60 WORKING DAYS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

ISLAMABAD

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SHEHZAD PARACHA

he Prime Minister's Office has directed all ministries and divisions to conduct an auction of worn out machinery, vehicles, useless equipment and furniture, etc. within 90 days.

Documents available with this scribe reveal that the order was issued by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit (PMDU). Additionally, instructions to archive the entire process within the same time frame have also been issued. Departments have been told to wrap up all inquiries pending at any level beyond three months and to submit a report to the concerned quarters within the same time limit.

Officials said that the customs department has hundreds of confiscated vehicles in its warehouses and billions of rupees can be generated for the government's if it auctions the cars. Sources said that dozens of inquiries are pending in federal ministries or divisions as normally, investigation officers take months to complete an inquiry. According to the documents, PMDU has also ordered that rules of recruitment are framed within two months. "Recruitment rules for all identified or left-over positions, whether afresh or those which need to be updated, shall be framed at all levels within 60 working days," the document stated, adding that positions lying vacant for more than a year would be asked for resignations.

In this regard, the process for re-designation or deletion of vacant or left-over positions shall be completed within 45 working days, except those which have been either advertised for filing purposes or are meant for promotion.

CITY NOTES M A NIAZI

he person getting the most encouragement from Donald Trump’s acquittal by the US Senate is our very own Imran Khan. now he can get down with a clear conscience to seeking the help of foreign prosecutors to help him prove that Mian nawaz Sharif is guilty.

Of corruption? That would be nice, but not a deal-breaker. Guilty of anything that would take him out of the equation in the next election. And Shehbaz could be proven guilty also, perhaps in another case, it doesn’t matter.

Shehbaz has been indefatigable as usual, suing the Daily Mail for libel. no wonder the cries for Maryam are becoming urgent. With Shehbaz busy consulting legal eagles, who will look after nawaz? Shehbaz would like to hurry back to Pakistan soon, which is fast becoming a land fit for heroes. The national Assembly has passed an Act making public hanging the punishment for child abuse.

I wonder when we’ll bring back the old punishment of hanging, drawing and quartering, and make it public. For those who don’t know how the english

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Furthermore, PMDU has directed departments to finalise and notify pending senioritis. All pending senioritis, except those which have been disputed in courts and tribunals, shall be notified whereas long awaited promotion cases would be resolved within 60 working days.

Moreover, PMDU stated that divisions or ministries would place a requisition to federal public service commission against vacant positions. “All vacant positions within the recruitment ambit of FPSC shall be referred to the commission within 30 working days.

It may exclude those positions which are either coming in the restructuring process or meant for promotion, It shall, however, be ensured that positions are duly budgeted and that the organisation concerned has no resource constraints, is not considering any restructuring, is not falling in promotion quota, not coming under any devolved subject pending and not restricted to be filled-in under any court decision, memorandum of understanding (MoU) or agreement.

Lastly, the documents reveal that all vacant positions laying in the recruitment ambit are to be filled within 120 days. It is worth mentioning here that the decisions listed above will be tasked through the Task Management System (TMS) and compliance of the same shall be reported both on the system and through a prescribed certificate to be signed by the secretary concerned with all supporting evidence regarding compliance; however, prior to complete compliance of all assigned tasks, an intermediate progress report will be solicited upon the lapse of half of the assigned timeline.

Moreover, ministries and divisions shall also be kept informed about the status of the tasks.

InCe the beginning of this year, the sudden outbreak of novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (nCP) has spread in China. Governments at all levels in China have taken epidemic control and prevention as the top priority. every effort has been made in China to race against time and compete with the epidemic.

General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Communist Party of China(CPC) presided over an urgent meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on the very first day of the Chinese new Year. Top-down epidemic control and prevention work has been rapidly deployed and the Central Leading Group for Response to epidemic has been established at the CPC central level. Under its guidance, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council works as the key coordination body and is promptly resolving urgent problems emerging from epidemic control and prevention. All 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China have initiated Grade I Response to major public health emergencies, building a comprehensive, multilevel, and foolproof control and prevention system, focusing on Wuhan city and hubei province, from the central to the local level.

There is no exception from urban areas to rural areas, and the most comprehensive and unprecedented protective isolation measures have been adopted to contain the epidemic. The central government has allocated special funds for epidemic control and prevention, medical staff and medical supplies across the country have rushed to Wuhan city for help, top experts and scientists in infectious diseases have been working day and night to curb the outbreak. The Chinese people have fully understood and cooperated with the government's measures and demonstrated courage and solidarity at this difficult time.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government keeps updating the public in an open, transparent and responsible manner and has invited WhO experts to China for guidance. WhO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom visited China recently and commented that the Chinese government’s measures are beyond WhO requirements, and“China is actually setting a new standard in terms of outbreak response.”Secretary-General of the United nations Mr.António Guterres said China’s efforts is fully recognized by the Un. IMF Managing Director Ms.Kristalina Georgieva also supported China's efforts to tackle the nCP outbreak, and was confident that China's economy "remains resilient". Leaders of 67 countries as well as heads of 14 international organizations including President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, wrote letters to President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang to express their solidarity and support. Many foreign governments and friends are extending their hands to China. They provide urgently needed protective suits, medical masks and safety goggles. The Chinese people are

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very grateful to these gestures of goodwill.

Currently, the number of cured cases has started to exceed the number of deaths everyday.

There are only around 170 cases of infections worldwide, less than 1% of the cases in China. The case-fatality rate of nCP is 2%, much lower than previous epidemics. In 2009, the h1n1 outbreak in the US spread to 214 countries and regions, with 17.4% case-fatality rate. In 2012, the case-fatality rate of the Middle east Respiratory Syndrome (MeRS-CoV) was 34.4%. And the case-fatality rate of the ebola epidemic was 40.4%. Dr. Tedros Adhanom said “this is moment for truth but not fear. The virus is fearful in itself. But what is more fearful are rumors and panic. The WhO doesn’t recommend travel and trade restriction.” The Chinese government has been ensuring safety and health of all foreigners as we treat our own citizens and pay special attention to the treatment of foreign nCP patients in China. The Foreign Ministry of China has kept in touch with all embassies in Beijing and has done a lot to safeguard the health, the rights and the interests of foreign nationals.

The Foreign Ministry of China has launched a special section “Fighting 2019-nCov”on its english website, providing timely updates and official information. The national Immigration Administration has translated the Public Prevention of nCP issued by China CDC into six languages which is available on line. hubei province has set up a 24-hour hotline on epidemic prevention and control for foreign nationals there. Till now, there are 19 foreign nCP patients in China, 2 of them have been cured.

Pakistan is a true friend of China, especially in this difficulty. The Chinese people have got strong support from Pakistan in dealing with the epidemic. President Dr. Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have written letters to Chinese leaders, expressing their confidence that the Chinese Government, the Chinese people will overcome the challenge very soon. In a recent phone call with Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Pakistani people stand firmly with the Chinese.

All friends from all walks of society in Pakistan have extended their friendly hands to us, expressing their confidence and support for China. What has touched me was that many Pakistani people, including students in China spontaneously made small videos, wrote poems with "Go China" and "Go Wuhan", which demonstrated the rock-solid friendship between China and Pakistan.

I want to express my special respect to the students in Wuhan and hubei province. Yes, you are in difficult situation. Both the Pakistani and Chinese governments care about you, care about your health and safety. The best medical advice is to stay where you are, be confident and adopt all preventive measures. The Chinese medical institutions have the capability and capacity to address your concerns.

Whole China is behind you. You are like our own brothers and sisters, and you will be well protected.

For both Pakistani and Chinese citizens who return to Pakistan recently, they have been required to adopt strict health quarantine and self-isolation measures. Pakistan is responsible, and China too.

It is Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that has inspired me. he once wrote “You will have to make up for the smallness of your size by your courage and selfless devotion to duty, for it is not life that matters, but the courage, fortitude and determination you bring to it.”The winter will eventually end and the spring is in the offing.

We will win, and soon, against this challenge.

Let’s go see the eye doctor amused themselves once upon a time, the punishment consisted of hanging the convict up by his armpits, then drawing out his intestines after cutting upon his belly and burning them before his eyes (presumably before he fainted from blood loss), and finally quartering its corpse into four quarters, which were sent to the four corners of the kingdom as an example. Why hanging in public? Why not fling the perpetrator before a crowd, which could then tear him to bits?

We never had that punishment, for it had been abolished by the time the Raj was established, and the Penal Code was drawn up. Still, the Raj did have people tied to cannon and then fired it. And before the Raj, under the Mughals, there was the trampling of culprits by an elephant. Public hanging… A judge was accused of brutality for saying that Pervez Musharraf’s corpse should be hanged.

Well, child abuse is apparently seen as worse than subverting the Constitution.

What about disease whistleblowers?

The Chinese doctor who first said that

there was a disease spreading in Wuhand has himself died of the coronavirus. The authorities apparently didn’t like him.

Just a month before his death, he was told firmly to stop rumourmongering.

OK. That sounds like our police and the age-old practice of burking. Only the epidemic has not gone away but grown instead. now there are 813 people dead in China, where there have been 37,567 cases. I understand the Chinese authorities are feeling aggrieved. If Trump could get away with the drug deal Rudy Giuliani put together (as John Bolton so felicitously put it), then why were the germs superior to them?

The lie that the virus was caught from bats or snakes has also been nailed.

It now seems the coronavirus first infected pangolins, and humans caught it from them. There are eight species of pangolin, which is the only mammal with scales on its skin, four in Asia and four in Africa. And it is much valued in Chinese medicine for its scales, while its meat is a delicacy. It’s smuggled to China on a vast scale, with 10,000 smug-

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gled to China and Vietnam each year. now what this shows is that the coronavirus was smuggled into China, and the fault for the epidemic lies in Malaysia or Indonesia, from where the pangolin is illegally smuggled. The doctor who spread the rumour was clearly trying to damage the reputation of the country in the comity of nations. The virus’ spread shows it is a global terrorist, and the only real solution can come after mobile services are suspended. Of course, there are two ways Imran Khan can help. First, he could make a speech.

We’ve seen how his speech at the Un solved the Kashmir problem and scared Modi so much that he passed the Citizenship Amendment Act. Second, he could use his tremendous medical abilities. You know, the ones with which he looked at a picture of the back of nawaz’s head and saw that he was perfectly fine. If he could only look at the 34,957 cases diagnosed by ignorant fools calling themselves doctors, he’d make the illness go away, by saying it didn’t exist.

There’s another doctor around, Dr hafeez Sheikh, who’s been tasked with reducing the prices of food items. Yes, like he cut the tomato price by saying that he could supply anyone as many tomatoes they wanted at the old price.

Well, at least one other person lives in the same place as Imran, where one can deny anything by saying it doesn’t exist.

Is Imran an ophthalmogist? I ask because the late Wuhan whistleblower was one, though I’ve no idea how any coronavirus case came to his notice. But ophthalmologists have a role in politics.

Bashar Al-Assad, the Syrian strongman, is one, as is Abdullah Abdullah, the twotime Afghanistan presidential election loser. In Pakistan, Dr Safdar Abbassi also trained as one. he is the son of Ashraf Abbassi, the former national Assembly Deputy Speaker, the husband of naheed Khan, the political secretary of Benazir Bhutto, who was another strong woman in his life, being his party leader. he was in the vehicle she was in when she was killed. But he wasn’t there when Kirk Douglas died at 103. Wow. Old men saw his films when they were children. They don’t make movies like Spartacus any more. Or does memory make the movie good, because it belonged to those happy days.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW

West afrIca plans common currency THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES LAUNCHES A NEW CURRENCY, BUT DEBT AND WEAK INSTITUTIONS COULD THREATEN THE ECO FROM THE START YaleGlobal

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SImoN m mutuNgI

RANCE bowed to West African pressure in December, finally agreeing to loosen supervision of the Financial Community of Africa currency union and CFA franc. The new currency will be the eco, poised to launch this year, supervised under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. But the lack of convergence in debt and inflation rates among the members renders the entire eco project premature, risky and fatally flawed from its very conception. The reality is that the differences among ECOWAS economies are large, and the type of institutional arrangements that would allow disparate economic entities to share a common currency is lacking.

The eco could benefit by studying lessons from the euro, established two decades ago after six years of planning followed by three years of full currency integration before euro cash hit the streets.

Still, the eco project might have a fighting chance, given that eight ECOWAS members already have 75 years’ experience with a single currency under the CFA franc. The CFA franc is a common currency used by two African monetary zones – the Western zone comprising of eight countries and the Central Zone with six mostly petro-states. The currency was established after World War II to help France import goods from its colonies – initially pegged to the French franc, and later the euro – and many re-

gard the currency as a relic of French colonial hold over the region. The former French colonies had to store 50 percent of their foreign currency reserves in France in return for guarantees by the larger economy. A French representative also had to be on the board of the currency’s union.

These conditions were not as onerous as some might suggest. Euro pegging and French guarantee of the currency provided economic and financial stability, especially during times of severe political stress such as the Arab Spring protests, the 2008 global debt crisis and two civil wars in Ivory Coast, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011. Further, although the French Treasury held the reserves at a lower interest rate than France’s own inflation rate – about 0.5% versus 1.5% prevailing market rate, this was a reasonable premium to pay for such guarantees.

Most of these conditions will end although the currency will remain pegged to the euro and guaranteed by France.

The goal is that a stable eco will help the region achieve objectives of the newly signed Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, seeking the creation of a single continental market for goods and services. The expectation is that close integration will lead to faster economic growth based on the classical economic ideas, as proposed by Adam Smith and David Ricardo, that larger markets lead to increased standards of living, a result of increased economies of scale and comparative advantage. Consequently, this would help develop industries and bolster investment to increase intraregional trade.

Further potential benefits of currency unions like the eco are summarized by

Robert Mundell, a Nobel laureate in Economics, in his 1961 text, A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas: “If a...single currency is used, there would be a common inflation rate and similar interest rate, a considerable growth in trade, productivity and finance integration, all of which would generate a considerable increase in economic growth and wellbeing.” A successful eco would create an attractive economic bloc for foreign investors and have positive implications for growth in the region.

For a currency union to succeed, Mundell proposed a convergence criterion as precondition for participating countries. Part of this was adopted by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty that established the euro, and included requiring those joining the eurozone to restrict their deficits to less than 3 percent of GDP and debts to less than 60 percent of GDP. Similarly, to join the ecozone, union members have agreed to meet economic convergence criteria that include keeping public debt below 70 percent of GDP, fiscal deficit below 3 percent of GDP, a stable exchange rate and single-digit inflation among others. Yet according to the latest ECOWAS macroeconomic convergence report in 2019, not a single member met all criteria. Inflation in Sierra Leone averaged 16.9 percent in 2018 and general government debt in Cabo Verde surged to 121 percent of GDP, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund.

Such challenges make the 2020 proposed deadline highly untenable, and members should study the euro and keep three lessons in mind.

The first lesson from the euro is that the

creation of a single currency required responsible institutions that enabled a region of Europe’s diversity to function properly.

“Flawed at birth..., the Euro’s (proponents) did not take into account the diversity of the continent, nor did they build mechanisms that would withstand shocks,” wrote Joseph Stiglitz, another Nobel laureate, in The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe.

Africa shares this challenge. For instance, the Guinean economy has a GDP of approximately $7 billion, less than Nigeria’s 13th largest state, Abia, with $8.7 billion. Such disparities are reminiscent of the differences in the eurozone that tested the euro’s strength, especially during the 2008 crisis. Strong economies such as Germany could withstand the shock while weaker ones like Greece suffered. The common currency deprived states off their individual ability to adjust respective monetary policies as need arose. To stimulate an economy, a central bank reduces interest rates to make credit more accessible, leading to a lower exchange rate, thereby making exports more competitive and discouraging imports.

These trends improve a country’s trade balance sheet and strengthen the economy. Given that different countries confront various economic challenges, the common peg made it difficult for individual countries like Greece to adjust monetary policy as inflation emerged. This underlying rigidity in the euro ended up crippling the weaker economies.

A second reason for the euro’s woes was that there was a lack of economic and fiscal policy discipline among some eurozone companies. This was accompanied by dysfunctional sanctioning

Testimony of perpetual Palestinian wounds

Middle east Monitor RAmoNA WAdI

What the news reports eliminate, Ramzy Baroud’s new book, These Chains Will be Broken: Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons (Clarity Press, 2019), pushes to the fore. Palestinian prisoners, misrepresented through statistics, news reports, exploitation and glorification, tell slivers of their stories in this collection of first-hand narratives that stand as testimony for both Palestinian resistance and resilience.

Khalida Jarrar is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestine Legislative Council; she is also a freed prisoner, and sums up the book thus in her foreword: “Each individual narrative is also a defining moment, a conflict between the will of the prison guard and all that he represents, and the will of the prisoners and what they represent as a collective, capable, when united, of overcoming incredible odds.”

Baroud’s introduction to the book departs from Antonio Gramsci’s definition of the organic intellectual and how this applies to Palestinian prisoners. In terms of narratives, consistency and resistance, Palestinians embody this description, in particular when it comes to unity on several levels, including experiences, memory and anticolonial struggle.

The collective that Jarrar speaks of is eliminated in external narratives of Palestinian prisoners and their families. Throughout this book, the reader is made aware of the differences between the summarised events for swift consumption, and the detail evoked by Palestinian prisoners and their family members. Each narrative holds a sharp focus, an insight into one or a few particular memories, which contextualise the prison experience for both the narrator and the reader.

Some of the names in the book are familiar; others have been rendered anonymous due to the absence of media coverage regarding their case.

Yet in each narrative, the sensationalism associ-

ated with certain Palestinian prisoners is abandoned; it is, indeed, non-existent. Herein lies the first difference between these narratives and the ones churned out by occasional media frenzies.

The individual stories are linked together through anti-colonial struggle, history and memory. Not one single story is determined more valuable than the others on account of hunger strikes, for example, which is the media’s preferred story and one which harms the collective struggle of all Palestinian prisoners due to selective focus.

Instead, these brief narratives by prisoners and relatives expose an array of brutal violations endured by Palestinians in Israeli jails, as well as the intentional hatred and cruelty meted out by Israeli soldiers and prison guards. We read about one prisoner, for example, whose hands were scalded by a guard after she asked for tea. Another prisoner was forced to watch a cat and her kittens get poisoned to death; that was the jailers’ punishment for seeking to bond with a living creature while in solitary confinement. In another case, ice packs were provided to prolong necessary medical attention for a broken ankle. The institutionalised violence, in particular the psychological aspect, is evoked in the narrative of a mother who, in her old age, was abruptly denied further visitation rights to her son, without reason.

Even prior to jailing, Israeli malevolence knows no limits. One Israeli police officer left a woman burning inside her car in order to claim that she had attempted to blow up the vehicle at a checkpoint.

With each narrative, the reader ponders the hidden face of colonisation; the systematic and exceptional violence which has been normalised by silence about Israeli atrocities. Key questions emerge: what do we understand about Palestine?

How erroneously have we interpreted Palestinian prisoners, resistance and resilience? Why did we allow statistics to smother the humanity of Palestinian prisoners, their families and their stories?

One truth this book puts forth is an unconscious abandonment of the Palestinian story in favour of more manageable summaries. The brief introductions to each narrative in this book show the immensity of the Palestinian Nakba of 1948, as well as its repercussions on Palestinian families, decades later. Loss of land and people motivated Palestinians to embrace the legitimacy of anti-colonial struggle only to be met with Israeli vengeance and generalised platitudes formed out of misunderstanding and misrepresentation.

Between memories of the Nakba, initiation into resistance and, for many prisoners, multiple life sentences, prison time is interpreted and ex-

perienced differently. For some Palestinian prisoners, the gap between incarceration and their loved ones becomes a focal point in isolation, which in turn brings out the comradeship between the prisoners themselves. As one prisoner states after his mother passed away and funeral prayers were held for her within the prison, despite the guards’ objections, “All the factions were there: Fatah, Hamas, the Socialists and the Communists.

We, Palestinians, are always united by hardship.”

Yet despite the abnormal conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners, their dignity is retained. As Israel’s prison system seeks to erode all of their rights, Palestinians have devised ways to counter the deprivation through unity and education. Jarrar’s narrative is particularly powerful. Her quest to provide education for female Palestinian prisoners is summarised thus: “I realised that there is a need to institutionalise the educational experience for female prisoners and not to tie it to me or any single person.”

For other detainees, knowledge became an important weapon to utilise against Israel’s colonial violence inside its jails. Contrary to uninformed perception, knowledge is not merely an action undertaken by prisoners to occupy their time. The strategic approach to knowledge is also part of the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle and learning is an integral component of the continuity of the resistance.

Richard Falk’s afterword to the book juxtaposes the Palestinian prisoners’ struggle against the international community’s adoption of the Israeli legal narrative, which, he insists, “attempts to marginalise international humanitarian law (IHL) as it applies to the Palestinian people.”

The isolation faced by Palestinian prisoners in terms of legality and solidarity are summed up in a succinct observation of the dynamics that govern the international community when it comes to human rights. “It is a serious mistake to expect justice and lawfulness to be achieved by convincing governments and international institutions of Israel’s defiant attitudes towards international law,” writes Falk.

Baroud’s book is a testimony of perpetual wounds. Yet it is also a celebration of Palestinians, but only if this is done within the context of unadulterated Palestinian narratives. It is not our job to force interpretations of sentiments such as the isolation faced by prisoners, for example: “But time here keeps ticking slowly, and I just keep walking up and down, alone in my cell.” It is our duty to listen, to create the spaces for such narratives to unfold as Palestinians wish them to. Anything less than that is an aberration.

mechanisms and weak financial regulation that led to the increased public and private debt levels and a loss of competitiveness. Countries with more social programs and debt, expected frugal nations to provide rescue, creating moral hazard.

Eco countries must therefore stick to their convergence criteria commitments to avoid the same. Failure by one state threatens the cohesion of the entire ECOWAS zone since a country’s fiscal deficits could have systemic region-wide risks and inflationary pressure, imposing huge externalities on others.

Lastly and perhaps the most important lesson from the euro was that the economics of the currency were intimately intertwined with the politics of the eurozone. Stiglitz states that political disagreement among the eurozone states would have made it difficult to create the economic arrangements that enabled the common currency to work. Stiglitz points to the political cooperation among the 50 states in America as part of the reason why the US dollar project was more successfully implemented than the euro.

As such, members of ECOWAS need to reach a common consensus on a political level short of which will render all the aforementioned recommendations unsustainable and temporary palliatives.

Simon M. Mutungi is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda concurrently pursuing a PhD in Financial Technology Regulation at the University of Cape Town and Yale University as a Fox Fellow. He is also a Masters of Development Finance candidate at Stellenbosch University Business School and Laval University (as a Mandela Rhodes Fellow). He is formerly a lecturer of law at Kampala International University and is currently a researcher at the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale Law School and School of Management.

IndIa eyes afrIca as potentIal market for domestIc defence equIpment Print SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP

Amid China making inroads into Africa, India said it is focusing on the region as a potential market for domestic defence equipment, including UAVs, arms and ammunition, as the country aims for military exports worth $5 billion in the next five years.

“India is geared up to provide Offshore Patrol Vessels, fast interceptor boats, body and vehicle armour, Night Vision Goggles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Dornier aircraft and arms and ammunition to our African counterparts,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at the DefExpo 2020, which is being held in Lucknow.

Singh was addressing the first Indo-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conference, which was attended by 12 African defence ministers and representatives from a total of 38 countries.

In a joint declaration after the conference, the delegates called for deeper cooperation in the domain of defence industry, including through investment, joint ventures in defence equipment software, digital defence, research and development, provisioning of defence equipment, spares and their maintenance on sustainable and mutually beneficial terms.

Singh said that India’s partnership with Africa is an open partnership with all the possibilities and avenues for collaboration open from India’s side.

China has made rapid inroads into Africa with Beijing pumping in a lot of money for several projects. Stating that the guiding principles given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s engagement with Africa has deepened economic and security cooperation with its maritime neighbours, Singh said: “Maritime security in the region is a matter of common interest for both India and Africa, which is highlighted by the government’s emphasis on SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) for the Indo-Pacific region”.

The conference was attended by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh, IAF chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, Army chief General M.M. Naravane, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, senior officials of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs. Speaking at the DefExpo inauguration, PM Modi had said that in 2014, India’s defence exports were about Rs 2,000 crore but in the past two years the figure has reached Rs 17,000 crore. “The aim is to reach defence exports worth $5 billion (Rs 35,000 crore),” he had said.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

FOREIGN NEWS 07

Thai gunman among 27 dead in 'unprecedenTed' mass shooTing BANGKOK

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AGENCIES

Thai soldier who killed at least 26 people and wounded 57 before being shot dead in a mall by commandos went on the rampage because of a debt dispute, the kingdom’s premier said Sunday, offering the first official motive for the “unprecedented” shooting spree.

Sharp-shooters brought an end to a 17-hour-ordeal when they killed the gunman on Sunday morning after a night which seesawed between heavy exchanges of gunfire and terrifying dashes for mall exits by shoppers trapped in the Terminal 21 mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat.

Twenty-six people including civilians — the youngest a 13-year-old boy — and security forces were killed by the rogue soldier, said Thailand’s prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha. “It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens,” he said outside a hospital where victims were being treated. At least two were undergoing brain surgery.

Prayut, a former army chief, blamed a “personal problem” over the sale of a

myanmar nationalists hold pro-military rally amid tensions with government YANGON: Hundreds of Myanmar nationalists rallied in the country’s commercial capital on Sunday in a show of support for the military, amid tensions between the civilian government and the army ahead of elections expected later this year. Around a thousand protesters marched from Yangon’s famed Shwedagon pagoda to City Hall downtown to accuse the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi of allegedly failing to protect the country’s Buddhist majority and for proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military. The proposed reforms have led to tensions between Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and military lawmakers, who hold a veto over amendments.

Speaking at the rally, nationalist activist Win Ko Ko Latt criticized those planning to push through the reforms, comparing them to the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China. “We can see how deadly the Wuhan virus is,” he said, referring to the Chinese city where the outbreak was believed to have originated. AGENCIES

four rare mountain gorillas 'killed by lightning' in uganda KAMPALA: Four endangered mountain gorillas, including three adult females, have been killed by an apparent lightning strike in a Ugandan national park, a conservation group has said. A post-mortem examination has been performed on the four, including a male infant, who died on February 3 in Mgahinga National Park in southwest Uganda. “Based on the gross lesions from the post-mortem… the tentative cause of death for all four individuals is likely to be electrocution by lightning,” the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) said in a statement Saturday, although laboratory confirmation will take two to three weeks. The four were members of a group of 17 known as the Hirwa family which had crossed into the Mgahinga National Park in August last year from Volcanoes National Park in neighbouring Rwanda. “This was extremely sad,” GVTC executive secretary Andrew Seguya told the BBC. “The potential of the three females for their contribution to the population was immense.” The other 13 members of the group had been found. AGENCIES

house for the soldier’s rampage, which began on Saturday afternoon near an army barracks and was for several hours relayed by the gunman via Facebook posts. The attacker, a junior army officer

identified as Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma, used a stolen M60 machine gun and rifles from one of Thailand’s largest barracks as well as a military humvee to carry out the attack.

Prayut said he overpowered security at the barracks’ arsenal.

“This was not carelessness. We don’t leave the arsenal depot alone — we had people guarding it.”

Buttigieg fends off attacks as Dems battle for New Hampshire votes IOWA CITY AGENCIES

White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg fought off intensifying attacks from his Democratic rivals Saturday as they battled for votes in New Hampshire, stop two on the road to picking a challenger to President Donald Trump.

The candidates glad-handed their way across the small, predominantly white northeast state that votes Tuesday, after the 38-year-old moderate Buttigieg and leftist Senator Bernie Sanders emerged in a dead heat atop the field in the messy Iowa caucus.

Buttigieg — the former mayor of a Midwestern town of 100,000 — has been widely branded by his opponents as too young and inexperienced to take on Trump, and after his Iowa finish the attacks have only sharpened.

Former vice president Joe Biden, fighting to keep his White House hopes alive after finishing an unnerving fourth in Iowa, tore into Buttigieg as they jostled for support from moderates. Biden, 77, released a video contrasting the accomplish-

ments of his decades-long political career against Buttigieg’s as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

The ad highlighted Biden’s work on Obamacare and the Iran nuclear deal, while belittling Buttigieg’s efforts to install decorative bridge lights and lay new sidewalks in South Bend. Buttigieg’s campaign responded that the ad “speaks more to where (Biden) currently stands in this race than it does about Pete’s perspective as a mayor and veteran.”

The former mayor, a political nobody at the national level a year ago but now a force to be reckoned with, seemed to revel in his new status.

Speaking to supporters in Keene on Saturday, Buttigieg said the election would define “what it’s like to be an American for the next four years. “I am the candidate that is prepared to defeat Donald Trump,” he said. On Sunday, Buttigieg was scheduled for what is known in Washington as the “full Ginsburg”: appearances on the five major morning talk shows.

TOO DIVISIVE: Later on Saturday at a dinner hosted by the state Demo-

cratic Party, Buttigieg appeared to take aim at Sanders, 78, a veteran senator calling for “political revolution,” who has been challenged over his age and his “Medicare for All” health plan which has been labeled as too expensive. “With a president this divisive, we cannot risk dividing Americans further, saying you must either be for a revolution or you must be for the status quo. Let’s make room for everybody in this movement,” Buttigieg told thousands of attendees in a university arena, some of whom replied with jeers.

Sanders used his appearance to tamp down tensions, acknowledging to the crowd “I know there are differences of opinion in the room. I feel that. I sense that.” “I know that whoever wins the nomination, we are going to come together to defeat the most dangerous president in this country’s history,” he said. Senator Amy Klobuchar — who assailed Buttigieg as a newcomer to national politics during a Friday debate — kept up the attacks as she rallied supporters in New Hampshire.

Most of the dead were killed in and around the mall. Volleys of gunfire rang out as the siege ran into dawn, hours after Thai security services stormed the ground floor and freed scores of terrified shoppers from the rampage.

Frightened shoppers sent cascades of messages to friends and family on social media from storerooms, barricaded in toilets and hidden under tables as the gunman stalked the mall. With the machine gun slung over his shoulder and in full combat gear, Jakrapanth swaggered through the emptied out floors in haunting footage captured by CCTV cameras.

LIKE A ZOMBIE MOVIE: “It was total panic, it was like a zombie movie,” Chanatip Somsakul, 33, said of the escape with his wife and three-year-old daughter. “People jumped on motorbikes and ran in all directions.”

Several hours later the gunman was shot dead. Photos showed smiling units of elite soldiers and police emerging from the mall. The gunman relayed his shooting spree through Facebook posts which charted the attack from an army barracks to the city mall.

Despite the prime minister’s speculation Jakrapanth’s, exact motive remained unclear as Korat — a sedate and mid-size town — tried to digest the scale of the atrocity. The bloodshed began Saturday afternoon when he shot three people — among them at least one soldier — at a senior officer’s house and then at the nearby army barracks, before driving a military vehicle to the town centre.

There the gunman used the stolen weapons to unleash carnage in the town centre. Throughout the day he posted images of himself and wrote several posts on his Facebook page.

deaTh Toll from KazaKhsTan eThnic clashes rises To 10 NUR-SULTAN: Two more people have died from wounds sustained in the Feb. 7 clashes in southern Kazakhstan, bringing the total number of casualties to 10, the authorities said on Sunday.

The incident triggered by an argument over right of way led to a brawl between ethnic Kazakhs and Dungans, a minority group with Chinese roots, followed by an overnight rampage in which an angry crowd torched dozens of buildings and cars. A total of 140 people sought medical attention in Kazakhstan after the clashes and 25 more went to doctors in neighboring Kyrgyzstan where many Dungans fled after the violence.

Deputy Interior Minister Alexei Kalaichidi said on Sunday dozens of people remained in detention as police were establishing their roles in the incident. Police were also investigating a number of people across the nation of 19 million suspected of using the clashes to spread hate speech, he said. AGENCIES

Three-way tie in Irish general election DUBLIN AGENCIES

Ireland’s three main parties are tied neck-and-neck following Saturday’s general election according to an exit poll, leaving the question of who will control the next government hanging in the balance.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s incumbent Fine Gael party, their centreright rivals Fianna Fail and left-wingers Sinn Fein all received 22 per cent of first preference votes, according to the Ipsos MRBI poll issued as the polls closed at 2200 GMT. The survey of around 5,000 voters leaving the polls — which has an estimated margin of error of 1.3 per cent — put Fine Gael on 22.4 per cent, Sinn Fein on 22.3 per cent and Fianna Fail on 22.2 per cent.

However, Ireland uses a single transferable vote system to elect multiple deputies from each of the 39 constituencies, making it hard to extrapolate a likely seat forecast from the exit poll figures for first preference

votes. That means the outline of the next parliament will only start to become clear during the count, which gets under way at 0900 GMT on Sunday.

“We’ve never seen a general election result like it. Basically a statistical tie between what are now the three big parties,” said Pat Leahy, political editor of The Irish Times newspaper.

He told RTE television that forming a government could prove “a very difficult exercise” unless parties compromised on their pre-election stances ruling out particular coalition arrangements. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, which have traditionally held a duopoly on power, pledged they would not form a coalition with Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the now-defunct Irish Republican Army paramilitary group.

Meanwhile Fianna Fail said they would not back Fine Gael in a “grand coalition”. But analysts told AFP this was likely to be pre-election “posturing”.

VARADKAR BANKING ON BREXIT: Varadkar was hoping to secure a new term on the back of his

Brexit strategy. He plumped for an early election after successfully helping to broker a deal cushioning Britain’s EU exit on January 31 by avoiding a hard border with Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom. However, the campaign was dominated by domestic issues — notably healthcare and housing — and opinion polls showed Fine Gael losing ground.

The exit poll paints a more optimistic picture for Varadkar, but since no party seems set to secure a majority it is likely negotiations will begin as votes are counted. In office since June 2017, Varadkar, 41, is Ireland’s first mixedrace and openly gay premier who has come to represent a more socially progressive Ireland after years of dominance by the Roman Catholic Church.

DOMESTIC CONCERNS: Polls opened at 0700 GMT, although a small number of islands off the west coast voted on Friday to allow for rough seas potentially disrupting the transport of ballots by boat.

In the capital, a stream of voters

made their way to polling stations on Saturday. Liam Allen, 27, said housing was a “big concern” for him.

“I still live at home with my parents and for the foreseeable future I won’t be able to afford a home,” he told AFP. Nurse Terry Sanor said: “I’m hoping that the health service will improve, and the waiting list, and the pay for the nurses and the housing.”

Either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail have traditionally held the reins of power. “I’m hopeful there will be change. In this country, for far too long it’s been dominated by two parties,” said 60-year-old James Comiskey.

Alexander Faw, 22, said: “I’m looking for a more left government of Ireland.”

FF, SF LEADERS UPBEAT: Some 3.3 million people were eligible to vote to elect 159 members of the Dail, the lower chamber of parliament in Dublin.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, 59, voted with his family in his Cork city constituency. “We are very confident.

We had a good campaign,” he told reporters outside the polling station.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

08 COMMENT

The hysteria of disinformation

Clouds of war Time to cool things down

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HE Washington-based Wilson Centre’s Deputy Director Asia Program, Michael Kugelman, has said that there is a good chance of war between India and Pakistan, when speaking on a private TV channel’s talk show on Saturday. When asked about his article in December predicting this, he said that war was not a certainty, but stood firmly by his opinion that war could happen, because India was being unusually belligerent. This danger is enhanced by the fact that India’s Prime Minister is making bellicose noises, and is being echoed by the Army and naval Chiefs (the Air Chief presumably silent because of the bloody nose his service got last year, when two planes were shot down, and a pilot captured).

The problem seems to be the fact that such antiPakistan rhetoric has worked in the past. Last year’s Pulwama incident came just before the general election, and narendra Modi’s strong actions thereafter are credited with helping his re-election. Mr Kugelman said that the revocation of Kashmir’s special status and the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act had provoked the kind of backlash that could lead Modi to belligerence, adding that he was worried by a possible false-flag operation which would let India provoke a war.

With the BJP losing the Delhi Assembly elections yet again, unless there are any premature dissolutions, Bihar is the only Indian state going to the polls this year. It has always been ruled by other than the BJP, but it is a Cow Belt state where it is eager to win. However, before ratcheting up his rhetoric, Modi should consider the lessons of the Delhi election. It seems that anti-Muslim deeds, such as in Kashmir and the CAA, have not helped.

Mr Modi should also remember that, once used, military means can take on a life of their own. One scenario is that an Indian false-flag provokes a Pakistani response, which India tries to meet be committing more resources.

That is horrific enough a scenario, but it should never be forgotten that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers. neither should ever step on the escalatory ladder which ends in a nuclear exchange that could very well obliterate civilisation as we know it, not just from the region, but the entire world.

Polio spreading Cases in 2020 already equal to those in 2018

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HE number of polio cases this year reached 12 on Saturday, which is equal to the number for the whole of 2017, which was the last year when progress was shown in the national effort to eliminate this dreaded disease. Ever since the PTI took over in 2019, things have got out of hand, and Pakistan has only fallen back in the struggle to eliminate the disease. There were 94 cases in 2019, and 33 in 2018. One of the problems has been that the PM’s first Focal Person on Polio Eradication, Babar Ata, resigned because he wanted to look after an ailing parent. His replacement, Dr Amanullah Abro, does not seem to have got a proper handle on the job, because the rate of infection only seems to be speeding up.

Instead of doing something about the problem, Prime Minister Imran Khan has blamed Afghanistan, which he says is sending cases over. It should be noted that Afghanistan’s other neighbours, Iran and China, also neighbours of Pakistan, and Pakistan’s neighbour, India, have eliminated polio, and have never accused a neighbour of being responsible. The only other country in the world which still has polio infection, nigeria, also does not have any neighbours complaining, though there are four of them. nigeria has moved further than Pakistan and Afghanistan along the path of ridding itself of the scourge of the polio virus, and the WHO has declared that the virus is no longer endemic to the country. Unlike Pakistan, there have been no new cases reported from it since 2014.

It seems that Pakistan and Afghanistan are destined to be the last two countries where the poliovirus will still exist in the wild, and where polio could still be caught.

For the elimination of polio from Pakistan needs more than shifting the blame onto someone else. It needs hard work and a clear signal that the Prime Minister himself is concerned about it. There has been no indication so far that this problem has been taken up with Afghanistan, even though this should have been a constant subject in interactions between the two countries, especially since the Prime Minister has the impression that the northwestern neighbour is to blame. Even if he did not care before, he should now.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

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MohaMMad Khalid Bhatti

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LMOST all the dailies these days have put on their front pages news of the new Coronavirus. We have come to know that the virus originated in Wuhan, Hubei, province of China last year. Ever since, the epidemic has been making headlines.

But is this justified? The flu caused by 2019nCov is now being called an infodemic, instead of an epidemic, which is usually associated with the outbreak of a disease in a population at a certain time. This term is more appropriate because of the huge amounts of unverified information regarding the virus. And this ‘disinformation’ is actually what has been terrifying the public more than the virus itself.

By Sunday, 813 people have been confirmed dead because of 2019-nCov...The WHO recently debunked myths related to the virus like catching it from mail from China or from pets. Disinformation isn’t a new idea. Throughout the centuries it has been used effectively to manipulate the public. Even kings can’t escape it. King Louis XVIII fell victim to this in 1815 when he was complacent regarding napoleon’s uprising.

The poor king eventually had to flee so that the usurper could once again rule (though for a very brief stint this time).

Disinformation is such an effective means of creating a frenzy among the population partly because it is virtually free to concoct and even cheaper to disperse. Once it reaches the ears of masses, the rest of the job is entirely theirs. It reminds one of the game Chinese Whisper. The input is one thing and the output is an entirely different thing altogether! The American President Donald Trump is well known for his political gaffes. With a person like him at the helm of affairs, there is no dearth of sane Democrats who criticise him rationally. But, he actually highlighted the issue of disinformation during his campaign back in 2016. He had however called it ‘fake news’, a combination of words which has since then been trending especially on his personal twitter handle.

I’m not implying that the 2019-nCov is fake news. Just stating that the hype that has been made around it is probably more because it originated in a country that rivals the USA than otherwise. The flights to and from China have been

The Age of Disinformation or of Fake News? significantly reduced worldwide. Chinese franchises the world over are being shut down. Chinese workers, which provide a huge chunk of their labour forces have been sent packing (for medical reasons). The reports of segregation are at an all-time high.

Perhaps the case surrounding the polio virus in Pakistan is more pertinent from Pakistan’s point of view. The vaccine is subject to a lot of criticism. I was in Swat last week and found polio workers administering the vaccines in places where only 4WD vehicles could reach by virtue of the difficult terrain and knee-deep snow. My driver, a conservative local, told me about the struggles of the polio workers. It’s appalling to know that there is still a lot of resistance against the administration of the vaccine to the infants. The males are mostly denied the drops by the parents. The reason: They have a firm belief that it causes sterility in males. At times they’ll allow their daughters to be given the drops and prevent the same treatment for their sons. Credit disinformation for this... The recent arrest of Manzoor Pashteen has also irked a significant chunk of the population. The aura around the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement is that it is an unpatriotic organization which is being funded from our not-so-friendly neighbours to create unrest in the country by targeting some of the most coveted institutions. When the Chief Justice of the Islamabad Hiigh Court was hearing the bail application of political activists arrested by the Islamabad administration for sedition, the Chief Justice inquired, “How could you question someone’s patriotism?” It’s quite easy. Make allegations and insinuations (read disinformation) against a group that portrays them as anti-state actors, and the rest is history. So far, hearsay is definitely one of the reasons the PTM is being considered a villainous entity.

Living in the 21st century, the spread of information (or disinformation )is just a touch away. Gone are the days when a news was only issued as in writing (Gutenberg’s inventing the printing press in the 15th century was a significant boost to written material after the invention of paper by Tsai Lun in China in 105 AD). now is the era of social media. And social apps like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are the pens

and paper of the modern world. We can benefit enormously from these resources.

However the veracity of the content that we come across can never be confirmed. For that we must research the source, which being a cumbersome task, we ignore and just forward the spicy content for others to also get amused.

The idiom ‘spread like wildfire’ should be modified a bit to ‘spread like a WhatsApp message’.

Technically speaking , it takes fire some time to reach the furthest ends of a forest, whereas a post on social media could have circumambulated the earth almost an infinite times in the same time. It’s very unfortunate that we as a species feed on controversies, rather ‘feast’ on controversies.

The use of disinformation to malign someone has been really going on for some time now.

Some even have the ‘resources’ or sources to publish books on the subject! The timing and release of one such book a week prior to the General Elections of 2018 definitely took the political atmosphere by a storm. needless to say the uncanny timing and publishing of the book dropped a bombshell. The flow of disinformation probably reaches its climax in the weeks prior to elections in Pakistan. All sorts of absurd claims will be made to make someone ineligible or to increase one’s vote bank.

And sadly when this propaganda is being made no care is given to the dignity and honour of the persons. The lower you stoop the higher are the chances the wind will blow in your favour. It seems like it’s almost impossible to curb the flow of disinformation but methods can be employed to curtail this vice. The easiest of these is to simply verify the news before we so eagerly forward it to one of our favourite WhatsApp groups.

Some huge blunders can also be made solely on disinformation. Our neighbour India committed one last year. They awarded their shot-down pilot Abhinandan a Vir Chakra– a gallantry award. He is being revered a hero back home but the ‘ground reality’ is in stark contrast. Had the Indian public done a background check on their hero’s gallantry , they would’ve themselves objected to the desecration of the Vir Chakra....

Mohammad Khalid Bhatti is a freelance columnist.

Pakistan’s Narrative after Balakot Repairing the damage has been achieved, but more has to be done aBdullah Shahid

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n an individual’s lifetime, a number of disputes take shape that arise from either one conflict or from a combination of multiple conflicts. The very psychological nature of a dispute calls for mediation, unless one decides to triumph over the other. When an individual expresses his or her emotions during a dispute, his or her rationality gets clouded which has the potential to escalate the dispute.

Disputes either get solved or they become prolonged– a factor heavily determined by the personalities involved.

Just like individuals, nations have always been at odds with one another, most notably on territory. Bullets have been the ideal choice for solving such territorial disputes but as the economies of the world have globalized, diplomacy has largely replaced bullets. Through diplomacy, military might, economic strength or mediation, disputes have been solved between different countries.

The Kashmir dispute is another one of the global issues that seems to be out of this world, as this conflict has remained immune to the conventional “dispute-solving” methodologies.

After the incumbent BJP won re-election in India, it immediately revoked Kashmir’s special status that had given it some form of legal legitimacy, but to India’s dismay the issue was accidentally internationalized.

Serving as a gateway to Central Asia, Kashmir holds a significant strategic position as it also possesses the tributaries of the River Jhelum.

However, this was the second time in the year 2019 that Kashmir dominated the headlines. Earlier on, Kashmir had been in the headlines of every newspaper when India carried out air strikes in Balakot, to which Pakistan retaliated the next day by downing two Indian fighter planes and capturing one pilot.

The aftermath of Pulwama almost led two

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nuclear-armed countries to the brink of war. It was also a moment of glory for Pakistan, as major claims made by India after the Balakot strikes had been globally dismissed. India claimed that 300-350 terrorists had been neutralized, whereas the casualty had been 300-350 trees. Another major claim made by India was the downing of a Pakistani F-16, for which India has no concrete evidence to this day. The latter Indian claim was dismissed by Lara Seligman, a staff writer for Foreign Policy magazine, who revealed that the US count of Pakistan’s F-16 fleet shows that no plane had been downed, as claimed by India.

Prior to Balakot, Pakistan’s global repute was at its lowest as it struggled with militancy at home and isolation from abroad. In regard to terrorist attacks, be it Mumbai, Uri or Pathankot, Pakistan had vehemently denied its involvement, but it was of no use as Pakistan’s government (during 2008) was ill-equipped in foreign policy matters.

Pakistan’s foreign policy from 2008-2017 was entirely superficial as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had booted Shah Mahmood Qureshi for not being a “yes man” and had appointed a loyalist in his place. Even after the fiasco, the next government, of the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n), had neglected The Foreign Ministry which remained vacant till 2017. Pakistan’s neighbours (except China) accused it of harbouring terrorists and aiding crossborder terrorist activities, alongside playing a double game of victim as well as perpetrator.

Even on matters pertaining to Kashmir, the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir remained defunct as the previous governments had appointed an individual who mismanaged the committee funds.

Though it has mismanaged many issues at home, the PTI coalition government under Prime Minister Imran Khan has made multiple attempts to seize the narrative in Pakistan’s favour. Right after his election victory, Khan made multiple overtures to India for reaching a concrete peace plan not only over Kashmir, but over issues that

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would ensure peace and security for the entire Subcontinent. The Indian Foreign Office responded by cancelling the already scheduled meeting with Pakistan at the Un. Prime Minister Khan made further offers for peace but to no avail, thus choosing to wait and then make similar offers after the Indian general elections. Even after Pulwama, Prime Minister Khan made an offer to share evidence, nut India not only refused but straight up resorted to blatant accusations. The aftermath of the Balakot air strikes and Kashmir’s special status revocation has been a battle of perception, in which Pakistan seems to have an edge as it internationalized BJP’s fascist intentions and dismissed the Indian claims of Balakot.

However, it has not been an easy sailing for Pakistan as no nation came to its aid after India had abrogated Kashmir’s special status. Even countries that Pakistan considers to be its top allies had opted a neutral stance as they elected to prioritise monetary benefits over human rights.

Turkey and Malaysia were two of the few nations that publicly berated India for its actions in Kashmir, unfortunately Pakistan could not return the favour as it had succumbed to Saudi pressure and was forced to cancel its presence at 0December’s Kuala Lumpur Summit.

The post-Balakot foreign policy might have been more adverse had Pakistan’s third consecutive civilian government chosen to ignore the Foreign Ministry like its predecessor governments, which either filled it with loyalists or left it vacant.

To achieve diplomatic autarky, Pakistan will have to stabilise its economy if it wishes to project its strength over India. Achieving financial independence from the IMF and escaping FATF’s crosshairs must be Pakistan’s utmost priority as autarky in foreign policy will be impossible if it continues to rely on “allies” like Saudi Arabia which will hold financial leverage over Pakistan.

Abdullah Shahid is a freelance columnist.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 10 February, 2020

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail Need for a coherent education policy

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

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

IT is important that the government of Pakistan establishes certain educational policies, aiming specifically at the rural areas of Pakistan, such as parts of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. It is stated that education is a crucial need for the betterment of the future of Pakistan as the current population consists of 64% of youth. Therefore the current government should adopt certain policies which help develop schools, colleges, and other academic institutes with fully functioning capabilities and abundant resources in order to reduce the risk of illiteracy. Both the private and the public sectors should take this issue under serious consideration and aid the children of these areas in terms of providing them with quality education. This will not only increase Pakistan’s literacy rate rapidly on a national level but will also bring advancement in Pakistan’s soft power projection on international platforms while at the same time changing the future of the children living in these rural areas.

ZALAndA WiqAr ShAh islamabad

Let’s make Karachi clean

Writ of the state Maulana Aziz should not have been allowed to make a comeback vited ISIS to come and strike Pakistan, in spite enabled to challenge the writ of the state again of which he received a spineless reaction from and again. Why wasn’t legal action taken against him when he was away from the the government.

An infinite number of laws have been vio- mosque and could be easily apprehended? How lated by Maulana Aziz ranging from hate could his open allegiance to terrorist organizations not form the basis of speech, inciting violence convictions in a court of and treading upon the fine law? lines of treason and yet, the These questions constate has failed to curb his Let us hope that the tinue to build up with no activities or take him to task for the same. A man incumbent government is conclusive answers in sight. The cleric has now remained holed up in the able to display some spine resorted to blackmail the centre of the federal capital, openly defying our and do what the law requires government by raising demands, as though he is in a cherished democratic sysit to do. By avoiding any position to negotiate. Or, tem and is still no action maybe, he is as the state has ever been taken against violent measures, it is Syed KaSwar Gardezi has failed to counter him him. The man has, in the since the past more than a past, validated suicide expected that the decade. Maybe if the govbombings throughout the government should resolve ernment was to turn its atcountry often terming them e often talk about democracy away from as right and in line with the the Lal Masjid cleric’s issue tention being the solution to our wide unarmed civil rights acranging problems; the righteous teachings of Islam and yet, once and for all. In the past tivists to armed extremists he is free to do as he form of government of the peothreating to resort to viople, by the people. Probably be- pleases. The democracy he the government may not lence every now and desecrates openly, comes cause democracy protects the peoples’ rights to his aid and aptly protects have found support from the again, would we be able to and embodies constitutional guarantees. Or see some change. The war his freedom of speech. because it is a safe haven for the citizenry to judiciary but in the era of on terror and the rivers of Over the weekend, the live their lives as they please. More so beblood spilt by our valiant Maulana has once again cause it enables the people to hold a different Mumtaz Qadri and Aasia soldiers would be in vain if entered and taken over Lal point of view about a given situation; though the supporting ideology of Bibi, it is safe to assume Masjid, with the authorithere is little tolerance towards difference of is given a free ties surrounding the comopinion generally. Freedom of speech is one which side of the spectrum terrorism hand. The government pound but not daring to of the crown jewels of a democratic state, proremove him. The hartected in almost all democratic settings. Our the judiciary would lean to should not be so helpless and should act swiftly and bourer of terrorists and the Constitution also does not shy away from prothis time round cleverly as it did against promoter of extremist idetecting the citizens’ right to free speech. Every Khadim Hussain Rizvi. ology is holed up inside the citizen may harbour any opinion and express Democracy does promosque without permisit, accordingly, without any hindrance. tect the rights of the citiBut when freedom of speech transgresses sion or authority, openly and questions the authority of the state, then the challenging the writ of the state, in spite of zenry, including the cleric, but the Constitution Constitution cannot be employed as a bulwark which the latter is reluctant to proceed against also says that each individual has to be treated to defend such transgressions. For the longest him. Students protesting against arrests of PTM in accordance with law. Any deviation from the time, the state has had a problem with the Lal members can be quickly whisked away on sedi- law is also to be followed by penal conseMasjid cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who sur- tion charges but the epicentre of extremism and quences, with no exception. A lot has been vived the ill-fated operation at the mosque. He, the perpetrator behind violence and terrorism achieved when it comes to taking action against infamously, escaped the battlefield by wearing cannot be acted against. If the government can- extremist elements, but a single needle in the not maintain control and haystack is still bound to pinch every now and a burqa and disguised order within the federal then. It is imperative that the needle be plucked himself as a woman to capital, then such a govern- away and put in its right place. The law is equal avoid certain death. years ment has no moral author- for all and the Lal Masjid cleric must be made later, he emerged as a beaAn infinite number of laws ity to rule the rest of the to adhere to it, in the absence of which action con of hope for those supin accordance with law should be taken. country. porting the extremist have been violated by Let us hope that the incumbent government One would expect that ideology that was earlier Maulana Aziz ranging from the passage of a decade is able to display some spine and do what the being professed through would have instilled some law requires it to do. By avoiding any violent the seminary. The very hate speech, inciting sense into the government measures, it is expected that the government same ideology which formed the basis of the violence and treading upon on how and how not to should resolve the Lal Masjid cleric’s issue handle a situation. yes, an- once and for all. In the past the government may military operation itself.

For the past couple of the fine lines of treason and other military operation is not have found support from the judiciary but years, he has had the auyet, the state has failed to absolutely not an option to in the era of Mumtaz Qadri and Aasia Bibi, it is pursue against the cleric. safe to assume which side of the spectrum the dacity to openly challenge curb his activities or take Violence is to be avoided. judiciary would lean to this time round. the authority of the state But what perturbs the mind and refused to bow down him to task for the same.

Syed Kaswar Gardezi is a lawyer and a of a common man is why before the state authorithe cleric has been given columnist. he can be contacted at ties. From his sanctuary, such a free reign that he is kaswargardezi@gmail.com Maulana Aziz has even in-

W

DUE to the recent monsoon rains the city of lights Karachi was in turmoil because of the closed sewage system, plastic bags, and other rubbish on the roads. Many innocent people lost their lives after getting heavy electric shocks. This time was not less than hell for the people of Karachi.

But, this unbearable situation is not going to be so in the coming time as a campaign “Let’s Make Karachi Clean” has been initiated by the great PM of Pakistan Mr. Imran Khan. I believe it is a praiseworthy step taken by the government of the time. It is not a hidden fact that the previous leaders of Pakistan were just busy in increasing their bank balance. The campaign, “Let’s Make Karachi Clean” will be supervised by the provincial government and the concerned authorities and the PM will be keeping an eye on the campaign as well. It is going to be a great relief for the people of Karachi. riAZ qurAiSh MAqSoodi Turbat

Health problems in Pakistan UnDOUBTEDLy, with better health alone, one can perform, contribute, and play their part in the socio-economic progress and advancement of the country. On the contrary, in a condition of poor health one cannot contribute well to the country’s development. It is disheartening that quality healthcare in Pakistan is a distant dream. Almost all public hospitals lack the very basic facilities. Every health center is facing an acute shortage of beds, experienced doctors, quality medicines, and kind support Pakistan, being a developing country, is facing a number of flaws in the health sector.Although the medical field has been targeted as a means of quick earning from the sick blood of poor patients. Through all the channels of social life, from government to the private hospitals ,we find health being sold on amount of money.

The government is spending billions of rupees yearly on the health sector yet we only get poor infrastructure in hospitals led by poor management. One may occasionally and fortunately find cleanliness, punctuality, and a proper use of equipment in the so-called government hospitals. All these flaws are caused because of private clinics which provide a better environment and healthy medication only to those who can afford it. In first world countries the first step that a doctor takes in treatment is getting to know first hand the patient’s family background as well as their medical history. Moreover, they bring patients in a psychologically strong situation that he/she may fight the disease boldly. In Pakistan there is no rule of law for so-called better health. Doctors do not even comprehend the nature of patient and advise overdose to a psychologically weak patient that makes them more sick. Moreover, doctors are highly paid to provide selected expensive medicine on which they are paid heavy amount of percentage and various so-called gifts. At a larger scale the doctors keep an inexperienced nursing staff which takes charge in their absence.Similarly, unspecialised doctors who do not possess a valid medical degree, operate illegal clinics that lead to an unhealthy life.

Due to all these flaws including poverty and high fees of private clinics the patient indulges in self-medication which results in a harmful situation later. It also may be because of common selling of medicine without the approval of a doctor. uZAir Bin JALiL Shikarpur

Corporal punishment in schools IT is a well-established fact that teachers are the decorators of the future of their students. However, corporal punishment against the students is likely a blemish on the glory of teachers. Students are disturbed not only physically but also mentally by these erroneous actions.

In the war for grades, students are socially isolated.

Students, despite being called the bright future of the nation, are being treated like animals. Actually punishment is prohibited, but still this practice is going on. Many students are depressed immensely due to their studies and many students quit school, while many commit suicide. In like manner, parents are worried about their children’s protection. yet no actions have been taken to resolve this catastrophe.

That’s why I request the relevant authorities to institute a strong law against this criminal practice as soon as possible.

ASiF MurAd uMrAni Karachi

Monday, 10 February, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

scienTisTs race To develop vaccine for new coronavirus SYDNEY

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AGENCIES

CIENTISTS from the United States to Australia are using new technology in an ambitious, multi-million-dollar drive to develop a vaccine in record time to tackle China’s coronavirus outbreak.

The new virus has spread rapidly since emerging late last year in China, killing more than 800 people in the mainland and infecting over 37,000. Cases have been reported in two dozen other countries.

Coming up with any vaccine typically takes years, and involves a lengthy process of testing on animals, clinical trials on humans and regulatory approvals. But several teams of experts are racing to develop one quicker, backed by an international coalition that aims to combat emerging diseases, and Australian scientists hope theirs could be ready in six months. “It is a highpressure situation and there is a lot of weight on us,” said senior researcher Keith Chappell, part of the group from Australia’s University of Queensland.

But the scientist added he took “some

solace” knowing several teams around the world were engaged in the same mission.

“The hope is that one of these will be successful and can contain this outbreak,” he said. But even a timeframe of six months looks agonisingly slow with the virus, believed to have emerged from a market selling wild animals, killing close to 100 people every day in mainland China.

Efforts are being led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a body established in 2017 to finance costly biotechnology research in the wake of an Ebola outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people. With a mission to speed up the development of vaccines, CEPI is pouring millions of dollars into four projects around the world and has put out a call for more proposals.

ATTACK THE VIRUS: The projects hope to use new technology to develop vaccines that can be tested in the near future. The body’s CEO, Richard Hatchett, said the aim was to start clinical testing in just 16 weeks. German biopharmaceutical company CureVac and US-based Moderna Therapeutics are developing vaccines based on “messenger RNA” — instruc-

Iran counts down to launch new satellite

tions that tell the body to produce proteins — while Inovio, another American firm, is using DNA-based technology. DNA- and RNA-based vaccines use the genetic coding of the virus to trick the body’s cells into producing proteins identical to those on the surface of the pathogen, explained Ooi Eng Eong, deputy director of the emerging infectious diseases programme at the DukeNUS Medical School in Singapore.

RISKS VS BENEFITS: Health authorities weigh the risks and benefits in vaccine approvals and if there is a public health emergency, the process could be shortened, said Ooi of the Duke-NUS Medical School. But he added that “paradoxically, if the situation improves, then actually the pathway for vaccines would be longer”. “If there’s a lot of these new coronavirus cases around, then you accept some risk, because of the tremendous amount of benefit you can derive, whereas if there are not many cases, the tolerance for risk would be very low.” While there is no vaccine for the coronavirus, some doctors are trying out a potent brew of anti-retroviral and flu drugs to treat those infected, but the science is inconclusive as to whether they are effective.

deaTh of whisTleblower igniTes calls for poliTical reform in china WAHAN CITY: The death of a whistleblowing doctor who was reprimanded for warning about the new coronavirus has sparked rare calls for political reform and free speech in China. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist in Wuhan — ground zero of China’s virus epidemic which has killed more than 800 — succumbed to the disease on Friday, over a month after he first raised alarm about the SARS-like virus. He was among eight physicians punished by Wuhan police for “rumourmongering”. But after his death struck a collective nerve, a number of academics have spoken up to demand more freedoms in China. At least two open letters demanding free speech have circulated on social media since the 34-year-old’s death — one signed by 10 professors in Wuhan. Li’s efforts “vigorously maintained the interests of the country and society”, read that letter, which has since been censored on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media site. “Put an end to the restrictions on freedom of speech,” it demanded, and “openly apologise” to Li and the seven other doctors punished for discussing the emergence of the virus in December. AGENCIES

Storm Ciara disrupts more than 100 flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol AMSTERDAM AGENCIES

Around 120 flights to and from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s largest, were cancelled or delayed on Sunday as a powerful storm blew in off the Atlantic Ocean with gusts of more than 100 kilometres per

hour (62 miles per hour).

The Netherlands Meteorological Institute issued an amber alert for Sunday afternoon as storm Ciara began to batter the Dutch coast after crossing Britain overnight.

All professional Dutch soccer matches were cancelled, along with most outdoor sporting events.

Winds of 100 kilometres per hour were registered just after midday in the Netherlands and gusts were expected to pick up to 140 kilometres later Sunday.

Public transportation and road traffic could be disrupted by local flooding and downed trees, authorities warned, advising people to stay indoors.

Motorcycle taxi ban brings Lagos to a halt LAGOS TEHRAN AGENCIES

Iran started counting down on Sunday to the launch within hours of a scientific observation satellite that is part of a programme the United States has previously described as a “provocation”.

Arch foes Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an allout confrontation twice since last year.

Long-standing acrimony between Tehran and Washington was exacerbated in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Iran’s nuclear programme, before issuing new demands for its development of ballistic missiles to be curtailed.

Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehran’s satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of curbs on its development of ballistic missiles.

Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution.

“Beginning countdown to launch #Zafar_Satellite in the next few hours… In the Name of God,” Iran’s telecommunications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, wrote on Twitter.

He did not specify when the satellite would be launched. On February 1, the head of Iran’s space agency said the 113kilogramme Zafar — Victory in Farsi — would be launched into orbit 530 kilometres (329 miles) above Earth by a Simorgh rocket. Its “primary mission” would be collecting imagery, Morteza Berari told AFP, adding that Iran needed such data to study earthquakes, deal with natural disasters and develop its agriculture.

The Zafar was designed to remain operational for “more than 18 months”, he added. While the Islamic republic’s satellite programme has concerned some Western countries, Berari said Iran supported

the “peaceful use of outer space” and that its activities were “transparent”.

TRY AGAIN: In January 2019, Tehran announced that its Payam — Message in Farsi — satellite had failed to reach orbit, after authorities said they launched it to collect data on the environment in Iran.

The United States said the launch of the carrier rocket was a violation of a 2015 UN Security Council resolution endorsing an international accord on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Resolution 2231 called on Iran to refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Tehran confirmed in September that an explosion occurred at one of its satellite launch pads due to a technical fault, and slammed Trump for “gleefully” tweeting about it at the time.

Trump said the US had nothing to do with what he called a “catastrophic accident” at Semnan Space Centre in a tweet alongside a high-resolution picture pointing to apparent damage at the site.

The Zafar’s scheduled launch comes days before the 41th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and crucial parliamentary elections in Iran. It also comes at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, after a January 3 US drone strike killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Iran retaliated days later by firing a wave of missiles of missiles at American troops stationed in Iraq.

Its defence forces had been braced for US retaliation when they shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight a few minutes after take-off from Tehran on January 8. Replying to a tweet that asked what if Zafar fails like it predecessor, Jahromi said “we will try again”.

Iran’s internet services have faced cyber attacks for the past two days, according to the ministry. Officials have not elaborated on the source of the attack or its likely motives.

AGENCIES

Even before a sudden controversial ban on motorcycle taxis and tricycles in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, crippling traffic jams were a daily ordeal for its more than 20 million inhabitants.

Now just a week on, getting around the city has become even more difficult. There are endless queues at bus stops and crowds of tired and exasperated pedestrians, assaulted by acrid exhaust fumes and the cacophony of drivers stuck in traffic jams honking their car horns.

“Monday, when the ban started, I spent seven hours on the road. Tuesday I spent almost nine hours in traffic jams,” says Ayobayo Babade, a real estate agent. He tries to remain upbeat.

“Now I bring my laptop and I work in the taxi,” he smiles.

“Nigerians are the most resilient people in the world!” declares 30-yearold Olaniwi Odina. “Put a policy in place, Nigerians will adapt, no matter how stupid it is, we are very patient!”

Recently elected governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, banned motorbike-taxis known as “okadas” and three-wheeled “kekes” saying they caused road accidents and were out of place in a modern city.

Okadas in particular are infamous in Lagos for their anarchic approach to traffic laws but are often vital on its poorly connected, pot-hole ridden roads. But they do come at a cost — between 2016 and 2019, there were more than 10,000 traffic accidents and 600 deaths recorded, just at the General Hospital in Lagos.

BUSES UNSUITABLE FOR LAGOS: To mitigate the effects of the ban, the government announced there would be 65 additional buses — in a rapidly growing megacity of more than 20 million people.

Critics say buses are in any case

CMYK

unsuitable for Lagos’ narrow, damaged roads, where okadas and kekes are crucial for both transport and jobs.

Commuters who would normally leave their cars at home to avoid sitting in traffic, now have little choice but to drive, clogging up the roads even more. Thousands of workers who do not drive and were reliant on okadas and kekes, have been forced to trek or take the despised buses, now charging higher fares.

“Before I used to pay 50 to 100 naira (28 cents US) for a journey, now you can go for 200 or even 300,” Goodluck, 34, said. The business community too has attacked the ban, saying it is catastrophic for Lagos.

“It is not a good policy and it is not a sustainable policy,” the president of the Lagos chamber of commerce, Muda Yusuf, told AFP. The ban makes Lagos less attractive to private investors and makes logistics more difficult in an already overcrowded city, he said. “This policy needs to be urgently reviewed, at least for tricycles to be re-introduced,” he said.

ALL WE WANT IS WORK: Entrepreneurs who have invested several million dollars in developing Uber-

style motorbike-hailing services over the past two years have also hit out at the ban, shocked that they had no prior warning. Many are trying to win exemptions from the government but their drivers, many now unemployed, have been hit hard.

Videos condemning the government have gone viral on social media in recent days. Twice this week, young motor-riders tried to demonstrate against the ban, burning tyres on the road and throwing stones at the police, who immediately dispersed them with tear gas. In the Ilupeju district, around 30 men continue to ride their okadas, in defiance of the ban.

“All we want is work!” yells Johnson Oseni. “The government doesn’t help us, it is the opposite, we pay taxes, we feed our families, our children, we work hard, leave us (alone),” he pleads. Another driver, Aminu Jibril, 20, fled the northeastern state of Borno, where jihadist insurgency is rife to come to Lagos to study and he drives to help pay his fees. “Once I’m a graduate I was hoping to get a real job,” he says, lamenting the ban which has dented his plans. “The government doesn’t care about poor people.”

Monday, 10 February, 2020

BuSineSS 11

FBR, mInIsTRIes oF communIcATIons AnD eneRGy BlAmeD FoR hInDeRInG expoRTs LAHORE

Rs50bn to be spent for IT sector’s development, says Dr Attaur Rahman Prime Minister’s National Task Force on Science and Technology Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman has said the incumbent government has planned to spend around Rs50 billion in areas of artificial intelligence, information technology, big data, cybersecurity and related technologies to transform the national economic model. He was speaking at the opening session of two-day second International Conference on Information Science and Communication Technology the other day. The conference was organised by the Department of Computer Science, University of Karachi. Dr Atta, who also headed the Higher Education Commission, said Pakistan currently had a natural resourcebased economy and to emerge as a strong nation it needed to make education, science, IT, innovation and entrepreneurship the key drivers of socio-economic development. He stressed that knowledge is now the main driving force of world economics. Singapore, he said, which is only 865 square kilometers in size with a five million population, has exports of around $330 billion as it focused on human resources and high-tech exports. He said by 2025, 12 disruptive technologies would make an impact around the world and it was suggested that they would generate revenue of around $100 trillion. “The local experts should focus on advanced robotics, autonomous and nearautonomous vehicles, next-generation genomics, energy storage, mobile internet, automation of knowledge work, internet of things, cloud, 3D printing, advanced materials, advanced oil and gas exploration and recovery and renewable energy to become a part of that gigantic global economic output.” Dr Attainformed the audience that all government software contracts would only go to local companies to boost local business and special technology zones would also be set up. BUSINESS DESK

Govt working on alternative energy projects for cheap electricity: minister

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HASSAN NAQVI

HE Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has blamed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Ministry of Communications (MoC) and the Ministry of Energy’s Power Division for hampering the country’s exports, sources told Profit on Sunday.

The commerce ministry took up its reservations at a recent meeting headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan that reviewed the ministry’s performance regarding the country’s exports, sources added.

The MoC officials during the meeting requested the premier to issue instructions to all the ministries and departments that no decision about the country's exports should be taken without consulting the commerce ministry.

Sources said PM Imran Khan gave a nod to the request of the ministry. The MoC submitted a note during the meetingwhich stated that a number of factors that had affected the Pakistani exports were not in MoC’s control.

Officials further informed the premierabout

new fines and regulations imposed by the communications ministry on goods transporters, and pending sales tax returns from FBR to the textile exporters which were approximately Rs23 billion as of January 21.

The prime minister was further informed that the Power Division’s notification of January 13,which had instructed the distribution companies(DISCOs) to charge the export-oriented sector with financial cost (FC) surcharge, fixed charge (F/C), Neelum Jhelum (NJ) surcharge, fuel charge adjustments (FCA) and Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) from January 1 to December 31, 2019 with retrospective effect, had too badly hampered the country’s exports.

“All these ministries and departments haven’t consulted the commerce ministry before taking these decisions,” the MoC note read.

The nine-day strike of goods transporters in January this year, following new regulations and fines imposed by the Ministry of Communications,also stalled the movement of export containers, the premier was further informed.

“The strike had an adverse impact on the transportation of export containers to Karachi

from across the country, which also reflected in the export figures for the said period.”

The exports of Pakistan in January stood at $1,973 million which is $61 million less than the exports during the same month in 2019.

The MoC, sources said, also informed PM Imran Khan that FBR in the budget for 2019-20 had withdrawn zero-rating regime from five major export sectors including textile, leather, carpet, surgical and sports good with the assurance that that they would come up with a system to clear refunds to the exporters within 3 days but that system was still not in place.

Officials said they had opposed the move since day one, as they believed that this move would lead to liquidity crunch for the exporters and would subsequently hamper the exports.

The MoC also enlightened the prime minister that as of January 21, FBR had not cleared approximately Rs23 billion pending ST claimsto the export-oriented textile sector.

Unfortunately, the MoC was not consulted in the instances mentioned above, which was a violation of the Rules of Business, officials told the premier.

FST reinstates Customs official who ‘exposed’ corruption of senior officer ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Federal Services Tribunal (FTS) has reinstated a Customs official, who was dismissed from service soon after he had unearthed corruption of a senior Customs officer.

An official document available with this scriber eveals that the FST Islamabad has set aside the order of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) regarding the dismissal from service of Sepoy Aamir Shabbir and reinstated him from the date of his

dismissal and with all previous privileges.

Shabbir, who was posted in the Customs Intelligence and Investigation wing at the Regional Office Gujranwala, had approached the tribunal in July 2018 against his dismissal from service.

The tribunal after due process struck down his dismissal order and reinstated him.

Shabbir had approached the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the FBR chairman, the Federal Tax Ombudsman and the National Accountabil-

ity Bureau (NAB) through applications, seeking legal action against then Customs Intelligence & Investigation Director General Shaukat Ali. He had presented an evidence of corruption and misconduct against Shaukat Ali. An inquiry is still going on against the senior officer in the NAB’s Rawalpindi office.

In his petitions, Shabbir had alleged that Shaukat Ali, a BS-21 officer, had committed corruption that had hit the economy hard.

Shaukat Ali was a customs officer whose misdeeds, the complainant claimed,was taken up at multiple forums for further proceedings, but still he managed to kill each inquiry and investigation against his corruption.

"The former DG as well as his cronies in the Customs department had transferred me from Gujranwala to Mardan as a punishment.

And subsequently, he was dismissed from service on non-compliance of the board’s orders,” the Sepoy concluded in his statement.

ISLAMABAD APP

The government is taking steps for launching alternate energy projects across the country to provide electricity on cheap rates to the consumers, Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan said on Sunday. Talking to a news channel, he said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was taking all possible measures to introduce cheap electricity in near future. Installing new power plants would also bring the energy rates down, he added. Lamenting over the weak policies of the previous governments, Khan said costly agreements were struck with the power companies at the cost of people’s utility bills. Appreciating the working of the energy department, he said the department had recovered Rs112 billion after controlling electricity theft from various parts of the country. To a question, the federal minister said the government had to bear an extra burden of Rs350 billion by using imported coal to produce electricity.

He said besides renewal energy plants, focus on wind and hydel resources would help address the problems in the power sector. Replying to another question, he said the previous governments of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had controlled tariff rate artificially. A new energy policy would be constituted to balance the system in the electricity sector, the minister added.

KARACHI: An elderly woman sells spices in the provincial capital to earn livelihood of her family. ONLINE

Bitcoin breaches $10,000 to hit highest level since October 2019 Bitcoin is back above $10,000.The largest cryptocurrency’s recent upward momentum carried it past that psychologically significant level on Sunday for the first time since October, according to Bitstamp pricing. It rose as much as 2.6pc to $10,179, capping a gain of about 40pc so far this year.

Its breach of five figures comes amid an equities rally that’s seen the S&P 500 Index reach new highs as fears abate that

the coronavirus will dent global growth.

“The rally is a part of a broader appeal for risky assets as optimism grows that the coronavirus impact might be limited to the first quarter and on optimism that China will play nice with the US on phase-two trade talks,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Cryptocurrencies have been on an upward trend all year, with some analysts

and digital-asset enthusiasts suggesting they’ve benefited as safe-haven plays amid ongoing geopolitical concerns around the globe.

“There’s certainly a narrative in the investment community that Bitcoin is solidifying its place as a store of value, a flight to safety, inflation hedge,” Michael Sonnenshein, managing director at Grayscale Investments, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York head-

quarters. If history is any guide, the upcoming halving, which is set to happen in May, could also have an impact on the token’s price, he said.

Some Bitcoin enthusiasts are predicting further gains. Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Rob Sluymer, for one, sees it rising through the second quarter this year to trade in a range of $10,000 to $11,000.

Mike McGlone, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, says the 2020

outlook for the largest digital token remains favorable. “Similar to gold, positive fundamentals should extend Bitcoin’s price appreciation,” he wrote in a Feb 5 note.

Bitcoin peaked at almost $20,000 in December 2017 and finished that year up about 1,400pc as the cryptocurrency burst into the mainstream. It plunged 74pc the next year, before rebounding almost 100pc in 2019. AGENCIES

Monday, 10 February, 2020

12 BuSineSS

GoVT, ImF polIcy leVel TAlks ToDAy ISLAMABAD

ex-poultry association head declares 2019 worst year for industry LAHORE INP

A former office-bearer of the Pakistan Poultry Association on Sunday warned that the year 2019 had proved to be the worst year for poultry industry, breaking record of last 30 years’ losses mainly due to unprecedented escalation in the cost of production. The cost of poultry feed has flown upward, reaching the highest level of last 10 years owing to huge depreciation of Pakistani rupee against dollar, record high markup rate and continued hike in power and gas tariffs, leading to jump in feed rate up to Rs3,000 per 50kg bag from earlier price of about Rs2,200, PPA’s former chairman Abdul Basit said in a statement. He revealed that average sale price of the whole year of poultry products should remain higher than the cost of production by at least Rs1-2 which is essential for the survival of business. However, the calendar year 2019 proved to be unfortunate for the poultry sector in the last 30 years, inflicting loss of billions, Basit maintained. He was of the view that the poultry sector was unable to pass on ever soaring cost of production to the consumers. “Rather the industry survives by enhancing its efficiency through technology advancement.” Basit said the poultry products were sold below the price of their original cost during eight months of the year, adding “when chicken prices start to go upward during the rest of four moths, then industry is able to compensate its losses incurred throughout the year.” He said that government, instead of controlling fuel price or seizing power tariff hike, had launched wrong propaganda against the poultry farmers, who had contributed a lot to control eversoaring inflation in the country. He claimed the poultry rates had not been increased while other kitchen items registered hike in prices during the last 30 years. He said the farmer community, including poultry farmers, were unable to fix the rate of their produce according to their cost of production and they were totally dependent on market forces. Basit further said due to record hike in the cost of production along with unmanageable ventilation system at controlled sheds even in winterwhich might perish even the whole poultry stockalmost 25 per cent of farmers had shut their businesses temporarily. “This also has caused a sharp reduction in poultry stocks, lifting their rates automatically. He explained that the factors like currency devaluation and imported soyabean and medicines had raised the cost of business tremendously.

StAff REPORt

A

high-level delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Pakistan today (Monday) to hold technical level talks with the Pakistani officials led by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Revenue Minister Hammad Azhar confirmed on Sunday.

The IMF delegation comprising its directors would start policy level discussions with the Pakistani team – to be concluded on Feb 13 – and then present it to the IMF board.

During this period, next quarter (third) benchmarks would be set with the authorities.

Earlier the visiting staff level delegation of IMF had concluded its performance review after having several meetings with the ministries and departments over Rs5.5 trillion revenue targets and third tranche.

‘HOARDERS TO FACE GOVT WRATH’: Minister Hammad Azhar said Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) government would expedite crackdown against the hoarders in a bid to reducing the prices of essential commodities in next few days.

The government would encircle the mafias hiding behind sugar, wheat, textile and other sectors, he said while talking to a private news channel.

The action would be launched with the help of provincial governments to catch the perpetrators who were involved in creating artificial

IMF policies leading Pakistan to economic disaster: LCCI

shortage of essential food items in the country, the minister added.

Commenting on currency devaluation and inflation, he said the PTI government had to take unpopular decisions to balance the economic system.

Criticizing the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N)’s regime, Azhar said in fact, weak policies introduced by the last government had played a major role in the currency devaluation.

He added that the price hike issue in some food items including vegetables would be resolved in a couple of days.

To another query, the minister said the assembling plants of smart mobile phones, and other industrial sectors were being set up to achieve economic progress and prosperity.

Argentina won't repay ImF debt till recession over, Vp Fernandez says HAVANA AGENCIES

ISLAMABAD IND

The country’s economy is not moving in right direction and needs to be corrected immediately otherwise it can cause great harm in the near future, a business leader said on Sunday.

“A 17 per cent increase in revenue and enhanced forex reserves amid economic slowdown are surprising and indicate that country is not heading in the right direction,” said Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Shahid Rasheed Butt in a statement.

He said revenue was increasing despite sluggish growth as unhappy masses and

the dejected business community had been targeted by the revenue department officials while little had been done to tax the influential untaxed.

Butt said an ambitious revenue target set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) couldn’t be met by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

He said that exports in January recorded a fall of 3.4pc to $1.96 billion due to economic situation, blocked refunds, political and economic instability, energy prices and other issues.

“On the one hand, we see exports falling while on the other forex reserves are gain-

ing strength because of flawed policies. The method adopted to attract hot money by offering high interest is not sustainable and very risky for the economy,” he observed.

The LCCI president was of the view that the present risky policy of attracting hot money would boost forex reserves to $20 billion while foreign investment in T-bills would jump to $5 billion during the current year but at the cost of national kitty.

“Attracting foreign funds with high interest rates can be repatriated any time that will unleash another crisis in Pakistan, therefore many economic exports are warning against this policy,” he warned.

Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said on Saturday that the government will not pay “even half a cent” of its debt back to the International Monetary Fund before the country has exited recession. “The first thing we have to do in order to be able to pay is to exit the recession,” Fernandez de Kirchner said at a presentation of her book “Sinceramente” (Sincerely) at Havana’s international book fair.

“If there is a recession no-one will pay even half a cent and the way you exit recession is through a lot of state investment.” Argentina needs to restructure $100 billion in sovereign debt with creditors, including part of a $57 billion credit facility that the IMF extended the country in 2018. Dealings with the IMF are key as Argentina hopes to avoid a default amid a currency crash, steep inflation and a contracting economy. An IMF technical mission is expected in Buenos Aires next week to discuss obligations owed to the fund. Fernandez de Kirchner said Argentina should get a “substantial haircut” on its IMF debt. A leftist and militant Peronist, she has traveled frequently to Communist-run Cuba over the past year to visit her daughter Florencia Kirchner who is undergoing medical treatment there. Her book presentation was attended by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and a raft of other officials. The Argentine ex-president launched Sincerely, a compilation of personal anecdotes and reflections, in Argentina last year.

As nations bicker, a greener future evolves in finance LONDON AGENCIES

Away from the toxic atmosphere at climate summit talks, in boardrooms, banks and trading houses, a transformation in green finance is underway.

Its backers hope it could profitably help save the planet.

Regardless of the politics of climate change, there is real money to be made today in the exploding market for bonds and other instruments invested in environmentally sustainable projects.

But in the final analysis, uniform regulation derived from collective political action will be vital both for the markets and for the planet itself, observers acknowledge.

Hard-nosed US investors in fields such as solar panels are not necessarily driven by anxiety about global warming, Climate Bonds Initiative chief executive Sean Kidney said.

“Most of them are Republicans for god’s sake,” he said at a conference on climate finance organised by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London.

“They care only about price,” he added, predicting the transition to a lowcarbon future would generate $90 trillion investment by 2050 in areas including low-energy cooling, urban farming and greener transport. Kidney’s independent organisation certifies “green bonds” issued by governments, municipalities and companies whose proceeds are devoted to sustainable development.

Notable issuers last month included the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, one of a slew of US cities unwilling to wait on President Donald Trump’s climate-sceptic administration as they vie to adapt their creaking infrastructures to a low-carbon future.

TIPPING POINT: The investment community more broadly is running ahead of climate politics, which have been stymied by the refusal of the United States and other major economies to chart a way forward on the 2015 Paris accord.

BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset management fund, shook the industry last month by announcing it would transition out of coal-based investments.

“Climate risk has become mainstream (for investors). It does feel we

have reached a tipping point,” said Nick Anderson, board member of International Financial Reporting Standards, which is crafting new climate guidance for company accountants.

In 2019, the green bonds market worldwide expanded by more than half to about $258 billion, and further breakneck growth is expected this year, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative.

Departments at major banks in charge of environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, once a backwater in high finance, now have real teeth as banks get serious about profitable alternative investments and their wider public image.

Environmental finance is “absolutely real and tangible”, said Alexandra Basirov, global head of sustainable finance for financial institutions at French bank BNP Paribas. Banks such as BNP and ING have pioneered lower-interest loans that give greener projects an edge over more carbon-intensive ones.

But Basirov also cautioned at last week’s EBRD conference: “Ultimately markets don’t operate efficiently without adequate data.”

Therein lies the rub for many en-

gaged in the ESG business: how to tally assets at risk from climate change, and how to quantify the risk itself given the array of catastrophic outcomes in store as temperatures rise.

GREEN FOR GREENBACKS: Credit risk agencies have been writing new models that seek to calculate corporate exposure, such as the weight of assets that companies already hold in potentially obsolete carbon investments.

Green investments are already turning into greenbacks for firms, according to James Leaton, vice president for climate risk at Moody’s Investors Service.

Sustainable projects show a “lower default rate” because investors see them as more future-proof and creditworthy, he said. The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, an initiative launched by former New York mayor and now US presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, aims to rationalise what companies must report to investors on their climate exposure.

In the acronym-heavy field of climate finance, central banks are also getting in on the act.

One initiative derived from the Paris

accord is the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), a platform for central bankers to examine the global financial risks of climate change.

A notable holdout has been the US Federal Reserve, hobbled by Trump’s vocal objections to climate action. Fed chief Jerome Powell hinted last month that it might soon sign up.

Morgan Despres, head of the NGFS secretariat and deputy chief of the financial stability department at the Banque de France, told AFP that network staffers were in contact with Fed counterparts “on a regular basis”.

“Any action does need to be global,” he added, echoing environmentalists who say that policymakers must in the end bury their differences and catch up with financiers on climate change.

For investors, the EBRD conference heard that the most meaningful policy action would be for governments to agree a true market price for carbon that properly reflects its climate impact.

“Without carbon pricing, you can only go so far,” Eric Usher, head of the UN Environment Programme’s finance initiative, said.

The Driving Force BehinD The Lahore Music MeeT Pakistan’s Leading Music Festival: The Lahore Music Meet [#LMM5] hosted its fifth edition which took place at Alhamra Art Center in Lahore on the 1st and 2nd of February 2020. Once again, the team at The Music Meet brought the two-day musical celebration to 4 stages packed with Live Performances, Masterclasses and Conversations with Pakistan’s finest musicians. This music festival is entirely women-led. consisting of all the female directors. Natasha Norani and Zahra Paracha are the driving force behind the whole setup. Let’s have a conversation about the success of Lahore Music Meet, 2020. By Rohama Riaz

5

1

You have been very successful in providing a platform for the underground music scene. What was the inspiration behind launching such an event?

When we were in college, we decided to do our undergraduate thesis on music in Pakistan. One of the biggest challenges we faced was a severe lack of research and avenues we could explore to find answers to questions we had. The entire industry was extremely fragmented at best, and it was difficult for us to navigate through that. We decided to hold a music conference and bring academics, businessmen, and musicians in the same space to help us with our research. We are also musicians and wanted to do something to help facilitate the music scene in Lahore in whatever way we could at the time.

2

Pakistani music, over the last decade or so, has found various avenues to express itself. What sets LMM apart in regards to how that music is expressed?

Absolutely — there are several great avenues where Pakistani artists can express themselves and get the recognition they deserve.

Every year, we face challenges and hurdles in the organization aspect of this festival but we still manage to draw in massive crowds every time we do this. I think the thing that sets LMM apart from other avenues is that it is a platform for artists by artists. The programming reflects our musical learning curves and interests at the time. We try to actively scout for and seek talent that we believe people should hear. That’s why we open up applications for the outdoor stage at LMM every year.

3

So what is the process of discovering talent and projecting them to a large audience full of music enthusiasts?

How do you filter through the greats from the good?

What is the litmus test for per-

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

formances?

Since 2016, we began an application process for bands who want to perform. This is a good way to filter out nepotism and discover new talent who may not be able to reach out to us on a personal level. This helps us gauge whether they are a good fit for our overall programming. In addition to this, we encourage our applicants to only apply with original music and not covers.

We try to ensure that we cover all genres in this process to showcase the diversity of contemporary Pakistani music.

EBM CHAMPIONS INCLUSIVITY AS THE OFFICIAL SPONSORS FOR THE 5TH SOP UNIFIED MARATHON

4

That’s incredible. It’s amazing how you took the initiative to build a platform for local talent where they can express themselves without music without any bounds or chains holding them back. Do you think that’s an important aspect of what makes LMM what it is? The unfettered, unfiltered sounds of Lahore? How important is it for you to maintain that authentic credibility that seems lacking in other music platforms?

Z: There has to be freedom attached to your art, otherwise there is a certain level of inauthenticity. This is a personal value I believe in, and it is a difficult idea to pitch to companies or entities we are dependent on.

But when you allow artists that freedom to express themselves, that energy they bring to the stage is what draws people in towards the festival at the end of the day.

N: I do think it’s one of LMM’s biggest strengths that we are able to provide a safe, nurturing space for artists to express themselves and share their musicality without having to water down or filter themselves.

The value in not being a commercial event allows us to provide this creative control to anyone on the LMM roster.

Two women leading the charge to bring about the resurgence of underground Pakistani music. What are some of the obstacles you have faced leading such a grand venture?

Z: The music industry is essentially a boy’s club by default — I have found very few women on the technical side of things especially. Since I am the lead sound engineer, I initially found myself in awkward positions trying to get some musicians to talk to me rather than through me.

I do not face those problems as much anymore, but I imagine it may have been a different case if I was a sound wala as opposed to being a sound wali.

N: It’s definitely been difficult to be taken seriously from board rooms to studios. There is a lot of having to work extra hard to showcase that I am indeed a credible individual who can navigate through the nuances of the industry. It refreshes every year so it often feels like starting from scratch.

6

More power to you! Obviously the underground scene is only beginning to show how much talent is present here in Lahore in terms of music. What surprises me is how well you manage to have a place for a lot of different, diverse genres of music at the same table.

Someone who listens to rap might not be interested in what the indie rock scene has to offer. How do you get those fans to get out of their comfort zone and listen to different kinds of music?

The way our programming works is that we fit every area in AlHamra with various sessions happening simultaneously. Normally, people come for a session or two and accidentally end up listening to a couple of bands perform that they end up liking and becoming fans of. The idea is for people to see the diversity that Pakistani music has to offer and to be open to genres that they are not necessarily used to.

As a part of their drive to instil tolerance and acceptance of differently abled people within society, English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM) Pakistan’s leading biscuit brand, became the official sponsors for Special Olympics Pakistan’s Unified Marathon. The goal of this partnership was to promote inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Known as one of Karachi's biggest initiatives for greater inclusion and empowerment, the marathon is held every year to help spread awareness and encourage understanding of people with such disabilities.

The event, which took place on 5th February 2020 at Moin Khan Academy, DHA Sports Complex, Karachi, entailed a 21K Half Marathon, a 10KM|5KM as well as a 1KM Unified Walk. “The Special Olympics Marathon embraces diversity and inclusion which are values that EBM wholeheartedly shares. It is, thus, an honor to participate in this cause as it heralds the beginning of a new era of creating a place of understanding and support for everyone. This is something we have and continue to strive for as a company” said Shahzain Munir, the Director of EBM. Ever since its inception, EBM has been extremely outspoken about its passion of helping the community as well as spreading the message of inclusion that is unencumbered by gender, age, or ability. It has always endeavoured to promote causes that are in line with the company’s vision and mission which is why EBM employees were also seen attending the marathon in great numbers as volunteers.

7

In countries where the underground music scene is already established, it’s incredibly rare to find an event that amalgamates different genres of music.

LMM is such an event. Usually, a punk show will only incorporate punk bands, an EDM festival will only cater to fans of that genre. Do you think of the fact that LMM dares to do things differently is a strength?

Absolutely. In Pakistan, it seems that the most visible music gets to be the face of Pakistani music in general, and corporate music gets the most visibility by default. There is an overwhelming misconception about what defines Pakistani music. When we scout for acts and plan sessions for LMM, we come across the strangest and most obscure ideas that are just as Pakistani as the most mainstream of artists.

Oscars 2020: Joaquin Phoenix to Leonardo DiCaprio, here are nominees for 92nd Academy Awards Hollywood hands out its highest honours on Monday at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony that could see a number of historic firsts and an all-white actor winner podium that has revived the #OscarsSoWhite debate. Joker leads the nominations with 11, followed by The Irishman, 1917 and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, tied in joint second, with 10 nominations each.

Brad Pitt, Elton John, Charlize Theron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson and Martin Scorsese are among the A-List nominees, alongside the little-known cast of Korean-language drama Parasite, which threatens to steal the thunder from Hollywood’s biggest names. All eyes are on the coveted best picture prize, which awards watchers believe is a three-way race between independent social satire Parasite, British director Sam Mendes’ immersive World War One movie 1917 from Universal Pictures, and Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to show business, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, from Sony Pictures.

Kartik Aaryan to star in Tanhaji director Om Raut’s 3D action film

Shah Rukh Khan’s son AbRam wins gold medal for Taekwondo

Actor Kartik Aaryan has shown his romantic side and comic skills in various Bollywood films. Now, the audience will get to see his action avatar in a film to be helmed by Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior director Om Raut. The 3D action thriller backed by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, will be shot in India and various locations abroad. “I’ve been keen to do an out and out action film since a while, and Bhushan sir knew about it. I recently watched Tanhaji and was completely blown away by not only the spectacular visuals but also the narrative style. Om Raut’s vision when it comes to action storytelling using 3D is unparalleled,” said Kartik.

“I’m super excited to be a part of his next film and can’t wait to start work on my first action movie,” he added.

The director added: “In the initial stages of the script itself I knew Kartik would fit the character well and I am glad to have him on board.” The remaining cast is yet to be finalised.

With this mega budget action film, Bhushan will reunite with Kartik after Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Pati Patni Aur Woh and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.

Shah Rukh Khan shared on Twitter that his youngest child AbRam has made him proud yet again, this time by winning a gold medal in Taekwondo. The actor shared pictures of his son from the match in which the six-year-old can be seen posing with his gold medal.

“You train...u fight...u succeed. Then do it all over again. I think with this medal, my kids have more awards than I have.

It’s a good thing...now I need to train more! Proud and inspired!” he wrote. Not just AbRam, his siblings Aryan and Suhana are trained in Taekwondo. All three have been trained in the martial art by Kiran Upadhyay.

Last year, Shah Rukh proudly announced that AbRam graduated to yellow belt in Taekwondo. Sharing a collage of his three children, he wrote, “Keeping up the tradition of Tae ‘Khan’ Doh in the family, the latest entrant to the Kiran Teacher ( @care141 )Fight Club. Yellow belt it is...” Both Aryan and Suhana won gold medals at the Maharashtra Taekwondo competition in 2010.

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Monday, 10 February, 2020

14 SPORTS

AtletiCo get tiMely viCtory, getAfe MAke top-four StAteMent Madrid

A

Agencies

TLETICO Madrid won for the first time in four games on Saturday thanks to a 1-0 win over Granada that moved them into fourth place in La Liga, as Getafe continued their surprising charge towards Champions League football.

Argentinian forward Angel Correa scored Atletico's only goal in the sixth minute at the Wanda Metropolitano, netting for the fifth time in nine matches.

Atletico had goalkeeper Jan Oblak to thank for preserving the three points with a superb save from Roberto Soldado's crafty second-half backheel.

Diego Simeone's side could be overtaken on Sunday by Sevilla, who visit Celta Vigo, but the coach welcomed the return to form for a side who must face holders Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League later this month.

"We needed to win. Our stadium's support was extraordinary, we needed that energy," Simeone said.

Getafe took another step towards Champions League qualification as Jorge Molina scored twice in

a sensational 3-0 win over fellow top-four contenders Valencia.

The 37-year-old Molina capped a storming performance with two goals in the second half before Jaime Mata added a third with three minutes left, after Valencia's Alessandro Florenzi had been sent off.

Getafe stay third, three points ahead of Atletico and Sevilla.

Up next for Jose Bordalas' side

is a trip to Barcelona next weekend but on this evidence, it will be the stumbling Catalans feeling nervous ahead of that game.

Getafe face La Liga's defending champions on the back of four consecutive victories, in which they have scored nine goals and conceded none.

They bullied Valencia from start to finish, faster to the ball and hungrier in the tackles with all three goals com-

ing from Getafe's players reacting quicker than their opponents.

"It was all shit, in defence and in attack," said Valencia's Gabriel Paulista.

"We have to change today's attitude.

They have been more like men."

After Barca, they will play Ajax in the Europa League.

Valencia, meanwhile, have won only four out of nine games since the turn of the year, with their own Champions League last 16 tie against Atalanta fast approaching.

Getafe had to wait until 13 minutes into the second for Molina's opener. He slid the ball to Mata and then beat two Valencia defenders to the rebound from Jaume Domenech's save.

Dani Parejo was at fault for the second as he gave the ball away in midfield and one pass set Molina free. He had three defenders to beat but somehow bundled through, a final pirouette making space for a smart finish.

Florenzi was sent off with 12 minutes left for a frustrated spear tackle from behind on Marc Cucurella before Mata made it three.

Villarreal were held to a 1-1 draw

by Real Valladolid as well-travelled French forward Hartem Ben Arfa made his debut as a second-half substitute.

Belarus and Russia claw out Fed Cup victories Florianopolis Agencies

Aryna Sabalenka's day of wild extremes ended with Belarus clawing their way into the Fed Cup final while Naomi Osaka's participation ended tamely when she was benched as Japan lost.

Belarus beat the Netherlands 3-2 in the Hague. Russia was also forced to go the distance as they beat Romania 3-2 in Cluj-Napoca.

Spain swept Japan aside 3-1. Switzerland beat Canada, Belgium beat Kazakhstan and Slovakia beat Britain, all 3-1. Germany thrashed Brazil 4-0 in warm conditions in Florianopolis.

The USA claimed the final place when newly-crowned Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova 6-4, 6-0 in the deciding doubles against Latvia.

They join already-qualified Australia, France, Czech Republic and Hungary in the 12-team finals in Budapest in April.

In the Hague, Sabalenka opened the day by losing 6-4, 6-4 to Kiki Bertens. It was a match notable for an awful miss by the Belarussian who seemed to start crying after

Sweden's Duplantis breaks world pole vault record WarsaW Agencies

Armand Duplantis of Sweden set a world pole vault record of 6.17 metres at an indoor meeting in Poland on Saturday. Duplantis, the USborn 20-year-old who won silver at last year's world championships in Doha, cleared the bar on his second attempt in Torun to break the previous record of 6.16m set by French vaulter Renaud Lavillenie in February 2014. "It's something that I wanted since I was three years old," Duplantis told the website of World Athletics. "It's a big year, but it's a good way to start it." Lavillenie, the 2012 Olympic champion, said he was not surprised his record had been eclipsed. "It's not a surprise. For two years now I knew he had the potential," the 33-yearold Frenchman told RMC Sports after competing at a meeting in Rouen. "Records are made to be beaten. He has got time on his side to definitely do even better and that's a great thing."

Duplantis had almost broken the record at a meeting in Duesseldorf on Tuesday. His performance marks him out as a clear favourite for the Olympic title in Tokyo this year. Long considered the man most likely to push the event forward, Duplantis began breaking age group records aged seven.

Man City clash with West Ham postponed by storm

netting an easy winner.

"It was not the best tennis from myself," Sabalenka said.

When Arantza Rus won the opening set of the fourth rubber to love and Aliaksandra Sasnovich took an injury time out in the next rubber in clear distress with a wrist injury, Belarus seemed doomed Somehow Sasnovich battled back to win 0-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Then, in front of a noisy home crowd, Sabalenka and Sasnovich teamed up to outlast Bertens and Demi Schuur in a taut doubles to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10/8).

A nervy deciding set went to a tiebreak, Belarus raced to a 5-2 lead but when Sabalenka celebrated a winner too early she was called for hindrance. The Belarussians then each squandered a match point by netting a forehand. Bertens saved another before the pressure told and she served a double fault to lose the match.

In the other tie decided by the doubles, the Russians Anna Blinkova and Anna Kalinskaya had a less stressful time as they beat Jaqueline Adina Cristian and Elena Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-2.

Cristian had just kept the hosts in the tie by beating Veronika Kudermetova 7-5, 6-3 in the last singles.

Manchester Agencies

Manchester City's Premier League clash with West Ham was among major sporting events postponed on Sunday as storm Ciara battered the United Kingdom. Howling winds and driving rain have disrupted transport links with travellers advised only to make journeys if absolutely necessary. "Due to extreme and escalating weather conditions and in the interests of supporter and staff safety, today’s match has been postponed," City said in a statement. "This decision has been made by Manchester City’s Safety Officer following consultation with Club stakeholders and officials at West Ham United." The women's Six Nations clash between Scotland and England was also postponed. Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash between Scotland and England's men in Edinburgh had been marred by terrible conditions as England ran out 13-6 winners. The only other Premier League game of the day is due to go ahead as Sheffield United host Bournemouth.

Judo champion Riner loses USA beat Latvia in doubles after nine years undefeated decider to reach Fed Cup finals paris

Florianopolis

Agencies

Agencies

One of sport's longest winning runs came to an end on Sunday when two-time Olympic and eight-time judo world champion Teddy Riner was beaten for the first time in over nine years.

After 154 successive wins, the 30-year-old Frenchman, who competes in the 100-kilogramme heavyweight category, was beaten by ippon by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura in the third round of the Paris Grand Slam.

Riner's last defeat was back in September 2010 when he was controversially beaten by another Japanese Daiki Kamikaw in the openweight final at the world championships in Tokyo. The defeat comes five months before the Tokyo Olympics when Riner will hope to emulate the lightweight judoka Tadahiro Nomura in winning gold at three successive Olympics.

Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova 6-4, 6-0 in a deciding doubles as the USA survived a Saturday scare to beat unheralded Latvia 3-2 and reach the Fed Cup finals.

New Australian Open champion Kenin and Mattek-Sands ensured the USA reached the finals in Budapest from April 14-19 after both Serena Williams and Kenin had been stunned in the singles as Latvia levelled the qualifier 2-2 in Seattle.

Sevastova had earlier inflicted a shock first Fed Cup singles loss on Williams 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4). "We were playing in the USA so obviously the crowd was going to be for Serena. I just tried to give it my best," Sevastova said of her win at the Angel of the Wings arena.

Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, bounced back from losing the first set by cruising

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through the second set in 33 minutes, but she was outplayed on the big points in the second tiebreak.

Sevastova used her powerful serve to deliver aces at key moments, and a precision forehand ended Williams' perfect streak at 14 wins after a 2hr 25min marathon.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

SPORTS 15

nASeeM BeCoMeS youngeSt to tAke HAt-triCk AS BAnglADeSH CollApSe DrAMAtiCAlly raWalpindi

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Agencies

ANGLADESH had their best day of the Test, and were close to being the team that made most progress on the day, before a late hat-trick from 16year-old Naseem Shah triggered a collapse where they lost four wickets for two runs. They were left reeling at stumps, 86 behind with only four wickets in hand. Naseem became the youngest man to take a Test hat-trick.

All three of Naseem's hat-trick wickets were built around his express pace. He burst one through Najmul Hossain Shanto's defences from around the wicket, and had some assistance from captain Azhar Ali who successfully reviewed a not-out decision on the lbw. Next ball, he caught nightwatchman Taijul Islam in front with a yorker, before firing a full straight delivery outside off that was met with an ungainly chop from Mahmudullah which ended up at first slip.

Naseem walked off the pitch two balls after that over with a niggle, but he had significantly dented Bangladesh. As if the score of 126 for 5 didn't make that evident, Mohammad Mithun, the highestscorer in the first innings, managed to confirm it entirely: he was out bowled, trying to slog a Yasir Shah googly one ball before stumps.

It was a sour end for Bangladesh, who were on course for finishing a good day with wickets in hand and more than half the deficit erased as Shanto and Mominul Haque looked solid through a 71-run stand for the third wicket. Earlier in the day, they had allowed Pakistan to add only 103 to their overnight score of 342 for 3.

The last session began with Tamim

Iqbal showing glimpses of the form that helped him make a triple-century in firstclass cricket at the start of the month. But Yasir's introduction straight after tea proved pivotal in dismissing him, as the the legspinner's around the wicket, jumpy deliveries had Tamim in two minds throughout the short period during which he faced Yasir. Having just survived a top-edge trying to slog sweep him, Tamim ended up playing the wrong line on the back foot and was trapped in front soon after.

Yasir, who has notoriously been offcolour in recent Tests, as well as in the first innings of this one, looked to have found some of his old verve back during that spell. But Shanto and Mominul - both - were resolute in defence against his around-the-wicket line, and confident in attack. Mominul took the more orthodox scoring options, prefering to hit straight, including a clean lofted-drive over midon. Shanto, on the other hand, was more keen on the sweep, including a perfectly nailed reverse-sweep from the rough out-

Stumps Bangladesh 233 and 126 for 6 (Shanto 38*, Mominul 37*, Liton 0*, Naseem 4-26) trail Pakistan445 (Azam 143, Sohail 75, Shafiq 65, Abu Jayed 3-86, Rubel 3113) by 86 runs

side off.

But only Mominul made it to stumps.

Naseem had earlier got one ball to stay low in the corridor at the start of his spell, and then bowled debutant Saif Hassan for 16, having pinned him to the crease. But, barring that ball, the surface continued to look batting friendly as Pakistan's fast bowlers found nowhere near the same assistance that Bangladesh's seamers had found in the morning.

Miller rebuilding job lifts SA after Adil Rashid's star turn Johannesburg Agencies

South Africa fell nine runs short of the average first innings score of 265 at the Wanderers, on a pitch that appeared to have many more runs in it, against an England attack filled with slow-bowling options. Despite the Wanderers not having a reputation for being spinner-friendly, England picked both Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. Along with Joe Root, who bowled seven overs, England's spinners sent down 27 overs, and conceded 136 runs at just over five an over to keep South Africa mostly quiet in the series decider.

That speaks to South Africa's ongoing problems against the turning ball, which scant signs of improvement in the middle order. Half-centuries by Quinton de Kock and David Miller at the top and tail of the innings held South Africa together, but they will need a strong performance from an inexperienced attack if they are to defend a proud record in pink. Since 2013, when this fixture was introduced, South Africa have only lost once in their change strip, to Pakistan last year.

Under clearing skies, South Africa made a tentative start to their innings against outswingers from Tom Curran and accuracy from the debutant Saqib Mahmood, who only featured in one spell. Their first seven overs brought just 18 runs before Mahmood bowled Reeza Hendricks with a delivery that burst through the bat-pad gap and appeared to blow the bail off the top of the stumps.

That brought Temba Bavuma to the crease to a rousing home-

Innings break South Africa 256 for 7 (de Kock 69, Miller 69*, Rashid 3-51) v England town welcome and high expectations, more so with memories of his partnership with de Kock at Newlands still fresh in fans' minds. The pair showed the same intent they had on Tuesday night, with Bavuma striking the ball cleanly on the drive and transferring some of the pressure to the opposition attack. Their stand reached 53 off 58 balls before Eoin Morgan opted for a change of pace and brought on his spinners.

South Africa's innings stalled in a comical period of play between the 21st and 22nd over, as Moeen, making his first England appearance since August, and Rashid, in his 100th ODI, took hold. De Kock

and Bavuma's partnership had grown to 66 when Rashid clipped Bavuma's front pad and appealed heartily. Umpire Shaun George must have deemed the delivery had turned too much and Bavuma survived. Rashid sent down a googly next, Bavuma failed to pick it and was hit on the pad again. George raised his finger and Bavuma reviewed and though replays showed the ball was hitting the top of middle and leg-stump, UltraEdge was not working, so, despite an obvious gap between Bavuma's bat and pad, technology could not confirm that he hadn't hit the ball.

As a result, South Africa retained their review, which was used

on the next ball when Rassie van der Dussen was given out to a Rashid googly and informed he could refer the decision. When he did, it showed the ball was missing leg. England's irritation with van der Dussen's reprieve lasted only seven more balls, before he was trapped on the back foot and bowled by Moeen.

Rashid struck again when he took out de Kock's leg stump with a delivery that gripped and spun as the South African captain tried to slog.

By then, de Kock had brought up his 25th ODI half-century and had put on 46-runs with Jon-Jon Smuts for the fourth-wicket, at the highestscoring rate of the innings at that point - 5.41 runs per over.

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In the first session, Bangladesh's seamers led the delayed resistance from the visitors, picking up three wickets as the four-over old ball hooped around in the first hour. Abu Jayed, who took two of the three wickets that had fallen on Saturday, caught overnight centurion Babar Azam halfway between a cut and a leave off the second ball of the day to have him caught at first slip.

Ebadat Hossain's struggles from day two seemed to have vanished and for the first time in the match, Mominul was able to apply sustained pressure on Pakistan.

Ebadat bowled nine overs in his first spell, seven of those in tandem with Jayed, and by the end of the period, Asad Shafiq, the other overnight batsman, had fallen for 65.

Rubel Hossain, who took three wickets, had Mohammad Rizwan top-edging to fine leg off his first ball of the day and Pakistan were reduced to 374 for 6. Haris Sohail then made a counterattacking 75 off 103 and made the bulk of the 71 runs added by the last four wickets as the lower order crumbled around him.

After some general watchfulness at the start, Sohail opened up following Rizwan's wicket. From 12 off 39 at the drinks break in the first session, Sohail raced to his fifty off 71 balls, helped along by a non-appeal when he had edged a delivery at the start of this innings. He extended his first twodigit score since the recently-concluded Australia series into a brisk, positive knock at a strike rate just shy of 73. Sohail's innings was characterised by handsome driving through the covers, and most of his rare runs through the leg side came off two sixes against the left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, with quick feet to get to the pitch of tossed up deliveries.

Quinton de kock to lead, Dale Steyn returns for england t20is Johannesburg Agencies

Quinton de Kock will captain the South Africa men's T20I squad, with regular skipper Faf du Plessis given an extended period of rest, for the three-match series against England at home from February 16 to 20. Kagiso Rabada, who is currently on holiday in the United States, will also not feature in the series but Dale Steyn makes a return to the national side after an absence of 11 months.

Batsman Pite van Biljon and seam bowler Sisanda Magala have received maiden call-ups, with Magala's involvement in the series dependent on him passing a fitness test as was the case with the ongoing ODI rubber.

Magala, along with Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts and Lungi Ngidi, attended a CSA-organised strength and conditioning camp in January which addressed weight, nutrition and skills training. The other three players were successful in completing their fitness assessments ahead of the ODI series, in which they have been playing, and have also been included in the T20I playing group.

trump tweets support for gambler to get into hall of fame Washington Agencies

US President Donald Trump has tweeted that disgraced former Major League Baseball star Pete Rose should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose, who is MLB's all-time hits leader, was permanently banned from American baseball in 1989 for gambling on games as a manager for the Cincinnati Reds. "Pete Rose played Major League Baseball for 24 seasons, from 1963-1986, and had more hits, 4,256, than any other player (by a wide margin). He gambled, but only on his own team winning, and paid a decades long price. GET PETE ROSE INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. It’s Time!" Trump tweeted Saturday. Last week Rose petitioned Commissioner Rob Manfred to make him eligible for the Hall of Fame, citing the new cheating scandal that has engulfed the Houston Astros. Rose argued his ban should be lifted because Manfred decided not to punish other players accused of violating rules.

Monday, 10 February, 2020

NEWS

ChinA virUs dEAThs risE pAsT 800, ovErTAking sArs Toll BEIJING

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AGENCIES

HE death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 800 in mainland China on Sunday, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organisation said the outbreak appeared to be stabilising.

With 89 more people dying — most in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak — the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to official figures.

The latest data came after the WHO said the last four days had seen “some stabilising” in Hubei, but warned the figures can still “shoot up”.

Almost 37,200 people in China have now been infected by the virus, believed to have emerged late last year in Hubei’s capital Wuhan, where residents are struggling to get daily supplies because of sweeping transport restrictions and instructions to stay inside.

The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down whole cities as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis — especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus.

With much of the country still not back at work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, cities including financial hub Shanghai ordered residents to wear masks in public.

Michael Ryan, head of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said the “stable period” of the outbreak “may reflect the impact of the control measures.”

While the death toll has climbed steadily, new cases have declined since Wednesday’s single-day peak of nearly

3,900 people nationwide.

On Sunday, the number of new cases was just over 2,600.

PUBLIC ANGER: Millions of people are under lockdown in Hubei in a bid to stop the virus spreading.

“The local government asked people to stay at home as much as possible, but there is not enough goods in shops each time we get there, so we have to go out frequently,” said a woman surnamed Wei, who told AFP her husband was infected. Wang Bin, from the ministry of commerce, said challenges included poor logistics, price increases and labour shortages.

“It is difficult for the market supply to reach normal levels,” he admitted at a press conference Sunday.

In Hubei province there is five days of guaranteed pork and egg supplies, and three days of vegetables, he said.

Melissa Santos, a student from the

African Union rejects Trump's Middle East peace plan ADDIS ABABA: African leaders on Sunday condemned US President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan as illegitimate, taking advantage of an African Union summit to voice solidarity with “the Palestinian cause”. AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told assembled heads of state that the plan unveiled in late January represented the “umpteenth violation of multiple United Nations and African Union resolutions”. He said that it was prepared without international consultation and that it “trampled on the rights of the Palestinian people”, a line that drew applause in the main hall at AU headquarters. Trump’s long-delayed peace proposals were immediately rejected by the Palestinians, who have boycotted his administration over its pro-Israel stance. The proposals include giving Israel the green light to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, the largest part of the territories the Palestinians see as their future state. The outgoing AU chair, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said in his remarks on Sunday that “the Palestinian cause will always be in the hearts and minds of the people of Africa”. His successor, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, compared Trump’s proposals to regulations in place during his country’s apartheid period. “As I listened to it and as I read everything that’s written about it, it brought to mind the horrible history that we in South Africa have gone through,” he said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who regularly attends AU summits, did not travel to Ethiopia this year. Palestinian officials said last week that Abbas was heading to the UN to push for a Security Council resolution condemning Trump´s peace proposals. The resolution will almost certainly be vetoed by the US. Abbas was represented Sunday by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who reiterated Palestinian leaders’ position that the Trump plan “has no legitimacy whatsoever”. AGENCIES

Dominican Republic living in Wuhan, said she planned to go out to buy food for the first time in a week Sunday.

“I am a bit worried,” she told AFP. “I have read that the virus can be transmitted very fast, in a few seconds.”

China drew international condemnation for covering up cases during the SARS outbreak, whereas the measures it has taken this time have been praised by the WHO. But anger erupted on social media after the death of a Wuhan doctor who police silenced when he flagged the threat of an emerging virus in December.

The doctor, 34, died early Friday, after contracting the virus from a patient.

Chinese academics were among those angered by his death, with at least two open letters posted on social media demanding more freedoms.

“Put an end to the restrictions on freedom of speech,” one letter de-

manded.

PERCOLATING ALONG: Beijing responded by sending its anti-graft body to launch an investigation, attempting to ease the anger.

But Ian Lipkin — a professor at Columbia University who worked with China on the SARS outbreak — said earlier intervention could have made a key difference. “This virus was percolating along without anyone realising it was there,” he said.

If the quarantine measures have been effective, the epidemic should peak within the next fortnight, Lipkin added — but he warned there is also the risk of a “bump” in numbers when people return to work.

“If, in fact, the methods for containment have been adequate or effective at all… I think we will start to see some dramatic reduction in China around the third week of February,” he said.

Edhi Foundation seeks FM's permission to repatriate students stranded in Wuhan The Edhi Foundation on Sunday wrote Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mehmood Qureshi a letter seeking permission to “evacuate students from Wuhan city of China”. According to reports by various local media outlets, the letter states that the organisation’s representatives are in touch with the students, who are ‘mentally disturbed, under stress, facing a shortage of food’, adding that most of them are not infected and “we can save them”. It may be mentioned here that Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus that has by now claimed over 800 lives and affected more than 37,000 people, has been under lockdown since January 23. The letter emphasises that countries such as America, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and India, among others, have already evacuated their citizens from Wuhan and are taking precautionary measures such as quarantines on their own. Using these examples as precedent, Faisal Edhi has requested the foreign minister for “permission to bring these Pakistani students to Pakistan and also … identify an area where they can be quarantined until the coronavirus is negative”. The letter states that as soon as the permission is granted, the foundation will contact airlines to arrange for charter flights to bring the students back. Although the embargo on Pakistan’s flights to and from China was lifted recently, students in Wuhan remain in lockdown due to the high risk that the virus may spread. NEWS DESK

Two US troops killed by Afghan soldier in Nangarhar attack NANGARHAR AGENCIES

Two American troops were killed and six others wounded by an Afghan soldier armed with a machine gun, the US military confirmed Sunday.

The deaths come at a sensitive time in the 18-year-old war, with President Donald Trump eager to bring troops home and end the longest conflict in US history.

The incident occurred late Saturday at a base in Sherzad district, in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan. “Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined

US and Afghan force with a machine gun,” US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett said in a statement on Sunday.

The defence ministry said one Afghan soldier was killed and three local security forces injured during the shooting, and added that an investigation had been launched while vowing to continue fighting “terrorism” with the US. “Incidents such as this fail to have negative effects on the friendship and spirit of cooperation and between the ANDSF and U.S military forces,” the ministry said in a statement.

Provincial governor Shah Mahmood Meyakhil had earlier said it

was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by an “infiltrator” or an accident.

“It was not a clash between the forces. We are investigating,” Meyakhil said. Leggett also stressed the cause or motive behind the attack were not immediately known.

In a tweet, the US Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) said “several” of its soldiers had been killed or injured during combat operations in Afghanistan.

According to Sherzad resident Najeebullah — who goes by one name — gunfire could be heard coming from an Afghan security forces base nearby late Saturday followed by immediate air evacuations.

occupied kashmir observes strike to mark execution anniversary of Afzal guru Shops and businesses were shut in occupied Kashmir on Sunday and authorities imposed a lockdown in some parts of the region’s main city after Kashmiri fighters called for a strike to mark the execution anniversary of a Kashmiri fruit vendor, Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was convicted for an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi. Hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled largely deserted streets in Srinagar. Authorities put old parts of the city under lockdown, with major roads blocked by razor wire and barricades in anticipation of anti-India protests and possible violence. Public transport was largely off the roads. Most Kashmiris were incensed when in 2013, Guru was secretly hanged in a New Delhi jail on charges of being involved in the December 2001 parliament attack that killed 14 people, including five gunmen.

Guru was on death row for 11 years. His family received a letter informing them of his imminent hanging two days after he was dead, but the letter, dated Feb 6, 2013, was mailed on Feb 8, a day before Guru’s execution. Most people in occupied Kashmir believe Guru was not given a fair trial, and the covert execution led to days of deadly anti-India protests in the Muslimmajority region, where anti-India sentiment runs deep. Kashmiri fighters have also called for a strike on February 11 to mark the day in 1984 when pro-independence leader Mohammed Maqbool Butt was hanged in the same New Delhi jail after being convicted of killing an intelligence officer. Kashmiri fighters demand that the two men’s remains, buried within the jail compound, be returned to the region.

Meanwhile, police on Saturday summoned two journalists for questioning in Srinagar for reporting about the strike call given by the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front. The Kashmir Press Club called it harassment.

“It has become a routine with police to summon journalists for their stories,” said Ishfaq Tantray, the club’s general-secretary.

“It is an attempt by the law enforcement agencies to define new terms of journalism in Kashmir. They’re trying to define to us what we should report and how we should report.” Police in a statement said they registered a case against the Kashmiri fighters’ group for “attempts to incite violence and disturb law and order situation”. AGENCIES

US warns Israel against 'unilateral' West Bank moves JERUSALEM AGENCIES

A US envoy warned Israel on Sunday not to declare sovereignty over West Bank land without Washington’s consent, pushing back against calls for immediate action by ultra-nationalists within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, unveiled on Jan 28, envisages Israel keeping key swathes of the occupied territory where Palestinians seek statehood. But the question of timing has opened up a rare rift between the allies.

Netanyahu initially pledged a

speedy “application of Israeli law” – de facto annexation – to Jewish settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley, delighting his religious-rightist base ahead of Israel’s March 2 election, where he hopes to win a fifth term.

But he was forced to backpedal after the White House made clear it wanted a US-Israeli mapping process – likely to take weeks or more – completed first.

The Palestinians, for their part, have rejected the Trump plan as a non-starter.

With Defence Minister Naftali Ben-

nett and other Israeli ultra-nationalists urging an immediate cabinet vote on sovereignty in the West Bank, the US ambassador intervened.

“Israel is subject to the completion (of) a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee. Any unilateral action in advance of the completion of the committee process endangers the Plan & American recognition,” envoy David Friedman tweeted.

In a separate speech, Friedman elaborated that his message was “a little

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

CMYK

bit of patience, to go through a process, to do it right, is not something which we think is too much to ask for”.

POTENTIALLY ADVERSE: “With the news out that the (Israeli) cabinet was about to be pushed in a direction that was potentially adverse to our view of the process, we just let people know where we stand,” he told the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) think-tank.

“It was not a threat.”

In parallel, Netanyahu invoked the White House position.

“The (US) recognition is the main thing and we don’t want to endanger that,” the premier told his cabinet on Sunday.