E-Paper PDF 12th January (ISB)

CMYK

12 January, 2020 I 15 Jamadi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 27.00 I Vol X No 193 I 76 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Iran says ‘mIstakenly’ shot down UkraInIan plane g

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IRan mIlItaRy SayS It accIDentally hIt Plane afteR It haD tuRneD towaRDS a ‘SenSItIve mIlItaRy centRe’ wIth ‘flyInG PoStuRe anD altItuDe of enemy taRGet’

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PReSIDent RouhanI SayS the ISlamIc RePublIc ‘DeePly ReGRetS thIS DISaStRouS mIStaKe’, vowS to holD PeRPetRatoRS accountable

uKRaIne DemanDS offIcIal aPoloGy, comPenSatIon; canaDa callS foR ‘comPlete anD thoRouGh InveStIGatIon’ wIth IRan’S full cooPeRatIon

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ran said on Saturday its military had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 aboard, saying air defences were fired in error while on alert in the tense aftermath of Iranian missile strikes on US targets in Iraq. Iran had denied for days after Wednesday’s crash that it brought down the plane, although a top revolutionary Guards commander said on Saturday that he had informed the authorities about the unintentional missile strike the same day it happened. Supreme Leader ali Khamenei, who until Saturday had kept silent about the crash, said information should be made public, while top officials and the military issued apologies. But state television suggested revealing the truth about what happened might be used by “enemies of Iran”, usually a reference to the United States and Israel. The crash heightened international pressure on Iran after months of friction with the United States and tit-for-tat attacks. a US

drone strike had killed a top Iranian military commander in Iraq on Jan. 3, prompting Tehran to fire at US targets on Wednesday. Canada, which had 57 citizens on board, and the United States had both said they believed an Iranian missile brought down the aircraft, although they said it was probably an error. “The Islamic republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake,” Iranian President Hassan rouhani wrote on Twitter, promising that those behind the incident would be prosecuted. “My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families.” Experts said mounting international scrutiny would have made it all but impossible to hide signs of a missile strike in any investigation and Iran may have felt a U-turn was better than battling rising criticism abroad and growing grief and anger at home, as many victims were Iranians with dual nationality. In Twitter messages, angry Iranians asked why the plane was allowed to take off with tensions in Iran so high. The plane came down when Tehran was alert for US reprisals in the hours after Iran launched rockets at US troops in Iraqi bases.

‘RARE ADMISSION OF ERROR’: Iran’s revolutionary Guards, in a rare admission of error, apologised to the nation and accepted full responsibility. Senior Guards commander amirali Hajizadeh said he had informed Iran’s authorities on Wednesday about the unintentional strike, a comment that raised questions about why officials had publicly denied it for so long. Speaking on state television, he said he wished “I could die” when he heard the news about the incident. In a statement, the Iranian military announced that it had struck flight PS752 with a missile by mistake. It said the plane had turned towards a “sensitive military centre” of the revolutionary Guards. The statement said it had the “flying posture and altitude of an enemy target”. Because of heightened tensions with the US, Iran’s military “was at its highest level of readiness”, the statement added. “In such a condition, because of human error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit.” responding to Iran’s announcement on Saturday, Ukraine demanded an official apology and compensation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for “a complete and thorough investigation” with Iran’s full cooperation. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter that “human error at time of crisis caused by U.S. adventurism led to disaster”, citing an initial armed forces investigation into the crash of the Boeing 737-800. a military statement said the plane flew close to a sensitive revolutionary Guards site a time of high alert, although Ukraine said the plane was in a normal flight corridor. Ukraine International airlines said Iran should have closed the airport. Its vice president said the carrier received no indication it faced a threat and was cleared for take off.

Indian Army chief threatens to invade Azad Kashmir g

Pml-n regrets ‘undue haste’ over extension bills

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Rana Sanaullah SayS PaRty ShoulDn’t have become PaRt of Govt’S ‘unDue haSte’ oveR leGISlatIon PeRtaInInG to aRmeD foRceS STORY ON PAGE 03

Sanaullah shouldn’t mislead nation over drugs case, says Firdous STORY ON PAGE 02

Karzai visits nawaz, says happy to see him in ‘good health’ STORY ON BACK PAGE

Downward revision in policy rate expected by endJanuary STORY ON PAGE 11

PM, traders to discuss tax matters on 20th

ISPR DG SayS InDIan aRmy chIef’S ‘RhetoRIc’ a bID to DIveRt attentIon fRom InteRnal tuRmoIl

STORY ON BACK PAGE

‘no friction between fbR chief and Pm, finance adviser’ STORIES ON PAGE 11 CMYK

CMYK Sunday, 12 January, 2020

02 NEWS

SANAullAh ShouldN’T mISleAd NATIoN over drugS cASe, SAyS FIrdouS ISLAMABAD

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day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Rana Sanaullah demanded a judicial probe into his arrest over so-called drugs possession, Firdous Ashiq Awan, the chief government mouthpiece, asked the former not to “create the impression that he has been acquitted in a drug case against him”. Talking at an event on Saturday, Prime Minister’s Special As-

Shehbaz blasts PTI govt over ‘incompetence’

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government has destroyed the economy with its poor policies. Speaking to media outside the Avenfield flats after seeing off former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Shehbaz said after the passage of bills that extended the tenure of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, it was now time to take stock of abysmal economic conditions of the country. Shehbaz said that it is now time to move on from the topic as discussing a non-issue [of Gen Bajwa extension] will act as a distraction from the real issues of the country. “The real issues facing Pakistan are poverty, unemployment, joblessness, and the healthcare crisis. Nawaz did the historic job of development to deal with the economic crisis within four months. He will be remembered for the development work, improving economy and dealing with the electricity crisis,” he added. The former Punjab chief minister said that under the PTI government, all sectors of the economy stood destroyed and there seems to be no governance anywhere. “PTI promised to provide five million homes and 10 million jobs but instead millions have lost jobs and homes and the government has no plan. We believe that the country is today gripped in foreign loans. I don’t just blame this government but the fact is that they have broken the record of all previous governments. Pakistan has not seen anything like what has happened under the 18 months of the PTI’s government,” he said. NEwS DESk

Aitzaz calls Nawaz Sharif a ‘sell out’ over extension bills LAHORE: Leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Aitzaz Ahsan on Saturday blasted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, alleged Nawaz sold out his party’s votes. Talking about the bills pertaining to the extension in the tenure of the army chief, Aitzaz said the PML-N supremo set the price of his party’s National Assembly members and senators. “Nawaz Sharif has secured his three billion pounds,” Aitzaz Ahsan added. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan kept on saying that he would not give an NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance], while NRO has already happened. “Unfortunately civilian supremacy could not be seen in the country at any time,” he claimed. Commenting on the Army Act, he said the appointment of the army chief was the discretion of the prime minister and president and he could also be relieved from his office. The majority of the Indian population wants to stop Indian PM Modi’s moves, Aitzaz said. Commenting on India’s contentious citizenship law, PPP leader said, “The world is now taking notice of the controversial law”. StAff REpoRt

sistant on Media Dr Awan took a jibe at Sanaullah, saying the trial has yet to be taken place. “The trial is yet to take place, and the witnesses have yet to present evidence before the court which will then issue its verdict,” said Awan. In reference to using the Holy Quran, she said the lawmaker should stop using the Quran for his publicity and to proclaim innocence because this would malign the country’s judicial system. “There are tens of thousands of people who take a false oath on the

Quran in courts on a daily basis,” Awan added. “Rana Sanaullah sahib, you have been granted bail; the court has not declared you to be innocent,” she told the PML-N leader, alleging that he had been misleading the nation by claiming in his press conferences that he has been acquitted. Awan said the government will continue its efforts to change the system which “protects the powerful” and accomplish its goal of a country that treats all its citizens without any discrimination. The PM’s aide also spoke about

PM’S AIDE SAYS GOVT STILL REVIEWING APPLICATION OF NAWAZ SHARIF FOR EXTENSION IN BAIL the plea submitted by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif being treated in London for extension in his bail plea on account of ill health. She said the Punjab government was reviewing the application and would submit its response in a court of law which would then decide the matter. “But you and I are both seeing the [blood] platelets are appearing to be stable in London’s atmosphere,” she said, questioning why the PML-N spokespersons have not been updating the nation on the PML-N supremo’s health.

US issues travel alert for polio-endemic Asian countries The United States has generated a Level 2 travel alert for Pakistan and other polio-endemic Asian countries following outbreak of the crippling disease, declaring the life-time booster dose for adults mandatory during the period of restrictions imposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The US issued new guidelines for travelers bound for polio-endemic countries on the recommendations of its federal agency — Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — to stop spread of the virus to other states. “The World Health Organization recommends that these countries require residents and longterm (four weeks or more) visitors

show proof of polio vaccination before leaving the country,” reads the level 2 travel alert by the US. It says before traveling to these countries, adults who have completed their routine polio vaccine series as children should receive a single, lifetime adult booster dose of polio vaccine. According to the CDC, the polio outbreaks have been reported in eight Asian countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia , Papua New Guinea and Philippines. Particularly, the WHO had extended travel restrictions on Pakistan following frequent outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio-virus type 2 (cVDPV2) and wild polio-virus type 1 (WP1) cases.

According to the US travel alert 2, the CDC recommends that all travelers to the countries in-question be vaccinated fully against polio. The adults who were fully vaccinated during childhood should receive an additional (single) lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine. “Even if you were vaccinated as a child or have been sick with polio before, you may need a booster dose to make sure you are protected”, reads the alert The World Health Organization recommends that these countries require residents and long-term (4 weeks or more) visitors show proof of polio vaccination before leaving the country, according to the CDC. For travelers going to countries

with circulating polio-virus who have completed their routine polio vaccine series but who have not already received an adult booster dose, the CDC recommends administering an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) booster dose. A spokesperson for the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (MoNHSRC) said that Pakistan faced a challenging year for polio eradication in 2019. “As of today, 134 of our children have been paralysed by this debilitating disease,” he said adding that the government had put in place a comprehensive plan to reverse the situation in 2020, starting with a successful nationwide polio vaccination campaign last month. NEwS DESk

Glacier melt threatens Pakistan’s future The villagers of Hassanabad live in constant fear. Above them the vast Shisper glacier dominates the landscape: A river of jagged black ice moving towards them at as much as four metres per day. Climate change is causing most glaciers worldwide to shrink, but due to a meteorological anomaly this is one of a few in the Karakoram mountain range in northern Pakistan that are surging. This means hundreds of tonnes of ice and debris are pushing down the valley at ten times the normal rate or more, threatening the safety of the people and homes below. “People’s lives, properties and animals are in danger,” warns villager Basir Ali. Flash floods caused by glacial lakes, ice and rock falls, and a lack of clean and accessible water are all serious risks for those close to its path. “When a glacial lake bursts there is an enormous amount of not only ice, water and debris that falls through, but also mud and this has devastating effects, it basically destroys everything that comes in its way,” said Ignacio Artaza of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan. But repercussions of the Shisper glacier surge extend far beyond its path: The mighty Indus River is reliant on seasonal melt for more than half of its flow and changes in Pakistan’s ice fields affect this. That has implications not just for those living in its basin, but for the whole nation, which relies on it for much of its food. Shifting water levels also have implications for the fragile relationship between nucleararmed neighbours Pakistan and India. Already ranked among the planet’s most water stressed nations according to the World Resources Institute, both need the Indus and its tributaries. Their access to the water is governed by the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which aims for fair usage. But there have long been fears India, which sits upstream, could weaponise the resource, it has threatened more than once to restrict Pakistan’s access — including just last year. MILLIONS IN DANGER: The Karakoram, which contains some of the world’s tallest mountains including K2, is just one of the mountain ranges that crisscross the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. Sometimes called The Third Pole, the region holds more ice than anywhere other than the Artic or Antartica. But a third of the glaciers here are expected to melt by 2100, endangering the lives of hundreds of millions, according to this year’s Hindu Kush-Himalaya Assessment Report. Rising in Tibet, the Indus crosses through India and Pak-

istan fed by a multitude of tributaries before it reaches the Arabian Sea. The waterway’s basin produces 90 per cent of Pakistan’s food, according to the United Nations, and agriculture is dependent on irrigation from the river, which heavily relies on meltwater from the ice sheets. With its surging population experts warn the nation faces “absolute water scarcity” by 2025, with the loss of the Himalayan glaciers a key threat. While scientists cite climate change and topography, it’s not clear exactly what causes the Karakoram anomaly where glaciers are surging and in some cases growing. But many say these changes will also impact the Indus because they alter meltwater patterns, causing flash flooding or water shortages that are difficult to predict and manage. “The Shisper glacier is increasing its length and width, furthermore it is also moving downhill,” explained Shehzad Baig of the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority. He warned climate change meant there was heavier snowfall during the winters and warmer temperatures in the summers, leading to the ice mass producing more meltwater, swelling the Hunza River, a churning mountain tributary of the Indus. “This may cause harm to the local community and deprive the people of the Indus basin blocking or disturbing drinking water and irrigation channels,” Baig warned, adding that changing weather patterns were also creating more glacial lakes. WATER WARS: The UNDP estimates that more than 3,000 glacial lakes have been formed in the region, with 33 posing an imminent threat of ‘outburst floods’, known as GLOFs, that could impact as many as seven million people. Last year the surging Shisper glacier effectively dammed a meltwater stream from a neighbouring glacier creating a large lake. Authorities were

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forced to issue safety warnings to Hassanabad and local villages before the water was drained. But satellite data shows the lake is already reforming, leaving residents fearing not only the progression of the crushing ice sheet but that they will be swept to their deaths in flash floods. “This whole area will be devastated […] the whole population and people’s properties will go into river,” cautions villager Didar Karim. Professor Andreas Kb from the University of Oslo says Pakistan must adapt its “monitoring and response strategies, and risk management in general” to contend with both surging and shrinking glaciers. Authorities, working with the UN, are setting up early warning systems using sensors positioned on top of the Shisper glacier and downstream to alert communities. But the challenge for Pakistan extends beyond crisis management to the long term water conservation and storage, experts say. “Pakistan has to increase its water storage capacity which is now 33 days — it should be at least 100 days to ensure sustainable development,” cautions Dr Ghulam Rasul of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. He estimates that 60 percent of water is currently lost as run off to the sea. With few functioning reservoirs, the nation is ill-equipped to harness the short term excess water as climate change causes more glaciers to melt, or from the increasingly erratic monsoon deluges. And by 2050, with so much of the ice sheets lost scientists say the flow of the Indus will dramatically decrease, leaving Pakistanis more vulnerable than ever. Rasul says: “Water is the capital of agrarian economies and guarantees food and energy security. Shortage of water against increasing demand could lead to conflict.” AGENCIES

CMYK Sunday, 12 January, 2020

NEWS

Pml-N regreTS ‘uNdue hASTe’ over exTeNSIoN bIllS LAHore

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AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah on Saturday regretted exhibiting “undue haste” over the legislation pertaining to the tenure of the services’ chiefs, terming the party’s hurried support for the laws “a bit of an error”. In a press conference, the lawmaker, who is out on bail in a narcotics case, said the PML-N shouldn’t have “become a part of government’s undue haste”, claiming the party still stuck to its stance of civilian supremacy despite its support to the bills. The PML-N leader went on to justify that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to give the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, an extension had not been contested by major political parties. “This government’s failure to follow the procedural requirement is the

reason that the amendments became controversial. It was not our party or anyone else who had a part to play in that,” he said. “Had there not been undue haste in taking this decision […] and our parliamentary party also became part of that undue haste which, we believe […] was a bit of an error. We should not have become a part of the government’s undue haste, instead, we should have stopped it,” he said. “In the message he sent, Nawaz Sharif said that ‘do not become a part of undue haste which makes it look like this parliament has become a rubberstamp’.” “A lot of people were surprised by the decision of the ruling party to convene an emergency session of the parliament to pass the Army Act amendments. Upon further inquiries, it was conveyed that the amendments had to be passed in a single day,” Sanaullah claimed. “Our parliamentary party also became a part of this undue haste. Our

party has realised this as a political shortcoming on our part. We should not have become a part of this undue haste, but rather we should have stopped it,” the former provincial minister added. The party leader said that those criticising the party’s conduct on the legislation were not the workers of the PML-N. Earlier this week, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence unanimously approved the three bills concerning tenures of the services chiefs and the chairman of joint chiefs of staff committee. They were then tabled in the National Assembly and were passed even though religious party members, including Jamiat Ulema-iIslam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-i-Islami and representatives from the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), walked out of the NA declaring the lower house to be “fake”. The bills were then forwarded to the Senate, where they were passed in less than 30 minutes. As per the amend-

Iran says ‘mistakenly’ shot down Ukrainian plane contInueD froM pAge 01 Aviation experts said it is up to a country to close its airspace when there is a risk. Kiev and Paris agreed on Saturday that French specialists would help decode the black boxes, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. The French air accident agency analysed data from a Boeing crash in Ethiopia last year. Iran has said it would download information from the voice and flight data recorders itself but would seek help if needed. Analysts said a probe would almost certainly have revealed signs on the smashed fuselage of a missile strike. “There’s nothing you can do to cover it up or hide it,” said Anthony Brickhouse, an air safety expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and former US National Transportation Safety Board investigator. “Evidence is evidence.” IRANIAN COMPLAINTS: The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday’s announcement by Iran. Mobile phone footage posted and circulated by ordinary Iranians on Twitter after the crash indicated the plane came down in flames and exploded as it struck the ground. Grief-stricken Iranians complained on social media that Iran’s authorities had spent more time fending off criticism than sympathising with victims’ families. “Why were any civilian airlines flying out of Tehran airport in those conditions?” Twitter user Shiva Balaghi wrote. A US official said data showed the plane was airborne for two minutes after departing Tehran when heat signatures of two surface-to-air missiles were detected. There was an explosion in the vicinity and heat data showed the plane on fire as it fell. The US military satellites detect infrared emissions from heat. The disaster echoed of a 1988 incident, when a US warship shot down an Iranian airliner, killing 290 people. Washington said it was an accident. Tehran said it was intentional.

ments approved by both houses of Parliament, the appointment of the services chiefs and chairman, joint chiefs of the staff committee would be the prerogative of the prime minister and his decision to appoint, reappoint or extend the tenures of the chiefs and the chairman cannot be challenged in any court of law. The upper age limit for a four-star appointment has been fixed at 64 years in case of reappointment and extension, otherwise the officer will retire at the age of 60 years. The bills were moved by the government in the wake of a Supreme Court order issued in November last year, in which a three-judge bench had ruled that the parliament should pass legislation that would provide “certainty and predictability” to the post of the Chief of Army Staff for all times to come. The verdict was issued in a case pertaining to the prime minister’s decision to grant a three-year extension to the incumbent army chief.

RSS’ extremist ideology has taken over India, says PM Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday reiterated that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) extremist ideology had taken over India. In a tweet, the premier said that the RSS had taken over a nuclear-armed country of a billion people. “It is an ideology based on racial superiority and hatred of Muslims and all minorities. Whenever this genie has come out of the bottle, it has always led to bloodshed,” he said. Imran Khan also shared an article carried by The Times titled “India is a Hindu state now – We are second-class citizens.” It has been 160 days since India calmed down upon occupied Kashmir and revoked its special status. Imran had last week maintained the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s RSS vision supports minorities oppression and the targeted attacks against Muslims was part of its agenda. “RSS goons conducting public lynch-

concerns raised over wedding event at heritage site LAHORE: ICOMOS Pakistan expresses deep concern on the news of a wedding event that took place within the premises of the World Heritage Site of Shahi Qila Lahore on 9th January 2020. It is even more alarming that permission was granted by the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) to a corporate organization The Fatima Group upon its request to hold an event. A huge stage with installations on steel frames, chandeliers, lighting and a sound system was erected within the recently restored Royal Kitchens. The preparations for the wedding decorations and installations for the event which probably took minimum 24 hours were obviously ignored by the custodians. ICOMOS Pakistan would like to put on record the following facts: 1) The Lahore Fort Master Plan1 (of which I was one of the authors) is a reference document providing a complete framework and management plan including appropriate actions to preserve the monument and its buffer zone. 2) WCLA in conjunction with The AKCS has no doubt undertaken some excellent conservation works however a number of questions arise when activities, which are detrimental to the cause of conservation and preservation of our heritage sites, are promoted which negate the concept of conservation and are only focused on promoting tourism and economic gains. 3) ICOMOS Pakistan has continuously voiced it apprehension on the type of activities that the WCLA has been promoting since the time it took over the Shahi Qila –a World Heritage Site from the Department of Archaeology. When the works on the Royal Kitchen were initiated and it was announced by WCLA/AKCS that the premises would be used for a Fine Dining Restaurant and a new state of the art kitchen was also planned and constructed in the premises. This matter was also taken up in the Lahore High Court and the court had stay order imposed and the works on the finishing of the kitchen has been halted since. 4) Since then all types of events have been promoted here at a price to generate income for WCLA-filming commercials shoots, renting for drama shoots with this last event being the ultimate. pRESS RElEASE

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ings, Muslims being violated by mobs are all not only supported by Modi Govt but Indian police leads anti-Muslim attack,” he had said. NEwS DESk

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Prof Attaur rahman honoured with china’s highest scientific award Renowned scientist Prof Dr Attaur Rahman has been awarded the ‘China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award 2020 — the highest scientific award of China. Chinese President Xi Jinping conferred the prestigious honour upon Dr Rehman during a ceremony organised at the Great Peoples Hall in Beijing on Friday, according to an official statement, The well-known scientist has been awarded in recognition of his contributions in the field of chemistry and the numerous strong collaborations that he has developed with China in the fields of organic chemistry, genetics, pharmacology, agricultural sciences, virology, nanotechnology and other emerging areas. Prof Rahman is the most decorated scientist of Pakistan having many accolades under his name including Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-eImtiaz and the highest national award Nishan-e-Imtiaz. Currently, he is serving as Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology, Vice Chairman on the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Technology-Driven KnowledgeEconomy, and Co-Chairman Task Force on Information Technology. He has also served the nation as a Federal Minister of Science and Technology, and Founding Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC). The acclaimed scientist obtained his PhD in organic chemistry from Cambridge University in 1968. With 1,250 publications in several fields of organic chemistry including 775 research publications, 45 international patents, 69 chapters in books and 341 books published largely by major US and European presses, Dr Rahman is also the editor-in-chief of eight European Chemistry journals. He is also the editor of the world’s leading encyclopedic series of volumes on natural products Studies in Natural Product Chemistry 62 volumes of which have been published under his editorship during the last two decades. As many as 82 students have completed their PhD degrees under his supervision. This prestigious award has previously been given to several leading scientists of the world including Nobel Laureates Dr Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Prize in physics, 1984) and Dr Zhores I Alferov (Nobel Prize in physics, 2000). NEwS DESk

04 ISLAMABAD

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

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Mega Rashakai seZ pRoject to be inauguRated soon: kp cM PESHAWAR

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HyBER Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that after signing concession and development agreements, the multi-mil-

lion dollar Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project is expected to be inaugurated soon. The formal launching of the project, he said would mark commencement of rapid and extensive industrialization programme of the provincial government in the

province. He was presiding over a meeting of the public-private partnership committee regarding approval of revised concession agreement for Rashakai Special Economic Zone, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan clarified that the provincial government is com-

mitted to provide a conducive environment to investors in the province for which multiple initiatives have been undertaken including strengthening of communication networks in the province and provision of cheap electricity to industrial consumers through wheeling of electricity.

cda takes possession of 60 flats in g-11/23

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He stated that the incumbent government is focused on revenue generation by exploiting the strategic location, natural resources and business friendly environment of the province. Rashakai Special Economic Zone will surely play important role in the overall program of the Provincial Government regarding rapid investment and industrialization. He said that this project is the top most priority of both the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and China under CPEC frame work. This project not only will promote industrialization but will also create tremendous employment opportunities for the province, he added.

Cleric arrested in Rawalpindi for sexually assaulting minor

ISLAMABAD APP

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Saturday finally took the possessions of 60 flats from Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) in sector G-11/3. The flats would be allotted to the CDA officers on the basis of their entitlement category and general waiting list, said a press release received here on this day.In total 96 flats were constructed in Sector G11/3 by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), out of these 36 flats were sold out by the FGEHA, while the remaining 60 flats were taken over by the CDA on 04th October, 2019. Since last two or more decade no official accommodations have been constructed to facilitate CDA employees. Similarly, Employees are unable to meet the higher price of private rented accommodation on account of their financial worries. In order to meet the acute shortage of official accommodation, the incumbent management of the Authority has decided to enter these flats to CDA officers as official accommodation as per their entitlement / category on the basis of General Waiting list (GWL).It is pertinent to mention here that in the past, due to non-consensus on different issues between Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), the matter remained pended and no decision in this regard could be taken. However, the incumbent management in line with its efforts to make the authority administratively and financially sustainable took up the mater. In this connection series meetings were held between Chairman, CDA and DG, FGEHA. As result of the efforts, consensus was made and possessions of these flats were taken over by CDA.These flats would also provide the official accommodation facilities to those CDA Officers, who were waiting for official accommodation since long as well as have no own residence in the Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq cutting cake during inauguration ceremony of Smart Expo at Pak China Center. INP.

Islamabad's Hindu community renews demand for a temple NEWS DESK Islamabad’s Hindu community has reiterated their longstanding demand for building a temple in the federal capital Islamabad Hindu Panchayat President Mahesh Kumar told a local media outlet that his community needs a temple in the federal capital to observe religious rites. He called upon the authorities of the federal capital to extend support for the construction of the temple. The Hindu Panchayat further requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to support a project to build the temple, Kumar added. Having a worship place of our own is a constitutional right of the Hindus in the federal capital as everyone deserves justice in the ‘state of Medina’, Kumar said.

In 2016, the board of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had allocated four kanals of land in Sector H-9 to build a temple for the 3,000 Hindu families living in the federal capital. The CDA had also issued the requisite no-objection certificate (NOC). However, the last president of the Hindu Panchayat in the city had clarified that the community lacked the resources to build the temple. “We have formulated a sevenmember committee to address the issues faced by Hindu community in Islamabad,” Kumar explained. The committee includes Kumar, Secretary General Mahesh Kumar Malhi, Vice Presidents Manga Ram and Ramesh Kumar Maha Sharwari, Information Secretary Gulsh Jee, Finance Secretary Kumar Rathore Jeo Rajmal and Legal Adviser Ram Chand.

Apart from a temple, the complex will also serve other religious and community needs of Hindu residents of the federal capital since there are plans to build a community education facility and a cremation ground in the complex. An auditorium will also be built within the temple complex to host different events for the community. Kumar brushed aside stereotyping the local Hindu community and associating any links with India. “The Hindus living in Pakistan hold allegiance to the country and remain true patriots,” he said. He added that no religious community, including Muslims, were safe in India and that the tensions that erupted in disputed Himalayan territory of Indian-occupied Kashmir have now engulfed the whole of India.

RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Police on Saturday arrested a cleric for his alleged involvement in sexually assaulting a 10year-old girl. The suspect, identified as Ghasr Ali, taught at the madrassa where the minor studied. People across Pakistan were outraged and many took to the streets in 2018 when reports surfaced that six-year-old Zainab Ansari had been raped and murdered. Two years after the incident, the National Assembly on Friday approved the Zainab Alert, Recovery and Response Bill 2019. The bill proposes action against police officials who cause unnecessary dealys and/or fail to respond to such such cases. The convicts of child sexual abuse will be given a life sentence along with Rs1 million in fines. The minimum sentence is 10 years. The bill has also proposed establishing a helpline to report missing children and an agency to issue alert. STAFF REPORT

Two killed four injured in clash between two tribes KOHISTAN: Two people were killed and four others injured during a clash between two tribes in a protest against the induction of Public Health department Gijal Kohistan, said police here on Saturday. According to the details, during the protest against the induction in Public Health department, clash between the two tribes Kadir Khail and Shatokhail turned bloody when both groups opened fire on each other. Persons including Muhammad Saleem son of Abdul Jaleel and Abdul Rauf son of Abdul Azid were killed while four others were injured. The injured were shifted to Basham hospital out of which two were referred to Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad due to their critical condition. The injured persons were identified as former president PTI Kohistan district Jumma Khan, Baseem Mian son of Dolat Khan, Gul Rehman son of Taj Muhammad and Ghafoor Khan son of Abdul Aziz. After the incident, both groups again came out at Dobeer near China bridge Jeejal against each other who later dispersed on arrival of heavy contingent of police to the area. APP

Pakistan Citizen Portal becomes most effective tool in redressing people’s complaints ISLAMABAD INP

The Pakistan Citizen Portal, with a complaint resolution rate of 91.32 per cent, has become the most effective tool in redressing people’s complaints thus becoming voice of the people of Pakistan. Appreciating its utility and effectiveness, people from all walks of life can be found on the registered members list of Pakistan Citizen Portal. According to the latest data, out of 1,397,537 registered members of Pakistan Citizen Portal (PCP), 48,349 are students, 34,995 businessmen, 33,277 engineers, 20,025 civil servants, 16,437 teachers, 14,579 from corporate sector, 9,542 belong to the armed forces, 8,816 doctors, 6,841 social workers, 4616 lawyers, 2990 senior citizens/retired, 2615 political worker, 2309 journalists and 1695 persons belong to the NGO sector. A total of 1,653,045 complaints

have been received so far from over 1.3 million registered members. Out of these 1,552,529 (93.92 per cent) have originated from in-land, 94,880 (5.74%) from overseas Pakistani and 5636 (0.34 per cent) from foreigners. Province wise break-up shows that 726133 (43.93 per cent) complaints originated from Punjab with 686,283 successfully resolved. Out of 564, 207 complaints related to Federal Government 527,779 have been resolved. 189,425 out of 201,177 complaints from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12,931 out of 15,316 from Balochistan have been resolved while 86,404 (62.6 per cent) complaints out of 137,946 from Sindh have been resolved till date. The data shows that so far, 11151 complaints have been received from over twenty-three hundred journalists who are registered members of the Citizen Portal. Out of 11,151 complaints 10,203 have been resolved with 91%

resolution rate. Out of 11,151 complaints, 5363 complaints related to Punjab, 4071 Federal Government, 1002 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 543 Sindh, 83 Balochistan, 82 Islamabad Capital Territory, 05 Gilgit Baltistan and 02 complaints were related to Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Category-wise complaints status data states that out of total 1,653,045 complaints, 340339 related to municipal services, 299701 energy and power, 179004 education, 132161 human rights, 101153 law & order, 97764 health, 60858 communication, 60605 transport, 60496 development projects, 60207 land & revenue, 52427 overseas Pakistanis, 47293 media cybercrimes, 28450 excise & taxation, 18400 environment and forests, 18063 investment, 16639 NADRA, 14435 licenses and certificates, 13867 agriculture, 11784 immigration and passports, 11168 youth affairs, 4624 FBR, 3194 disaster emergency, 573

CMYK

poverty alleviation and social safety, 414 banking and 277 related to SECP. Top ten officers with successful resolution of the complaints remained MD SNGPL with 93836 resolutions, CEO MEPCO (38434), Complaint Manager IESCO (27616), CEO PESCO (22406), CEO FESCO (21331), Chairman PTA (14250), CEO GEPCO (13311), CEO HESCO (12976), Governor State Bank of Pakistan (11804) and CEO SEPCO with 10255 resolved complaints. The officers with highest number of super-escalated complaints have been Municipal Commissioner District Municipal Corporation Karachi East with 4942 complaints, Superintendent Engineer, East, Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (3775), Municipal Commissioner DMC Korangi (3018), Ombudsman, Provincial Ombudsman (Mohtasib) (2849), Kamyab Jawan Department National Bank of Pakistan (2279), Municipal Commissioner DMC

Karachi West (2007), Superintendent Engineer South, Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (1665), Municipal Commissioner Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (1519), Regional Transport Authority Karachi (718) and Municipal Committee Qasimabad District Hyderabad with 654 complaints. Super-escalated complaints are those complaints which remain unresolved beyond specified time limit. Pakistan Citizen Portal was established on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan to create a robust link between the government and the people of Pakistan. The Portal has enabled the citizens to highlight their issues and seek intervention at the highest level for their resolution. While encouraging the people to utilize this facility, Prime Minister Imran Khan has also made it very clear that no leniency will show to any government official who neglects his duty in addressing complaints reported on Citizen Portal.

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

CM oRdeRS effeCTive MeaSuReS To TaCKle polio diSeaSe in SindH

KARACHI

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STAFF REPORT

INDH Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that emergence of 24 polio cases in the province in 2019 was quite painful for him and now we have to make 2020 a safe year by eradicating polio from the province with effective and coordinated efforts, otherwise, our future generations, if left to suffer from crippling disease, would not pardon us. This he said while presiding over a meeting on Provincial Task Force on Polio Eradication here on Saturday at the CM House. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Dr Azra

Pechuho, Syed Nasir Shah, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shahlwani, Secretary LG Roshan Shaikh, Secretary Health Zahid Abbasi, all deputy commissioner of the city, all commissioners and deputy commissioner of other divisions and districts of Sindh through video link. The chief minister said that most of the polio cases had links with Karachi, therefore, the health department and its other concerned wings needed to focus on Karachi by segregating the areas so that their environmental samples could be made negative. It may be noted that Gadap, Gulshan, Baldia, SITE, Korangi, Liaquatabad, and Saddar towns have been positive throughout 2019 as far as en-

vironmental samples are concerned. Similarly, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Hyderabad, Dadu and Kambar-Shahdadkot districts also remained positive. Polio vaccine coverage: Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) In-charge Rehan Baloch told the chief minister that there was target of administering polio drops to 9,076,523, children in the Sindh province including 2,293,687 in Karachi, 2,160,552 Hyderabad, 1,514,246 Larkana, 785,475 Mirpurkhas, 1,093,139 Shaheed Benazirabad and 1,229,424 Sukkur. With special efforts, the coverage remained 100% allover Sindh. He disclosed that 82.1 percent missed children were also covered and still 295704 children were missed. The chief minister directed EOC Incharge to ensure that not a single child remained without polio vaccine. He directed him to send special team to the houses of not available children at night so that they could be covered. The chief minister was told that 95% coverage had been achieved in seven days of December 2019 in Karachi and 100 percent in other divisions of the province. Murad directed Incharge EOC to coordinate with all the deputy commissioners on Skype so that coverage could be made more effective. The chief minister also directed all the commissioners and deputy commissioners to submit him a report of all their taluka/tehsil levels about the performance of polio team. The chief minister directed Minister Local Government to make local bodies more effective in terms of cleanliness work so that polio virus could be controlled. He also issued such directives to the deputy commissioners to keep their cities and water bodies neat and clean. The chief minister also directed EOC to improve case response in 2020. He added that in rural areas of the province, 782 union councils, where environmental samples had been found positive, must be focused.

NEWS

05

Six of family burned to death after van catches fire KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Six members of a family, including four children, were burned to death while five others suffered burn injuries when a fire broke out in a moving van in New Karachi area on Friday night. According to SHO Bilal Colony Fardad Shaikh, a family was travelling in the van when it caught fire near Do Minute Chowrangi of New Karachi and rammed against a rickshaw. At least 11 persons who suffered burn injuries were rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced six of them dead on arrival, said police surgeon Dr Qarar Ahmed Abbasi. He said that four children and one woman were among the dead. The police surgeon said that the condition of five injured was critical as they had suffered up to 90 per cent burn injuries. The victim family was on its way to attend a wedding ceremony when it met with the tragic incident. There were different views about causes of the fire as some claimed that the van caught fire after hitting rickshaw which others were of the opinion that the van caught fire first then hit with the rickshaw.

Sindh Human Rights secretary goes missing KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Sindh Human Rights Secretary Badar Jameel Mendhro has gone missing mysteriously, police said Saturday. Jameel faces corruption charges and has recently received a pre-arrest bail in a case related to award of contracts. On Friday, he left office and did not reach house. Since then, there is no clue to his whereabouts. The family and police contacted him on the mobile phone but it was no responding. The police said the last location of his cellphone had been traced in the District Central of Karachi. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali has taken notice of Jameel’s missing and had directed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh, Anti-Corruption Department and other law enforcement agencies to furnish report about his missing. He directed IGP Sindh to ensure Jameel’s recovery if he had been kidnapped or declare his arrest if he had been detained.

Three kidnapped children recovered in Karachi, gang busted KARACHI STAFF REPORT

hyderabad: A mishap waiting to happen due to concerned authority’s inaction regarding uncovered sewerage manhole at Baden bus stop. InP

Mominabad police on Saturday claimed to have arrested a gang of criminals and recovered three abducted children from their possession. According to SSP West Fida Hussain Janwary office, three cases of missing children were reported within Mominabad police station remits during the last few days. On the directives of SSP West, a police team, headed by SHO Mominabad Asif Munawar, was formed. The police team during a raid apprehended accused Waheed Baloch, a key suspect of the case, and other two accused Hafeez and Iqbal on Waheed's information, the SSP office said. During the course of investigation, the accused confessed that they used to force the kidnapped children for robberies. The accused also confessed to molesting the children. The recovered children include Shaukat, son of Nadeem, aged 11, Bilawal, son of Riaz, 11, and Bilal son of Asghar Ali, 12. The SSP office said that they had registered cases against the detainees and started further investigation.

GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS LACK FIRE SAFETY EQUIPMENT KARACHI PPI

Health facilities run by provincial government of Sindh and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) urgently need advanced fire safety equipment for protection of patients, attendants, medical staff and costly diagnostic equipment as recent fire incidents in three major hospitals of Karachi has raised many questions about fire safety in the health facilities. The major hospitals of the megacity like Dr Ruth K.M Pfau, Civil Hospital Karachi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Abbbasi Shaheed Hospital, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases, Sindh Government Services Hospital Karachi, National Institute of Child Health and other district hospitals gener-

ally lack proper fire safety equipment to cope with fire incidents caused by shortcircuit or other reasons. The heads of Sindh government and KMC hospitals are also not implementing fire safety rules in their respective hospitals. Some fierce and minor fire incidents are being reported on regular basis in these hospitals during last few years but no concrete efforts are being made to protect patients, medical staff and costly equipment from fire=related incidents. On 9th January 2020, a fire claimed the life of an infant admitted in the National Institute of Child Health (NICH). Similarly, a fire broke out in the Gyane Nursery, probably due to short circuit at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) a week ago. However, there was no loss of life but costly equipment was damaged in this incident.

The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) management has suspended cardiac surgeries after a fire broke out in Peads ICU on 28the De-

cember 2019. All operation theatres, surgical ICU, and paeds ICU were closed till further order on technical ground after fire incident.

It was also learned that most of fire safety equipment like fire extinguishers in KMC and Sindh government health facilities are outdated or non-functional. The staff of hospitals is also not trained to handle fire extinguishers in case of some fire emergency. Medical Superintendent Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) Dr Khadim Qureshi, while talking to PPI, informed that all electricians of the hospital have already been directed to check costly equipment’s plugs to avoid short-circuit, following fire incidents in three hospitals. He said Deputy Medical Superintendents (DMS) were also instructed to monitor safety of such equipment during duty. He informed that at least 36 fire extinguishers were working in different department to handle any fire related emergency and protect costly equipment, as well as, patients in his hospital.

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW

Black Britons know why Meghan Markle wants out IT’S THE RACISM

new York tImes

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afua HirscH

HE British press has succeeded in its apparent project of hounding Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, out of Britain. The part it perhaps didn’t bargain for, however, is the loss of Prince Harry — a much loved royal and a key part of the family’s global brand — along with her. In a statement released this week, the couple said they wanted to “carve out a progressive new role” within the royal family and would “step back as ‘senior’ members, and work to become financially independent.” The British press reacted with surprise at the “shock move abroad,” de-

scribed variously as “seismic,” “selfish,” “rogue” and “an atrocious lapse of judgment.” If the media paid more attention to Britain’s communities of colour, perhaps it would find the announcement far less surprising. With a new prime minister whose track record includes overtly racist statements, some of which would make even Donald Trump blush, a Brexit project linked to native nationalism and a desire to rid Britain of large numbers of immigrants, and an ever-thickening loom of imperial nostalgia, many of us are also thinking about moving. From the very first headline about her being “(almost) straight outta Compton” and having “exotic” DNA, the racist treatment of Meghan has been impossible to ignore. Princess Michael of Kent wore an overtly racist brooch in the duchess’s company. A BBC host compared the couple’s newborn baby to a chimpanzee. Then there was the sublimely ludicrous suggestion that Meghan’s avocado consumption is responsible for mass murder, while her charity cookbook was portrayed as somehow helping terrorists. Those who claim frequent attacks against the duchess have nothing to do with her race have a hard time explaining

these attempts to link her with particularly racialised forms of crime — terrorism and gang activity — as well as the fact that she has been most venomously attacked for acts that attracted praise when other royals did them. Her decision to guest-edit British Vogue, for example, was roundly condemned by large parts of the British media, in stark contrast to Prince Charles’s two-time guest editorship of Country Life magazine, Prince Harry’s of a BBC programme and Kate Middleton’s at Huffington Post, all of which were quietly praised at the time. Her treatment has proved what many of us have always known: No matter how beautiful you are, whom you marry, what palaces you occupy, charities you support, how faithful you are, how much money you accumulate or what good deeds you perform, in this society racism will still follow you. In Britain’s rigid class society, there is still a deep correlation between privilege and race. The relatively few people of colour — and even fewer if you count only those who have African heritage — who rise to prominence and prosperity in Britain are often told we should be “grateful” or told to leave if we don’t like it here. The legacy of Britain’s history of empire — a global construct based on a doctrine of white supremacy — its pioneering role in the slave trade and ide-

ologies of racism that enabled it, and policies of recruiting people from the Caribbean and Africa for low-paid work and then discriminating against them in education and housing, is with us today: The scandal surrounding the wrongful deportation of black British people in recent years is still reverberating. Meghan’s decision to join the family that is the symbolic heart of the establishment responsible for this troubled history was perplexing to many black British people, as we wondered whether she fully appreciated the institution she had entered. Both she and Harry appear to have gained crystal clear vision as to their reality. It’s no wonder the couple want to leave and — as the coded statement that they want to raise their son, Archie, “with the space to focus on the next chapter” seems to suggest — protect him from the bile to which they’ve been exposed. The British press, having attacked the couple continuously, now reacts with shock at this move. But the clues have been there for some time for anyone willing to read them. There was the decision not to give Archie a title from birth — something that is expected among royal children of this rank but which Meghan and Harry appear to have chosen to avoid. Then there were the rumours last spring that they might relocate to a country in southern Africa.

THE INAUGURATION OF THE MOST FRAGMENTED PARLIAMENT SINCE 1978 WILL USHER IN A PERIOD OF CULTURE WAR CENTRING ON NATIONAL IDENTITY José ignacio torreblanca

After the most protracted hung parliament in its recent history and yet another general election, Spain finally has a new government. Pedro Sánchez will stay at La Moncloa, the prime minister’s residence, but it is hard to say for how long. He is counting on the narrowest majority ever to inaugurate a government in the Spanish Congress – 167 to 165, with 18 abstentions. Even though he has formed a coalition government (the first since the restoration of democracy in 1978), Sánchez can only rely on the combined 155 seats held by his socialist party and Pablo Iglesias’ Podemos – making him dependent on the support of eight other parties. Given that no previous Spanish government has needed the backing of ten parties to pass legislation, this adds an element of instability to his leadership. But Sánchez’s troubles do not end there. To establish this small majority, he secured the abstention of two toxic parties: Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) – a left-wing Catalan separatist group led by Oriol Junqueras, who is currently serving a prison sentence for sedition – and Basque EH Bildu, the political arm of former terrorist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, which has killed more than 850 people. Sánchez secured the ERC’s abstention by signing a document promising to open a new phase of dialogue with Catalan separatists and eventually conduct a consultation with the Catalan people. The fact that the document does not limit the talks to the 1978 Constitution nor define their goals – and that it speaks of a “political conflict”, a main demand of the separatists – has created a political storm. Indeed, even some socialist leaders argue that Sánchez has sold the Constitution for a handful of votes (he rejects these accusations). The document is ambiguous enough to support both sides’ arguments. In any case, this investiture session revealed that Sánchez is now weaker than he was in April, when he failed to form a governing coalition with Podemos. His expectation that he would crush Iglesias and win a majority in another election proved misguided. His risky gamble also backfired in the sense that, during the election campaign, he made strong commitments to uphold the Constitution and fight separatism (with the motto “Ahora España”, or “Now Spain”). Due to his U-turn on these issues, he has lost

credibility and exacerbated his weakness. Unfortunately, this turbulent investiture session will not end with the vote to approve the government. There is at least one area in which Spain is profoundly different from other the rest of Europe. Whereas elsewhere on the continent culture wars generally revolve around European integration, foreign policy, immigration – and moral issues such as LGBT rights, abortion, and gender – Spain maintains a broad consensus on these topics. The most emotive divisions between Spanish parties and voters emerge in areas such as national identity, the Constitution, the monarchy, and the legacy of the Franco regime. When the controversies surrounding these topics are dormant and the 1978 consensus holds (however uncertainly), Spanish elites can make the most of a country blessed with a broad consensus in their dealings with other states. But, when these controversies re-emerge, Spain faces many of the same problems as other European countries: political polarisation, institutional weakness, media bias, and public opinion dominated by angry leaders on social media. The inauguration of the most fragmented parliament since the 1979 election will usher in a period of culture war centring on national identity. This is likely to have two main consequences for Spain’s foreign policy. Firstly, if foreign policy suffered from the need to ensure Spain’s economic survival under the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy, the Catalan mess will consume a lot of energy in a similar fashion, as Spanish parties continue their fights at home within EU institutions. This process has already begun: the European Court of Justice recently ruled that Junqueras and Carles Puigdemont, former president of the Catalan government, can serve as MEPs – a ruling whose implications the People’s Party and Ciudadanos are contesting in the European Parliament. Secondly, although there are indications that Podemos’ leaders will not control any powerful ministries – which should provide continuity in foreign and defence policy – rising tension in Bolivia, the Middle East, or Venezuela could bring about a clash between the opposing visions of foreign affairs held by the socialists and Podemos. This will probably weaken the international credibility of the Spanish government. Spain will, therefore, still attempt to complete its comeback to the international arena started by Sánchez in June 2018, but it will have to do so with far greater instability at home. José Ignacio Torreblanca is a senior policy fellow and head of the Madrid office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since the launch of ECFR across Europe in 2007.

Afua Hirsch teaches journalism at the University of Southern California. She is the author of “Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging,” which won a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood award.

The west is still buying into nonsense claims about Iran’s regional influence

Spain’s new culture war european CounCIl on ForeIgn relatIons

In recent months, the couple have begun bypassing official royal channels and communicating with the press directly — most notably when the duchess said in a television documentary that she found adjusting to royal life “hard,” and Harry revealed that the tragic experience of the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, made him want to “protect” his wife and family. All were signs that the couple would not abide by royal business as usual, to the extent that even announcing this decision to step down from their roles as senior royals appears to have taken Buckingham Palace by surprise. I am not at all surprised. This was the bitter shadow of their sunny May 2018 wedding. How many of us suspected — hoping but doubting we were wrong — that what would really initiate Meghan into her new role as a Briton with African heritage would be her experience of British racism. And ironically, by taking matters into their own hands, Harry and Meghan’s act of leaving — two fingers up at the racism of the British establishment — might be the most meaningful act of royal leadership I’m ever likely to see.

BY VIEWING MILLIONS OF SHIA AS IRANIAN PROXY AGENTS, THE US AND ITS ALLIES ARE DEMONISING A HISTORICALLY OPPRESSED PEOPLE JUST AS SADDAM HUSSEIN DID Independent Patrick cockburn

I was in Iraq in April 1991 when government security forces crushed the Shia uprising against Saddam Hussein’s regime, killing tens of thousands and burying their bodies in pits. I had been expelled from Iraq to Jordan at the start of the rebellion in March and then, to my surprise, allowed to return, because Saddam wanted to prove to the world that he was back in control. I was taken along with other journalists to see Grand Ayatollah alKhoei, the vastly influential spiritual leader of the Shia in Iraq and elsewhere, who was being held in a nondescript house in Kufa in southern Iraq. He lay on a couch looking all his 92 years, surrounded by Iraqi security men who were hoping that he would condemn the rebellion. I asked him what he thought of it. For some minutes I thought he had not heard my question, but then, speaking in a low gasping voice, he said: “What happened in Najaf and other cities is not allowed and was against God.” His words were deliberately ambiguous, but I had no doubt that he was speaking of the hideous vengeance being exacted by military units loyal to Saddam, the killing of Shia men, women and children regardless of whether or not they had taken part in the uprising. The Shia had risen up against Saddam in the final days of his defeat in Kuwait by the US-led coalition. While they were not expecting full-scale foreign support, they did believe that the coalition would stop Saddam using his remaining tanks and helicopters against them. But the US conflated the Iraqi Shia with Iran, where the Shia are the overwhelming majority, and had decided that it was not in American interests to see the rebellion succeed. Coalition forces stood aside as Saddam’s tanks, with helicopters overhead, smashed their way into Shia cities like Karbala, Najaf and Basra, and then began their mass executions. Three decades later, the US and its allies are still making the same mistake, treating the millions of Shia in

Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and Afghanistan as if they were Iranian agents. Down the centuries, the Shia have been one of the most savagely persecuted religious minorities; they fear today that in the wake of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, they are once again being demonised, as Donald Trump denounces all who oppose the US in the Middle East as Iranian proxies. Yousif al-Khoei, the grandson of the grand ayatollah and the head of the London-based Al-Khoei Foundation, told me that the confrontation between Iran and the US was already leading to “the rise of anti-Shia sentiment”. He receives many calls from non-political but very worried Shia who hear what they interpret as crude anti-Shia propaganda being spouted in Washington. “The threat to demolish ‘cultural sites’ in Iran was shocking to hear from a US president,” said Khoei. “Ordinary Shia express fear that this may mean attacking our holy places and institutions where faith and culture are intertwined.” He told me how young Shia are angered by potential “gross violation of the Shia faith” by US threats to holy sites and shrines that have only recently been targeted by Isis. “We are still recovering from the losses Isis inflicted on the Shia,” he said. One of the most significant developments in the Middle East since 1945 has been the rise of the previously marginalised and impoverished Shia communities in many – though not all – of the region’s countries, above all Lebanon and Iraq, the latter becoming the first Shia-ruled state in the Arab world since Saladin overthrew the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt in 1171. Yet American and British politicians too often treat the rise of the Shia as if this was purely the outcome of unjustifiable Iranian interference. Western leaders find it convenient to adopt the anti-Shia propaganda line pumped out by Sunni states like Saudi Arabia, which persecutes its own Shia minority, and Bahrain, which has an even more oppressed Shia majority. In both countries, Shia demanding civil rights are punished as terrorists and alleged proxies of Iran. Often, the

Sunni authorities are convinced by their own propaganda: when the Bahraini government, backed by Saudi troops, crushed the Arab Spring protests on the island in 2011, Shia doctors in a nearby hospital were tortured to make them admit that they were receiving orders from Iran, though a high-level international investigation found no evidence of Iranian involvement in the protests. After the US and British invasion of Iraq in 2003, its military commanders were paranoid about alleged Iranian plots to foster resistance to the occupation. In fact, it needed no fostering, because neither Shia nor Sunni wanted Iraq to be occupied by a foreign military force. Old propaganda claims have resurfaced over the last week about Iran assisting the predominantly Saudi 9/11 bombers or enabling an IED campaign against British troops in southern Iraq, as if Iraq at that time was not knee-deep in discarded munitions. Such self-serving conspiracy theories, whether they are being peddled in Washington, London, Riyadh or Abu Dhabi, are counterproductive. They foster a sense of Shia solidarity that is to the benefit of Iran. We saw this over the last week, as anti-government protests in Iran in 2019 were replaced this year by crowds numbering millions jamming the streets of Iranian cities to mourn General Soleimani, that very same government’s top military commander. At the heart of Shi’ism, more than in most religions, is martyrdom, and Soleimani is now being elevated in the eyes of Shia – and not just in Iran – to the status of a warrior martyr who died fighting for the faith. The triumphant Iraqi army commanders I saw in the wrecked Shia cities of Iraq in 1991 all tried to persuade me that the Iranians had been the driving force behind the rebellion. Much the same nonsense is being uttered today about an Iranian hand being behind anything the west and its allies do not like in the Middle East. When they claim to be targeting Iran, they are in practice targeting the Shia community as a whole – a mistake for which both they and the Shia are likely to pay a high price.

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

FOREIGN NEWS 07

TAiwAn presidenT TAkes eArly leAd in elecTion closely wATched By chinA TAIPEI/KAOHSIUNG

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AGENCIES

AIWAN President Tsai Ingwen took an early lead on Saturday in vote counting for a presidential election that will be closely watched by Beijing, which claims the democratic island as its own, in the shadow of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. One hour after polls closed at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) Tsai led her main opponent Han Kuoyu from the opposition Kuomintang party by more than 500,000 votes, according to an initial vote tally by three Taiwanese television stations. Final results are expected by early Saturday evening. Tsai is due to hold a news conference at 8 p.m. (1200 GMT). China and the Hong Kong unrest have become major elements in the election as Beijing has ramped up efforts to get Taiwan to accept its rule, both through military intimidation and an offer of the “one country, two systems” model. “I saw what’s happening in Hong Kong

and it’s horrible,” said first-time voter Stacey Lin, 20. “I just want to make sure I have the freedom to vote in the future.” Speaking in Taipei, the capital, Lin said she had voted for President Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. “She is the best among all the candidates to protect our democracy,” Lin added. Both Tsai and Han, whose party favors close ties with China, have rejected

the “one country, two systems” model, which provides for a high degree of autonomy, much as Beijing uses in Hong Kong. Tsai, voting in Taipei, spoke briefly to reporters after casting her ballot, saying she hoped everyone exercised their right to vote and the process would be smooth. Tsai says only Taiwan’s people have the right to decide its future, and has denounced China for seeking to sway the election with mis-

UN renews Syria cross-border aid operation but halves crossings, length of time NEW YORK AGENCIES

The UN Security Council on Friday renewed a six-year-long cross-border operation delivering aid to millions of Syrian civilians but the number of crossings and length of authorization were halved to avoid a Russian veto. The 15-member council allowed cross-border aid deliveries to continue from two places in Turkey, but dropped crossing points from Iraq and Jordan. It also only renewed the operation for six months instead of a year. Russia and China abstained and the watering down of the resolution prompted angry abstentions from the United States and Britain. The remaining 11 members voted in favour. The authorization was due to expire at midnight on Friday if the Security Council did not reach a last minute deal. Speaking to reporters after the vote, US Ambassador Kelly Craft described the resolution as “grossly inadequate.” “We gave the Russians

12 dead, 21 rescued as migrant boat sinks off Greek island ATHENS: At least twelve people drowned and 21 were rescued when their boat sank off an island in western Greece on Saturday, Greek authorities said. Helicopters and ships were searching the area south-west of the island of Paxos for more survivors, the Greek coastguard said. Authorities said they had accounts of up to 50 people being on the vessel. The Greek authorities said they had scrambled to the area after a distress signal from the boat which was taking on water. No further details were immediately available. AGENCIES

an inch and they took a million,” Craft said of efforts to reach a compromise. “Syrians will suffer needlessly as a result of this resolution. Syrians will die as a result of this resolution.” The United Nations said 2.7 million people in northwestern Syria and 1.3 million in the northeast relied on aid from the crossborder operations. Council approval is needed because the Syrian government did not consent to cross-border deliveries. Belgium’s UN Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve said the crossing from Iraq was used to deliver medical aid to 1.4 million people. “Today there is no viable alternative to this crossing point,” he told the council before the vote. Britain’s UN Ambassador Karen Pierce accused Russia of politicizing the issue. “Syrian people have seen many sad days since 2011, but this day is potentially one of the saddest because it is the first time that a Security Council member has chosen to play politics with humanitarian assistance,” Pierce told the council.

Dubai airport flights delayed, canceled due to heavy rain, flooding DUBAI: Dubai International, one of the world’s busiest airports, cancelled, diverted and delayed flights on Saturday due to heavy rain and flooding, Dubai Airports said. Flights are likely to be delayed throughout the day and some have been cancelled or diverted to nearby Al Maktoum airport, state-owned Dubai Airports said on Twitter. Video footage and images posted on social media showed part of the airport’s runway area submerged under water. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage. Dubai airport is the base of airlines Emirates and flydubai. Emirates said several flights to and from Dubai had been delayed. Flydubai said its flights were also delayed, while some had been diverted. AGENCIES

Climate at mercy of politics in 2020, experts warn PARIS AGENCIES

2020 is the most crucial year yet for humanity’s plan to dodge the bullet of catastrophic global warming, experts said Saturday, warning that the narrow path to safety was riddled with pitfalls, from the US election to Brexit. When nations struck the 2015 Paris agreement, which aims to limit temperature rises under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), they agreed on five-year periods in which climate action could be implemented, assessed and boosted. 2020 is the year the landmark

deal goes into effect, yet almost three decades of diplomatic wrangling has fallen far short of what science says is needed to avert disastrous climate change. A crucial UN summit at which leaders will finalise their action plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is set to open in Glasgow on November 9 — just six days after a US general election that could see President Donald Trump win a second term. Trump shocked the world in 2017 when he said the United States — history’s largest emitter — was withdrawing from the Paris agreement. It is due to leave the deal on November 4.

information and gestures such as sailing its newest aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait just before the vote. China denies interfering. Han says he will reset ties with China to boost Taiwan’s economy, but will not compromise on defending its democracy. He did not speak to reporters after voting in the southern city of Kaohsiung, where he is mayor. People queued in long but orderly lines at many polling stations to cast their votes, with good weather likely to boost turnout. Sam Chan, 30, who immigrated to Taiwan from Hong Kong in 2014 over fears of China’s growing control of the Asian financial hub, said Tsai was the best to protect Taiwan. “I immigrated to Taiwan to escape from the Communist Party, so I won’t vote for pro-China political parties.” But Taiwan needs good relations with China, said 67-year-old Chu Yu-min, and so she had voted for the Kuomintang. “Taiwan’s economy depends on that,” Chu added. “The economy has been bad for the past four years. This needs to change.”

Bomb hits foreign troops in Afghan south, no word on casualties KANDAHAR: A roadside bomb hit a convoy of U.S. troops on Saturday in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar, a NATO spokesman and an Afghan official said, but there were no immediate details of casualties in a blast claimed by the Taliban. Despite a winter lull in fighting due to heavy snowfall in the mountains where the Islamist Taliban typically rest and regroup ahead of their annual spring offensive, roadside bombs continue to hit Afghan forces and their foreign allies. A senior Afghan military official in Kandahar said the incident took place in the district of Dand when the device hit one of the armoured vehicles of the U.S. forces. Foreign troops cordoned off the area and kept Afghan forces away from the scene, the official added. The NATO spokesman said it was assessing the situation but declined to give details. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack and said the blast killed all the soldiers in the vehicle. The Taliban usually claim casualties and inflate figures when targeting Afghan and foreign troops. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians, members of the security forces and 2,400 U.S. military personnel have been killed in fighting since 2001, when the austere regime of the Taliban was toppled by U.S. and coalition forces. AGENCIES

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

08 COMMENT Winning the war of the flea

The new normal Amenable PTI replacements should worry the PM

Terrorism in Balochistan

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VeR the last decade the incidence of terrorist attacks has significantly come down in the country. The credit goes to the security forces that launched a major operation in north Waziristan followed by intelligence-based raids on terrorist networks. A greater awareness on the part of the civil administration also helped reduce terrorist attacks which were too common in big cities of the country but have scaled down, though not altogether stopped. Terrorist activity has generally been confined now to areas bordering the tribal belt. On account of its proximity to Iran and Afghanistan, Balochistan remains a province where terrorist attacks are still too common. These are perpetrated by a number of groups including anti-Hazara sectarian terrorists, Baloch separatists, TTP, Hizbul Ahrar and the Islamic State (IS), the last three mostly targeting security personnel besides settling scores with one another. Most of these networks are stationed in Afghanistan and return to their safe havens in the neighbouring country after playing havoc in Balochistan. The deadly Friday attack in a mosque in Quetta that killed at least 15 and injured 18 has been claimed by the IS which targeted the mosque because a leader of their rival Taliban network was supposed to offer prayers there. like the guerrillas of a bygone era, the present day terrorists too fight the war of the flea, and their military enemy suffers the well-known disadvantages: too much to defend; too small, ubiquitous and agile an enemy to come to grips with. Since the terrorists do not enjoy the sympathy of the masses, they rely increasingly on smart phones and the Internet to maintain contact with one another and their handlers. They also depend on social media to recruit newcomers and disseminate diy packages on how to make Ieds and conduct suicide attacks. This makes the role of the intelligence agencies crucial as they have better equipment to track the terrorists, intercept their messages, gather information about their sleeper cells and foil their designs. The Balochistan government does not possess the expertise needed to cope with the modern-day terrorists. Prime security agencies that now also include nACTA alone have the means to rid Balochistan of the menace of terrorist attacks.

More pipedreams To distract from the uncomfortable reality

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RIMe Minister Imran Khan had made several bold promises before coming to power. Among them was to ‘end corruption’ by jailing his political opponents and that is exactly what he did in his first year and a half in office. unfortunately, that is also the only promise that was kept. The economy is taking one hit after the other, affecting the common man the most as record inflation and unemployment deal blows to the standard of living. The corruption mantra had so far worked relatively well to distract from this reality, but that is no longer the case as most of those jailed are either out on bail or on the road to acquittal, while those still behind bars will get relief as a result of nAB’s wings being clipped. Focus has therefore shifted to selling pipedreams of transforming the country into a welfare state. Speaking at the inauguration of the Azakhel dry port in nowshera PM Khan made some more bold promises; primarily that the revival of Pakistan Railways would generate jobs, trade, revenue and tourism. There are obvious problems in achieving this, chief among them Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed, who has proven to be incompetent at running the massive stateowned company, at times seeming uninterested in the job, looking for something easier to do. Then there is the proposal of adding a Peshawar-Jalalabad route to the Ml-1 track that will supposedly “end smuggling in the country”. leaving aside the infrastructural challenge of such a route, Pakistan currently has less than cordial relations with Afghanistan which would first need to be improved through better diplomacy in order to move towards some sort of bilateral trade transportation system. It is high time the PTI government realise that the populace is growing weary of the party’s shambolic performance that it then attempts to mask by making tall claims in fancy speeches. This strategy has started to fail, exposing an all-talk and no-walk reality. now that the PM has been made to dial down his personal vendetta against political opponents, he has enough time to reflect and come up with a decisive strategy that includes a better and more original vision than ‘creating a welfare state’. There have to be specific goals, milestones and defined timelines. He must surely be aware that his likely and willing replacements have increased in numbers in the past two weeks.

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aRif Nizami

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He amendment in the Army Act– covering all three military forces- becoming a law without any major hiccups is bound to have wider political implications. A rare display of unanimity shown by both the major opposition parties’, the PPP (Pakistan Peoples party) and the PMl-n (Pakistan Muslim league-nawaz), in the passage of the bills could not have been possible without a quid pro quo. In fact, the roll back of some measures targeting the opposition had already started even before the former CJP (Chief Justice of Pakistan) Asif Saeed Khosa threw a spanner in the works last december by declaring the extension of the Army Chief for another three years null and void. In the absence of a law governing the extension of the Military Chief, he passed the buck to the parliament to legislate within six months on the matter. For the interim, the incumbent COAS (Chief of Army Staff) was granted an extension by the apex court. The mastermind behind this rapprochement between the PMl-n and the milt-establishment is perceived to be the leader of the opposition in the national Assembly and president of the PMl-n Shehbaz Sharif. What the younger Sharif had promised he has delivered in the emerging political scenario. The three times Punjab Chief Minister is generally admired for his capabilities as the one who delivers on governance and development issues. His considered view that cohabitation rather than confrontation with the Army leadership was the only way forward is well known. But where Sharif miserably failed in the past was to rein in his hawkish elder brother and belligerent niece, especially after the apex court ousted nawaz Sharif. It is well known that ‘bhai Jan’ or ‘bao ji’ (as he is affectionately called by family members) is the one who calls the shots by virtue of being the architect of the PMl-n machine and the main vote catcher. The manner in which the elder Sharif was allowed to leave the country on medical grounds has raised many an eyebrows. Was his condition as bad as it was portrayed in the medical reports conveyed to the media by various medical boards? Khan not entirely convinced, sent his trusted friend also heading the SKMCH (Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital) dr Feisal

Sultan to examine Sharif’s condition. The prime minister only relented after he finally confirmed that Sharif was in fact gravely ill. later, once Sharif got away, it transpired that although needing urgent medical treatment by his doctors in london he was certainly not critical. Was the prime minster duped by doctored tests? Some allege, albeit without any empirical evidence, that the ubiquitous intelligence apparatus played a surreptitious role in tweaking the reports. unlike when Sharif was allowed to travel to london from his exile in Saudi Arabia by former strongman Pervez Musharraf to tend to his ostensibly ailing son, this time he delivered his part of the bargain. It was the PMl-n supremo who summoned his stalwarts to london and after swearing them to secrecy, instructed them to support the Army Chief’s extension unequivocally in the ‘national interest’. The other part of the bargain that daughter Maryam will not retaliate has also been kept. now reportedly Shehbaz Sharif is manoeuvring behind the scenes that she also be allowed to join her ailing father in london. This is likely to happen. For the first time in almost one and a half years since the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) assumed power, a modicum of a working relationship between the treasury benches and the opposition is in the offing. The Speaker national Assembly Asad Qaiser and defence Minister Pervez Khattak are playing a key role in reaching out to the opposition. There is convergence on some Ordinances to be made a law though passage from the parliament. The matter of appointing new members to the eCP (election Commission of Pakistan) has also been resolved. Significantly, the government has assured the opposition that the nAB (national Accountability Bureau) Amendment Ordinance 2019 will be made into law, incorporating some of the changes proposed by the opposition. The nAB is the major victimisation tool that has been applied with impunity by the government and implicitly by the establishment against the opposition. The rank and file of both the PMl-n and the PPP as a trade-off expect some respite from the shenanigans of nAB sleuths. Already there are some signs of that happening. The nAB Ordinance 2019, apart from giving relief to bureaucracy, businessmen and industrialists is also partly applicable to politicians. Abdul Ghani Majeed, a director of Omni Group, who is the son of Zardari’s friend and alleged business associate Anwar Majeed, has already applied for acquittal in the fake bank accounts case. If that happens all the co-accused including Zardari, his prodigal and Faryal Talpur will go scot-free as well. Remarks by judges of the Supreme Court and

various High Courts in different cases have castigated nAB for its ruthless methods that militate against the very principles of rule of law and equity. But the last straw was the edict of the CII (Council of Islamic ideology). Its head dr Qibla Ayaz has termed several sections of the nAB law as un-Islamic. According to him the option of plea bargain and turning suspects into approvers were against Shariah. Similarly, it has termed certain practices of nAB like handcuffing suspects and parading them on the media as inhuman. The other day an apex court judge questioned the common practice followed by nAB of arresting a suspect first and later scouring for evidence as against all norms of justice and fair play. By all accounts it seems that nAB’s goose is already cooked. The Army Chief a few months back invited businessmen from all over the country to hear their complaints. He delivered on his promise to amend the nAB law to exempt businessmen and bureaucrats from its wrath. The higher judiciary and now CII as well are in unison. It will be interesting to watch how Khan will react, virtually being robbed of his crusade to put all corrupt politicians behind bars. Some in the ruling party already surmise that even in the absence of an agreement with the opposition on how to castrate the accountability watchdog, relief will soon be coming through. Going slow on the cases against opposition stalwarts and granting bails hitherto denied will be the new normal. Ironically through the brief crisis created as a result of the question of the extension of service chiefs being in a limbo for a few weeks, it is the COAS that has come out as the strongest. The chinks in the armour of both the PMl-n and the PPP have been badly exposed. Both the (opposition) parties’ anti-establishment rhetoric has taken a big hit. neither can claim not to be following the diktats the military leadership. Shehbaz Sharif will be expecting some reward for services rendered. The ‘grand opposition alliance’ so assiduously nurtured by the maverick JuI-F chief Maulana Fazal-urRehman can be pronounced as dead and buried in the process. Khan, who has consistently been slipping in governance and failure to revive the economy, could be a major casualty. The year 2020 that he ironically claims the year of economic prosperity for the masses might inversely prove to be his nemesis. He is now on notice to deliver. The PTI now has competition. There are others quite willing to do the bidding of the deep state. Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com

While you were looking the other way Politics is a dirty game

Rabia ahmed

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uddenly, all news about donald Trump’s impeachment is almost gone, even though this impeachment, a charge of misconduct against the President of the united States is only the third such charge in American history, and it occurred less than a month ago. The reason is the sudden, unexpected attack upon Irani Maj Gen Qassim Soleimani by the uSA, which led to Soleimani’s death. The attack, if you notice, comes hard on the heels of impeachment and just before the President faces a trial in the Senate that will decide whether or not he remains in office. This is called a diversionary tactic. elizabeth Warren, the demo-

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cratic Senator and Presidential hopeful, was interviewed by the Cnn recently where she questioned the timing of the attack, and its validity. She said that the current Administration was all over the place with its responses regarding a reason for the attack, some saying it was to prevent an imminent attack, others saying no, no, it was to prevent some future attack, and Vice President Mike Pence chiming in by saying that Soleimani “assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the united States.” The New York Times refuted Pence’s statement, saying that there was no proof that Soleimani had any contact with any of the terrorists. The 9/11 Commission even states that it found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning that led to the 9/11 attacks. Soleimani’s name in fact appears nowhere in the report. diversionary tactics are popular in politics. The reason is that most people fail to question what they hear. And when they hear something, the information stays with them as valid, never mind that later on the information is proven wrong. That is what the President and those

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on his team are counting upon. The French Revolutionary Wars were said to have been started by the newly formed national Assembly which replaced King louis XVI, because the national Assembly wished to bring the country together under the new political system and new flag. For this France declared war on Austria in 1792. years later, in 1870, napoleon III was told by his advisors that one way of bolstering his waning popularity amongst the people would be for him to declare war on Prussia, which they said they could win. France, accordingly, declared war on Prussia. It turned out to be a war that France lost. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the uSA brought in its troops, in ‘Operation desert Storm.’ In what was most important for the then President George HW Bush, his ratings went up, although (luckily) he was not re-elected as a result. That luck for the rest of the world did not hold out as far as his son was concerned. Following the 9/11 attacks, the morale of the uS public was down and with it the economy went down as well. George W Bush was responsible for wrongfully accusing Iraq of possessing ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and for subse-

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quently invading that country, something like Henry VIII killing someone for marrying more than once. George W Bush’s move was initially popular with the public and he was re-elected. But when the war dragged on and the uS economy lost out, the President’s approval ratings went down as well. In an example closer to home, Kashmir is a source of diversionary politics for both Pakistan and India. It comes in useful to either side when one commits yet another transgression upon that hapless state, because the other can then cry foul and make a lot of noise while pushing through questionable measures under cover of the noise. And in Saudi Arabia Jamal Khashoggi– a most visible critic of the Saudi government and in particular of its then crown prince– was brutally murdered by Saudi government agents at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey. Shortly afterwards Saudi women were given the freedom to travel without the permission of their guardian and to drive, too much international rah-rah. That helped drown the storm of condemnation against the topmost persons who were said to be involved. Politics is a dirty game. Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com/

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Sunday, 12 January, 2020

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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

Social media, a blessing in disguise

The farce that it was An opportunity, nevertheless, for undertaking genuine reform

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “Is it not a noble farce wherein kings, republics and emperors have, for so many ages, played their parts, and to which the whole vast universe serves for a theatre?” – Michel de Montaigne

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He Cambridge english dictionary defines farce as “a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterisation and ludicrously improbable situations”, while the Oxford dictionary defines it is as “a funny play for the theatre that is based on ridiculous and unlikely situations and events”. When I look back over the last few weeks, both these definitions appear to fit perfectly into the way political parties and the judiciary have conducted themselves in the task of dealing with the case of granting extension to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Three more years for the COAS was a done thing till the former chief justice took notice barely seven days before his tenure was to end by activating a petition which had remained pending for over twelve weeks. This effort was vociferously supplemented by all mainstream political parties in the opposition, heaping ridicule on the government for having notified the decision. They demanded its reversal. By taking notice of it on the basis of a controversial petition and instructing the legislature to amend relevant laws within a stipulated period of time, the judicial organ of the state intruded unlawfully into the executive domain, thus setting a dangerously unhealthy precedent. In the meantime, it granted a sixmonth extension to the COAS pending adoption of amendments by Parliament. On its part, the government first moved a petition for review of the order before the Supreme Court. Simultaneously, it promulgated an ordinance to regulate the appoint-

ment. When this was subjected to criticism by the parties of the opposition, the government started deliberating to take it through the legislature. And, lo and behold, in a rare display of camaraderie, and contrary to their grandiose proclamations, the parties of the opposition joined hands with the government in piloting the requisite amendments through the two houses of Parliament. It has since become law. These were the ingredients of the farce which was enacted before a full house with people wondering loudly about the respective positions of the political parties and an incredible display of wicked expertise at somersaulting. The slogans pertaining to ‘respect for vote’ and opposition to extension for the COAS were buried six feet under, washed away in the tsunami of their desperation for proving their loyalty and reiterating subservience to the very powers they were fighting against. not going into the merit of the position that political parties of the opposition had taken prior to the commencement of this sordid drama, it exposed their reality as a flock of vultures, ready to pounce upon every opportunity for promoting a compromised narrative, thus displaying abominable bankruptcy of principles and morality. It is not that they would have been inimical to extending the tenure of the incumbent COAS. After all this had been done in the past also, most recently during the last government of the PPP. They were only inimical to the fact that they were not in the saddle for stage-managing this and the credit for this would go to some other political party. In the wisdom of John Mortimer, “farce is a tragedy played at a thousand revolutions per minute”, which is as fast as their colours changed. Or Karl Marx who said that “history repeats itself: first as tragedy, then as farce”. There has been a strong reaction to these somersaults by the supporters of the parties and their legislators. Being the principal proponent of the narrative of ‘respect for the vote’, the senior members of the PMl-n expressed bitter resentment about the unconditional surrender and the dictatorial manner in which the decision had been taken. In a party meeting, there was an environment of open rebellion and incisive questions were asked from the parliamentary leader who, when unable to absorb the pressure, advised the legislators to contact the leadership directly. The party is in virtual shambles as a consequence of this abysmal display of rank opportunism solely to serve the interests of the oligarchs. The state of the PPP is equally pathetic. In spite of trying to hide behind the supremacy of Parliament ruse in implementing its unprincipled agenda, it suffered immense embarrassment, within the party ranks and in the public domain. The leadership has been subjected to scathing criticism for their flip-flops in joining forces with the government whom they were subjecting to vitriolic criticism ever since it assumed charge in the country. They were not

even willing to accept the legitimacy of the elections that catapulted PTI into power. It is because of this that the party had to issue special messages for its followers to understand the so-called ‘rationale’ behind the necessity of the decision taken. The PPP leadership have also criticised the PMl-n for not consulting them before taking the decision, thus tearing apart the fabric of their much-touted unity. Grant of extension in the service of the COAS should never have been made controversial. It was and remains the exclusive prerogative of the Prime Minister. But, the discussion that this unfortunate episode has sparked off may be for the ultimate good of democracy. For one, we should realise that there are no genuine political parties in the country. The ones that exist are oligarchies which are exploited for advancing the political interests of certain families who take decisions in a manner that suits their core interests. The method is utterly despotic and does not encompass what may or may not be in the interest of democracy or the state. Once again, this establishes the need for holding genuine intra-party elections to move the selection of leadership away from the stranglehold of the self-anointed oligarchs and affording a fair and equitable opportunity to all members to build their credentials for leading their respective political parties. It is also visible that there is enhanced awareness about this reality and legislators are willing to question the substance and the manner of the decision-making process as has been evidenced by the mini-revolts within the mainstream political outfits. This should lead to optimism that the political parties in Pakistan may be forced to introduce a democratic culture within their folds which would strengthen their parliamentary credentials. For good or for bad, the political parties have demonstrated that they can work together if they want to. This spirit should be promoted to build consensus for adopting and implementing legislation that is needed for improving the system and its delivery mechanism, especially to the marginalised communities. As for the judiciary, this episode underwrites another sordid chapter in their history where it tried to impose judicial dictatorship upon the democratic process of legislation. This must be checked. As a test case, political parties should join hands in formulating and implementing effective parliamentary oversight on the working of the judiciary. It may also be time to rid the institution of the presence of a bunch of corrupt people inducted as judges by that disgraceful aberration– Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. They have brought nothing but shame to the institution. Raoof Hasan is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. He can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com; Twitter: @RaoofHasan

In the Pakistani society it isn’t unprecedented to feel that internet-based life is a threat which has spread especially among youths to destroy their lives. Frequently seen as the best issue of our age, web-based life is intensely scrutinised. However, there are sure benefits of online networking which can refute this manner of thinking. This conviction springs from what online life sites have been named as. destinations, for example, Facebook and Twitter have gotten incredible analysis starting late normally being seen as a path for youngsters to squander their days on their electronic gadgets. This to a degree can even be viewed as obvious yet just in the event that one contemplates over the outside of the ocean that is present day media. While indeed, web-based life may have expanded the utilisation of electronic gadgets, the benefits accompanying it are much more than that of a silver coating. In the electronic age of the 21st century, online life is the best stage to make mindfulness. We would now be able to see works pioneers, scandalously donald Trump, running their administration of web-based life locales, for example, Twitter. This mass mindfulness has demonstrated to really be a gift. The #BlacklivesMatter and #WeAreThe1% for the Ferguson and Occupy Wall Street Movement individually have been more prominent occasions of social developments which did make mindfulness about critical issues as well as tackled these issues. All however the two issues conflicted with the standards which had been set a state as incredible as the united States of America, when mass familiarity with an issue becomes even the best countries need to pay regard. Along these lines, internet-based life costs to be a crucial resource. Internet based life has additionally allowed each person to voice their conclusion. The #MeToo is the best case of this where not just have ladies at long last had the capacity to talk about a predominant issue in the public arena yet have had the capacity to join to neutralise it. Through thusly a solitary post via web-based networking media makes numerous ladies feel less alone. Thus, the ongoing down disorder displaying programme on Facebook have made it conceivable to maintain kids with the affliction and not make them feel segregated. Obviously, the best course to embrace, as in each part of life, is balance. A reasonable utilisation of media, in the correct ways will permit to utilise it appropriately as an extraordinary stage. Issues emerge regular. Where better to talk about their gravity and need to talk facing them then a medium through which our each word can achieve a huge number of individuals by the dash of a catch? Henceforth, before naming online networking as an ‘instrument of the fiend” we should contemplate over its benefits and how it has helped fill in as a mode of increasing essential data and crating mass mindfulness. Along these lines it might genuinely end up being a surprisingly positive turn of events. AbbAS FATEH-ud-dIN ASIM Lahore

Garbage problem in New Karachi Town SIR, as a resident of north Karachi, I am writing this letter to complain to you about the garbage problem in our neighbourhood areas, especially in new Karachi. The garbage collection van does not come regularly. Because of this, the garbage is deposited on the road. After two days, it produces a bad smell that is harmful for us. Moreover, it attracts various insects and microorganisms. Sometimes, when the wind blows, garbage is dispersed on the entire lane, making the whole area untidy. There are also many areas where garbage is present in bulk and no one ever cleans it. Furthermore, the drainage system often overflows, due to which mosquitoes cause several diseases like dengue and malaria. due to this extreme problem, I am concerned about the safety of my family members and residents of the town. Through the columns of your esteemed daily I appeal to the concerned ministry to look into the matter and take steps to alleviate people’s troubles. MuHAMMAd WAJIH SHAMIM Karachi

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ReCORd shortfalls, yet dubious stats about how revenue figures are up. The finance minister wasn’t all too pleased with the performance of the FBR and made this clear when he visited its head office recently. It was a bit of a dressing down. So much so that the country’s tax czar, our man Shabbar, took a two-week break, citing illness. So much for him being the wunderkind who will turn things around. ********* ‘TIS the season of slappings as the last wedding season also saw the federal science minister treating a television anchor to a ‘knuckle sandwich.’ despite the bluster of the latest victim, nothing is going to become of it. And the minister knows this. So folk attending weddings give him a wide berth, which I’m sure would come in handy when he wants that last bit of gaajar halwa. The journalists, in particular, are wary of him. First he snatched our livelihoods, they say, referring to the lowering of govt ad spend, and now he’s literally slapping us on the face.

sunday, 12 January, 2020

10 foreign news

Merkel, puTin DisCuss MiDDle eAsT flAshpoinTs AT kreMlin MeeTinG MOSCOW

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Japan seeks interpol wanted notice for wife of ex nissan boss TOKYO: Japanese authorities have requested the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) for an Interpol wanted notice for the wife of former Nissan Motor boss Carole Ghosn, local media reported on Saturday. If the notice is issued for his wife, Carole, the couple’s travel chances outside of Lebanon may be restricted, Mainichi newspaper said. Interpol has already issued an arrest warrant for Ghosn. The request from Japan was made on Thursday, Mainichi and other Japanese media said, quoting unnamed sources. Officials at the Japanese justice ministry weren’t immediately available for comment. Japanese prosecutors on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant against Ghosn’s wife for alleged perjury, as officials stepped up efforts to bring the fugitive car industry boss back to face trial on financial misconduct charges. AGENCIES

sultan Qaboos bin said, who modernized oman, dies at 79 DUBAI: Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman, the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, has died aged 79. The sultan deposed his father in a bloodless coup with British support in 1970 and set Oman on a path to development, using its oil wealth. Widely regarded as popular, he was also an absolute monarch and any dissenting voices were silenced. No cause of death has been confirmed. His cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said has been sworn in as his successor. A family council had three days to choose a successor as Qaboos had no heir or publicly designated successor. Instead they opted for opening the sealed envelope in which Qaboos had secretly left his own choice. The sultan is the paramount decision-maker in Oman. He also holds the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance and minister of foreign affairs. Last month Qaboos spent a week in Belgium for medical treatment, and there were reports he was suffering from cancer. Images showed a crowd of men gathered outside the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the capital, Muscat, where the coffin had been placed before he was buried in a family cemetery. AGENCIES

AGENCIES

ERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday for talks set to focus on flashpoints in the Middle East. Merkel and Putin shook hands at the start of the meeting which the German leader said would cover topics including turmoil in Libya and the Syria conflict as well as Ukraine’s war with pro-Russian separatists. “There is a lot to discuss,” said Merkel, adding that “talking with one another is always better than talking about one another.” Putin thanked the chancellor for visiting and said they would focus on “the hottest” topics. The leaders were set to give a press conference afterwards. Germany and Russia said ahead of the talks that they would cover the confrontation between Washington and Tehran over the US killing of a top Iranian general and turmoil in Libya. The visit by Merkel was her first to Russia since May 2018 when the leaders met at Putin’s Black Sea residence. Putin visited Syria and Turkey this week and is keen to stress his role as a regional powerbroker. German Foreign Minister Heiko

Maas, who accompanied Merkel, said a “key reason” for the meeting was the escalating crisis in Libya, where Berlin is acting as a mediator in a conflict he has warned could become a “second Syria”. “We are involving Europe and those

players who are influential there, for that we need Russia,” Maas told Germany’s NTV television. “For us, it’s not too far to fly to Moscow to discuss that with Putin.” Merkel is to invite Putin to a Berlin conference on Libya later this

Australia fires ‘long way from over’ but rain brings relief SYDNEY AGENCIES

Massive bushfires in southeastern Australia still have a “long way to go”, authorities have warned, even as colder conditions brought some relief to exhausted firefighters and communities on Saturday. After a blustery night that saw a series of massive infernos in New South Wales and Victoria states merge into a mega-blaze four times the size of Greater London, temperatures dropped and rain fell on fire-scarred regions. “Whilst it was a very long and — in parts of New South Wales — difficult night, we’re relieved this morning that no lives have been lost and no substantial property damage,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Saturday. The milder conditions are expected to last around a week, giving firefighters time to try to get the fires under control. New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons described the conditions as the “best seven days we have had without a rise of very dangerous fire ratings”. In a matter of months, the catastrophic bushfires have killed at least 26 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched some 10 million hectares (25 million acres) — an area larger than South Korea or Portugal.

north korea receives birthday greetings for kim from Trump University researchers estimate that more than one billion mammals, birds and reptiles have been killed in the blazes. Despite the cool change, authorities warned that the bushfire season is not yet over, with hundreds of fires across several states still raging. The head of a firefighting “strike team” in the village of Towamba, Nathan Barnden, told AFP the rainfall was “fantastic” but “not enough at this stage to put these fires out”. “We’re going to need hundreds of millimetres over a period of time to… make firefighting easier for us,” he said.

india’s road-block women vow to fight on against citizenship law NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Every night, 75-year-old Noornissa braves the freezing cold to help block one of the main roads into the capital of India, in a protest that is at the forefront of a rising challenge to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For nearly four weeks, Noornissa and more than 200 other women have sat and slept across the four-lane road between Delhi and the satellite city Noida, gaining nationwide attention as protests erupted across India over a controversial citizenship law that critics say is anti-Muslim. Men stand guard as the women, from the mainly Muslim area of Shaheen Bagh, sing the US civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” and chant against the Citizenship Amendment Act, passed last month by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. The law has added to the fears of India’s 200 million Muslims. It gives

month, diplomatic sources told AFP. Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a ceasefire in Libya on Wednesday, although they are seen as supporting opposing sides in the conflict.

Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh and other minorities who have fled neighbouring countries the right to Indian citizenship — but Muslims are excluded. Modi has insisted the law is “humanitarian” and that Muslims have noth-

ing to worry about, but opponents are not convinced and have held rallies across the South Asian nation — often met with police force. Authorities have warned the Shaheen Bagh protesters that the police will clear the road if they do not leave,

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but the women are determined to stay. “I was born in India and I want to die here,” Noornissa told AFP, her frail frame shaking with emotion. “I will fight this law until my last breath.” Gul Bano, 51, her face covered with a veil, described the protest as “a fight for our identity”. Suffering some of the lowest temperatures in Delhi for decades, Noornissa sleeps on the street, wrapped in blankets with only her silver hair visible. The women with her include grandmothers and younger women, many with toddlers in tow. A tent has been put up to block the wind. Stray goats walk around the road alongside the protesters. The Shaheen Bagh protest is a sign that “the pushback has begun across India”, according to Syeda Hameed, head of the Muslim Women’s Forum. People bring blankets, hot tea, snacks and meals for the women. The doors of nearby homes are always open for the women if they want to use the bathroom.

PYONGYANG: North Korea has received United States President Donald Trump’s birthday greetings to its leader Kim Jong Un, but will not return to the negotiation table, according to a statement published on Saturday by state news agency KCNA. While Kim could personally like Trump, he would not lead his country on the basis of personal feelings, Kim Kye Gwan, an adviser to the North Korean foreign ministry, said in the statement. “Despite the leaders’ good relations, it is a mistake for the United States to expect a return to talks,” he added. Kim Kye Gwan repeated the North’s deep frustrations over stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration and stressed that the country will never fully deal away its nuclear capabilities for ending US-led sanctions despite its economic difficulties. He was responding to comments by South Korean presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong who, after returning from a visit to the US on Friday, said that Seoul had conveyed Trump’s birthday greetings to Kim. The North Korean leader’s birthday is believed to be January 8. Chung told reporters that Trump, during their meeting at the White House this week, had asked Seoul to deliver the message to Pyongyang, which it did through proper means on Thursday. But Kim Kye Gwan said that the North had also received a similar letter by Trump directly from the Americans, and ridiculed Seoul saying it was clinging to its role as a mediator between Washington and Pyongyang. The North in past months has severed virtually all cooperation with the South, while demanding Seoul to break away from Washington and restart inter-Korean economic projects held back by US-led sanctions. Seoul had lobbied hard for the resumption of nuclear negotiations, with Chung shuttling between Pyongyang and Washington to help set up the first summit between Kim and Trump in June 2018. But negotiations have faltered since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in February last year in Hanoi, Vietnam. AGENCIES

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

BUSINESS 11 FPCCI demands cut in mark-up rate LAHORE: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Saturday urged the government to reduce mark-up rate in the country so that trade and industry could be facilitated. FPCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar made this demand during a meeting with members of the Automobile Spare Parts Importers and Dealers Association (PASPIDA), All Pakistan Computer Association (APCA) and Lahore Hides and Skin Merchant Trade Group. Nisar was of the view that high mark-up, exorbitant energy prices, unemployment and trade deficit were among top concerns for the economy, adding that reduction in interest rate would make borrowing easy for the private sector and would also encourage investment. The FPCCI president said that the country's industrial sector was faced with numerous challenges, posing a threat of shrinking its share/space in the international markets. "The government should reduce the ratio and number of taxes on local products so as to help them drill out their way in the global market. In addition, the industry should be supplied gas and electricity on justified tariffs." Nisar assured the members that FPCCI would play its role in the restoration of economic activities, particularly in backward areas. He said the chamber would do its best to get access of Pakistani products to various global markets. APP

DownwarD revIsIon In PolICy rate exPeCteD by enD-January ISLAMABAD

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AHMAD AHMADANI

HE government's economic team has informed the federal cabinet that the policy rate, which is currently at 13.25pc, may witness a downward revision by the end of the current month. According to sources, the expected decrease in the policy rate would enhance private businesses' appetite for credit, which was almost curbed due to the eight-year high policy rate in vogue. Sources said the government's economic team, while briefing the cabinet last week, had made tall claims of putting the economy on the right track, saying, "With the stabilisation of macro-economic indicators, the policy rate will be revised downward in the coming months to spur credit offtake by

hoarding and ensure an abundant supply of locally produced food items. It was further clarified that the lacklustre performance of the real sector was expected in the face of the government's contractionary policies to immediately address the current and fiscal account deficit. The cabinet members expressed satisfaction over the macro-economic indicators, noting that the country’s economy has been stabilised and was now at the take-off stage. It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Imran Khan, while chairing the cabinet meeting, directed the economic team to present a report on the performance of agriculture sector in next meeting. The cabinet desired that future briefing on key economic indicators should also include agriculture sector data, as it has a bearing on other sectors as well.

the private businesses." Upon this, the cabinet members had raised concerns over rising inflation, declining large-scale manufacturing activity and low offtake of credit by private businesses. The economic team, in reaction to the criticism from the cabinet members, had shifted the blame on the policies of the previous government, explaining that since the previous government had not revised electricity tariffs for 18 months, the legacy liability resulted in a sudden and substantive increase in electricity rates, which in turn fueled inflation. However, it admitted that rise in SPI inflation, especially of locally produced food items, was worrisome. "But this is more due to supply shock rather than an increase in electricity tariff." The economic team urged the provincial governments to improve their oversight to check against

PM, traders to discuss tax matters on 20th ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

Prime Minister Imran Khan will hold an important meeting with the All Pakistan Traders Association (APTA) at the Prime Minister House on Jan 20 wherein he will announce concessions for the sector and seek help from the traders’ bodies over the tax documentation drive. This was shared by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi in a tweet on Saturday, a week after the government announced the tax amendment ordinance – which gives tax concessions to traders — to facilitate the sector. Since CNIC disclosure of every sale is a major requirement, the traders were rightfully demanding a decrease in the minimum tax rate, as the majority was earlier paying the minimum tax on grossly suppressed sales. To encourage the correct declarations, the rate of minimum tax was rationalised. The general rate of minimum tax payable has been reduced from 1.5pc to 0.5pc for traders having turnover up to Rs100 million in the tax year 2020. However, for traders who have filed income tax returns in 2018, the tax liability for 2019 and 2020 should not be less than the tax liability in 2018 to become eligible for the reduced rate of minimum tax of 0.5pc. Moreover, an individual having a

Chinese e-cigarette firm to open 10,000 stores within three years SHANGHAI AGENCIES

E-cigarette company Relx Technology said on Saturday it will open 10,000 stores globally over the next three years in a big expansion for the Chinese vaping startup. Relx currently has more than 1,400 stores globally, the majority of which are located in China and run by third-parties. The company’s retail outlets, as it expands, will be a combination of company-owned stores such as its first flagship store in China, unveiled at a news conference on Saturday, and franchised locations. The new Shanghai store is a sleek 140-square-meter shop in the Nanjing West Road shopping district. At the news conference, Relx co-founder Jiang Long said that in addition to the company’s branded retail outlets, it would attempt to get its products on sale in more convenience stores, electronics shops, and corner shops. Relx’s expansion comes as many Chinese e-cigarette brands look to sales from actual stores to drive growth following a move by Chinese regulators last year to call for a ban on online sales and advertising of e-cigarettes. Regulators overseas are also looking at how to regulate the nascent industry. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration in Washington took steps to curb the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in the United States. Relx said that 20pc of its sales currently come from overseas. Regulatory scrutiny in both the United States and China has placed pressure on China’s ecigarette supply chain in the southern city of Shenzhen, where approximately 90pc of the world’s e-cigarettes are manufactured.

‘No friction between FBR chief and PM, finance adviser’ ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

turnover of Rs50 million or more in any of the preceding tax years is liable to deduct tax under section 153 while making payments against the supply of goods, services, and contracts. Through the Second Amendment Ordinance, traders having turnover up to Rs100 million have been exempted from deducting tax under section 153 while making payment against the supply of goods, services, and contracts.

The FBR is expected to clarify the year with respect to which the turnover would be calculated by the trader. Similarly, the medium-sized traders have been absolved from their liability as withholding agents to increase the ease of doing business. The trade associations have committed to getting all the medium and large-sized retailers registered apart from nominating their representatives to evaluate the turnover

of the under-declared business. They have also joined hands with FBR for dispute resolution in audits. Officials also said that the FBR had taken permission from the federal cabinet to halt the implementation of CNIC conditions on traders till January 31. But the board will likely seek an extension in the deadline after the formation of a joint body of the traders and tax officials.

A spokesperson of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Saturday rejected reports that the tax watchdog’s chief, Shabbar Zaidi, was not on the same page with Prime Minister Imran Khan or his adviser on finance, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. In a statement, the FBR spokesperson said that Zaidi is on leave till January 19 for his regular medical checkup in Karachi. On the other hand, the FBR chairman tweeted, "The Prime Minister has very graciously consented to preside a meeting with all Pakistan traders on 20th of January. The meeting will be held in PM house. The PM will formally announce the concessions given to traders community and will seek assistance of trade bodies in complete documentation and tax contribution by trading sector."

Pakistan misses cotton bales target by 7m in 2019 LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI

Pakistan, once the proud home to world's best cotton, has missed its 2019 target of producing 15 million cotton bales by seven million bales, owing to multiple factors, including climate change, lack of proper research by local research institutes and no cotton policy on the top. On October 4, the Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) forecasted cotton production at the end of the year at 10.20 million bales against the target of 15 million bales. In the final weeks, bad luck had struck in the form of harsh weather, further reducing the guessed figure to seven million bales. Given the history of bleak figures in the last few years, it is feared cotton areas may give in to some other instant cash crops. Talking to Profit, a member of the Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) said, "Pakistan is losing cotton

areas necessary for the production of bales... the production is constantly declining as cotton growers are not getting a good amount of yield due to which they are switching to other crops which could maximize their revenues," he said. When asked about the major reason behind the decline in cotton production, he said, "Unfortunately, cotton research institutes are not doing their jobs properly; the pests are damaging the cotton crop badly as they become immune and we have don't help much in killing them. "So, it requires constant and state of the art research to deal with the threat of pests. Research is also important in deciding which fertilizers or seeds to use. This, unfortunately, is not being done properly at the moment." He further said that due to lack of research, out of Pakistan’s total cotton bales production, only 5pc is long-staple cotton. Aqib Khan Niazi, a cotton farmer from Badin, Sindh, said, "In 2019, my cotton crop was badly damaged… yield

from 300 acres (121.4 hectares) was reduced to only 100 kgs/acre which demoralized me and I am planning to switch to some other crop this year." When asked about the reasons behind such poor yield, Niazi said it is all because of lack of research as there is no one to guide him regarding which seeds should be used for the production of cotton; which pesticides should be used to save our crops from pests; and which fertilizers should be used for efficient produce. Upon contact, Dr Ghulam Sarwar, Cotton Botanist at Cotton Research Institute, Faisalabad, denied that they are not working properly, saying, "There are numerous other factors due to which Pakistan's cotton production is declining, including weather and farmers switching to other crops," he added. "We can't force farmers to grow cotton instead of rice, wheat or any other crop," he said. According to figures available with

this scribe, cotton area, production and yield has been constantly declining since 2011. Pakistan's cotton production areas have decreased from 2.86 million hectares in FY2011-12 to 2.48 million hectares in FY2019-20. Cotton bales production have decreased from 11.13 million bales in 2011-12 to 8 million bales in 2019-20, against the target of 15 million bales set by the government itself for the FY19-20. Cotton area and production in Punjab have declined by 36pc and 60pc respectively from FY2011-12 to FY2019-20, while cotton yield in Pakistan decreased from 815kgs/hectare in FY2011-12 to 550kgs/hectare in FY2019-20 (33pc decline). PTI's Muhammad Ameer Sultan, who is serving as Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, said that due to humid weather, pests attacked a large number of cotton bales, which is why the government failed to achieve the target of 15 million

bales for in 2019. "The PTI govt is working on procurement of hybrid seeds to farmers and we are also planning to increase the price of cotton bales for the farmer this would encourage them to move back to the production of cotton from other crops and increase the production area of cotton," Sultan said. It is pertinent to mention that despite a decrease in local cotton bales production, there is also a decline in the import of cotton bales by 33pc. The cotton bales imports from July to November in 2018-19 were 0.307 million bales approximately which decreased to 0.206 million bales. "The government had imposed 3pc regulatory duty, 2pc additional customs duty and 5pc sales tax on import of cotton from August 1, 2019, due to which spinning mills across Pakistan were reluctant to import it," said director of one of the spinning mills who did not wish to be named.

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

12 BUSINESS Kse-100 gains 883 points in week, reaches 17-month high BUSINESS DESK The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed an overall spike in its gains as local and foreign investors rampaged across the market to quickly hit upper circuits as soon as the war clouds hanging over the region due to US-Iran hostilities dissipated. The index was hit hard earlier in the week as tensions in the Middle East had escalated following the death of Iranian General Qassem Soliemani. On a weekly basis, the benchmark KSE-100 Index accumulated 883.75 points, ending at 43,207.05 points (17-month high) as compared to last week’s close at 42,323.30. Based on the National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) data, foreigner investors remained net buyer of $7.02 million during the outgoing week. On the local side, mutual funds and individuals were net sellers of $5.78 million and $4.11 million, respectively. Since Aug 16, 2019, when the benchmark index was hovering around 28,765 points, the market has witnessed a spectacular rally that has carried it up by 50pc in less than five months. According to market analysts, besides de-escalation in Mideast tensions, an increase in foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan from $11.48 billion to $11.50 billion and falling of the 10-year Pakistan Investment Bond (PIB) yields by 9bps to 10.9pc caused investor to prefer investing in equities. Among other developments that dominated play at the PSX, tractor sales plunged to 15,200 units during the first half of 2019-20 from 38,000 units in the same period last year. Meanwhile, gas crisis worsened due to a further drop in supplies from different fields, slowing down industrial output and impacting people during the ongoing cold wave in the country.

India's slowing economy leads to record drop in car sales

transPorters’ Protest to enD soon as talKs unDerway: DawooD

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

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DVISER to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood said on Saturday that talks were underway with the protesting goods' transporters and that all issues in this regard would be resolved soon. Talking to the media on Saturday in Karachi after addressing the 'Edible Oil Conference', Dawood said the country's economy moving in the right direction as exports were increasing while imports were decreasing.

"We are correcting things on the economic front that went wrong in the past," he held. "Pakistan had a trader-led import and consumptiondriven economy in the past where uncontrolled imports, under-invoicing, unsupportive tariff structures, and an irrational exchange rate led to the economic disaster." He said in order to further boost the country's exports, the government was striving to get access to the more international markets. On a query, the adviser said that the incumbent government was trying hard to tackle the gas shortage issue, adding that gas supply to Punjab's industries has resumed.

"Fourteen per cent rise in exports and 18pc fall in imports in 2019 compared to the previous year shows that the government's economic measures are bearing fruit. The rupee is stabilising against the dollar owing to prudent policies of the government," he maintained. 'STRIKE ENTERS SIXTH DAY': Meanwhile, cargo supplies remained suspended across the country as transporters' strike continued for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday. Earlier this week, talks between Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and transporters’ representatives had failed earlier in the week. Subsequently, the United Goods Transport Alliance had announced to continue the strike till acceptance of demands. A spokesperson for the protesting goods transporters Imdad Hussain Naqvi had said on Thursday that supply of cargo, meant for export from Karachi and Bin Qasim ports, had been suspended owing to the strike. Moreover, textile exporters said that their business and export orders have been badly affected ever since the transporters announced their strike. They said they would not be able to complete the export targets in this condition, urging the government to resolve the issue at the earliest. The cargo transporters have parked vehicles on roads and have stopped loading and unloading activity in protest against Motorway Police as it refused to follow the Axle Load SRO 2000. The protesters have urged the government and the Motorway Police to implement the Islamabad High Court order with regard to the enforcement of Axle Load Management.

NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Car sales in India fell by a record 19pc last year as a slowing economy made consumers reluctant to spend on bigticket items and demand is likely to be flat this year, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said. Passenger car sales fell to 1.81 million in 2019 from 2.24 million in 2018. Sales of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), however, rose 5pc helped by the launch of new models, data released by SIAM showed. Sales of passenger cars are expected to be flat in the fiscal year starting April 2020 due to continuing weak demand and the onset of tighter emission norms that will drive up car prices, said Rajan Wadhera, president, SIAM. “We are still not fully out of the challenges otherwise we would have seen growth in high numbers,” Wadhera told reporters. Sales of two wheelers widely seen as an indicator of the health of the rural economy - fell 14pc in 2019 while sales of trucks - a barometer of overall economic growth - dropped 15pc. The declines are the worst since around 1997 when SIAM started keeping records. The auto industry is also gearing up for a shift to stricter emission norms from April 1, 2020 which will push up the price of vehicles by 8pc to 10pc, further hurting demand, Wadhera said. Weaker economic growth is also a “big barrier and challenge” to growth, he said. India’s economy is set to expand by 5% in the current financial year that ends in March, its slowest growth in 11 years, and down from 6.8pc growth in 2018/19, according to the Ministry of Statistics. The auto sector has been particularly hard hit with some carmakers having to halt production to adjust inventory levels, leading to massive layoffs of workers at automakers, parts makers and car dealers. The crisis in the auto sector presents a major problem for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as it accounts for nearly half of India’s manufacturing output and employs over 35 million people directly and indirectly.

With ML-I signed, CPEC investment portfolio touches $50bn ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

With the approval of MainlineI (ML-I) Railway Project, the total cost of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has surged to $50 billion – the biggest investment made by any foreign country in Pakistan. The Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line (referred to as ML-1) would cost around $9 billion. The project would upgrade the country’s railway track infrastructure, speeding up railway traffic movement up to 120 miles per hour from Karachi to Peshawar. According to official documents, out of the $50 billion CPEC outlay, 13 projects worth around $11 billion have already been completed, while work on 13 projects worth $18 billion was in progress, whereas $21 billion worth projects were in the pipeline. Documents revealed that 46pc work on Gwadar Eastbay Expressway has been completed while New Gwadar International Airport was being constructed with Chinese

grant. The airport would be the largest in Pakistan. To enhance the friendly relationship between the people of China and Pakistan, both governments have also signed agreements for poverty alleviation. In this regard, two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed on November 3, 2018, during the official visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China.

The first MoU was signed between the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives and The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China, while the second MoU was signed between the Ministry of Planning Development & Special Initiatives and China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA). According to the official docu-

K-Electric’s online fuel cost adjustment calculator goes live BUSINESS DESK K-Electric (KE) has launched a Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) calculator on its website, which will allow consumers to calculate the impact on their monthly bill based on their monthly consumption. "The pending FCA, as determined by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), would be spread over nine months and applied from January 2020 onwards," a statement issued by K-Electric read. "The FCA is based on a notification issued by NEPRA through an SRO dated 27 December 2019, which defines both the amount and the period over which the amount is to be adjusted. All details related to FCA would also be provided in respective customer bills." As per NEPRA mechanism, fuel is a pass-through cost to customers of all

power distribution companies in Pakistan, including KE. According to the mechanism, "A reference fuel cost is considered in determining the tariff and any increase or decrease in actual fuel price compared to this reference cost is adjusted after verification by NEPRA, which is subsequently passed on to the consumers." However, due to the delay in finalisation of KE's Multi-Year Tariff, KE could not pass on the increased fuel cost during the period between July 2016 to June 2019 to its customers. In fact, KE has been absorbing this cost on behalf of customers for the last three years, which has significantly constrained the company's working capital and cash flows while simultaneously increasing the financial cost on account of increased borrowing. "KE's new MYT was notified by the Ministry of Energy (Power Divi-

sion) on May 22, 2019, after which KE filed its monthly and quarterly tariff variations, as allowed under the MYT, and a public hearing was also held by NEPRA in this regard in August 2019. The variation in tariff was due to different factors including rupee devaluation and increase in fuel prices." According to KE, furnace oil cost was Rs27,700 per metric tonne in June 2016 and increased to around Rs70,000/MT in FY2019. "Other major reason for increase in fuel cost is the reduction in supply of natural gas from Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), which resulted in the addition of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in the fuel mix. Further, the cost of natural gas in June 2016 was Rs613 per MMBTU and with the addition of RLNG in the mix, the cost of gas on a commingled basis increased

to Rs936 per MMBTU in FY19. Despite delayed adjustments and the resulting financial burden on KE, the company has consistently met all operational expenses and continued to make regular current payments due to its fuel suppliers. In addition, to meet the growing future power demands of the city, the company has also continued to invest across the power value chain. "While KE remains committed to serving the people of Karachi, the current situation is not sustainable where borrowing is used to mitigate the impact of delays in the power utility’s genuine and legitimate receivables. This issue may affect KE's regular operations, but most importantly may hamper or delay the underway and planned power projects, both of which would impact the power outlook for the people of Karachi."

ments, the primary objective of the MoU with State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development was to achieve sustainable development goals (SDG) of the UN by means of facilitating mutual learning and experience sharing. The key areas of cooperation under the MoU include knowledge and experience sharing; capacity building, and community-based development pilot project in an underdeveloped area. Agricultural Industrializationled Poverty Reduction Pilot Project in an underdeveloped agricultural area was being planned while cooperative research was also in the pipeline. The second MoU was regarding the establishment of a joint working group under CPEC for promotion and implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Project through Chinese government grants and interest-free loans under CPEC. Six sectors identified for cooperation in this regard include agriculture, education, medicine, poverty alleviation, water supply and vocational training.

Remittances up 3.3pc to $11.4bn in first half FY20 KARACHI: Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $11,394.91 million in the first half (July to December) of the fiscal year 201920 (FY20), an increase of 3.31pc when compared with $11,030.01 million received during the same period of the preceding year. On a month-on-month basis, the inflow of workers’ remittances amounted to $2,097.23 million during December 2019 (15.25pc higher than Nov 2019 and 20pc higher than December 2018). During the month of Dec 2019, inflows from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman) and EU countries amounted to $472.94 million, $427.56 million, $357.45 million, $324.57 million, $205.73 million and $56.42 million, respectively. On the contrary, Pakistan had received $414.59 million in remittances from Saudi Arabia, $351.19 million from UAE, $276.29 million from USA, $267.79 million from UK, $174.42 million from GCC countries and $47.48 million from EU countries during Dec 2018. INP

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Sunday, 12 January, 2020

How crowdsourced archives are making Indian history personal and accessible Half-remembered anecdotes, photos from fading family albums, treasured tales and half-preserved keepsakes. In India, personal memory is finally becoming part of public record with crowdsourced archives, oral-history projects and online initiatives

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collage of faded pictures shows an Anglo-Indian girl, Margurite Mumford, happily posing for the camera. In the only black-and-white image among them, she is seen sitting cosily with a man on the bumper of a vintage car. In the accompanying text, Jason Scott Tilly, a UK citizen, narrates how the love story of his late grandfather, a press photographer, came to light in 2006, when he came across some pictures in his grandparent’s cupboard. “I will never be sure if my grandfather, Bert Scott, would have wanted me or anyone else to find these negatives. He had after all kept them very safe, hidden from the moment he left India,” Jason writes about his grandfather who emigrated during the Partition. Based on what he saw in the photos and a few leads, Jason found out that the pictures were taken in Ooty and Bombay where the couple spent time together in the 1930s. Jason was able to contact Margurite’s daughter, Alecia, who lived with her in New Zealand. “Is Bertie here?” said Margurite, who had turned 96, when Alecia showed her Scott’s picture. Titled “My Grandfather’s Secret”, it is the most popular story on the Indian Memory Project, an online archive that traces the history of the Indian subcontinent through images and stories contributed by people around the world. Online initiatives such as the Indian Memory Project, The Citizen’s Archive of India (CAI) and 1947 Partition Archives, along with Instagram handles – Brown History and Gulf South Asia, SOAS Postcards – present history in an accessible, unacademic form. They combine an ever-increasing interest in personal stories with

This picture from 1918 shows Kuwait native Muhammad Salem al-Sudairawi, one of the wealthiest Arabs in Bombay. The photo was taken at his summer home in Poona. Courtesy: Kuwait History & Gulf soutH asia

modern storytelling techniques to document bygone times. PEOPLE’S HISTORY In 2016, Mumbai-based Rohan Parikh launched CAI to record and archive personal stories from preIndependent India, as well as the subsequent formative nationbuilding years. In one such story, Vishwanath Sachdev, a journalist who migrated from West Pakistan to India during the Partition, shares his memories of the 1957 general elections. “People were still thrilled about the newlyattained Independence and they immensely valued the power of their votes. Election did not have a negative connotation attached to it back then,” he recalls as we see a montage of black-and-white images of electionday superimposed on his voice. More than 375 hours of interviews and 1,300-plus items, including letters, newspapers, documents, personal and historical pictures keep the project growing. “It is a great learning experience not only

for people visiting the site but even for those who run the project,” says Malvika Bhatia, archive director, CAI. “We think that the changes happening in our times are unprecedented. Oral history tells us that the previous generations fought for many things which we now take for granted: voting rights, education, and participation of women in the workforce,” she says. BEFORE THE DIVIDE Guneeta Singh Bhalla, who founded the 1947 Partition Archives, is left equally amazed when she spots patterns in more than 9,000 stories which form the archive, which was launched in 2011. “A key takeaway of our work is that the subcontinent was very much cosmopolitan before Partition. There were women who owned and drove cars and bikes. We may think that everything pre-Partition was archaic. That is not the case,” she says. The archive has documented the personal story of Vilayat Khan, veteran exponent of Dhaddi music in Punjab. Born into a family of

balladeers, Khan had to leave his village, Goslan (East Punjab), and migrate to Sargodha in Pakistan. He lost interest in singing and did menial jobs. After ten years, Khan and his father returned to settle back in their village which was now a part of India. Khan started singing again. He went on to become a renowned artiste in the country and received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2009. When the archive achieves the 10,000 stories target, Bhalla and her team plan to establish a public memorial. “The purpose is to build empathy, become more inclusive and avoid intercommunity tensions,” she says. INDIA AND THE GULF In March 2019, Bengaluru-based writer Ayesha Saldanha started an Instagram account which documents the ties between the Gulf region and South Asia. The repository is made of material from Ayesha’s research as well as items contributed by people of all ages. “I hadn’t anticipated that the younger generation of South Asians who grew up in the Gulf would be so happy to be able to tell their stories to a wider audience,” says Ayesha. The first thing which comes to mind when one thinks of this particular account is people from South Asia settling in the Gulf. But one of the objectives of the account, says Ayesha, is to document the reverse: the history and stories of Gulf Arabs in South Asia. A black and white image shows Muhammad Salem al-Sudairawi, one of the wealthiest Arabs in Bombay, posing with his family at his summer home in Poona in 1918. Then there are enterprises that were originally started as passion projects. As a child, banker Paul Abraham received a few Travancore coins from his father to connect him to his roots as a Malayali. As his

interest in coins and mints grew, Abraham began to learn Urdu and spent time looking for old maps. In 2014, he launched Sarmaya, his digitised collection of paintings, personal stories, books, artwork, photos, artefacts, maps, coins and more. “Both my wife and I were keen that the collection be made public. She passed away due to cancer. I set up Sarmaya in her memory,” says Abraham. “The value of Sarmaya for me lies in the stories behind the works I’ve acquired. My personal journey is somewhere embedded in them.” THE CHALLENGE Archiving personal histories and classifying them under various themes and genres is a challenge. Where should one start? What should be included? What can be left out? How to make the project sustainable? These and many other questions keep popping up. For the Indian Memory Project, founder Anusha Yadav decided to consider only pre-1992 photographs and documents. “I gave the 1991 cap because people usually have more objective memories of longer time spans gone by. To me, a couple of decades seemed right. It also gave me the bandwidth to focus on older images. Maybe, soon I can tell people to make submissions from the year 2000,” says Yadav. Of course, such memory projects cannot replace the work of the historian. Manu S Pillai, the author of The Ivory Throne and Rebel Sultans believes that there isn’t much scope for scholarly analysis with such posts on websites and Instagram handles, but they do fill a gap and “give life” to things we read about and learn in the abstract. “Research and analysis is still heavy business, but social media helps generate an appetite for history beyond scholarly circles, and any such mass interest is, in the long run, a positive development,” says Pillai. g

What we wore

Mrs Bhatia’s first car

One of the sections of the Sarmaya collection documents how clothing in the Indian subcontinent has evolved. Seen above is a photo from the album Musicians and Dancers, shot by Gobindram and Oodeyram of Jaipur, 1880s. Mumbai- based banker Paul Abraham launched Sarmaya in 2014. The material — documents, images, book covers, miniature paintings, coins — is from Abraham’s personal collection.

This photo was taken at the Willingdon Sports Club (Mumbai) in 1964. It shows Mrs Pushpa Bhatia, a Mumbai resident, with the first car she bought, a Morris Minor. In the story shared with The Citizens’ Archive of India, she writes, “I bought it second-hand, and my in-laws, who were well-todo, asked me why I wanted to drive this around when they had a fleet of cars for me to use. But I had always wanted to buy a convertible, and I didn’t mind that it was second-hand.”

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

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ImpressIve WIllIams races Into auckland fInal agaInst pegula AUCKLANd

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eReNA Williams delivered a masterclass in her semi-final at the WTA Auckland Classic on Saturday, needing only 43 minutes to down rising star Amanda Anisimova and set up a showdown against Jessica Pegula. The unsung and unseeded Pegula stunned Caroline Wozniacki in a three-set semi-final 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. Top-seed Williams, at her imperious best, rapidly eliminated third-seed Anisimova 6-1, 6-1. It highlighted the gulf between the 38-yearold, the women's tennis figurehead for the past two decades, and the next generation of players led by the 18-year-old Anisimova. The mother of two-year-old Olympia said she had been working hard to juggle tennis and motherhood as she targets a 24th Grand Slam at the Australian Open later in the month. She was all power and precision as she dominated the centre of the court and moved the teenager around, running down Anisimova's drop shots and blunting opportunities for the young player to unleash her telling forehand. "I was definitely in the zone today. I knew I was playing a really great player and an even better person and I knew I had to come out serious," Williams said. "It feels really good. I've been working hard for a couple of years, my daughter's only two, I tend to be really hard on myself but considering everything, I'm doing pretty good." Former World number one Wozniacki, who has announced she will retire after the Australian Open, arrived at her penultimate tournament determined to win in Auckland at her seventh attempt to add to her 30 WTA titles.

Instead, it was the 25-year-old Pegula, the world 82nd-ranked player who won her only WTA title at the Washington Open last year, who came out on top. The unseeded Pegula was broken twice when losing the first set before adopting an aggressive approach that fifth-seed Wozniacki had no answer for. She wore the Dane down in the second set and then won every game in the third. "I knew if I was going to play defensive I was not going to win that battle, she's like the best in the

world at that, so I had to step in and take my chances and trust my game," said Pegula, the daughter of NFL Buffalo Bills owner and natural gas magnate Terry Pegula. "Caroline's had an amazing career and I know she's retiring so I'm glad I got to play her before she retires and I'm happy to get the win and really excited to be in the final." Wozniacki has one chance left to win a title in Auckland when she partners Serena Williams in the doubles final on Sunday.

US World Cup star Rapinoe slams IOC 'no protest' policy

Barty looks to kickstart season in adelaide BRISBANE AGENCIES

Ashleigh Barty plans to use next week's ATP-WTA Adelaide International to put the final polish on her Australian Open preparations after a shock defeat in Brisbane. The world number one headlines the new event starting Sunday, part of a revised calendar in the run-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year which begins on January 20. The Australian star will be desperate for court time after crashing at the first hurdle this week to American qualifier Jennifer Brady at the Brisbane International. The men's draw in Adelaide is spearheaded by Australian Alex De Minaur after world number two Novak Djokovic pulled out on Saturday as he guides Serbia at the ATP Cup in Sydney, where they have made the final. Barty denied beginning the season as the top-ranked player in front of her home fans had put extra pressure on. "I'm just trying to do the best that I can and obviously... try and play my best tennis," Barty, who is assured of keeping the top ranking through to the end of the Australian Open, said after her Brisbane exit on Thursday. She will begin in the second round at Adelaide, joining second seed Simona Halep with a bye. Former world number one Halep, a finalist at Wimbledon last year, will be making her 2020 start with Adelaide-born coach Darren Cahill back in charge after taking a year off. Top 10 players Petra Kvitova and Kiki Bertens are also in the field, along with world number eight Belinda Bencic who was given a wildcard entry when Venus Williams withdrew injured. Barty had said she expected to quickly pick up the pieces of her game after her Brisbane setback. "It's rare in sport that you get an opportunity every single week and so quickly... that's one of the beautiful things about tennis," she said. "The next week you get a chance in Adelaide to come out there and try and execute that little bit better." Along with De Minaur, the men's field features Russia's Andrey Rublev and Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta. The now-retired Lleyton Hewitt, Australia's Davis and ATP Cup captain, will try and re-live the old days, teaming with Jordan Thompson for the doubles.

pliskova sees off osaka in epic Brisbane semi-final BRISBANE

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United States World Cup icon Megan Rapinoe Friday vowed that athletes "will not be silenced" after the International Olympic Committee warned against political protests at the Tokyo Games. "So much being done about the protests," Rapinoe said in an Instagram post. "So little being done about what we are protesting about. "We will not be silenced." Rapinoe's comments were accompanied by a graphic showing fists raised through the interlocking rings -- under the crossed out words "kneeling, hand gestures, signs." The post comes after IOC chief Thomas Bach reiterated that athletes, coaches, trainers and officials are banned from political protests on the field of play, at the Olympic Village, during the opening and closing ceremonies and on the medal podium. "If this political neutrality is not respected, then the Olympic Games will divide, and not unite, the world," Bach insisted. The guidelines issued Thursday by the IOC on specific actions that are banned and will draw sanctions, come after two US athletes were reprimanded by the US Olympic Committee for medal podium protests at the Pan American Games in Lima.

Fencer Race Imboden kneeled and hammer thrower Gwen Berry raised a fist in protest. Both received 12 months probation. Rapinoe has been outspoken on political issues during her career, speaking out about issues

including gender equality and racism. In 2016 she joined former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality in America.

World number two Karolina Pliskova will defend her Brisbane International title after edging Naomi Osaka in an epic three-set semi-final at Pat Rafter Arena on Saturday. Pliskova triumphed 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win in a two hour, 48 minute marathon and will play eighth seed American Madison Keys in the decider. She was forced to come from a set down, then save a match point at 5-6 in the second, before seeing off the reigning Australian Open champion. The two are no strangers to long matches against each other -- Osaka edged Pliskova 6-4 in the third in the Australian Open semi-finals on her way to the title. But few could have expected a match of this quality and length in the first tournament of the year. With both players serving exceptionally well, the first set almost inevitably went to a tiebreak, which Osaka clinched on her fifth set point. The second set was a repeat of the first with few opportunities to break until Pliskova faltered at 5-5 to give Osaka the chance to serve for the match. She came from 0-30 down to 40-30, but Pliskova rallied, saved match point and then broke Osaka to send the set to a tiebreak. Osaka then saw the third set slip away with two service breaks. "That was one of the best matches that I've played on this court," Pliskova said. "It was a great standard, and she's always tough to play against.

Nadal's Spain to meet Djokovic's Serbia in ATP Cup final SpORt dESK Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will face each other in the final of the inaugural ATP Cup after winning epic three-set matches Saturday to steer Spain and Serbia into the decider. World number one Nadal ground down pumped-up Australian Alex de Minaur to guide the Davis Cup champions through their semi-final while Djokovic battled past Russia's Daniil Medvedev. Under the format of the innovative team event in Sydney, the top-ranked singles players from each country play each other, ensuring the two legends clash for a 55th time since their first showdown in 2006. World number two Djokovic leads the head-to-heads 28-26, in-

cluding beating his arch-rival in the Australian Open final last year. Nadal outlasted De Minaur 46, 7-5, 6-1 after unflappable teammate Roberto Bautista Agut tamed Nick Kyrgios 6-1, 6-4. Djokovic had an equally tough time against impressive fifth-ranked Medvedev, coming through a top-draw contest 6-1, 57, 6-4 on the back of Dusan Lajovic beating Karen Khachanov 7-5, 7-6 (7/1). "Alex was playing at a very high level and for me my energy was a little bit lower than usual. But it has been a very emotional evening and a pleasure playing here," said Nadal. "We know it's going to be a super tough final (against Serbia)," he added. "Novak likes a lot to play here, he's had a lot of great results. So let's see. We have a

good team too." De Minaur had a furious start, breaking Nadal in the opening game of the match and then keeping the pressure on, restricting the Spaniard's trademark forehand to take the first set in 46 minutes. Full of energy, his serve was on fire and he was winning the baseline rallies, but Nadal weathered the onslaught and finally won a break point, converting to take the second set. De Minaur was deflated and the fight went out of him as the 19-time Grand Slam showed him who was boss, racing through the deciding set. Unassuming world number 10 Bautista Agut was in control and all over the groundstrokes of temperamental Kyrgios, who looked lost as he crashed 6-1 in the first set.

The Australian regained some lustre in the second set. But he was broken in the fifth game, mangling his racquet in frustra-

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tion, and despite saving two match points with booming aces was outplayed. "My game plan was to put

him under pressure to play every point, to make him work. That's what I tried and it went well," said Bautista Agut.

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

SPorTS 15

mIsBaH, pcB not keen on four day tests LAhORE

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AKISTAN are not fans of the idea of four-day Test cricket, with the current leaders of the coaching staff, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis both opposing reducing Test cricket to four days. They join a growing chorus of coaches and former players, including former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur, as well as India's head coach Ravi Shastri, Mahela Jayawardene and Chris Gayle, who do not wish to see four-day Test cricket. eSPNcricinfo understands the Pakistan Cricket Board shares the opposition to four-day Test cricket, believing it would pose a logistical challenge to hosting cricket in Pakistan, with fewer daylight hours during the cricket season. Going by history, that would not be especially surprising, given Pakistan often struggled to get 90 overs in a day of Test cricket in the ten years leading up to 2009, prompting the then-PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan to propose six-day Test matches to the ICC in a bid to get around the problem, with former ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed saying they would "seriously consider it". "First of all, there is no clarity at this point about how it will be taken forward," Misbah said. "Will it be 90 overs a day? 96? Maybe 110 overs to

compensate for the fifth day? If you look at the conditions in Asia, especially in Pakistan, we barely manage to get 90 overs a day because the cricket season here is mostly during the winter. We don't get long days in winter, or enough to complete even 90 overs. We lose 10-15 overs a day routinely. If you lose those across a four-day Test, with 360 overs, the match effectively becomes a threeand-a-half-day affair. "If that's the case, a lot of teams will become negative - if they fall even slightly behind in a match, they'll go straight for the draw. The results ratio is already pretty low, that will worsen and people's interest in Tests will dip. They want results. In a five-day match, even if there's rain in the middle, there's still enough time to try and force a result." Misbah also highlighted the workload that might come with this change, especially its impact on the fast bowlers. "Another important thing - if you force the workload of five-day cricket into four days, with an increase in overs, then it is very difficult," he said. "You still get only 11 players in the team. Most teams play with four bowlers. But even if

pakistan cling on to top spot in Icc t20I ranking SpORtS dESK Pakistan continue to remain the number oneranked side in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men's T20I Team Rankings, despite winning just one T20I in the entire calendar year of 2019. The Men in Green had a year to forget even in the format they are most suitable for, managing just a single win in 10 matches. That sole victory, too, had come in a dead rubber against South Africa when the series had already been surrendered. However, such is the make of the ICC rankings that the team — now led by Babar Azam — is still the number-one ranked T20I side in the world. The team, after Friday’s update of the list, has 270 points — just one more than Australia who are hot on their heels. england (265), South Africa (262) and India (260) make up the rest of the top five. Pakistan and the number one spot in ICC T20I Team Rankings are a familiar duo. The team had first topped the index in 2017 under former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed's leadership and has since remained one of the world's most successful sides in the format — barring 2019.

matloob ahmed maintains lead in Bank al Habib’s memorial national professional golf tournament KARAChI PrESS rElEASE

Last year’s defending champion of Bank AL Habib’s Rashid D. Habib Memorial National Professional Golf Tournament- Matloob Ahmed is leading on third day with under 8 and 208 gross. Muhammad Shabbir along with M Munir are trailing behind with joint score of 212 gross 4 under par. The third round started early morning around 0745 hours with very chilled weather and windy condition. It was tough for golfers to hit straight shots and making putts in the wind. First round of senior professional category was played today. Iftikhar Hussain of Rawalpindi Gymkhana Club is leading with gross score of 70 gross and 2 under par.

they have five, the workload of 16-17 overs a day on your fast bowlers, or at the most 20, will become even more. So their injury risks will rise. And the quality of their bowling - if you raise the load of a 145-150kph bowler from 18 overs to 25-26, then what will happen? Their quality will be compromised." The ICC is likely to formally consider four-day Test cricket later in 2020 in order to free up calendar space, which is increasingly saturated with T20 leagues and bilateral commitments. The concept of regular four-day Test cricket has drawn contrasting views in the past week, with england captain Joe Root tepidly endorsing it, saying it was "worth trialling", before reiterating his preference for five-day cricket after a thrilling finish at Cape Town. Meanwhile the likes of Virat Kohli, Nathan Lyon and Glenn McGrath, are all against further fiddling with the longest format. "I don't like to see any change to the length of this format at all," Waqar told eSPNcricinfo. "It's beautiful this way and when you trim it down to four days, you are going to compromise the standard of it. Hypo-

thetically, one lengthy first innings can suck the fun out of the Test and the probability of drawn games will be too high. every day in five-day Tests has its own intrigue and importance and the fifth day is the one that offers the most thrill. "I know there have been several three or four day finishes as well but that is because of the pitches. Fiveday Test cricket is special and it should be preserved the way it is. You already experimented with ODI cricket a lot and it's still fine but Test cricket we should leave as it is. "The temperament and patience level is set for five days and it is meant to gauge a player's composure, fitness and his ability. Four-day cricket is going to add extra workload on bowlers because they'll have to bowl a lot more and there'll be no respite for them. Are you reducing the days simply for commercial value? For that, go ahead and try day-night cricket." Misbah also spoke about the importance of a fifth-day pitch. "The wear and tear of a pitch in five-day matches is different from that in fourday cricket. In the subcontinent, or even a place like Australia, the fifthday pitch has a unique quality. Look at the england and South Africa Test - it went to the fifth day and was decided right at the end. even the West Indies Test, the last Test Younis Khan and I played, went right to the end.

No qualms touring Pakistan if I hadn't retired: Mashrafe Mortaza dhAKA AGENCIES

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza on Saturday said that he would have chosen to travel to and partake in the upcoming tour of Pakistan had he not retired from Test and T20I cricket, according to The Daily Star. "To be honest if you ask me, I would have gone to Pakistan but obviously I would have consulted my family. But if you only ask me about going to Pakistan or not, I would say yes, I would go," said Mortaza. However, the 36-year-old said that the decision is a personal choice and those who end up deciding against touring Pakistan should be respected. "It doesn’t mean that those who do not want to go are at fault as obviously, life comes be-

fore the game. So, it’s important that the individual makes the call and with due respect. everyone is right from their own perspective," he said. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has invited Bangladesh to play three T20I and two Tests this month. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants to play the T20s in

Pakistan but insists that the Tests be staged on neutral ground. The PCB on the other hand, has maintained that it would no longer play its home series abroad as security concerns have been addressed with the successful hosting of the Sri Lanka series. The BCB is expected to take a final decision when the board meets on Sunday.

preparations afoot to hold next edition of sag in pakistan: durrani ISLAMABAd APP

Secretary Information and Broadcasting Akbar Hussain Durrani said on Saturday that the next edition of South Asian Games (SAG) would be held in Pakistan and preparations had started to hold the event in a befitting manner. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Inter Board Sports Gala (Boys) 2020 at Pakistan Sport Complex Islamabad, he hailed Pakistani athletes, who claimed a total of 32 medals at the recently held SAG in Kathmandu, Nepal. “Our athletes exhibited stunning show at SAG to earn these medals. I’m sure they will live up to the expectations in future international events also and raise the country’s flag high by winning medals,” he said. He said that he also visited Nepal during the SAG wherein athletes from around seven regional countries showcased their skills in various disciplines. Durrani said that Pakistan was blessed with diversity of cultures and youth of all the four provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir were highly talented. Pakistani youth can achieve any feat and the world also knew that, he expressed.

pakistan's new fitness standards set by keeping top 4 model in mind: misbah NEWS dESK Head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has revealed that the new fitness standards of the Pakistan national team have been set by keeping in mind the fitness models of the four of the topmost cricket playing nations. According to the chief selector, the previous fitness test standards were set in accordance with the strength of the Pakistan players. But Misbah is quoted as saying in a PCB podcast that he is drastically changing the fitness regime of the national team. "Now, the fitness tests of the national team will be held every two months instead of four," he said. "We have raised the standard of fitness we expect our players to meet." "Players often think that fitness is to be worked upon during off-season only. But the point of revamping the standards is to ensure that they maintain their fitness regardless of whether they have been playing or not," he said. Misbah talked up the effectiveness of the new fitness model, saying that even the players that fell short of meeting the current standards were fitter than the ones who would ace previous tests. "Although the cricketers have their shortcomings in certain areas of the fitness tests, they have still surpassed the previous standards, which is a good sign," he said. It is pertinent to mention that the PCB has implemented a 15 per cent salary fine on players failing to meet the fitness standards.

Maxwell attributes red-hot form to mental health break SYdNEY AGENCIES

Australia's Glenn Maxwell has said that his red-hot form in the ongoing Big Bash League was due to the much needed break he took to address his mental health issues. The explosive all-rounder flagged his struggle with mental health in October and spent much of the subsequent seven weeks with friends and family before quietly returning to action. The Melbourne Stars captain hammered 83 not out off 45 balls to pull off a tricky chase against Melbourne Renegades, sealing the victory with his seventh six at the Marvel Stadium on Friday. "I think I'm starting to see the benefits now, I've got no demons in my head," Maxwell told Cricket Australia website.

"I've been able to get everything off my chest and been able to deal with things better "I'm still talking to people about managing different parts of my life and making sure I've still got that balance."

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Maxwell is the second highest runaccumulator at this edition of the tournament, 20 runs behind team mate Marcus Stoinis (331) and has scored 182 runs without being dismissed in

his last three innings. "It's nice to be a bit more relaxed when I'm batting," said the 31-year-old. "I don't have anything going in the back of my mind, I don't have any of these other thoughts. It's been nice and calm out there." He has been left out of the upcoming one-day series in India after an underwhelming 12 months of 50-overs cricket, including a poor World Cup outing in england. Maxwell doesn't believe his Big Bash purple patch would pave the way back into the Australian one-day squad. "This is T20 cricket. They're playing one-day cricket." "One-day cricket is completely different. They will probably write that my World Cup wasn't good enough. I'll just try to keep doing as well as I can for the Stars."

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

NEWS

IndIan army chIef threatens to Invade azad KashmIr GEN NARVANE SAYS ‘INDIAN ARMY WILL MOVE TO CLAIM AJK IF PARLIAMENT ORDERS’ ISPR DG SAYS INDIAN ARMY CHIEF’S ‘RHETORIC’ A BID TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM INTERNAL TURMOIL

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NdIA’S new army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that if the Indian parliament approves, the Indian army will move to claim Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), according to reports in the Indian media. Speaking to media in New delhi, Gen Naravane claimed that a parliamentary resolution stated that the “entire erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir” — a reference to the region including AJK — is part of India. ” […] there is a parliamentary resolution from several years ago about this that the entire erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India,” he said, according to Hindustan Times. “If parliament desires that area to also become our part at some point and if we receive any orders to this effect then action will definitely be taken,” Naravane added. Commenting on the Indian Army chief’s remarks, Inter-Services director General Asif Ghafoor said the ‘routine rhetoric’ was aimed at diverting attention from ongoing internal turmoil.

“Statements by Indian COAS to undertake military action across LoC (Line of Control) are routine rhetoric for domestic audiences to get out of ongoing internal turmoil,” Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a tweet. “Pakistan’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any act of Indian aggression,” he added. Statements by Indian COAS to undertake military action across LOC are routine rhetoric for domestic audiences to get out of ongoing internal turmoil. Pakistan Armed Forces are fully prepared to respond to any act of Indian aggression. — dG ISPR (@OfficialdGISPR) January 11, 2020 Tensions between Pakistan and India had spiked sharply – after delhi

annexed occupied Kashmir on August 5 last year by revoking the region’s special constitutional status – and remain high ever since because of the situation in the occupied valley. Ongoing widespread protests in India against the controversial citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens renewed fears of Indian aggression. It is suspected that the Indian government may undertake a diversionary misadventure against Pakistan because of its worsening internal situation. Those concerns were strengthened by the deployment of missiles along the Line of Control and extraordinary movement of Indian troops. Gen Naravane, who was appointed as India’s 28th army chief last month, had further ratcheted up the tensions in his first media interview soon after as-

suming the command in which he said: “If Pakistan does not stop its policy of state-sponsored terrorism, we reserve the right to pre-emptively strike at the sources of terror threat and this intent has adequately been demonstrated in our response during surgical strikes and Balakot Operation.” The Foreign Office in Islamabad had denounced Naravane’s statement as reckless, saying: “We reject the new Indian army chief’s irresponsible statement regarding ‘pre-emptive strikes’ across the LoC inside Azad Jammu and Kashmir.” The FO said that the Indian leadership should not be mistaken “about Pakistan’s resolve and readiness to thwart any aggressive Indian move, inside its territory or AJK”. The Indian army chief was reminded of Pakistan’s “befitting” response to the “Balakot misadventure” in which two of their jets were downed and one of the pilots, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured. The pilot was released days later amidst international efforts to defuse the stand-off. The director general of the InterServices Public Relations (ISPR), Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had also responded to the Indian army chief’s threatening statements, saying Gen Naravane “knows full well the situation in the region and the capability of the Pakistan Army. He was part of the Indian force on Feb 27 as well. So he’s not new.” Maj Gen Ghafoor had expressed the hope that Naravane “will no longer let go of reason”. “The Pakistan Army knows how to defend the country and India also knows this,” he had said at the time. NEwS DESk

Karzai visits Nawaz, says happy to see him in 'good health' News DesK Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Saturday said he was happy to see former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif in “good health”. Talking to reporters after meeting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo at his London residence where he had gone to inquire after the latter’s health, Karzai said that Nawaz had been “extremely kind” to him during his visits to Pakistan and on his visits to Afghanistan. “I was happy to see him in good health,” the former Afghan president said, adding that Nawaz had expressed his gratitude to him for inquiring about his health. Karzai was received by

Nawaz’s sons Hussain and Hassan upon his arrival at Avenfield House. The former premier’s brother, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, and his sons were present during the meeting with the former Afghan president. Nawaz had arrived in London on Nov 19, along with his brother Shehbaz after the government and courts granted him permission to travel abroad on medical grounds. Nawaz and members of his family have consulted with several doctors, including those who specialise in cardiac issues and immune disorders. He had arrived in London three weeks after he was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court in the Al Azizia case on medical grounds.

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Indian protesters condemn Modi visit as citizenship law demos rage KOLKATA AGENCIES

Thousands of angry protesters took to the streets to tell India’s leader he was unwelcome in Kolkata on Saturday, in the latest rally against a citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims. Widespread street demonstrations, and occasionally deadly clashes, have gripped the Hindu-majority nation since the law was approved by parliament last month. Police said nearly 30,000 protesters took to the streets of Kolkata to denounce Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, with many linking hands to form human chains that spanned miles through the streets of the eastern megacity. “What we are fighting for is the future of India,” Surita Roy, a woman who joined the rally, told AFP. A crowd mobbed the city’s airport and chanted “We are against fascism” as the Indian leader’s plane touched down before he transferred to a military helicopter that carried him to the house of West Bengal state leader Mamata Banerjee — a vocal critic of Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist government. Police stopped protesters from following Modi to the chief minister’s house, but Banerjee told journalists after their meeting that she had asked him to repeal the law “for the larger interests of the country” and then joined the street protests herself. Critics say the law is a precursor to a national register of citizens that many among India’s 200 million Muslims — around 15 per cent of the country’s population — fear will leave them stateless. Many poor Indians do not have documents to prove their nationality. Modi has, in turn, accused his political opponents of “misleading” and “inciting” people against his Hindu nationalist government. His party has launched a door-to-door campaign in a bid to dispel “misinformation” about the law, which they insist is not discriminatory. At least 27 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed during clashes with police after defying restrictions on demonstrations in several states of the country. But hundreds of thousands of protesters have continued to meet public across the country and demand a rollback of the law.

Iran's problems mount as US announces new sanctions wAsHINGTON AGENCIES

The United States piled new sanctions on Iran’s already crippled economy Friday and defended the killing of a top Iranian leader, saying he had been planning an “imminent” attack on US embassies. The sanctions, announced at the White House, marked the latest salvo in a US-Iranian confrontation that risked sliding into war a week ago with the deadly US drone attack on general Qasem Soleimani, by some measures the second most influential person in Iran. In response, Iran fired volleys of ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing US

troops, without causing casualties. While President donald Trump said he would not respond further militarily, Washington is intent on maintaining pressure. The sanctions mean “we will cut off billions of dollars of support to the Iranian regime,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the White House. The measures targeting Iran’s steel industry and eight state officials came on top of massive sanctions already aimed at bringing the country’s economy to its knees. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that sanctions so far

“have deprived the regime of billions in revenue.” “Oil revenues (are) down by 80 per cent and Iran cannot access roughly 90 per cent of its foreign policy reserves,” he said. “As long as Iran’s outlaw ways continue we will continue to impose sanctions.” Among the senior Iranian officials targeted in the new measures were Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, the Iranian armed forces deputy chief of staff and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij militia, a volunteer force loyal to the regime. Seventeen Iranian metals producers

and mining companies were listed. The sanctions also included a network of three entities that are based in China and the Seychelles as well as a vessel “involved in the purchase, sale, and transfer of Iranian metals products,” the Treasury said in a statement. ‘IMMINENT’ THREAT QUESTIONED: Critics are questioning why Trump — who has been impeached and faces a Senate trial in the coming days — ordered Soleimani’s killing last week. The administration has pushed back against accusations that Trump acted recklessly, insisting that longtime US foe Soleimani was on the brink of launching an attack and had to be stopped. On

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

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Thursday, Trump said that Soleimani had been planning to blow up the US embassy in Baghdad. However, officials did not back up that scenario. On Friday, Trump shifted, saying “probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad.” “I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies,” Trump added in an excerpt of an interview due to air later on Fox News. Earlier, Pompeo said the US had “specific information” on “imminent” attacks “against American facilities, including American embassies, military bases.” But “we don’t know exactly which day it would’ve been executed,” he said.