E-Paper PDF 21th January 2020 (ISB)

CMYK

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020 I 25 Jamadi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 19.00 I Vol X No 202 I 16 Pages I Islamabad Edition

FLOUR CRISIS

Govt approves duty-free import of 0.3m tonnes of wheat g

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eCC allowS wheat to be imPorted till marCh 31, firSt ShiPment to arrive by feb 15

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Sindh Govt to buy 0.4m tonneS of wheat from PaSSCo to overCome ShortaGe

oPP SenatorS CritiCiSe Govt for wheat ShortaGe, Slam miniSterS for makinG moCkery of CitizenS’ PliGht

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STAFF REPORT

he economic Coordination Committee (eCC) on Monday approved the import of 0.3 million tonnes of wheat without regulatory duty amid an unprecedented price hike and country-wide shortage during the past few days, as criticism continued to mount on the federal government over the rising prices of essential commodities across Pakistan.

Chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul hafeez Sheikh, the committee has allowed for wheat to be imported till March 31, with the first shipment due to arrive

by February 15.

It has also asked the Punjab government and the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) to release wheat stocks in order to overcome a country-wide shortage.

A statement issued by the Finance Ministry said that Punjab and PASSCO have approximately 41 tonnes of wheat stocks available.

It is not yet clear from which country or countries Pakistan will be importing the wheat.

According to sources, the federal government suspects that the Sindh government is not providing accurate data about its wheat stock.

The PPP government had informed the eCC that they have 0.804m tonnes but did not release the stock in the local market. Subsequently, documents show that in November, eCC had approved the release of 0.10m tonnes for Sindh and 0.150m for KP to avoid any crisis and directed the provincial governments to implement price control act in their jurisdictions.

SINDH TO BUY 0.4m TONNES WHEAT FROM PASSCO: Meanwhile, the Sindh government, which did not procure wheat from its growers in 2019, has decided to purchase 0.4 million tonnes of wheat from PASSCO to overcome the wheat crisis in the province.

The Sindh government did not procure wheat from the growers in the province citing financial crisis and availability of carry-over wheat last year.

According to sources, the provincial food department has more than 0.5m tonnes of wheat stock from the previous season. In 2019, the Sindh Food Department had procured 1.4m

tonnes of wheat while the federal government allowed export of 0.5m tonnes of stocked wheat. however, corruption and mismanagement had caused loss of wheat to the provincial authorities, sources added.

PUNJAB TO DISPATCH 5,000 TONNES WHEAT TO KP: In a related development, the Punjab government on Monday decided to dispatch 5,000 tonnes of wheat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on a daily basis.

Addressing a meeting in this regard, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said that the Punjab government will provide wheat from its stock as a goodwill gesture to help overcome the flour shortage in KP. he also directed to continue steps for stabilizing the price of flour, adding that unjustified increase in the price of Chakki flour will not be tolerated and assured to take necessary steps in this regard.

The meeting was told that the food department inspected 1,119 flour mills and took action against 542 mills by suspending their wheat quota. Similarly, 88 flour mills’ licenses have been suspended and fine of Rs140m has been imposed.

OPP SENATORS SLAM GOVT: Meanwhile, senators belonging to the opposition parties on Monday criticised the government for the wheat shortage and rising prices of essential commodities in the country.

“This issue concerns the people of Pakistan,” said Senator Sirajul haq, the chief of Jamaat-eIslami, during Monday’s session. “Pakistan is an agricultural economy,” he said, adding that it is the eighth-largest wheat producing country in the world. “Despite this, the people of Pakistan are desperate for roti [bread],” lamented haq.

Govt, opp reach consensus on Sikandar raja’s appointment as CeC STORY ON PAGE 03

PM abolishes 150 licences to stimulate local businesses STORY ON PAGE 11

forward bloc emerges in Pti in Punjab assembly

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

after wheat, sugar also goes missing from markets

PM Imran to meet President Trump on WEF sidelines

STORY ON BACK PAGE

STORY ON BACK PAGE

Rights lawyer Jalila Haider detained at Lahore airport for over six hours STORY ON BACK PAGE

Govt may approve up to 214pc hike in gas prices

STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 02

wells praises Pakistan’s efforts against illegal uS immigrants

STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 05

GIDC abolition to increase price disparity in fertilizer sector

CMYK Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

02 NEWS

PM IMran to Meet PresIdent truMP on WeF sIdelInes PM to foCuS on IMProvInG PaKIStan’S eConoMy, PeaCe and StabIlIty, and InveStMent durInG tHree-day davoS vISIt ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan will meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

According to a Foreign Office (FO) statement, this would be the third leadership-level interaction between Pakistan and the US since the premier’s visit to Washington in July 2019. The premier is also expected to meet other world leaders on the sidelines of the summit, said the FO statement. This year’s three-day forum will commence on January 21 and the

Flour crisis ContInueD fRoM pAge 01 “What is cruel is that a federal minister, standing among people, says that people eat more bread in November and December, which has caused the [wheat] shortage,” said

premier is attending at the invitation of Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF Professor Klaus Schwab. The prime minister will also deliver a keynote address at the WEF’s Special Session and interact with CEOs and other corporate leaders during “Pakistan Strategy Dialogue”.

The FO added that the premier will also speak to senior international media persons and editors during a session with the Forum’s International Media Council. The prime minister will give interviews to major international media outlets.

“Several meetings are also scheduled with a wide range of corporate, business, technology and finance executives, and representatives of

Haq. “Do these people have hearts of stone?” he questioned, adding that the minister had made a joke out of the people of Pakistan.

Haq was referring to Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed’s remarks at a press conference on Saturday, where he was asked about the wheat shortage. “In Novem-

international financial institutions,” said the FO statement.

The thematic focus of the session for this year is ‘Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World’.

This year’s session marks the 50th anniversary of the forum. In keeping with the significance of the milestone, political leaders, business executives, heads of international organisations and civil society representatives will deliberate on contemporary economic, geopolitical, social and environmental issues.

“Throughout his engagements at Davos, the prime minister will share Pakistan’s vision and achievements in the areas of economy, peace & stability, trade, business and investment

ber and December, people eat more bread than usual,” Rasheed had said, eliciting laughter from the room. “It’s not a joke, a study backs my claims,” he had added.

During the Senate session, Haq and other senators censured the government for Rasheed’s remarks. “The world is making fun of us,

opportunities. He will also highlight the current situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan’s perspective on key regional and international issues.”

Prime Minister Imran will return on Jan 23 after the completion of the tour. The total expenditure of the visit is estimated to be $68,000, according to the Press Information Department (PID). Former prime minister Nawaz’s visit was valued at $762,199. His successor, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, spent $561,381 and PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani spent $459,451 on their respective trips during their respective tenures.

The PID statement said that Prime Minister Imran has issued special directives to further cut down expenses on his foreign trips. He has also directed to keep expenses of the next month’s trip to a minimum, it added.

saying people have walked on the moon and in Pakistan, people are waiting in lines for a bag of wheat.”

Haq’s comments were echoed by Senator Usman Kakar of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), who questioned who was responsible for the crisis. “The main culprit is the anti-people

CMYK

government and those who have imposed it on the people,” said Kakar. “They have made life difficult. People haven’t voted for them, which is why they are continuously punishing people,” he added.

Kakar lamented that the prices of all essential commodities had increased by around 13 per cent to 15pc on average, while some items were being sold for up to 200% more than the previous price. “Naan [bread] was sold for Rs20 in Quetta, but is now being sold for Rs40,” he said.

“And then you are even making fun of the people,” he said, referring to Rasheed’s remarks. “The opposition should take a stand against the government until they apologise to the people,” said Kakar.

BLAME GAME: On Sunday, the opposition and Centre had continued to bicker over who was to blame for the fast declining wheat reserves in the country.

While the PTI had laid the blame squarely on the Sindh government, citing untimely purchasing and a subsequent shortage in supply to the flour mills, the Sindh government had taken exception to being the target of “a dirty blame game” and in turn held the prime minister responsible.

Kaleem Imam to remain Sindh IGP until Centre responds, SHC rules KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday ordered the provincial government to not remove Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kaleem Imam from his post until the federal government formally responds to the provincial government on the subject. “Remove him whenever the federal government responds, even if it is this evening,” the judge said. The court directive came during the hearing of a petition against the Sindh IGP’s removal. In the petition, the applicant, rights lawyer Jibran Nasir had summarised everything that had happened in the case, starting from the Sindh cabinet’s meeting that had decided that the IGP should be removed, to the Establishment Division’s refusal to remove Imam from his post as due discussions were not held between the federal and provincial governments. The petitioner sought that the Sindh government’s move to “remove Imam without due process” be blocked by the court. Opening his arguments, the petitioner’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqui, said that the court has already blocked the Sindh government’s move to transfer two police officers out of the province. “Now they want to remove the Sindh IGP, and put someone else in his position,” the lawyer said. Siddiqui argued that the Sindh government did not mention any consultation with the federal government in their letter to the establishment division. Responding to the petitioner’s argument, Additional Advocate General Sindh Shabbir Shah said that the matter is of public interest. However, he conceded that the federal government was yet to respond to the Sindh government on the matter of the current IGP’s removal. The hearing was then adjourned till January 28.

CMYK Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

NEWS

GovernMent, oPPosIton reach consensus on sIkandar raja’s aPPoIntMent as cec MeHMood JatoI and nISar durranI lIKely to be SeleCted aS MeMberS of eCP froM baloCHIStan and SIndH, reSPeCtIvely ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE government and opposition on Monday reached consensus on the appointment of Sikandar Sultan Raja as the chief election commissioner (CEC) after Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif agreed on his name from the three names proposed by Prime Minister Imran Khan a few days ago.

Raja Sultan Sikandar will replace Sardar Raza Khan, who retired as the CEC after completing his term on December 6, 2019. He recently retired as a 22-grade officer after holding the post of chief secretary of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

He also served as a secretary in various federal ministries and was once the director of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Reportedly, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had also endorsed the name of the former bu-

reaucrat as the CEC while Raja Pervez Ashraf of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had proposed the name of the former Attorney General Irfan Qadir but his name did not get the approval of Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.

Meanwhile, the government and opposition have also agreed on the names of Mehmood Jatoi and Nisar Durrani as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Balochistan and Sindh, respectively.

On January 15, the premier had written a letter to the opposition leader to draw his attention to his previous letter written on December 4, for consultation on appointment of the CEC as required under clause (2A) of Article 213 of the constitution.

“In order to have meaningful and result-oriented consultations and as another attempt to resolve this longstanding issue, I hereby propose the revised panel, comprising of following, for the appointment of the chief election commissioner of Pakistan,” the letter had stated. The nom-

inees included former federal secretaries Jamil Ahmed, Fazal Abbas Mekan and Sikandar Sultan Raja.

Meanwhile, a source in the PML-N had informed Pakistan Today that the party might choose Raja for the post after taking the leaders of allied opposition parties into confidence.

On January 17, the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs had discussed at length the deadlock over the nomination of new CEC owing to the difference of opinion in this regard.

Chaired by Senator Pervaiz Rashid, the meeting was also attended by Senator Sikandar Mandhro, Senator Brigadier (r) John Kenneth Williams, Senator Walid Iqbal, Senator Hilalur Rehman and senior officers from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the ECP along with all concerned.

The meeting had also discussed the display of voters’ lists and procedures for correction in voters’ lists; promulgation of the ordinance; vio-

lations and impact. The committee was of the view that parliament could not be overlooked in this matter and the best way to address this issue was through a mechanism set by parliament. The committee had expressed grave concerns over women being disenfranchised from their right to vote in parts of the country. The members had deplored the fact that almost 13 million women voters have not been registered.

The committee had recommended that the ECP in collaboration with NADRA should revise its lists.

It was stressed that the ECP and NADRA must reach out to women, especially in rural areas to bridge this gap keeping in view the record available with NADRA regarding family registration certificate. While discussing the case study on promulgation of ordinance by the president of Pakistan in terms of Article 89, the committee was of the view that narrowing the ambit of Ordinance Promulgation through the constitutional amendments must be resorted to.

It was asserted that as per the ruling of the Senate chief, it must be mandatory for all ordinances to be laid in parliament on the first day of Senate session.

lHC asks govt to file separate request if it does not believe nawaz's medical reports PMl-n’s ahsan Iqbal sent to jail on judicial remand ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

An accountability court on Monday turned down a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to extend the physical remand of detained Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal in the Narowal Sports City case and sent him to jail on judicial remand until next hearing. At the outset of the hearing, NAB officials presented Iqbal before the judge, requesting a 14-day extension in his physical remand for further questioning in connection with an investigation into the scam. However, the judge observed the accused has already been in the bureau’s custody for 28 days and asked if they want his 90-day physical remand. A NAB prosecutor informed the court that Iqbal was arrested on Dec 23 as the probe into the case is underway. He added statements of witnesses have been recorded after the arrest of the PML-N leader. Meanwhile, the court gave the accused permission to meet his family members inside the jail.

He was also allowed to have home-cooked food and access to medical treatment. Iqbal is accused of using government funds to build a sports city in Narowal. He had already filed a reply to a questionnaire given to him by the bureau previously. Sources said the NAB Rawalpindi chapter has already received a complete record of the project to investigate alleged financial irregularities, which multiplied the estimated construction cost of Rs300 million to Rs3 billion.

LAHoRe STAFF REPORT

A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Monday directed the federal government to avail ‘appropriate remedy’ after examining the medical reports of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Presiding over the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif against the condition of the indemnity bond imposed by the government on the removal of Nawaz’s name from Exit Control List (ECL), Justice Tariq Abbasi told the government’s lawyers that they should have filed a civil miscellaneous application for Nawaz’s return. The court observed that according to the order issued by the LHC, Nawaz must return to the country after getting a fitness certificate from his doctors.

The court said that the government can file a separate request if they do not believe reports regarding Nawaz’s health.

The former premier’s counsels said that Nawaz’s medical reports, submitted to the court, indicate that he is not fit to return to Pakistan. Contesting their argument, Additional Attorney General Ishtiaq A Khan said that the bail granted to Nawaz had lapsed and he should have returned to apply for an extension.

Justice Mushtaq Ahmed inquired from the counsels whether Nawaz would return from London. To this Justice Abbasi lightheartedly remarked that “some others are making an effort to go abroad”.

A day earlier, the Punjab government had

rejected the medical report of the former prime minister, claiming it was prepared by a private UK doctor instead of his general physician in London.

According to sources, the medical report sent by the private doctor lacks details about Nawaz’s treatment with regard to his blood platelet count.

According to rules in the UK, the medical summary includes data of a patient’s complete check-up issued by the same doctor who the patient has been seeing on a regular basis as well as the medical history of the patient. In November last year, the government had given a “one-time” permission to former premier to travel abroad for his medical treatment for a period of four weeks. Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem had said the permission was “not conditional to anyone’s consent” and was granted to fulfill the government’s obligations in view of Nawaz’s “adverse critical medical condition”.

However, the government had asked the Sharif family to submit an indemnity bond “to the tune of Rs7-7.5 billion”. Following this, the PML-N had rejected the government’s decision, terming it “biased” and “based on revenge politics”.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif announced that the party’s legal team had approached the LHC against the condition of submitting indemnity bonds and had accused the government of playing “dirty politics”.

Subsequently, on Nov 16, the LHC had allowed Nawaz to travel abroad for a period of four weeks, extendable on the basis of medical reports and had suspended the condition of submitting indemnity bonds.

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PMl-n says will consider PM’s talks offer when it comes The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday said that the party has not received any offer for a dialogue from Prime Minister Imran Khan, hours after the premier’s close aide Naeemul Haque dropped a hint that he was ready to hold talks with the opposition parties. PML-N leaders said that the party will make a decision about holding talks with the government, should an offer arrive, after holding consultations with other parties. Speaking in a TV show on Sunday night, Haque had claimed that the government would not back out from talks with the opposition. Over the past few months, opposition parties have accused the government of using an anti-graft drive to settle political scores.

The government, on the other hand, has accused opposition politicians of looting wealth and stashing it abroad. It is pertinent to mention that the government is also facing problems from coalition partners in the parliament who are unhappy over its failure to honour the promises made with them. The premier has also tasked a special team to resolve the issues of the coalition partners after a minister of the ruling coalition from Karachi quit the government in protest over broken promises. Speaking on the recent criticism of the government by its allies, Haque said their concerns were valid. “We have to tell them [allies] that the government doesn’t have funds,” he said. “Politics is about ‘give and take’.”

Rejecting speculation that a deal or understanding had been reached between the government and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, he said no “give or take” had been conducted in the case of the former prime minister. NEWS DESK

04 ISLAMABAD

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

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no wheat, flour shortage in KP, says food minister PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Food, Qalandar Khan Lodhi Monday said that sufficient stock of wheat and flour was available in the province, saying there was no question of any crisis. Talking to media, he said that due to the efforts of the Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, the supply of flour has been restored from Punjab. He said that the stores of the Food Department have over 0.4 million ton wheat while negotiations with Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) was continued to increase the wheat reserves of the province. He said that the daily wheat quota of flour mills has also been increased up to 5000 metric ton that will help bring down the rates of flour in few days. About the strike of nanbais (bakers), he said that the provincial government had offered them the provision of flour on concessional rate that was the interest of both the public and nanbais. He said that despite the offer of the government, the strike was uncalled for. The provincial minister said that the government will not burden the people to benefit only few persons while efforts for the facilitation of the people were continued.

He said that the government was providing concessional flour to the people at their door steps and directed the food authorities to take stern action against profiteering. APP

two women held with over 2kg heroin ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Police on Monday arrested two women with over two kilogrammes of heroin here in Golra police station jurisdiction. According to details, the police team led by SHO Golra police station Shabbir Ahmed Tanoli conducted operation against drugs smugglers in the area. During operation, two women stated to be mother and daughter were apprehended with 2.050-kilogram heroin. The recovered drug was being smuggled from Peshawar to Islamabad where it was to be supplied in the educational institutions of the federal capital. The police after registering a case against the detained women have started an investigation. STAFF REPORT

KP education minister directs activation of district scrutiny committees PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Education Akbar Ayub Khan here Monday directed activation of district scrutiny committees within 15 days and asked them to start work in their respective districts as quickly as possible for promotion of education services.

He said private schools regularity authority has been established to regulate and provide better facilities to private schools. He expressed these views while presiding over a high-level meeting of government and private schools. Special Secretary Education Zareeful Mani, Director Education Muhammad Ibrahim, Managing Director PSRA Tasfeen Haider, Managing Director Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation, Irfanullah Khan and office bearers of Private Schools Education Network attended.

The Minister directed private schools to cooperate with the authority so that the students and teachers’ problems could be addressed on priority basis. He said Private Schools Education Network (PEN) would be given representation in boards in matters pertaining to affairs of private schools and public and private sectors reforms.

The Minister directed taking up issue of nonrelease of salaries of Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation with Finance Department and address it on priority basis. APP

MUZAFFARABAD: A beautiful view of Pir Chinasi after heavy snowfall. ONLINE

Ijaz, alIce dIscuss securIty, Internal affaIrs ISLAMABAD

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APP

INISTER for Interior Ijaz Ahmad Shah and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells Monday discussed issues pertaining to security and internal affairs in detail.

During the meeting, the minister apprised the visiting dignitary that the issue of illegal stay of expatriate Pakistan had been resolved satisfactorily.

Ijaz Shah said an effective strategy had been devised to streamline the verification of passports and travelling documents.

The report, containing details of the cases solved during “November, December and January,” had been issued to the US embassy.

The minister said a strategy had been finalized for registration of Inter-

national Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). He said the organizations following the prescribed criteria would not face any difficulty.

The visiting delegation was also appraised about the development regarding Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Alice Wells said “We appreciate the cooperation extended by the government of Pakistan”.

The Interior minister agreed with the suggestion, that there should be a proper system in place, from which benefit can be taken in future also.

Alice Wells said timely answers from the Pakistan government were appreciable.

She said it was heartening to know that Pakistan government had showed remarkable performance on the issues in a short period of time.

The minister was of the views that introduction of these steps were also welcoming for the development of the

country. The meeting ended with commitment that both the sides would

work together to improve the relations between the two countries.

KP CM directs for early finalisation of uplift projects under KDDP PESHAWAR APP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan Monday directed for immediate finalization of development schemes, to be undertaken under the Kohat Division Development Project (KDDP), in consultation with public representatives.

He was chairing a meeting regarding the Kohat Division Development Project (KDDP) here. A comprehensive detail of priority schemes should be chalked out by February 10 of the ongoing year for final approval. The project is expected to be launched by mid-February this year for which the Chief Minister directed to undertake a comprehensive study of the Annual Development Programme and other developmental projects in pipeline for avoiding duplication of schemes.

The project will be funded from the royalty funds of the oil and gas producing districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Kohat Division. The provincial

government will also contribute 20% fund from the Annual Development Programme to ensure equal development of non oil producing Tehsils in the division. The chief minister was informed that 147,000 households were expected to directly benefit from the development initiatives aimed to increase the income, employment and livelihood opportunities in the project areas on sustainable basis.

The project area covers District Kohat, Hangu and Karak having a total of 673 villages where an estimated amount of Rs15 billion will be spent including Rs 9.7 billion for infrastructure development, Rs 4 billion for poverty reduction and Rs 0.9 billion for development of Agriculture, Livestock and forestry.

Some of the initiatives to be undertaken include construction of 7 small dams in District Karak, one small dam in District Hangu, rehabilitation of 8 existing irrigation schemes, operationalization of 39 non functional water supply schemes, rehabilitation of 100 Kms rural roads, provision of infrastructure

facilities for 135 girls primary schools and 65 BHUs and rehabilitation of 100 tube wells in which the lifespan of installed equipments have expired.

Regarding the portfolio of Kohat Division, the Chief Minister was informed that 87% cultivated area was rain-fed with less than 50% of the population having access to clean drinking water. With poverty ratio higher than 50%, Kohat division is urgently in need of government attention.

The Chief Minister stated that uplift and development of backward areas of the province was the topmost priority of the provincial government for which the government was taking pragmatic measures and the KDDP, a major step towards achieving uniform development in the province.

The meeting was also attended by MNA Shahid Khattaq, Advisor to CM on Energy and Power Hamyatullah Khan, Advisor to CM on Merged Districts Ajmal Wazir, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Shahab Ali Shah, Secretary Energy and Power and others.

NAB distributes Rs14.4m among 56 affectees of Lake Vista Residentia Housing Scheme ISLAMABAD APP

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi has distributed Rs14.4 million among 56 affectees cheated by the owners of a fake housing society Lake Vista Residencia located at Mouza Abdullah, Adayala Road Rawalpindi.

The accused Malik Muhammad Azam has already been arrested on the allegation of cheating public at large by promising people for giving houses in his scheme.

He escaped after collecting huge amounts from general public against the promise of giving them fully constructed houses in the said society.

NAB (Rawalpindi) had so far

received complaints from 56 complainants, against accused Malik Muhammad Azam and others who neither provided them houses nor returned their money after failure to hand over houses, said a press release issue here on Monday.

Accused persons attracted the general public by making undue commitments that the housing scheme consisted of 4000 Kanal Land and all the facilities like

swimming pools, Gymnasium, Parks, community center, Mosques and amusement parks had already been established there. They claimed in their advertisement that 25% development work had already been completed and rest of the development would be completed in 3-year time. Accused failed to fulfill their promises.

Director General NAB Rawalpindi

Irfan Naeem Mangi said the bureau was making all out efforts to recover the looted money from the swindlers.

However, the practice to invest in the unauthorized schemes in greed of more interest and returns on investments must be ended and discouraged. He urged the people to invest only in the government approved banking system and investment companies.

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

GIDC abolItIon to InCrease prICe DIsparIty In FertIlIzer seCtor FFC oFFiCiAL SAyS deCreASed rAteS wiLL BrinG down CoMpetitorS’ proFit BeCAUSe they were SeLLinG FertiLizer exCLUSive oF GidC LAHORE

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HASSAN NAQVI

HE Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Monday approved the removal of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) for the fertilizer sector to decrease urea prices by Rs400 per bag following an assurance from Fauji Fertilizer Corporation (FFC) to the same, however, this development may cause a price disparity in the market.

Until Monday, the GIDC on fertilizer feed was Rs300/MMBTU and fertilizer fuel was Rs150/MMBTU. FCC, Pakistan’s largest fertilizer manufacturer with a market share of 50 per cent, and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim (FFBL) had been accruing GIDC in their costs whereas Engro Fertilizer (EFERT) had only been accruing in its old plant and not on its new plant (Enven) due to concessionary gas pricing. On the other hand, Fatima Fertilizer (FATIMA) was not accruing GIDC at all due to concessionary gas pricing.

According to Topline Pakistan Research, this development is positive for FFBL and DAP and ‘Neutral’ to ‘Positive’ for FCC if the complete reduction in GIDC is passed to the consumers, boosting the demand for urea. However, it added, the industry may try to reduce the urea prices by Rs350 per bag to recover from the Rs50 per bag hit it took at the time of GIDC imposition. “We expect

this development to be negative for EFERT and FATIMA due to concessionary gas pricing,” it stated.

AKD research said this development would have mixed results.

“Assuming fertilizer players will pass on the positive impact to farmers by reducing urea price, it will result in a positive impact for FFBL (due to cost saving in DAP business) but negative for EFERT and neutral for FFC,” it stated.

“However, we also present sensitivity analysis by incorporating the recently proposed gas price hike. As per our calculations, the 136/32 per cent feed/fuel gas price hike will translate into Rs370 per bag, as per our estimates, bringing down the impact of gas price hike to Rs160 per bag. Assuming the fertilizer players do not pass on the excess Rs160 per bag impact (Scenario B), this will have negative earnings implications for FFC, FFBL and EFERT. If the fertilizer players will passon the differential between GIDC removal and revised gas prices to end consumers (Scenario C), it will keep FFC’s bottom line intact, with slight negative implications for FFBL, as DAP prices will remain the same,” AKD research added.

However, sources told Pakistan Today that this decision will result in a lot of ambiguity pertaining to future of urea prices since GIDC is not payable on the complete gas mix of other fertilizer manufacturers. In these circumstances, while FFC may reduce its prices by Rs405 per bag, Fatima Fertilizer and Engro Fertiliz-

ers will not be able to reduce the price.

When contacted, a senior official at FFC said that when they reduce the price it would have a great impact on farmers and they would be able to decrease their costs.

When asked how they expect to make a profit if they decrease the price by Rs405, the official said, “It will have an impact on our competitors as their profit margins will go down because they were not paying GIDC like us in the past but they were selling fertilizer at the same price as us.”

‘PRICE DISPARITY’: A well-placed source in the industry told Pakistan Today that this implies that urea will be sold to fertilizer dealers at multiple prices who will then sell it at higher rates, hence benefitting from the price disparity with no benefit to the emerging gas circular debt and farmers.

When asked why there was no price disparity in the past when every player had a different GIDC impact, the source said that the price of urea, like any other commodity, is set by the demand-supply dynamics and the buyer’s purchase capacity. “As farm economics have improved over the past few years, the prices of urea have increased accordingly with no linkage to the GIDC,” the source said.

It’s worth mentioning here that GIDC was introduced in 2012 and had the full impact been passed on, the prices would have been almost Rs325 higher than the existing prices. So, all the players had already been absorbing GIDC to some extent.

The source also said that when one player increased prices in the past, the others waited to witness the acceptability of prices at a certain level. “It has always happened in the past and the urea demand has always shown minimal elasticity to the prices as the average annual demand has remained around 5.7 million metric

LAHORE The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday extended its stay order against the formation of a new joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the Model Town incident.

The bench summoned Chief Secretary Maj (r) Azam Suleman after the provincial government failed to submit its reply in the case in Monday’s hearing.

The bench remarked that the government was playing

05

that while different players would continue to have disparity in their cost structures, as is the case right now, the selling prices of urea have been and would continue to be determined by the demandsupply dynamics and the capacity of the buyer to purchase.

He said that another U-turn is in the making as earlier in Sept 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan had decided to withdraw the GIDC Ordinance.

The source said that the proposed mechanism of eliminating GIDC discriminately for the fertilizer sector only to benefit big landlords would seriously undermine the ongoing litigation on GIDC settlement. To support big landlords and certain influential business groups, the government is compromising its GIDC case that may cost the nation Rs800 billion, the source claimed.

The industry players did not agree to the level of urea price reduction with the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoI&P). “In a supply constrained industry with varying GIDC in the cost structure, waiving GIDC will lead to varying price levels and create confusion,” the source added.

The source further said that GIDC is already part of the federal budget, therefore, waiver of GIDC will further exacerbate the piling fiscal deficit.

“The government is discriminately benefiting an industry [FFC] at the cost of nation at large,” a senior official at a fertilizer plant said, adding that progress on TAPI and similar other pipeline projects would be seriously jeopardised with this decision.

ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL: The official said that an alternative proposal made to the industry called for abolition of prospective GIDC coupled with an increase in fertilizer feed gas prices which would provide relief to the burgeoning Gas Development Surcharge (GDS) deficit while ensuring no change in urea prices.

This would have brought Rs50bn to the government in the form of GDS reduction whilst bringing the prices of fertilizers feed somewhat closer to the general industry – though still almost half even with the proposed increase, the official added.

Army rescues 22 LUMS students stranded in GB for five days

LHC extends stay order against new Model Town JIT

STAFF REPORT

tonnes over the past five years despite varying pricing levels,” the source added.

FERTILIZER SECTOR IN 2019: In 2019, farm economics improved significantly due to which output prices also increased and this was reflected by the fact that the industry made record sales of urea, touching 6.2 million metric tonnes as against the past five years’ average of 5.7 million metric tonnes.

“Just during the month of December 2019, the industry recorded a sale of 1.4 million metric tonnes - highest ever in a month - at the current urea pricing level of Rs2,040,” the source added.

When demand and supply are at equilibrium, all players are needed to fill in the demand-supply gap as FFC alone can only meet 50 per cent of the market demand.

WHO WILL BENEFIT THE MOST? Another well-placed source in the industry said that when FFC reduces the prices, other industry players might still maintain the prices as the affordability of these rates has already been established and tested.

“This will create confusion and in this confusion the big landlords will benefit the most (due to their purchasing power) along with dealers who will buy from FFC at reduced rate and sell at Fatima Fertilizer’s rate (whose rate would be highest due to lowest reduction in cost for them),” the source said.

“The industry players would still be able to command different prices due to the overall shortage of urea and in the medium term, FFC would increase prices back to the market level, considering that they would be the only one at loss in these circumstances with no benefit to the government and the farmer,” the source added.

WHAT WILL DETERMINE THE MARKET PRICE OF UREA? Another well-placed source told Pakistan Today

NEWS

with the heirs of the deceased in the Model Town incident.

“It seems the government is not serious in the case proceedings. It is the first case where the accused want a decision while the government showing indifference,” the judge said.

The LHC bench in an early hearing directed the concerned authorities to provide reports of the two JITs in the next hearing besides submission of record for the formation of a new investigation team with the approval of the Punjab cabinet. Moreover, the court has also sought a record of the recommendations sent to advocate general of Punjab for the establishment of the JIT. The LHC judge had remarked that all particulars must be produced in the next hearing, otherwise, the court will summon the provincial chief secretary and other concerned officers.

About 14 supporters of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri were killed by Punjab police in June 2014 during an anti-encroachment operation outside his residence. The PAT had claimed that the operation was launched at the behest of the Sharif (Nawaz and Shehbaz) brothers and some PML-N ministers.

Faisal Vawda held dual nationality at time of filing nomination papers: report Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda was a dual national at the time of filing his nomination papers to the ECP to contest the general elections in 2018, The News on Monday. The PTI stalwart, who was recently reprimanded by PM Imran Khan for bringing an army-style boot to a TV show, was an American national at the time of filing nomination papers, the report revealed. Vawda submitted his nomination papers on June 11, 2018, which were approved by the election body a week later on June 18, the report said. However, the PTI leader applied for the renunciation of his nationality with the US consulate at Karachi four days after the fact on June 22, 2018, the report revealed. It merits a mention here that according to the law, dual nationals are not allowed to contest elections unless they give up their second nationality. In 2018, the SC disqualified two PML-N lawmakers, Haroon Akhtar and Saadia Abbasi, for holding dual nationalities at the time of filing papers to the election commission. Both the members were disqualified under Article 63(1)(c) of the Constitution, which says that a person will be disqualified from being elected or chosen member of parliament if he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan or acquires the citizenship of a foreign state. NEWS DESK

CMYK

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army on Monday rescued 22 students who had been stranded in a snow-hit area of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) for the last five days, said a statement issued by the military’s media wing. The students – 13 boys and nine girls – of the LUMS went to Rattu Ski Resort for skiing but were stuck there due to heavy snowfall and landslides, the ISPR said. The rescue operation was carried out on the directives of COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa soon after the LUMS administration approached the army for help. STAFF REPORT

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW

The Berlin conference BenefiTed everyone excepT The liByans THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE THAT THE SUMMIT WAS NOT INTENDED TO HELP THE LIBYANS OR THEIR LEGAL GOVERNMENT, BUT WAS MEANT TO FIND A WAY TO SOLVE THE CRISIS FACING THE INTERESTS OF THE WORLD POWERS WHICH HAVE CERTAIN ALLIES IN THE REGION INVOLVED IN PROXY WARS IN LIBYA

Middle eAst Monitor

T

MotaseM a Dalloul

HE international peace summit held in Berlin on Sunday to find a solution for the ongoing conflict between the UN-backed interim Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez Al-Sarraj and the renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia, France, Italy and other countries, neglected the interests of the Libyans, while serving those of such foreign states and their proxies.

Haftar has strong links with America’s CIA, and failed in 2014 to oust the elected Libyan parliament, the General National Congress (GNC). On 25 June of that year, a new parliament was elected with a turnout of only 18 per cent compared to 60 per cent for the GNC. For several reasons, the Libyan Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on 6 November 2014 that the new elections were unconstitutional and consequently the new parliament should be dissolved.

Later in the same year, the GNC was restored, but Haftar and his allies in the new parliament rejected these measures and have been convening their own “parliament” in Tobruk ever since. The UN, meanwhile, helped with the formation of an interim government led by Al-Sarraj and recognised it. At the end of 2015, the GNC in Tripoli and House of Representatives in Tobruk signed a political deal — the Skhirat Agreement. However, on 17 December 2017, Haftar declared the agreement void.

Several attempts to bring the two sides together have failed. Since April 2019, Haftar’s forces have been trying to capture Tripoli. No state except Turkey has actually tried to stop Haftar’s strikes or help the UN-recognised government to survive. The UN only announced an embargo on supplying arms to either side of the conflict.

Meanwhile, several regional and international powers have been supporting and hosting Haftar, and even violating the UN arms embargo by sending troops and military equipment to him. More than 2,000 people have been killed with 120,000 others

displaced since the start of start of the campaign against Tripoli. Several cities, where most of the oil plants are located, have been captured by Haftar forces in the process.

With this military conflict and political stalemate, the country is plagued with chaos, insecurity and instability. The Libyan people will be grateful to anyone who helps them to stabilise their country, make their life normal and allow democracy to thrive. It seems that they are not ready to return to a dictatorship like that of Muammar Gaddafi or any of his generals, such as Khalifa Haftar.

The Berlin conference was announced in the wake of the failure of a meeting in Moscow last week where Haftar refused to sign a ceasefire deal with the GNA. Germany announced that it would get the leaders of the countries involved in the Libyan issue to respect the UN arms embargo and agree on a ceasefire. However, the parties attended the conference, where they and the UN seemed uninterested in solving the conflict, stabilising the country or helping the Libyan people; they did not come up with anything tangible to end the crisis. Their remarks proved that oil production was the main priority, not helping the Libyans.

According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leaders who participated in the summit agreed not to provide any military support for the warring sides in Libya. Will this hold up, given that the foreign powers which have been helping Haftar did not respect the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council, which represents almost 200 countries, not just the few which went to Berlin?

Merkel recognised that an agreement could not be reached because of the obstacles put in the way

by Haftar, but pointed out clearly at the end of the summit that her country wants a fair distribution of oil revenues between Tripoli and Tobruk. Why a “fair” distribution of revenues? Why didn’t the summit insist that oil revenues must be given only to the recognised government and Haftar’s attacks on the capital must be stopped and the general himself apprehended? Obviously this was because the veteran

German politician did not want to complicate matters for her country’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer, Wintershall Holding GmbH, which is the oldest established oil company in Libya. Germany believes that international intervention will perpetuate the conflict in Libya, and that if there is a “fair” distribution of oil revenues between the two rival institutions in the country this would not only sustain oil production, but also guarantee a more stable environment for Wintershall.

The final statement of the summit only reiterated the importance of turning the ongoing truce — being violated by Haftar every day — into a permanent ceasefire. No blame was attached to those who have been violating the UN arms embargo or those who support illegal attacks against Tripoli by Haftar’s forces. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recognised that the escalation in Libya has reached a dangerous point and that nothing was done in Berlin apart from a verbal commitment to end the escalation.

It is hard not to conclude that the conference was useless in terms of security, stability and an intention to end the conflict. “The Libyan sides have made a small step forward since their meeting in Moscow [held last week],” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “It is clear that it is not yet possible to establish a stable serious dialogue between them [the UN-backed government and Haftar]. The differences in approaches are too great.”

According to Bloomberg, “Access to Libyan oil is a major incentive for Putin.” Russia has so far sent 2,500 mercenaries to fight alongside troops loyal to Haftar.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was reported as saying that he hoped Libya’s oil facilities, blocked by pro-Haftar factions, will reopen as a result of the summit. “America has a counterterrorism interest there [in Libya],” a statement issued by the US State Department quoted Pompeo as saying.

“There are important energy opportunities there in Libya… One of the things I did mention is that we hope that the closure that had taken place — the

closure of some of the crude oil getting out — we hope that will be opened up as a result of this conversation as well.”

There are also UN concerns about oil. “I am very worried,” explained Guterres, “by the fact that several ports, several harbours from where oil is exported, have been blocked and that one very important oil field is also stopping after today.” Obviously, he added, we believe that part of a more comprehensive solution would have to be an effective reform of the National Oil Corporation, establishing the way things are done, and we hope that it will be possible to establish normality but of course it will depend on all the other tracks.”

The final statement of the conference read: “We call on all parties concerned to redouble their efforts for a sustained suspension of hostilities, de-escalation and a permanent ceasefire. We call for the termination of all military movements by, or in direct support of, the conflict parties, in and over the entire territory of Libya, starting from the beginning of the ceasefire process.”

There is enough evidence that the summit was not intended to help the Libyans or their legal government, but was meant to find a way to solve the crisis facing the interests of the world powers which have certain allies in the region involved in proxy wars in Libya. Haftar, who walked out of the internationally-backed Skhirat Agreement, sent a message to the Berlin summit that the ceasefire would not be respected, simply by continuing his attacks on Tripoli.

If the international leaders were really interested in ending the chaos and conflict in Libya, they could have decided to form a group to ensure the implementation of the “unhonoured” ceasefire or call for all countries to respect the UN arms embargo. At the very least, they should have formed a task force to go to Libya immediately and bring an end to the violations, stabilise the country and prepare it for the democratic process, as happened when NATO intervened against Gaddafi in 2011.

Turkish and Syrian spymasters meet in Moscow THE MOSCOW MEETING BETWEEN THE TURKISH AND SYRIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS COULD SUGGEST THAT A NORMALISATION PROCESS HAS FINALLY KICKED OFF BETWEEN ANKARA AND DAMASCUS

Al Monitor Metin Gurcan

When Turkey’s intelligence chief and defense and foreign ministers traveled to Moscow last week, the main issue on their agenda was thought to be the conflict in Libya, but out of Russia’s toolbox came a surprise. Under Russian mediation, the Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs met face to face in what was the first highlevel Turkish-Syrian encounter since 2011, when Turkey’s then-Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. After nearly nine years of enmity, is the Jan. 13 meeting the precursor to a normalization process between the two neighbors?

To start with, it was Damascus that wanted the world to know the meeting took place. Syria’s official news agency SANA broke the news, running reports in both English and Turkish. The Turkish version read: “The Syrian side, represented by Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the head of the National Security Bureau, urged the Turkish side, represented by Hakan Fidan, the head of the National Intelligence Organization, to fulfill its obligations under the Sept. 17, 2018 Sochi [agreement] on Idlib, particularly with regard to cleansing the region from terrorists and heavy weaponry and opening the Aleppo-Latakia and Aleppo-Hama highways.”

The Syrian side is said to have requested support to cajole Turkish-con-

trolled armed rebel groups around Idlib into joining Assad’s forces.

Sources in Ankara told Al-Monitor the meeting took place after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to take low-level contacts between Turkey and Syria to a higher level at his Jan. 8 meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.

According to information obtained by Al-Monitor, the Syrian side urged Ankara to outline a timetable for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria — first from the de-escalation outposts in Idlib, starting from those in the south of the province, and then from Afrin and the triangle between Jarablus, al-Rai and alBab, and finally from northeastern Syria.

The Syrian side pressed Turkey to fulfill the commitments it made on Idlib under the Sochi deal with Russia, especially in terms of reining in rebel groups in the province, fighting the al-Qaedalinked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and unblocking the Aleppo-Latakia and Aleppo-Hama highways. This suggests that Damascus’ primary demand from Ankara is to evacuate its military outposts at Morek, Maarat al-Numan, Arima, al-Surman and Tell Touqan in southern Idlib.

When it comes to Turkey’s position at the meeting, the Turkish side conveyed the following main points: n Turkey respects Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and acknowledges that its military presence in Syria is temporary. n The United States appears to be beefing up its military presence to the east of the Euphrates and could reinforce its military cooperation with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the area. n Damascus and Ankara need to draw

up a joint strategy against the YPG in the coming period. n A truce should be urgently secured in Idlib, as civilian casualties are rising due to the fighting and harsh winter conditions. n Enhanced collaboration and coordination are required between the two countries’ intelligence services to prevent misunderstandings and unwanted incidents on the ground. n Coordination is needed on the use of northern Syria’s airspace.

Although Ankara’s outbursts against the Assad regime may continue, the meeting could be deemed the beginning of a new phase, in which Turkey accepts Damascus as an interlocutor after almost nine years of ignoring it as an enemy. Bilateral ties are likely to improve via contacts between intelligence and security officials. Besides the Idlib issue and the withdrawal of Turkish troops, complex problems such as the status of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the YPG require solutions as well, boding tough negotiations in the coming period.

Could this first step toward normaliza-

tion lead to a meeting between Erdogan and Assad? Assad said in a December interview that he would meet with Erdogan if such a meeting served the interests of Syria.

A meeting between the two leaders appears unlikely in 2020, but the changing tone of the Turkish media and the talk in Ankara’s political corridors suggest the government is weighing the revival of ties with Syria as well as Egypt and Israel.

Turkish ambassadors are absent from all three countries at present. The widely shared assessment that those diplomatic ruptures have deepened Turkey’s isolation in the eastern Mediterranean has finally reached Erdogan’s palace.

The fact that the issues of Libya and Syria came up simultaneously in Moscow indicates that Russia expects Turkey to cede control in Idlib to Assad’s forces in return for Russian efforts to curb Khalifa Hifter’s forces in Libya, where Turkey backs the Tripoli-based government. In an intriguing pattern, seen in Libya as well, Turkish moves in the Middle East have resulted in Russia chalking up points on its own scoreboard. Syria has been no exception.

After Turkey’s Operation Peace

Spring on the eastern side of the Euphrates in October, Ankara and Moscow agreed that YPG-controlled areas evacuated by the United States would come under the control of the Assad regime. Yet the regime failed to accomplish that process. While Russia took over the bases that the Pentagon had established in northern Syria, the regime’s bargaining with the YPG proved inconclusive.

In Idlib, meanwhile, the Russianbacked regime forces intensified their ground offensive, recapturing about 40 towns to reach Maarat al-Numan, a symbol of the Syrian uprising. As heavy bombings by Russian jets drove hundreds of thousands of people to the Turkish border, the Putin-Erdogan summit resulted in a cease-fire last week. Yet air raids and clashes in Idlib continue.

For sure, Maarat al-Numan, the key town on the M5 highway between Aleppo and Damascus, bears little significance for Ankara now that it has ventured into energy wars in Libya and the eastern Mediterranean. Nevertheless, Ankara has defied Moscow’s expectations in Idlib so far, still reluctant to evacuate its outposts in Morek, al-Surman and Tell Touqan, which are already under regime control, and its bases at Arima and Maarat al-Numan, which are in close proximity to the ongoing clashes.

Will Turkey hand Idlib over to the regime in return for a halt of Hifter’s advance on Tripoli? The answer, it seems, will not require a long wait. In any case, Ankara appears increasingly willing to give up its territorial claims in northern Syria and seek Damascus’ support in curbing the YPG and its military collaboration with the United States.

The five outposts in southern Idlib stand out in the ongoing arm-wrestling between Ankara and Damascus. A continued presence of Turkish troops indicates that Ankara still has the stronger hand, and if the troops leave, it means Damascus is gaining the upper hand.

Metin Gurcan is a columnist for AlMonitor’s Turkey Pulse. He served in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Iraq as a Turkish military adviser from 2002 to 2008.

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

Ukraine to press for plane crash black boxes as iranian minister visits KIEV

U

Agencies

KrAINE will press Iran to hand over the black boxes from the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane at a meeting with a visiting Iranian delegation on Monday, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko told reporters.

Ukraine would convey the message to visiting Minister of roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami, that returning the black boxes would show that Iran wanted an unbiased investigation of the crash, Prystaiko said.

“His main task is to apologize and acknowledge what happened. We hope that we can go a little further than just political discussions and discuss practical problems. Among them in particular is the return of the black boxes,” Prystaiko said. Iran had

said on Sunday it was trying to analyze the black boxes from the airliner its military shot down this month, denying an earlier report it would hand them to Ukraine. All 176 aboard the flight died.

“At first they stated that they were handing them over, then the same person stated that they were

not handing them over. This created some misunderstanding in Ukraine and we were starting to be asked: are they being handed over or not?”

Many of those killed had were Iranians with dual citizenship, but Iran does not recognize dual nationality and on Monday said it would treat the victims as Iranian nationals.

FOREIGN NEWS 07

Canada, which had 57 citizens on the flight, said there were still no firm plans for downloading the recorders. Ottawa and other capitals have called for the black boxes to be sent abroad.

The Jan. 8 plane disaster has heightened international pressure on Iran as it grapples with a long-running dispute with the United States over its nuclear program and its influence in the region that briefly erupted into open conflict this month.

The Iranian military has said it downed Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in error in the aftermath of tit-for-tat strikes by the United States and Iran. But authorities delayed admitting this, prompting days of protests on Iran’s streets.

Ukraine held a ceremony at Kiev’s Boryspil airport on Sunday as the bodies of 11 citizens, including nine crew, were returned to Ukraine.

Dust storms and giant hail batter bushfire-weary Australia SYDNEY Agencies

Thunderstorms and giant hail battered parts of Australia’s east coast on Monday after “apocalyptic” dust storms swept across drought-stricken areas, as extreme weather patterns collided in the bushfire-fatigued country.

Australia has since October been overwhelmed by an unprecedented bushfire season made worse by climate change.

Swathes of the country have burned, hundreds of millions of animals have died, more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed and at least 29 lives have been lost. Violent hail storms pelted the capital Canberra on Monday, with footage showing the storm ripping branches off trees.

Emergency services were warning people there to “move cars undercover and away from trees and power lines”.

The bureau of meteorology told people in the

southeast of New South Wales, including Sydney, to brace for the approaching storm.

“Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging, locally destructive winds, large, possibly giant hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours,” the bureau said.

Two people visiting the popular tourist destination the Blue Mountains were taken to hospital when a 16-year-old boy was hit by lightning and a 24-year-old man suffered injuries while leaning on a nearby metal railing.

“These people are extremely lucky to be alive,” Ambulance New South Wales duty manager Greg Marshall said in a statement.

“One centimetre either way and they would have faced a direct hit which could’ve been fatal.”

They both remain in hospital in a stable condition.

LIKE AN APOCALYPTIC MOVIE: Dramatic images captured over the weekend from western New South Wales show a massive wall of dust rolling through outback towns. Locals reported being cast into darkness in the middle of the day.

“We are used to the ritual and rush of bringing in washing, turning air cons off, closing windows and doors, before a big dust storm hits,” Ashleigh Hull from the rural town of Dubbo told AFP. This one was “more spectacular” than the typical dust storm, she added. “It was honestly like

an apocalyptic movie, a huge wave coming towards us, really quite impressive, but I just wish it actually brought a good amount of rain, not dust.” The southern city of Melbourne was also lashed by huge hailstones late Sunday.

In Victoria, where bushfires continue to smoulder, heavy rainfall overnight was welcomed in fire grounds in the north, but authorities said it also brought with it new dangers. State Premier Daniel Andrews said the rain meant “much more dangerous conditions” for those operating heavy machinery to get into areas damaged by bushfires, while landslides complicated efforts to open up closed roads. The wet weather has brought a reprieve for many fire grounds along the east coast, but authorities remain on high alert, warning that the bushfire season still has weeks to run.

Experts expect Australia to lose billions of dollars in tourism revenue as a result of the fires.

The government over the weekend announced a Aus$76 million (US$52 million) recovery package to aid in the tourism recovery. The number of travellers booking visits to Australia has fallen 1020 percent since the fires began in September.

Tourism Australia was forced to suspend an upbeat advertising campaign launched in the middle of the crisis featuring pop star Kylie Minogue after the ad was met with incredulity about what many saw as poor timing.

online campaign to save malnoUrished lions at sUdan park KHARTOUM Agencies

Online calls grew Sunday to help save five “malnourished and sick” African lions held at a park in Sudan’s capital, with some demanding the creatures be shifted to a better habitat.

The five lions are held in cages at Khartoum’s AlQureshi Park in an upscale district of the capital, but for weeks now they have been suffering from shortages of food and medicine.

“I was shaken when I saw these lions at the park… their bones are protruding from the skin,” wrote Osman Salih on Facebook as he launched an online campaign under the slogan #Sudananimalrescue.

“I urge interested people and institutions to help them.”

Park officials and medics said the lions’ conditions deteriorated over the past few weeks, with some losing almost two-thirds of their body weight.

“Food is not always available, so often we buy it from our own money to feed them,” Essamelddine Hajjar, a manager at Al-Qureshi park told AFP. The park is managed by Khartoum municipality but also funded in part by private donors. Sudan is in the midst of a worsening economic crisis, led by soaring food prices and foreign currency shortage. On Sunday, crowds of citizens, volunteers and journalists flocked to the park to see the lions after their photographs went viral on social media networks.

One of the five cats was tied with a rope and was fed fluids through a drip as it recovered from dehydration, an AFP correspondent who toured the park reported.

Chunks of rotten meat covered in flies lay scattered near the cages. The overall condition of the park itself was also affecting the animals’ health, another official at the park said. “They are suffering from severe illnesses.

They are sick and appear to be malnourished,” said Moataz Mahmoud, one of the caretakers at the park.

It is unclear how many lions are in Sudan, but several are at the Dinder park along the border with Ethiopia.

African lions are classified as a “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Their population dropped 43 per cent between 1993 and 2014, with only around 20,000 alive today

World’s 22 richest men have more than all women in Africa: Oxfam NAIROBI Agencies

The number of billionaires has doubled in the past decade and the world’s 22 richest men now have more wealth than all the women in Africa, Oxfam said Monday in an appeal to the Davos elite to get serious about inequality.

“Our broken economies are lining the pockets of billionaires and big business at the expense of ordinary men and women.

No wonder people are starting to question whether billionaires should even exist,” Oxfam’s India head Amitabh Behar said.

“Women and girls are among those who benefit least from today’s economic system,” Behar said ahead of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, where he will represent Oxfam.

There will be at least 119 billionaires worth about $500 billion attending Davos this year, Bloomberg reported, with the highest contingents coming from the United States, India and russia.

“The very top of the economic pyramid sees trillions of dollars of wealth in the hands of a very small group of people, predominantly men,” the Oxfam report said. “Their wealth is already extreme, and our broken economy concentrates

more and more wealth into these few hands,” it said. The report said women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day, estimated to be worth at least $10.8 trillion a year.

Oxfam’s annual report on global inequality is traditionally released just before the forum opens on Tuesday in the Swiss Alpine resort.

It had some astonishing statistics. If the world’s richest one percent paid just 0.5 percent extra tax on their wealth for 10 years, it would equal the investment needed to create 117 million new jobs in elderly and child care, education and health, Oxfam said.

Oxfam’s figures are based on data from Forbes magazine and Swiss bank Credit Suisse, but they are disputed by some economists.

The numbers show that 2,153 billionaires now have more wealth than the 4.6 billion poorest people on the planet.

Women and girls are burdened in particular because they are most often care givers that keep “the wheels of our economies, businesses and societies moving,” Behar said.

They “often have little time to get an education, earn a decent living or have a say in how our societies are run,” and

“are therefore trapped at the bottom of the economy,” he added.

“Across the globe, 42 percent of women cannot get jobs because they are

responsible for all the caregiving, compared to just six percent of men,” Oxfam figures showed. The report called on world governments to “build

a human economy that is feminist and values what truly matters to society, rather than fuelling an endless pursuit of profit and wealth”.

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

08 COMMENT A test for PTI government’s diplomatic skills From euphoria to complaints

Mysticism in university education The devil is in the details

T

he government was simply effusive when President Trump promised to arbitrate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The extraction of the promise was presented as a diplomatic coup by the Prime minister. It was forgotten that mr Trump was used to giving off the cuff remarks and going back on them when advised otherwise by the State department or Pentagon. Within months mr Trump retracted the promise of arbitration.

Both the US and Pakistan need each other’s assistance for getting some of their crucial problems resolved. With no respite to the ongoing agitation in India against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National register of Citizens (NrC) the beleaguered BJP government could resort to adventurism in AJK to divert public attention from the vital issues. To justify the action it could engineer some sort of false flag operation. Pakistan wants US help to defuse the Indian pressure on the LoC. Pakistan also needs the US assistance to get off the FATF’s grey list.

Similarly, the US too is seeking Pakistan’s cooperation in extricating itself from Afghanistan. In case President Trump succeeds in this, this could help him a lot during the Presidential elections. As Foreign minister Qureshi reminded his American counterpart, Pakistan helped in bringing the Afghan Taliban to the table and ensured that the Taliban delegation was authoritative and powerful.

Later Pakistan’s security establishment worked hard to secure the release of two Western hostages as requested by the US. To fulfill yet another demand Islamabad got the Taliban to agree that they will stop blood-letting and hostilities. It is time the Trump administration is told that in diplomacy there is always a quid for every quo. In case the US declines to use its clout with India and the FATF, the government is likely to be accused by many of obediently carrying out the biddings of the Trump administration without getting anything in return for the country. Fm Qureshi is back in Islamabad with ms. Alice Wells following hard on his heels to discuss bilateral issues. many will wait with baited breath to see how the government’s diplomatic team plays its cards.

A bad year for press freedom The government is unwilling to take any criticism

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reedom of the press continued to deteriorate in this past year amid increased direct censorship, selfcensorship and state-sponsored hostility towards working journalists. This was highlighted in CPNe’s (Council of Pakistan Newspaper editors) report on media freedom 2019. According to the report 7 journalists were killed and 15 were injured in the line of duty. It falls upon media owners to ensure a safe working environment for working journalists. The report adds that at least 60 persons from the media were charged under the ATA (AntiTerrorism Act), which is a worryingly high figure, indicating towards the misuse of laws to shut down dissenting voices. 2019 also marked the first time a journalist, Nasrullah Khan, was jailed for allegedly being in possession of ‘banned material’. This sets a bad precedent that could lead to more arrests and convictions of journalists who are already working in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Attempts were made by the PTI government to give legal cover to media censorship through the formation of ‘Special Tribunals’ that would act as media courts. Fortunately the collective rejection and outrage from the entire journalist community forced the government to drop the idea. At one point, an overactive PemrA (Pakistan electronic media regulatory Authority) issued directives restricting anchors to appear as analysts on other TV talk shows, an order that it had to retract later due to severe backlash. If indeed the government, as it had promised, was delivering in terms of governance, it would not have to enforce such ridiculous controls on the media to restrict reportage on its performance. most of the credit for the systematic erosion of freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19 of the constitution goes to the PTI government. The disdain for the media begins at the very top with Prime minister Imran Khan unable to absorb any sort of criticism, constantly complaining about how the press is unfair to his government and that there is a ‘mafia in newspapers’ occupied by ‘journalists who benefitted from the corruption of past government’s’. Unless Pm Imran Khan provides some specific names, his allegations are just convenient generalizations and baseless ranting. While in the opposition for his ’20-year struggle in politics’ it was the same media that kept him and his party relevant, especially during the dharna days and the Panama Papers Case that he essentially spearheaded. democracy cannot progress in the absence of a free and vibrant press. If the government and its sponsors are truly interested in such progress, they should let the media operate independently rather than try to control it.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

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Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

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haSaN aFTaB SaEED

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rIme mINISTer Imran Khan has directed the heC to add mysticism to university curricula. Khan attributes his famous transformation to spirituality, and there’s no reason to doubt his sincerity. That said; history is a long succession of events demonstrating that sincerity alone is not enough. So, while there’s nothing wrong with the act of updating curricula, if mysticism is presented as a part of Islam (which appears to be case), then there’s a serious problem with the whole exercise.

Khan is not alone in confusing mysticism with Islam; the two are distinct items. many sincere muslims believe the same. It’s easy to accept it as a given, considering the great influence the mystic interpretation has had on muslims for a thousand years and more. It would be interesting to go into that history, but that would be a deviation from today’s topic. For our purposes here, there are two categories of religions: revealed and mystic, depending on whether they are based on revelation (via prophets) or spiritual exercises to know the ultimate knowable realities. Islam happens to be a revealed religion. (Buddhism would be an example of mystic religions.) True, there have been mystic streaks in revealed religions too, mainly as rebellions against the emphasis on legal aspects and ritualization on the part of jurists. But these narratives suffer from the fatal defect of not being founded on the religious texts they are supposed to be founded on.

Islam is not based on any mystic exercises: seclusion, spiritual intuition, whirling, mystical insight and the like; and in the Quran there’s no concept of union (or communion) and nirvana;

let alone the pantheistic tendencies prevalent in of physical exercises, to develop their muscles mysticism. The Quran lays a considerable to an amazing extent, there’s nothing unreasonamount of stress on pondering on the universe able about somebody developing his ‘spiritual’ and everything in it, but none of that refers to side too, by psychological exercises. many scepanything mysterious. It is drawing conclusions tics of mysticism choose to deny such prowess based on observation of things around us, and in- on the part of spiritual gurus. But this response deed our own thoughts and psyche; just as we do to mystic claims tends to move the emphasis in worldly matters. mysticism, thus, differs from away from the most vital point. Which is this: If this sort of experience was crucial for muslims, Islam in a very basic measure.

Being ‘spiritual’ has always been fashion- the Quran would surely have something to say able. The hippies probably thought they were about it. That it doesn’t even mention mystic exvery spiritual and enlightened. People have re- perience or spiritual exercises says a lot. If a mystic believes he can see ported conversations with life in trees and can talk to ladies at airport bars who angels, then more power to complained that the world him. But there’s nothing was too materialistic for Islamic about it. mystics their spiritual selves. Like Whether mystic claims have tried to ‘solve’ this many others, Khan probaare true or false is a problem by inventing this bly takes the word as the distinction about religion opposite of materialism. subject for science (not for the masses (awaam) Part of the problem is that and religion for elites often we use words withreligion) and the jury will (khawaas). If it is Islam out knowing exactly what remain out until it is they are talking about, they they mean. We do have a must demonstrate this disvague idea and we seem to settled one way or the tinction from the Quran. think (quite sincerely) that other. And that is precisely Spirituality has been a we know what we are talkpet theme for Khan who ing about; but if somebody why those thirsting for it had vowed last year to demands to know the demake spirituality a ‘supertails (or we try and write it depend on arbitrary science’. Well, whoever down for ourselves), we instruction from knows what a super-sciare likely to draw a blank. ence is, but a science, spirNo wonder many discusspiritual gurus ituality certainly isn’t. At sions on mysticism and least not till the writing of spirituality sound awfully these lines. Whether myslike sitcoms where two or tic claims are true or false more characters are using the same words, but they have very different is a subject for science (not religion) and the jury things in mind. As for shunning materialism, the will remain out until it is settled one way or the Quran doesn’t endorse the view that matter is an other. And that is precisely why those thirsting illusion, or that the world is evil. Sure, there are for it depend on arbitrary instruction from spiria lot of harmful things in the world, but a lot of tual gurus. When (if) this process becomes transparent and gets documented like other subjects, good is there too.

If ‘spirituality’ (or anything else for that mat- it will automatically become a part of the psyter) is presented as Islam, then as a muslim, we chology curricula and the universities will start must settle for nothing less than being shown its teaching it like other subjects. In the meanwhile, basis in the Quran, the final word of God. If that the government need not worry about the matter. is not provided, then whatever else it may be, it As for Islam, it is quite complete in the Quran has nothing to do with Islam. The problem then and the Sunnat. is not with mysticism. The problem arises when Hasan Aftab Saeed is a connoisseur of music, it is presented as a part of Islam. mystics claim to see and hear things that or- literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be dinary mortals can’t. If men are able, by virtue reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed

Escaping ourselves Drug addiction as a temporary escape from our frustrations, uncertainties and all-engulfing ennui

Shah Nawaz Mohal

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o escape from the mundane, dull, boring, soul crushing, life-draining reality has been an endless quest of humanity.

We started off by concocting and telling each other stories that added a little enchantment and magic to our precarious existences.

Since then, to escape ‘all there is’ serious business to mankind. If meditation, ritual, belief, and imagination aided us to feel something beyond; drugs and alcohol helped us experience what we would have never felt in our conscious state of mind.

Choose your poison and let it kill you slowly, goes the saying. An escape from all that surrounds us is a persistent craving that pushes us to seek refuge in things that relieve boredom, people we love intensely, stories we weave, fantasies we dwell in and drugs that get us high before relegating us to the gallows.

Beyond the highs and the lows, beyond the eden and frustration, beyond the buzz and the withdrawal there lies a land where all addicts eventually end up. Feeling betrayed by society, drained of all ambitions and dreams, hell-bent to lose their present thoughts and past demons, an

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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addict seeks refuge in the vicious cycle that perpetuates itself sans an end. It ends, in most cases, with the demise of its prey.

Cocaine, heroin, marijuana, LSd, mushrooms and other substances are staples for those who are in the business of getting high. The extraordinary popularity of party drugs like ecstasy in recent years along with the rise in use of marijuana by people of all strata has inundated the entire country with folks who want to remain high till they die or wither away.

The indifference of the government in general and drug control agencies in particular can be gauged by the fact that last time government released a survey report documenting the drug use in Pakistan was back in 2013; it put the number of heroin addicts alone at around 3 million. While, according to various independent surveys of local and international NGos, a whopping 5 to 9 million individuals use various drugs in Pakistan.

Another startling statistic enough to put the whole state apparatus to shame is that according to a recent news report published in an english daily there are only four federally-administered drug rehabilitation centers in the entire country.

And no prize for guessing who benefits from the paucity of government rehabilitation centers.

The right answer is privately owned drug rehabilitation centers whose steady income is in no peril of decline. A huge number of drug addicts fall into the category of ‘repeat clients’, as they’ve been to rehabs multiple times. There are individuals who have undergone multiple treatments and once freed from the controlled environment reverted back to drugs. The relapse rate of heroin addicts, according to a study conducted

by Ayub medical College few years back with a sample size of 100 heroin addicts, is more than 77 per cent.

In the absence of political will, many of these rehabilitation centers take full benefit of poor governmental regulations, lack of checks

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and balances by concerned governmental bodies, and a near absence of rehabilitation facilities at government hospitals. The state has outsourced the most vulnerable segment of society to the money minting machines in entirety. many believe that the roots of the present day drug epidemic can be traced back to early 1980s during the Afghan war. The number of heroin addicts skyrocketed during that era. And since there is no running away from geography, being the immediate neighbours of Afghanistan- the largest producer of heroin in the world- came with a price we pay dearly and continue to till this day.

We can pin down the reasons why an individual becomes a drug addict to countless factors ranging from breakdown of societal norms, bad company, easy availability of drugs, curiosity, and urge to experiment to satisfy the need for momentary solace through substance abuse.

What we often miss out, however, is the psychological toll it exacts on lives of family of addicts. every now and then, the newspapers carry stories about bodies of drug addicts found in the streams that are taken to edhi centers afterwards.

The families of missing addicts throng these centers looking for their loved ones. If it is their son, the search ends. If it is someone else’s, their wait continues.

If the lows and losses of drug addiction imperil the lives of the individual concerned on the one hand, on the other hand society suffers as the pangs and pain of its viable, productive individuals cripple it. Are we waiting for a superman?

Well, there isn’t one coming. The resolve is conspicuous by its absence. The way forward is blurry. The suffering is all pervasive.

And all is rotten in the world we live, so we escape from not only our surroundings but ourselves.

Shah Nawaz Mohal is a law graduate and journalist based in Islamabad. He can be reached at mshahnawazmohal@gmail.com.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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The fire rages

From Saddam to Soleimani Pakistan should put its interests first in case of any escalation

KaMil ahMED

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rAQ for quite some time acted as a geographical barrier that clamped both political and military encroachment of Iran deep inside middle east. With the US Invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led to the execution of its Sunni Leader Saddam hussein, that buffer between Iran & its Shia allies for instance Syria and Lebanon initially faded and eventually evaporated.

Iraq despite being a Shia majority country had a Sunni leader for decades (1979-2003). during his rule which lasted for 24 years, Shia majority and Sunni Kurds were greatly marginalized and suppressed. When the US invaded Iraq, its state apparatus including Civil and military bureaucracy disappeared and that security vacuum was filled by Allied forces and a make shift Iraqi Governing Council which was installed to facilitate Allied forces to achieve their imperialist agendas in an unfriendly region, that too under a democratic garb which is typical of west. execution of Saddam hussein in 2005 was followed by what is called ‘Sunni rejectionism’. disenfranchised Baathists and Zarqawists led a campaign to convince Sunnis to not participate in the elections of 2005. As a consequence less than 1% of Sunnis voted in the province of Anbar.

Sudden evaporation of State apparatus after the US invasion indicated two things. one, that Saddam hussein lacked political legitimacy and second that Saddam didn’t expect a foreign invasion hence he didn’t prepare for it. he feared either a Shia insurgency that were in majority or a Kurd rebellion. Both of these factions have risen in the past at the beginning of first gulf war (1990-1991) only to be slaughtered at the hands of the regime of the time.

To deal with the question of domestic rebellion, Saddam had spread a vast network of mukhabrat (Intelligence). Praetorian divisions such as ‘Fiddayeen Saddam’ were consolidated while giving a go ahead to creation of proxy militias.

The problem with proxy militias is that they can’t be equipped with high tech weaponry that State Institutions have, otherwise the cover will blow up hence directly linking the proxy with the State. They can be used to silence domestic dissidents but in front of a foreign invasion that too by a world’s greatest military machine, they are of no use. however, elections in January 2005 led to a Shia majority government with Ibrahim al Jafari who was a candidate of dawa Party becoming Prime minister of Iraq. Iraq basically

Iran’s foreign military arm provided the constitutes 20 percent Sunnis and 65 percent Shia Arabs among other smaller demographics supportive role when Saddam hussein was of Kurds, Christians and Yazidis among others. being executed by the US. This is the same ‘AlPaul Bremer who was appointed head of Quds’ force whose leader was mercilessly mur‘Coalition Provision Authority’ by the Bush ad- dered in a US drone strike on 3rd January. Be it ministration, with the blink of an eye, disbanded Saddam or Soleimani, in the context of the midthe Iraqi army which rendered thousands of mil- dle east it is not a question of individual’s itary men unemployed. Paul Bremer was a great morality but a question of flagrant violation of proponent of ‘de-baathification’ and the afore- diplomatic norms and international laws. mentioned act was a step towards his ideals.

The US claimed in the Security Council that Baathist’s regime had a secular edifice till their drone strike was in line with article 51 of UN first Gulf War, after which Saddam deliberately Charter where Iran employed the same article to changed its political make up. For that ‘hamla justify their counter strikes on American bases in imaan’ (Faith Campaign) was launched. The Iraq which were meant more to provide face savPhrase ‘Allahu-Akbar’ was added to the Iraqi ing to an already unpopular Iranian regime than flag followed by the incorporation of medieval to inflict damage on imperialist forces.

Sharia laws.

Immediately after the drone strike, the The Gulf War took a toll on the economy of world was brought to the brink of a ‘Third the country. To tackle with the already grim World War’. Fuel prices rose 4% followed by economic situation owing to International Sanc- uncertainty in the global market. tions and to deflect criticism Saddam played the Anything which is not organic from vegreligion card. etables to a political movement is harmful and Prime minister Imran Khan more recently has unintended consequences. US intervenand Zia in the seventies also recklessly played tionist policy is the perfect recipe for disaster the religion card for aforementioned reasons and should be at all cost resisted but at the where changing the political make up is con- same time the international community doesn’t cerned. The mQm is an apt example of it in afford to turn a blind eye towards the illegitiPakistan. After Altaf hussain’s speech of 22 mate and tyrannical regimes in the middle east August (2018), mQm’s and beyond. leadership in Pakistan deUS presence in the liberately changed its pomiddle east clamps litical make up from a down Iran’s influence in Immediately after the sub-nationalist to an antithe Arab states which establishment party to a domestic rebellion drone strike, the world was fear hyper nationalist pro-esmore than a foreign intablishment party vasion. This anxiety brought to the brink of a overnight. All these politcomes from political il‘Third World War’. Fuel ical strategies are aimed legitimacy which a at gaining time and surKingdom rears and proprices rose 4% followed viving politically. vided that the region is by uncertainty in the Anyways, coming democratized on secular back to Iraq. Ban on grounds, this insecurity global market women employment was will fade away leaving put in place by Saddam’s little or no room for Iran regime to artificially reto push its sectarian duce the unemployment agendas that would connumbers and to please the far right of the country. tradict the justification for US presence to reA pretty interesting phenomenon which main at a bare minimum.

Colonel raybun, a US military Intelligence ofAs far as Pakistan is concerned, it finds itficer, observed was that Saddam hussein as- self as always in a very precarious situation sumed that the Baathists he was sending to owing to its geostrategic location and economic Islamic Schools would stay loyal to the Baathist dependency. Pakistan shares a border with Iran regime and he would be able to not only curtail and despite everything, the country has probut also control the Islamic movement which he vided buffer to Pakistan against the mess in the feared could unsettle his regime. What he middle east. We wouldn’t want that buffer to couldn’t foresee was that these Salafi Schools fade away where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and teachings would supersede their secular provides Pakistan economic life support in a diBaathist convictions. They became more loyal rect and indirect manner while it also employs to Salafism than to Baathism. hundreds and thousands of Pakistani labor.

The faith campaign in the 90s followed by Pakistan must seek to diversify placement the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, especially its of its labor overseas on war footing. This CPA head’s policy of de-baathification led to doesn’t provide immediate remedy even if it is the creation of a monster called ‘ISIS’. US then done on war footing, it will take years of planstarted fighting the same monster it created ning and implementation. So if the crisis were while presenting itself as a force of good resid- to flare up in the middle east, Pakistan’s best ing on a higher moral pedestal. bet is to play up its nationalist fervor with an inIn the context of Pakistan we have observed clusive & secular bent. the inorganic inversion of class hierarchy in the To survive the storm neither Saudi Arabia ‘Pakhtun belt’ while in Iraq through an inter- nor Iran but Pakistan solely has to be our mimventionist apparatus through Sunni supremacy bar (pulpit), musaf (book) and Imaan (faith). was reversed overnight. This may have represented a demographic reality of Iraq but also a Kamil Ahmed is a political activist and a reforeign hand intervening to impose a change search analyst based in Lahore. He can be concan only make matters worse. democracy is not tacted at beingkamil@yahoo.com. His Twitter a law that can be imposed. handle is: @beingkamil

The world cries wolf whenever there are accidents and crises looming around. enemy countries from across the world have been battling and shouting abuse at one another. But the world is in need of a pure cure in almost all the spheres and on various fronts like relationship, growth, technology.

What we have been witnessing for quite some time in Australia is something bizarre and something seriously dangerous. There have been reports back to back of bushfires in Australia. The first thing to be blamed for this is lethargic attitude shown by the administration in Australia. The latest deadly bushfire incidents have been reported from southeast Australia.

Firefighters have been hell-bent since then on extinguishing the burning bushes and trees in Australia. There have been numerous casualties and detrimental damage to civilians and property out there. Precaution is the key to firefighting. In my native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, people have encountered so many fire accidents and pre-emptive tactics have been so far utilized to tackle such situations. maybe countries like Australia and other nations grappling with Nature’s fury should take action to refurbish their equipment and other fighting gears apart from safeguarding green belt areas to neutralize bushfires in the bud.

P SENTHIL SArAvANA DurAI Mumbai

Economic troubles God has blessed us with holy Quran for guidance and a country to live in as free people. however, instead of using the holy book as guidance, muslims in general and our leaders in specific, use it as a tool to hide our follies. our political leadership and other power brokers have always done what they please without any regard for the country. They borrowed from ImF and other lenders in the name of development and spent it mercilessly on useless projects for personal glorification. What was left was wasted due to inefficiencies due to indifference of our leadership. result is that the country stays in perpetual state of economic abyss. Seventy-two years have gone by, but our leadership has not yet been able to lay the foundation of strong economy that provides for poor and needy. Instead of generating sustainable employment, our leadership tends to work on adhocism. Although we saw a few patches of economic growth, it was mostly focused on bigger cities with projects catering mostly to privileged urban population than masses. mostly our politicians have acted in self-serving manner doing what pleases and benefits them than the country. Therefore, we are in a debt trap we find impossible to get out of. rAJA SHAFAATuLLAH Islamabad

Air pollution AIr pollution is the biggest issue in Pakistan. It is destroying the lives of the people in various ways. It is an environmental issue of Pakistan which is being rapidly. It is being through many crisis, such as burning plastics,unlimited gases and industrializations. The motors and industries release dangerous gases like Carbon monoxide, Sulfur dioxide and Chlorol floor Carbon and Nitrogen oxide which are the main reason for air pollution on a large scale. In the same, the biggest city of Pakistan, Karachi which is affected in many ways by air pollution. According to a news report 22 percent of deaths in Pakistan are just because of air pollution and its afflictions.It is a factory to produce various diseases like, Allergy, lung cancer, Asthma and many more are the results of air pollution. So the Government has to impose some various rules for this cause.

AbIDA DIL JAN Turbat

Deadly winter grip The number of deaths roll and injuries are rising as harsh winter conditions grip Pakistan. The Provinces and some other regions of the country are suffering from a great winter threat.

For instance, 77 people died, including children and 56 are injured in Pakistan administered Kashmir due to landslides and avalanches which frightened other masses about their lives. on the other hand , other provinces and regions of Pakistan are also on the same track as Kashmir is and there is a dire need to save people from this catastrophic natural disaster. The administration and other sectors of the country can perform their due role in this regard to protect the inhabitants.

ALTAF ADAM bEzANJo Apsor, Turbat

Baloch levies BALoChISTAN levies are paramilitary gendarmerie in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It operates as one of two basic law enforcement agencies tasked with maintaining law and order in the province.The levies force has jurisdiction in most districts of Balochistan. It has its own origins back in the days of British raj. moreover, areas which are manned by and are under the control of the levies are called ‘’B-Areas’’ which constitute around 90% of the total area of Balochistan. even Though, Balochistan levies had been disbanded and merged into the provincial police force the regime of Parveez mushraf in 2002. After that, it was restored in 2010 by Balochistan’s C m Aslim rasani. But once again the propagandas are proceeding to disband Balochistan levies force.

ASEEL boHAIr Karki

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

sars-like virUs spreads in china, reaches third asian coUntry BEIJING

a

Agencies

new SArS-like virus has killed a third person, spread around China and reached a third Asian country, authorities said Monday, fuelling fears of a major outbreak as millions begin travelling for the Lunar New Year in humanity’s biggest migration.

The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute respiratory Syndrome (SArS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

Wuhan has 11 million inhabitants and serves as a major transport hub, including during the annual Lunar New Year holiday which begins later this week and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.

A third person was confirmed to have died and 136 new cases were found over the weekend in Wuhan, the local health commission said, taking the total number

of people to have been diagnosed with the virus in China to 201.

South Korea on Monday reported its first case — a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan. Thailand and Japan have previously confirmed a total of three cases — all of whom had visited the Chinese city.

No human-to-human transmission has been confirmed so far, but authorities have not ruled out the possibility.

Health authorities in Beijing’s Daxing district said two people who had travelled to Wuhan were treated for pneumonia linked to the virus and are in a stable condition. In southern Guangdong province, a 66-year-old Shenzhen man was quarantined on January 11 after contracting a fever and showing other symptoms following a trip to visit relatives in Wuhan, the provincial health commission said. He is also in a stable condition.

Another 44 people are under medical observation in Beijing, as well as a dozen more in Shenzhen and eastern Zhejiang province, according to state media.

“Experts believe that the current epidemic situation can still be controlled,” the National Health Commission said

Sunday. But the commission acknowledged that the source of the coronavirus and its mode of transmission have yet to be known.

The virus did not slow down the annual holiday travel rush, though some travellers wore masks at crowded railway stations in Beijing and Shanghai.

“Watching the news, I do feel a little worried. But I haven’t taken precautionary measures beyond wearing regular masks,” said Li Yang, a 28-year-old account manager who was heading home to the northern region of Inner Mongolia for the Lunar New Year.

DETECTION MEASURES: A seafood market is believed to be the centre of the outbreak in Wuhan, but health officials have reported that some patients had no history of contact with the facility The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Twitter Monday that “an animal source seems the most likely primary source” with “some limited humanto-human transmission occurring between close contacts”.

It said the new cases in China were the result of “increased searching and

Davos chief welcomes views of Trump, Greta Thunberg at forum DAVOS Agencies

The head of the World Economic Forum says it’s “reassuring” that US President Donald Trump and climate activist Greta Thunberg will both return to its annual meeting in Davos this year, noting that concerns about the environment will be a key topic.

WEF founder Klaus Schwab sees vast changes in business, society and culture over the 50 years since he created the yearly gathering in the Swiss Alps, which initially was a forum for business leaders but now is a key stop for policymakers and activists as well.

Following another year of extreme heat, out-of-control wildfires and melting ice sheets, environmental issues are considered to be the top five long-term risks confronting the global economy, WEF said last week, citing a survey of more than 750 decision-makers.

It said catastrophic trends like global warming, climate change and the extinction of animal species would top the agenda at the meeting that begins on Tuesday. The forum is shifting its focus of recent years from how technology is transforming lives to the environment and responsible business practices that promote jobs, fight climate change and work for social good along with profit-making.

The focus on environment could make for an uncomfortable subject for Trump, whose administration has called for expanded use of carbon-spewing coal, stripped away environmental pro-

tections and played down concerns among scientists about man-made climate change. Trump has also moved to take the US out of the landmark 2015 Paris accord to fight climate change.

Schwab says Trump is welcome because of his role on the world stage while Thunberg will keep the focus on the environment. Both will speak on Tuesday, the opening day.

“I think both voices are necessary,” Schwab said on Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press. “The environment will play a particularly important role during this meeting.”

Schwab pointed to the forum’s 160 “lighthouse” projects on inclusion and equality; economic development; technology governance; regional development; corporate leadership and

ecology, including a project to plant a trillion trees. “So if Greta comes this year, she will see that we have made substantial progress,” he said, alluding to her debut at the forum last year.

Time magazine chose Thunberg as its “Person of the Year” for 2019.

Schwab claimed the forum has helped air concerns about the environment since the 1970s, but said public awareness about climate issues has now exploded. “Now we have recognised the urgency, because we know the window to act (on climate change) is closing,” he said, adding he hoped to inject “this sense of urgency into the meeting.”

He said many companies are increasingly seeing the benefits of “ESG” — environmental, social and governance — concerns in their business

testing for (the virus) among people sick with respiratory illness”.

Scientists with the MrC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College in London warned in a paper published Friday that the number of cases in the city was likely to be closer to 1,700, much higher than the number officially identified.

Wuhan authorities said they have installed infrared thermometers at airports, railway stations and coach stations across the city. Passengers with fevers were being registered, given masks and taken to medical institutions.

State TV footage aired Monday showed medical staff working inside an isolation ward at a Wuhan hospital in fullbody suits. In Hong Kong, health officials announced they were expanding their enhanced checks on arrivals to include any-

models. “Companies recognise … doing good … it’s a precondition for some long-term survival,” Schwab said.

On Friday, Schwab and the chairmen of Bank of America and Dutch nutrition company royal DSM sent a joint open letter to corporate leaders on hand this year to set “a target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner” if their companies haven’t done so already. The forum chief said nearly all European Union leaders will be on hand this year, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He said the EU has a chance to lay out its vision for the future and turn the corner after three years of haggling over Britain’s departure from the bloc, which comes at the end of this month.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS MARCH ON DAVOS: Meanwhile, hundreds of climate activists, young and old, embarked on a three-day march on Sunday to the make their voices heard at the 50th World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos.

Some were disguised as flowers or koala bears — a reference to the bushfires currently ravaging their habitat in Australia — and holding banners including: “Let’s ignore the Donalds and listen to the Gretas”, referring to US President Donald Trump, and “Make the world cool again”.

The group, brandishing banners warning “Climate crisis: a world economic failure” and “there is no Planet B,” urged political and business leaders to take responsibility for averting environmental catastrophe as they set off from the small town of Landquart some 50 kilometres (32 miles) from Davos.

“The climate question is the number one issue and it should simply be topic number one at Davos too and participants should recognise that; it is essential they go in this direction,” Katherine, a Zurich-based pensioner, told AFP.

Threatened species hit hard by Australia’s bushfires CANBERRA Agencies

Australia’s bushfires have burned more than half the known habitat of 100 threatened plants and animals, including 32 critically endangered species, the government said Monday.

Wildlife experts worry that more than a billion animals have perished in the unprecedented wave of bushfires that have ravaged eastern and southern Australia for months.

Twenty-eight people died in the blazes, which have swept through an area larger than Portugal.

Officials say it will take weeks to assess the exact toll as many fire grounds remain too dangerous to inspect. But the government’s Department of the Environment and Energy on Monday issued a preliminary

list of threatened species of plants, animals and insects which have seen more than 10 percent of their known habitat affected.

More than 80 percent of the known or likely habitats of 49 species has fallen within fire zones, while

another 65 species have seen 50-80 percent of their distribution areas affected.

Sally Box, the department’s Threatened Species Commissioner, said the survey results were just a first step in understanding the potential impact of the bushfires on Australia’s wildlife.

“Some species are more vulnerable to fire than others and some areas were more severely burnt than others, so the further analysis will be needed before we can fully assess the impact of the fires on the ground,” she said.

The threatened by the fires included 272 plants, 16 mammals, 14 frogs, nine bird, seven reptiles, four insect, four fish and one spider species, the department said. Of the 32 critically endangered species impacted by the fires, most were plants though they also included frogs, turtles and three types of bird.

CMYK

one coming in from Hubei province, not just Wuhan, its capital. Over 100 people are being monitored in the city.

Passengers are also being screened at some airports in Thailand and the United States. In Wuhan, 170 people are still being treated at hospital, including nine in critical condition, the city health commission said, adding that 25 people have been discharged so far.

Chinese state media moved to calm the mood as discussion about the coronavirus spreading to other Chinese cities swelled on social media.

Nationalist tabloid Global Times called for better handling of the new virus than that of the 2003 SArS outbreak.

The foreign ministry said Monday that Beijing had informed the WHO and other countries about the virus “in a timely manner”.

venezuela’s guaido in colombia to meet with pompeo CARACAS Agencies

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido surfaced in Colombia on Sunday to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as his power struggle with President Nicolas Maduro entered a challenging new phase. “Already in #Colombia,” the Venezuelan National Assembly leader wrote on Twitter, thanking Colombian President Ivan Duque for his “support for the struggle.”

The move comes after an overture by Maduro for direct negotiations with the United States on an end to crippling US sanctions, and amid signs he is preparing for renewed confrontation with the opposition. Guaido, who is recognized by the United States and more than 50 other countries as Venezuela’s acting president, will meet with Pompeo in Bogota.

Pompeo told reporters on a flight from Germany to Colombia that Guaido was “the duly elected leader of Venezuela.”

“I look forward to having a meeting with him,” Pompeo said. “Maduro has been destructive… Our mission set is to deliver a set of free and fair elections to the Venezuelan people.” The US secretary of state is scheduled to arrive in the Colombian capital on Monday at the start of a Latin American tour. “We will generate the conditions that will lead us to liberty,” Guaido said, anticipating he would return to Venezuela “full of good news.” Duque, also on Twitter, said he would hold a working meeting with Guaido, and that they would both attend a regional summit Monday on the fight against terrorism.

Guaido has been barred from leaving Venezuela since proclaiming himself acting president a year ago, after the National Assembly declared Maduro a “usurper.”

He has defied the travel ban once before, in February, when he secretly traveled to Colombia and then visited several other countries to marshal regional support for his challenge to Maduro.

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

BUSINESS 11

PM DirectS aboliShMent of 150 licenceS to StiMulate buSineSS activitieS

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD LAHORE: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH) hosted a gala dinner to honor the support of its donors and well-wishers throughout the journey of successful 25 years of serving humanity. p R E S S R E L E A S E

ISLAMABAD: Eighteen, being the titanium partner at OLX Property Expo 2020, showcased its luxury residence project and premium product to the visitors, real estate agents and investors. p R E S S R E L E A S E

SolDrive joins hands with Moawin to provide sustainable energy solution TAIMOOR HASSAN LAHORE

SolDrive, an up and coming startup providing sustainable energy solutions to households and corporations, last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Moawin Facility to provide installation and after sales support of the product. SolDrive is an initiative of Dr Nauman Ahmad Zaffar, an associate professor and director of energy and power systems cluster at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The solution developed is a smart WiFi enabled device that can connect to a conventional airconditioning unit through a minimally invasive/plug and play procedure to make it more energy efficient than the newer and more expensive inverter technology air conditioners (AC) available in the market. In short, consumers can now make their conventional air conditioners energy efficient that will consume electricity like an inverter air conditioner, without bearing the high cost of switching to an inverter A/C. Corporate entities can reap the benefits of significant reduction in electricity costs and peak capacity requirements of backup generator/solar powers solutions. The startup, which is funded by HEC Technology Development Fund and USAID, aims to provide a sustainable energy solution with a positive environmental impact. SolDrive will be launched in the market in Q1 of 2020, at the onset of summer season when the demand of air conditioners increases. The startup is targeting to sell 2,000 units in the first season at a cost of roughly Rs25,000 per unit. At this price, SolDrive claims that a consumer will be able to recover his investment in 10months in savings, with 8-hour operations of the air conditioner in a day. “Instead of buying a new air conditioner for Rs70-80,000, you can now purchase this device and save a lot. It has an advantage for consumers for sure. For companies, it has a benefit that since the ACs at offices are turned on at lower temperatures individually, it increases the costs for companies. All these devices that would be installed, they would sync and with one control, you can fix how much electricity they would use,” Amanullah Qazi, CEO of Moawin Facilities Management, told Profit. Moawin Facilities Management is an integrated building maintenance solution provider for both commercial and residential clientele. Under the agreement with SolDrive, Moawin will be responsible for the installation of the device and a preliminary health check of the HVAC unit and the subsequent service/repair to make the unit perform at its optimal efficiency. Dr Nauman Ahmad Zaffar told Profit that the initial work on the product started in 2014, it went through lab and beta testing in 2018, and in the summer of 2019, limited commercial rollout was done for the product as an early adopters programme.

P

STAFF REpORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Monday directed to abolish around 150 licences required for various business activities at local level, a move that will facilitate small businesses and new entrepreneurs under ease of doing business (EODB) measures.

Chairing a meeting regarding the licensing regime in provinces, the premier further directed the provincial governments to eliminate 74 different licences of similar nature.

He also ordered simplification of the process for acquiring necessary licences and introduction of an automated system by employing modern technology.

The PM expressed concerns over the complex licensing regime, saying the requirement of licences for businesses like grocery, garments and bakery was tantamount to creating difficulties for the common man.

‘PAY YOUR TAXES’: Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan, while addressing a gathering of heads of over 100 trade organisations on Monday, stressed the need for the business community to contribute their bit to the country’s prosperity by paying their taxes.

The premier lamented that previous governments had wasted public money on the lavish lifestyles of their leaders, which was why people weren’t willing to pay taxes.

“When leaders live lavishly on public expense, who will pay taxes?” he questioned, adding that he was trying to change the culture starting with himself.

“We reduced the expenses of the PM House by 40pc,” he said. “I live in my own home, pay my own expenses. My salary is not enough to fulfill my own household expenses,” he added.

The premier also said that his expenses on foreign trips was 10 times less than what was spent by leaders before him.

“I'm just saying that I am starting with myself,” he said. “There should be a realisation about the need to respect public money,” he

added, while seeking the business community’s support to raise the country out of the crisis.

“Nations only rise when the whole nation is united. The government alone can't do it,” he said.

Underlining the need for increase in tax collection, the premier said that during the first year of his government, half of the amount collected in taxes went towards payment of interest on loans acquired by the previous governments.

“And yet, we allocated Rs190 billion for the Ehsaas programme,” he said, adding, however, that there were many sectors that needed improvement such as education, health and provision of safe drinking water but that would only be possible if the government had the funds.

PM Imran also detailed efforts by his team to improve conditions for the business community, saying “we are continuously trying to figure out how to remove obstacles in the way of the business community.” He announced that earlier in the day, they had decided to remove the need for licences for 102 businesses, making the process simpler for small business owners.

During the meeting earlier on Monday, the PM had expressed concern over the complex licensing regime and said the requirement of licences for businesses of grocery, cloth and bakery were creating difficulties for the common man, Radio Pakistan reported.

He also directed to complete the process of eliminating the unnecessary licences in 30 days.

53,000 tonnes wheat flour procurement in process, usc tells na panel ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Industries and Production was informed on Monday that the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) was in the process of procuring 53,333 tonnes of wheat flour, which will be sold at subsidised rates.

However, the committee was informed by USC Managing Director Umer Lodhi that 1,103 tonnes of wheat flour was available with the corporation while it was provided with 200,000 tonnes of wheat by the government.

Committee chairman Sajid Hussain Turi inquired about the price difference between the commodities being sold at the USC and the open market.

Lodhi briefed the committee that the wheat flour was cheaper by Rs5-10 per kilogramme at the USC and after the recent release of Rs6 billion subsidy, the prices have further been streamlined at Rs40 per kg.

Despite Lodhi’s claim, the committee members expressed concerns over the shortage of wheat flour in the country, urging the govern-

ment to address the prevalent crisis.

The USC MD further claimed that there was no shortage of wheat flour at the USC outlets.

"There are reports of haste buying which too is aggravating the situation in some areas."

The committee was also informed that the USC outlets were selling sugar at Rs75 per kg. The open market rate was around Rs80 at the retail end, whereas it was less at large cash and carry stores.

About the USC's financial management, the MD informed the committee that around 50 per cent pending liabilities to the contractors have been released and that the remaining amount would be released in the next six months.

The USC had huge pending liabilities of Rs8.3 billion, which have now been reduced to Rs3.9 billion.

Meanwhile, the committee approved the minutes of previous meeting held on 8 July 2019 and decided to hold an exclusive session to discuss the report on the implementation status of the previous committee recommendations.

The committee deferred the Export Processing Zones Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019 moved by MNA Amjid Ali Khan due to the mover’s absence.

SMEDA FACES CRITICISM: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) chief executive officer briefed the committee about the Economic Revitalization Programme in FATA, saying basic focus of the said programme was on three agencies (North, South Waziristan and Khyber).

The aim of the programme is to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities leading to longterm economic growth of FATA, mobilisation of its communities, entrepreneurs and local authorities to identify and invest in areas of high demand and potential to sustain return.

The committee raised concerns over the monitoring and evaluation mechanism of SMEDA/Ministry of Industries and Production regarding disbursements of grants by the authority to different sectors.

The committee recommended that SMEDA will provide details of its ongoing and new projects on quarterly basis to the committee.

Present in the meeting were MNAs Sahibzada Sibgatullah, Sajida Begum, Aliya Hamza Malik, Usama Qadri, Ali Gohar Khan, Mohammad Pervaiz Malik, Rana Muhammad Ishaq Khan, and senior officers of MoIP.

Gas crisis in Sindh, Balochistan to end soon, Senate body told ISLAMABAD AHAMD AHMADANI

The Senate's Standing Committee on Petroleum was informed on Monday that the ongoing gas crisis in the country, particularly in the gas-producing provinces of Balochistan and Sindh, would be resolved 'very soon'. The committee members had earlier raised serious concerns over gas shortage across the country amid intense cold weather wave.

Senators Jahanzeb Jamaldini, Behramand Tangi, Salahuddin Tirmzi, Taj Afridi, Javed Abbasi, Dilawar Khan, Yousaf Badini, Shamim Afridi, Sardar Yaqoob Nasir, senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) attended the meeting, which was chaired by Senator Mohsin Aziz.

Two senaTors sTage walkouT To proTesT nonimplemenTaTion of BalochisTan's oil and gas quoTa Expressing grave concerns over the shortage of gas in Sindh and Balochistan, the committee members noted that women in both the provinces were being forced to collect firewood for cooking and heating purposes.

"Since the constitution has given supply rights to the inhabitants of gas-producing provinces, then why the people of these provinces are being deprived of this necessity," the senators questioned.

Senator Jahanzeb Jamaldini asked as to why only six per cent [of the total gas production] was being provided to Balochistan, the biggest gas producer in

the country.

"Gas is being extracted from Balochistan while its residents are being deprived of the benefits of their resources," Jamaldini lamented.

The meeting took a hostile turn when Senators Yousaf Badini and Shamim Afridi exchanged harsh words with the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) managing director and the committee chairman.

Both the senators walked out of the meeting over non-implementation of Balochistan’s oil and gas quota.

"The PPL managing director has a prejudice against Balochistan," the

protesting senators alleged.

Meanwhile, the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) officials assured the committee that the company would formulate a phase-wise priority plan to ensure gas supply to the areas identified in circles of Lora, Bakot, Baghan and upper/lower Galiyat.

Discussing the scheme for gas supply to village Mohra Dhamial and Dhoke Sudan Jabbar (Tehsil Gujar Khan), the committee was informed that the scheme, as per originally approved map location, was okayed in 2018. "The work will resume soon on the pipes already laid to the ground."

The committee was further briefed about the scheme for laying of additional 10'' diameter transmission line approved from Kheshghi to Charsada and from Charsada to Peshawar to overcome the issue of low gas pressure in Charsada

Tangi Sherpao and surrounding areas.

About regularisation of the services of 13 Balochistan-based engineers by the Oil and Gas Development Authority (OGDCL), the committee was informed that the contract employees would be given some relaxation in employment criteria but the procedure of test and interview would have to be followed.

The committee asked OGDCL to report back in a month after completing the recruitment process. The matter of outstanding payments to International Fabrication Company for replacement of 26’’ diameter of 15km gas pipeline at Uch gas field was also discussed on the occasion.

The committee, after hearing OGDCL as well as the contractor, directed both to hold a joint meeting to take the disputed issues to the OGDCL board for resolution.

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

12 BUSINESS Market Daily

bears dominate as KSe100 drops 420 points

‘PaKiStan haS no MechaniSM to checK Safety, StanDarD of vehicleS’

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

STAFF REpORT

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a negative start to the trading week, as the indices remined in the red zone for almost the entire session on Monday, dragging the benchmark KSE-100 Index below the 43,000-mark. On the economic front, a Pakistani delegation is currently on a three-day visit to Beijing where it would hold talks with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on January 21.

According to media reports, there is a possibility that a voting process would be conducted to determine Pakistan’s exit from the FATF ‘grey list’. The KSE-100 Index, which opened the day above 43,000 points, slid to its intraday low at 42,632.58 after losing 535.19 points. It ended lower by 420.14 points at 42,747.63. The KMI 30-Index declined by 1,037.56 points to close at 69,238.86, while the KSE All Share Index fell by 189.85 points, closing at 29,808.60. Out of the total traded shares, 70 advanced while 242 declined.

Sectors that halted the index’s upward movement included banking (-128.60 points), fertilizer (-78.14 points) and cement (-50.50 points). Among the companies, Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO -84.66 points), Engro Fertilizer Limited (EFERT -54.70 points) and United Bank Limited (UBL -38.42 points) dented the index the most. The overall market volumes were recorded at 173.90 million, of which 116.37 million came from KSE-100 scrips. Engro Fertilizer Limited (EFERT -5.48pc), TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -4.36pc) and The Bank of Punjab (BOP -1.44) led the volume chart, exchanging 15.27 million, 11.90 million and 11.71 million shares, respectively. The cement sector lost 1.85pc in its cumulative market capitalization. Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF -3.99pv), D G Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC -2.82pc), Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK -1.19pc) and Bestway Cement Limited (BWCL -1.25pc) closed in the red. In a notification to the exchange, Azgard Nine Limited (ANL 1.82pc) announced that the company would issue right shares at par value to raise Rs365 million in order to pay off liabilities to its creditors. Meanwhile, Hi-Tech Lubricants Limited (HTL +5.50pc) revealed that the company has finally started “marketing of petroleum products” through the operation of four franchised HTL fuel stations in cities of Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Jhang and Chiniot. As per the company, the number of fuel stations would soon be increased to 26 in Punjab.

huawei keeps strong r&D pace as 5th top investor worldwide Huawei has been ranked fifth on the recently released 2019 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard as one of the biggest investors in research and development worldwide.

The scoreboard is made up of the 2,500 companies investing the largest sums in research and development in the world, with data collected from companies’ annual reports and accounts. As a result of its R&D investments focus, Huawei has been able to lead the development of 5G technologies globally and the Middle East region specifically. This has been powered by investments of $4 billion in 5G research since 2009—more than the total 5G investment from all major equipment vendors in the US and Europe combined. Huawei began 5G research in 2009 and has submitted a total of 23,600 contributions to the 3GPP, which would be a stack more than 10 meters tall if printed out on A4 paper. Huawei now owns 3,367 families of 5G patents accounting for more than 20pc of the total and ranking first among all ICT vendors. The company has established nine 5G standards and research centers worldwide, has more than 500 experts working on standards, and holds positions in over 100 standards organizations. BUSINESS DESK

ISLAMABAD

a

parliamentary committee, which wanted an update on the safety measures in locally manufactured/assembled vehicles, was surprised to know that there was no mechanism of safety and standard for automobile vehicles in the country.

The officials of the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Industries and Production on Monday that it was not its mandate to ensure standard and quality of locally assembled/manufactured cars/vehicles.

"Our attached department, the Engineering Development Board (EDB), is only mandated for the assembly/manufacturing of vehicles under SRO 656(1)/2006 and for the assembly/manufacturing of auto parts under SRO 655(1)/2006. The EDB therefore only verifies the imported CKDs under the said SROs for all types of vehicles," the officials informed the standing committee, which met with MNA Sajid Hussain Turi in the chair.

MoIP Secretary Afzal Latif informed the committee that presently, there was no mechanism to check the standard of vehicles being manufactured in the country. He maintained that the standard development and enforcement falls under the mandate of Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), an attached department of Ministry of Science and Technology.

However, an EDB official informed the committee that cars/vehicles were not included in the

mandatory items listed for PSQCA, and that no government organization was currently checking the safety standards.

Committee member Ali Gohar Khan, while criticising the governments for failing to ensure safety and standard of vehicles, said, "Despite charging exorbitant amounts, the people are left with no option but to buy costlier and poor-quality vehicles."

Unfortunately, he alleged, high ups in relevant ministries have been enjoying the benefits from the auto companies by allowing them to produce what has been manufactured for years without innovations.

Another committee member claimed that "even the 600CC imported vehicles have better interior and safety tools than above 1,000CC vehicles being assembled in the country".

The industries secretary, while rejecting the impression that the ministry’s officials get any benefits from the local auto firms, said that the MolP/ EDB does not have the mandate to regulate/monitor vehicle quality, standards, road-worthiness and pricing of locally assembled vehicles.

He, however, said the ministry was proposing a separate department with required laboratories and machinery in the next budget.

"Under the New Auto Policy 2016-21, the MoIP is processing Pakistan's case of becoming a member of the Working Party (WP)-29. Summary for the adoption of WP-29 is approved from the cabinet and accession document has been forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for submission to UN Secretariat. The reg-

Govt urged to release withheld refund payments to exporters ISLAMABAD STAFF REpORT

Hosiery manufacturers and exporters on Monday raised concerns over delay in some payments under the FBR’s Fully Automated Sales Tax eRefund System (FASTER) without any substantive reason, urging the government to expedite the process.

However, they hailed the government for its overall speedy payments to the exporters' ST refund claims [within 72 hours].

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA) Vice Chairman Shafiq Butt said that a mechanism should be finalized to find out the reasons behind deferring up to 25 per cent payment of exporters' refunds under FASTER. "The automated refund system should point out the reason as to why it's not making full payments and deferring 10pc to 25pc payment of exporters while their docu-

ments are complete."

The vice-chairman maintained that the partial payments by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) against the ST refund claims have baffled the exporters. He urged the FBR to equip FASTER with the required software so that the reasons behind the rejection of exporters' documents could be identified.

He said the country has achieved current account surplus and now it needed an industrialization policy to achieve trade surplus.

Butt was of the view that

the exporters were unable to procure and purchase raw materials and other accessories to fulfil their future export orders.

He added that record inflation has hit the purchasing power of the common man due to which business activities have reduced significantly.

The PHMA office-bearer urged the government to reduce prices of fuel, electricity as well as gas, besides cutting key policy interest rate to a single digit so as to facilitate the exporters.

ulation will ensure compliance by local manufacturers of certain regulations under WPforum," an EDB official informed the committee, requesting it to facilitate the early signing the WP-29, which is a unique worldwide regulatory forum within the institutional framework of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee.

Talking about the safety and quality of locally assembled cars, a representative from Indus Motor Company informed the committee that dual airbags and other safety features were installed in the vehicles (model) of 2016 and onwards. He claimed that despite the unavailability of law in the country, the company was compliant with all international standards. He also invited the committee members to visit the company and check the safety tools.

Briefing on the availability of airbags and anti-lock braking systems (ABS) in automobile vehicles, the EDB officials claimed that the role of MoIP/EDB was limited to the provision of policy framework, including tariff and non-tariff measures, for the industry. Furthermore, the ministry was involved in processing requests under Automotive Development Policy ADP (2016-2)) with the objective to attract investments under Greenfield and Brownfield categories, he added.

The committee unanimously decided that the next meeting would be convened to discuss the taxation issues of the automobile sector. The committee also decided that the officials of the Federal Board of Revenue, commerce ministry, EDB and PSQCA would also be invited in the said meeting to discuss the quality of vehicles.

textile industrialists get stay order on new power bills LAHORE: Owners of textile export industries have managed to get the court's stay order on new power bills being prepared under new tariff after the cancellation of concessions on electricity rates. However, sources said the Lahore Electric Supply Company Limited (LESCO) is reluctant to accept the court's stay order and has started preparing electricity bills for the textile industries under the new tariff.

Moreover, the electric supply company has hinted at disconnecting the power connections of textile industries over non-payment of bills and has urged the owners for timely clearance of charges. LESCO sources said the stay order could not be applied over the new power bills.

Earlier, it emerged that the distribution companies had received a notification from the Power Division, which stated the ending of exemption to the textile industries from the levy of electricity bills. According to the notification, the textile mills will pay Rs20 instead of Rs12 per unit in term of electricity charges. On Saturday, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) had decided to summon an emergency meeting to discuss all options, including the closure of textile mills, as the federal government had ended concessions on electricity bills. The APTMA members claimed that it was impossible [for them] to run textile mills without receiving subsidy on power bills which had been promised by the federal government in January last year. INp

Punjab govt to cultivate sunflower on 210,000 acres this year LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI

In order to increase the per-acre yield of sunflower (oilseeds) in the country, the Punjab govt has set the production area target of 210,000 acres for sunflower cultivation in 2020, it was learnt on Monday.

The federal government has already allocated Rs10 billion to increase the production of sunflower (oilseeds) in the country.

'YIELD COMPETITION': To achieve the sunflower cultivation target, Punjab's agriculture department has introduced a 'per-acre yield competition' among the farmers of 15 districts. In addition, the provincial government is also giving a subsidy of Rs5,000 per acre to sunflower growers.

The competition would be conducted among the farmers from Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Bhakkar, DG Khan, Khanewal, Layyah, Lodhran, Mianwali,

govT inTroduces suBsidy and ‘per-acre yield compeTiTion’ for sunflower growers so as To decrease dependence on ediBle oil imporTs Multan, Muzaffargarh, Okara, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Sialkot and Vihari.

The farmers could submit the applications at the offices of deputy director (agriculture) in their respective districts. The last date to apply for this competition is February 5. As per the details, sunflower farmers with land comprising three acres, besides those on leased farmland and labourers, are eligible to apply (after the attestation of documents) for the competition.

The farmers would submit sunflower crops obtained from three acres of land for the competition.

The members of Senate, provincial and national assemblies and their family

members are not eligible to apply for this competition. In addition, government officials of grade 17 or above, officials of the agriculture department and Baitul Maal are also not eligible to apply.

Talking to Profit, Shahabuddin Laleka, a sunflower farmer from Bahawalpur, said that he has submitted the application for the competition today. "I am sure that I will be among the winners of this competition, which is an excellent initiative for sunflower farmers."

SUBSIDY ON PRODUCTION: Lodhran Assistant Director (Agriculture) Naveed Azmat Kahloun told this scribe that in order to encourage the production

of sunflower in the country, the department is giving Rs5,000 per acre to sunflower farmers via vouchers.

He said that the total production area for sunflowers at Lodhran is 16,104 acres.

Malik Allah Bakhsh, a sunflower farmer from Lodhran, said that the subsidy of Rs5,000 is an excellent initiative by the government as it will help increase the production of sunflower besides bringing prosperity to the farmers.

IMPORT SUBSTITUTION: "The ultimate aim to improve the per-acre yield and production area of sunflower is to bring down the imports of oilseeds to the country.

The imports had increased by 100.6pc during the last fiscal, from 1.67 million metric tonnes in 2014-15 to 3.35 million metric tonnes in 2018-19," said a senior official at Pakistan Oilseed Development Board.

"Another reason to encourage the farmers to move to sunflower cultivation is to decrease the import of vegetable oil

in the country, which had also increased by 11pc, from 2.98 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 3.31 million tonnes in 2018-19."

Unfortunately, he lamented, Pakistan is one of the world's largest vegetable oil importers. "In fact, edible imports of Pakistan are now the second largest after petroleum products and we need to change that."

According to Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), more than 70pc of the country's domestic requirements are met through imports.

"Despite repeated efforts of the previous government, the country failed to increase its per acre yield and production area of sunflower," a senior official at PARC told Profit, adding that the Punjab govt, during the previous tenures, also tried to encourage farmers to switch to sunflower but in vain.

"Let's see if Imran Khan-led PTI government manages to achieve the target this time around," he said.

P.F. Chang’s Introduces Lunch Bowls

By KauKaB Jahan

A

fter opening it first outlet in Karachi in November last year and making much hype, Pf Chang’s just introduced it special distinctive lunch bowls menu.

Initially, the restaurant has introduced seven flavours made out of chicken, beef, shrimps, rice, noodles and assorted vegetables. Here’s what each bowl is named and contained.

korean BiBiMBap Bowl A delicious bowl of chicken, fresh greens, Asian mushrooms and assorted vegetable on rice topped with fried egg and kimchi slaw chiang Mai noodle Bowl A nutritious bowl of marinated chicken, egg noodles, coconut curry broth, grape tomatoes and wanton crisps.

Spicy chicken Bowl Chang’s special chicken marinated in sweet spicy chilli sauce with green onion, served with the choice of white or fried rice.

tokyo Udon noodle Bowl Served in both chicken and beef with special Japanese wheat flour udon noodles, the other ingredients of this bowl are fresno peppers, green onion, mushrooms and fresh basil.

criSpy honey chicken Chicken balls in lightly battered tangy honey sauce with green onion served with the choice of white or fried rice.

teMpUra Bowl A spicy and crunchy shrimp and vegetable tempura spread on the bed of fried rice serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Mongolian Beef (alSo Served with chicken on deMand) Sweet soy glaze, flank steak, garlic and snipped green onion served with white or fried rice.

Claimed to be the Asian-American restaurant, and famous all over the world because of its distinctive taste and ambience, the first Pf. Chang in Pakistan was opened in Lahore’s M. M. Alam road in the summer of 2018.

the overall experience at P.f. Chang’s was quite different from the usual restaurants. the prices were a bit on the higher side but the quantity of meal in bowls is enough for a person even having a big appetite and it can serve to two with an average appetite. Also, the combination of Asian American taste and texture of the food give it a flavour, which grabs the taste buds of Pakistanis quickly who are usually fond of Chinese cuisine and American fast food.

P. f. Chang’s is an American-based, Asianthemed, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul fleming and Philip Chiang. the name “P. f. Chang’s” is derived from those of Paul fleming (P. f.) and Philip Chiang (whose surname was simplified to Chang).the restaurant has its headquarter in Scottsdale, Arizona. the chain specializes in American Chinese cuisine, plus other Asian dishes. Besides 208 restaurants in the United States Chang has more than 100 in international markets including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, turkey, Lebanon, Philippines, South Korea, egypt, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab emirates, Pakistan, and United Kingdom.

When times get tough, elephants will comfort each other by stroking loved ones with their trunks and emitting small chirps.

A double rainbow occurs when sunlight is reflected twice inside a raindrop. If you look closely, you can see that the colors of the secondary rainbow appear in reverse order.

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

There's a Nikola Tesla statue in Palo Alto that provides free Wi-Fi.

Twitter Destroys Ousted Flash Director The Batman: Colin Farrell Packs On Over Anti-'Joker' Oscars Jab Pounds For Penguin Look

Shabana Azmi injured after car rams into truck on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

twitter is having a field day with former the flash director John francis Daley who took a jab at the Joker movie over the perceived Oscars snub received by Uncut Gems and Adam Sandler.

Joker has received 11 Oscar nominations while the Uncut Gems movie starring Sandler received zero, which didn't sit well with John francis Daley, the writer behind Marvel and Sony's Spider-Man: Homecoming who was once supposed to direct DC's the flash movie with Jonathan Goldstein.

Comic book fans immediately tore into the writer on twitter.

"Says the fella who got fired from a comic book movie.

Stay salty and keep doing your lame a-- 'comedy' movies that no one cares about," replied one twitter user.

"Uncut Gems would’ve gotten Oscar love if they had just slapped the MCU seal on it," another twitter user chimed in, as Marvel's the Avengers: endgame is also up for two Oscars.

"People liked Joker because it was a good movie and it got nominations because it deserved it. this is rich coming from the writer of Spider-Man Homecoming," said another.

Veteran Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi was rushed to the hospital after her car rammed into a truck on the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Saturday evening. Shabana was heading towards Mumbai when her Safari crashed into a truck from her rear as both the vehicles were moving towards Mumbai. the accident took place 2 kilometres before Khalapur toll booth around 4 pm, according to Maharashtra traffic police headquarters officials. As per Khalapur police, she has sustained minor injuries on her face including neck and chin and near the eye, as she was sitting next to the driver.

Shabana’s husband and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was travelling behind her in a separate car, an Audi, was safe and his car was not involved in the crash, said police. “the Safari was being driven by Azmi’s driver followed by the Audi. the driver tried to overtake and ended up crashing into the moving truck from the rear,” said Vishwajeet Kainjade, inspector at Khalapur police station. Within fifteen minutes of the accident, the police team reached the spot.

Actor Colin farrell is spotted out in the wild revealing a possible look at his Oswald Cobblepot, aka Penguin, for the Batman.

While at first thought to possibly be playing emperor Penguin due to other set pics, these new images offer that perhaps Colin farrell is playing the genuine Penguin, which director Matt reeves teased when he confirmed the casting news.

In the comics, Penguin happens to be pretty lumpy with a large nose, so it remains to be seen if Colin farrell will undergo makeup effects with an added prosthetic nose of some sort and if his hair will be changed for the flick. emperor Penguin, in the comics, is a different character, the once right hand to Penguin, who has blond hair and is noticeably skinnier than Oswald Cobblepot. the Batman has a June 25, 2021 release directed by Matt reeves, co-written by reeves and Mattson tomlin, Michael Giacchino is scoring the music, and the film also stars Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Paul Dano as riddler, Jayme Lawson as Bella, and John turturro as Carmine falcone, with Peter Sarsgaard in an unknown to be two-face.

CMYK

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

14 SPORTS

Federer, WilliaMs duck doWnpours at Wet, Wet, Wet australian open BRISBANE

s

AGENCIES

ERENA Williams and Roger Federer avoided chaos caused by rain at the Australian Open on Monday as heavy downpours forced organisers to postpone a swathe of matches on the first day.

After a build-up disrupted by smoke from deadly wildfires, a prolonged rain storm struck in mid-afternoon, sending thousands of spectators scurrying for cover. While play continued at the three stadiums with retractable roofs, 17 of the 64 scheduled matches were postponed, ensuring a big backlog for Tuesday.

Wet conditions are unusual for the Australian Open, which is more used to extreme heat and was plagued by smog from bushfires during qualifying, when players suffered coughing fits and breathing problems. Air quality was rated ‘good’ as the first round started on Monday but about four hours later play was suspended on outside courts when the heavens opened in Melbourne.

World number three Federer was briefly hauled off court while the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena before returning to complete a routine 6-3, 6-2, 62 victory over American Steve Johnson.

Williams, on the hunt for a recordequalling 24th Grand Slam title, won

the first set against Anastasia Potapova in just 19 minutes as she cruised to a 60, 6-3 win in less than an hour.

“I feel like I can still improve and get better throughout this tournament, for sure. This is a good stepping stone for right now,” Williams said.

However, Williams’ elder sister Venus was ousted in stunning fashion by 15-year-old Coco Gauff, who won 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in a repeat of her firstround upset at Wimbledon last year.

“I believe I can beat anyone, but I think that’s almost every player’s mentality,” said the American teenager.

“The ones who are the great ones, they don’t really fear anyone.”

SHAPOVALOV RACQUET ROW: Defending champion Naomi Osaka was done well before the downpour as she dismissed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 in 80 minutes, smashing one powerful serve that broke a net fastening.

“It was really tough for me trying to control my nerves,” said Osaka. “It’s tough to play someone you’ve never played before in the first round of a Grand Slam.” In the evening session on the covered centre court, Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty recovered strongly from a set down to beat Lesia Tsurenko 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

In the men’s draw, Greek sixth seed

Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Federer en route to last year’s semis, crushed Salvatore Caruso 6-0, 6-2, 6-3.

Player anger over smog dominated the final days before the tournament, which is taking place after bushfires ravaged large parts of Australia, destroying thousands of homes and killing 29 people. Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire from her qualifier after a coughing fit, while Britain’s Liam Broady claimed “multiple” players needed asthma medication.

Federer was one of the players who criticised a lack of communication from tournament officials, who were forced to suspend practice and delay some qualifying matches last week.

Tournament officials are closely monitoring pollution and will halt play and close the three main stadiums’ roofs if particulate matter suspended in the air hits PM2.5 200.

In other results, Canadian 13th seed Denis Shapovalov argued furiously with the umpire over a code violation for throwing his racquet as he lost in four sets to Marton Fucsovics.

Croatian 25th seed Borna Coric was another early casualty as he went down in three sets to experienced American Sam Querrey. But former champion Caroline Wozniacki, playing her last tournament before retiring, safely reached the second round as she beat Kristie Ahn 6-1, 6-3.

Gauff, 15, stuns Venus again in first-round upset

BRISBANE AGENCIES

Fifteen-year-old American Coco Gauff said she’s on “a mission to be the greatest” on Monday after stunning veteran Venus Williams once again in the first round of a Grand Slam.

The fast-rising Gauff, ranked 67 in the world, defeated the seven-time Grand Slam winner 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 at the Australian Open.

The teenager, who will play unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea in round two in Melbourne, similarly beat the 39-year-old Venus in the Wimbledon first round last year.

Gauff, touted as a long-term successor to Venus’s sister Serena, said the Williams siblings were her idols and she wants to emulate their trailblazing success.

Warning that she can still improve “a lot”, Gauff said: “My mission is to be the greatest. That’s my goal, to win as many Grand Slams as possible.”

Asked if she believes she can win her first Major over the next fortnight in Melbourne, Gauff replied: “If I go into a tournament thinking I’ll lose, then I’m going to lose... “I believe I can beat anyone, but I think that’s almost every player’s mentality.

“The ones who are the great ones, they don’t really fear anyone. “You respect your opponent, but you can’t go into the match fearing someone because then you’re going to lose, and I don’t want to lose.”

Playing under a roof as rain lashed the first Grand Slam of the year, Venus conceded the first-set tie break when she hit a routine backhand overhead into the net. Gauff, remarkably unfazed by playing someone more than twice her age, held her nerve in the second set to claim Venus’s scalp once more.

Victory over Venus at Wimbledon and her run to the fourth round there — where she lost to eventual champion Simona Halep — propelled Gauff into the sporting limelight. She went on to win her first WTA title in October in Linz, Austria. Venus, a former number one but now 55 in the world, is tipping Gauff for the top. Gauff spent some of the off-season with Serena, who sailed through her Melbourne opener.

“She clearly wants it, works very hard, is extremely mature for her age,” said Venus.

“I think the sky’s the limit for her.”

Gauff belied her tender years with her power, precision and composure, but said that she is a typical teenager in many respects.

By her own admission she is “very active” on TikTok, the video sharing social media network. “I procrastinate a lot on that app. I have to do homework,” she said, a reminder that she is still school age.

“Everyone thinks I’m so serious because of my on-court (demeanour). “Really I’m not. I don’t really take life too seriously, I just like to have fun.”

‘Be nice to each other’, retiring Wozniacki tells young players BRISBANE: Retiring former world number one Caroline Wozniacki Monday urged the younger generation of players to “be nice to each other”, saying locker-room friendships can last through life. The Danish star, who is walking away from tennis after the Australian Open aged 29, lived to fight another day at Melbourne Park after crushing American Kristie Ahn 6-1, 6-3 in the first round. “There’s a lot of emotions, but I tried to keep them in check, and I thought I did that very well today,” said Wozniacki, whose only Grand Slam triumph came in Melbourne in 2018. “I think I’m just really trying to enjoy every moment.”

Wozniacki announced her plan to retire in December to focus on other things, including starting a family with husband and former NBA star David Lee. She said she will leave the game with lifelong friendships, not least best buddy Serena Williams, and encouraged the new women on the block to keep the locker room civil. “I think in general my generation we had great friendships even from the juniors and we were a big group coming up and playing on the tour at the same time,” she said. “I think we have friendships that will carry on past the tennis. “I don’t know how it was before me. All I know is that Serena obviously played way before me and so did Venus, and they were both super nice to me and very open and have always been there for me.

“So I have had a great experience with them.

Then I hope that the younger generation will also be nice to each other, because it’s just a sport and we all try our best out here.”

Naomi Osaka recently pointed to Wozniacki as a person who helped her when she was first burst on the scene and the Dane said it was important to give back to up-andcoming players. AGENCIES

Barty roars back to make winning start in Melbourne BRISBANE: World number one and home hope Ashleigh Barty suffered a scare before she “tightened the screws” to power into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. The 23-year-old recovered from an error-strewn start to see off Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 under the roof at a partisan and wet Melbourne. Barty, under huge pressure to deliver a home women’s champion for the first time since Chris O’Neil in 1978, plays Polona Hercog of Slovenia or Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson next. Poster girl Barty, who joked on the eve of her opener that she was sick of seeing her picture everywhere, is the face of the first Grand Slam of the year. A nation expects, and Barty said after dismissing the 120thranked Ukrainian that she had always felt in control, despite the indifferent start. “Look, I think I was pressing a little bit early, made a few too many errors,” said Barty, fresh from winning her first title on home soil, in Adelaide, on Saturday. AGENCIES

Liverpool still not interested in title talk, says Robertson LIVERPOOL AGENCIES

Andy Robertson says Liverpool will not think about winning the Premier League title until it is mathematically certain, saying the players remain determined to stick to their game-by-game mentality.

A 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday extended their lead over second-placed Manchester City at the top of the table to 16 points with a match in hand.

They require just 10 more victories, having already registered 21 in 22 fixtures, to guarantee a first championship in 30 years and they look uncatchable.

Fans at Anfield on Sunday sang “We’re going to win the league” but

Robertson said the players were not complacent.

“We would obviously love to say yes — but no,” said the Scotland defender.

“You are playing against your rivals who you’ve had great battles with over the years and the fans probably want to rub it in a bit but we’re not getting carried away. “Until the champions sign is above our heads we don’t believe anything. Yes, the lead is 16 points but we know how tough it gets.”

Liverpool travel to face Wolves on Wednesday in the Premier League, with games coming up against West Ham and Southampton.

“We will let other people say that (they will not drop enough points to lose the title) but I don’t think anyone in that

dressing room is believing that just yet and I think you can see that with every performance we are putting in,” said Robertson.

“We can believe once the final whistle of that game goes.” Jurgen Klopp’s side have not lost a league match since January 3 last year, a run of 39 matches, and there is growing talk about a potential ‘Invincibles’ campaign.

“Looking too far and thinking can we go unbeaten is pointless,” said Robertson.

“The last 39 games have been incredible but for us it is unfortunate it has not been in one season, it has been across two.

“We keep going, we are on a good run just now, we are confident. Seven clean sheets on the bounce is massive and long may that continue.”

CMYK

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

SPORTS 15

england coMplete innings Win despite 99-run last-Wicket stand PORT ELIzABETH

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AGENCIES

NGLAND’S cricketers encountered some improbable turbulence in their otherwise serene march to victory at Port Elizabeth, as a record-breaking spell of tonking from South Africa’s tenthwicket pair, Keshav Maharaj and Dane Paterson reduced their margin of victory from overwhelming to merely emphatic by an innings and 53 runs, to claim a 2-1 series lead with just next week’s fourth Test at Johannesburg to come.

Having resumed on a ropey 102 for 6, with their only realistic prospect of salvation coming in the prospect of more bad weather, South Africa seemed resigned to their third-heaviest home defeat since readmission when they shipped three more wickets in the first hour of the morning to slip to 138 for 9.

But then, out of the wreckage, rose an unlikely and entertaining star. Maharaj, with the debutant Paterson providing steadfast support, took it upon himself to climb into the second new ball, smashing 71 from 106 runs all told, including a riproaring stand of 99 in 73 balls.

At times, it was like watching Nathan Astle’s extraordinary onslaught at Christchurch in 2002, as England discovered too late that the harder the ball, the further it travelled. In all the pair crashed 16 fours and three sixes, with Maharaj claiming a share in an unlikely world record when he scalped 24 of the 28 runs

from Joe Root’s 29th and emphatically final over, to match the mark established

by George Bailey off James Anderson in the 2013-14 Ashes and Brian Lara’s effort off Robin Peterson.

Paterson, emboldened by a match situation that gave him licence to swing his levers with no consequences, clouted 39 not out from 40 balls, including three fours in the penultimate over of the contest as Sam Curran was slashed repeatedly through third man. But with the deficit draining away and the lunch looking set to be postponed, a direct hit from Curran at mid-on ended the fun to seal

England’s first innings victory away from home since the fifth Test at Sydney on Andrew Strauss’s triumphant Ashes tour in 2010-11. The finale aside, this was another impressive performance from a young England team that has turned the series on its head after their heavy defeat at Centurion in the first Test. But the manner of the loss leaves South Africa in a deep state of introspection. Having lost four wickets for one run in 28 deliveries to trigger the follow-on on the fourth morning, their omens were not good when Vernon Philander - the most accomplished of their remaining batsmen - was

Dhoni ‘will be retained’ by Chennai Super Kings in 2021

Ervine falls short as Zimbabwe build against Sri Lanka

HARARE AGENCIES

Craig Ervine fell short of a third Test century but his crafted 85, assisted by some gutsy batting from the lower order, took Zimbabwe to 349 for nine at tea on the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Harare on Monday.

Ervine resumed on 55 not out and was going well until Suranga Lakmal returned to the attack shortly before lunch and nipped one through his defence.

MuMBAI

It was the third wicket to fall during the morning as Lakmal also produced a full inswinger to have Brendan Taylor leg before for 21 and Sean Williams edged leftarm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya to Niroshan Dickwella behind the stumps. The left-armer spinner, who ended the session with five for 114, removed Regis Chakabva shortly after the break but Sikandar Raza and Donald Tiripano then both settled in.

Raza fell for a flighty 41, stumped by Dickwella as he charged at Embuldeniya who also bowled Kyle Jarvis.

Ainsley Ndlovu was brilliantly snapped up at shortleg by Kusal Mendis off Lahiru Kumara but Tiripano held firm to reach 41 not out at tea.

The two-Test tour was only announced by the Sri Lankan cricket board last week. Zimbabwe were readmitted as an ICC member last October following a threemonth suspension over political interference.

The Sri Lanka games represent their first Tests since a 1-1 series draw in Bangladesh in November 2018.

Zimbabwe last played a Test at home against the West Indies in October 2017.

Du Plessis denies retirement after innings defeat to England CAPE TOwN

AGENCIES

Whether plays for India again or not, he will play the 2020 edition of the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and “will be retained” by the team when he goes into the mega auction prior to IPL 2021, according to N Srinivasan, the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, owners of the franchise.

“People keep saying when will he... how long will he play, etc. He will play. I can assure you. He will play this year. Next year he will go the auction; he will be retained. So there is no doubt in anybody’s mind,” Srinivasan said at a recent India Cements event.

Dhoni, 38, remains an active player, but hasn’t played for India since the 2019 50-over World Cup, making himself unavailable for selection on occasion in this period too. That has understandably led to a fair bit of speculation on the wicketkeeper-batsman’s future, especially with a T20 World Cup coming up this year and his replacement Rishabh Pant having an up-and-down run.

Most recently, Dhoni was of the BCCI’s list of centrally contracted cricketers, suggesting that the board might not be expecting him to figure in their plans going forward, even though Ravi Shastri, the head coach of the sen-

ior men’s team, that Dhoni would be back in contention for a spot in the national team if he did well at the IPL. “If he decides to play, which he will because he will play the IPL, then he will start with a very fresh mind and very clear ideas,” Shastri told India Today in an interview. “Then you’ve got to see form. If he has a great IPL and puts himself into contention that ‘I’m available for selection’, then you don’t fool around.”

Dhoni, who led India to the T20 World Cup (2007), 50-over World Cup (2011) and the Champions Trophy (2013) titles, has captained the Super Kings from the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008 - bar the two years, in 2016 and 2017, when the team was banned because of the spot-fixing scandal. The team has won three IPL titles under Dhoni, along with being the losing finalists on five occasions. They also won the now-defunct Champions League T20 tournament twice, in 2010 and 2014.

PSL 2020 tickets go on sale

AGENCIES

South African captain Faf du Plessis denied rumours of retirement Monday saying he would continue to lead the struggling team despite an innings defeat to England.

“There are a lot of rumours about retirement,” he said after South Africa lost the third Test against England by an innings and 53 runs -– their seventh defeat in eight Test matches.

“I think I have been pretty clear that I have committed myself to Cricket South Africa until the T20 World Cup (in Australia in October and November).”

“Definitely,” he said when asked whether he was under more pressure than at any other time of his career, adding “I’m not a robot.”

“It’s a tough time but there’s no running away from it,” he said. “There’s no escape. I’m the leader of the team. It (pressure) comes with the job description.

“There was a time when it was nice and easy and everything was going our way as a team. We had a strong team and a high success ratio.

“Now we are on the bottom side of that wave. We’ve got to go back to the office and work again.”

However, he said his Test career could come to an

Root resumed his improbable quest for a first Test five-for - he had bowled 19 overs off the reel for his fourth-day figures of 4 for 31, and so nearly claimed that elusive fifth with his fifth ball of the morning when Kagiso Rabada pressed forward with hard hands outside off, only for Dominic Sibley at second slip to spill a fast but catchable edge.

Emboldened, Rabada unfurled one of the shots of ENGLAND the match to dump 499 FOR 9 (POPE 135*, Root back over his head for a checkedSTOKES 120, MAHARAJ 5drive six - a sign of 180) BEAT SOUTH AFRICA 209 things to come but Mark Wood, (DE KOCK 63, BESS 5-51) AND eager for action 237 (MAHARAJ 71, ROOT 4- once again after his brisk return to the 87) BY AN INNINGS Test fold, ended his reAND 53 RUNS sistance with his first ball of the morning, a crossseamer from round the wicket that prised out for his overnight 13 by Stustood up in the pitch for Broad at mid-on art Broad’s third delivery of the day.

Broad, who had ripped through the to cling onto a looping prod. Three overs tail with three cheap wickets in the first later, another change brought more ininnings, was once again right on the stant reward - as Dom Bess returned for money with a full-length inducker, which another foray, and slid a quicker ball Philander could only inside-edge onto his through Anrich Nortje’s previously front pad, and away to the leaping Ollie doughty defences. But from 138 for 9, Pope at midwicket, who emulated Ben England’s tactics came a cropper in the Stokes’ Cape Town achievement in pick- face of South Africa’s demob-happy sloging off six outfield catches in the match, ging. Initially, Root himself claimed the an England record, and one of only six new ball - partly with his milestone in players in history to score a century in the mind but also with a view to sparing his quick bowlers’ energies with the Wandersame game too.

Meanwhile, at the Duckpond End, ers Test looming in four days’ time.

SPORTS DESk

end later this year after the fourth Test against England, starting at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Friday, and a two-Test tour of the West Indies in July and August.

“I want to be the strongest leader I can be for the team and for now that’s committing to this series,” he said. “The worst thing a leader can do is pull the plug mid-series and say, ‘Sorry boys, I’m out, I’ve had enough’. I don’t think that is what leadership is about.

You have to stick through the tough times as well.”

CMYK

Online ticket sale for 2020 Pakistan Super League (PSL) began at 9pm Monday, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The first batch of tickets will be available for purchase through yayvo.com, whereas general sale will commence from January 28 through dedicated TCS Express Centers across 38 cities.

Each customer can purchase up to seven tickets per match on one national ID card. For the grand opening ceremony on February 20 and opening match in Karachi, tickets have been priced between Rs1,000 to Rs6,000.

Tickets for the final in Lahore on March 22 will be priced between Rs500 to Rs5,000. For the March 17 Qualifier in Karachi, the cheapest ticket would cost Rs500 and the priciest one at Rs4,000. Meanwhile, the minimum ticket price for the two Eliminators in Lahore

on March 18 and 20 has been set at Rs500, with the most expensive one to cost Rs4,000.

Ticket price for PSL 2020 were locked after an extensive review process factoring in starting times, working and weekend games, and affordability for fans, the PCB announced.

“We promised to focus on fan experience for HBL PSL 2020 and I am delighted that we are launching a streamlined ticketing process with almost one month to go in the tournament. We are keen to offer our hospitality to the world and will encourage our fans form across the world to avail this opportunity and plan in advance,” said PCB Director (Commercial), Babar Hamid. “HBL PSL has always received a phenomenal response from passionate Pakistani cricket fans and we expect them to turn up in big numbers this year as well.

This will also be a great time for us to show to the world Pakistan’s passion and love for this great game.”

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

NEWS

Forward bloc emerges in PTi in Punjab assembly

rights lawyer jalila Haider detained at lahore airport for over six hours LAHORE STAFF REPORT

LAHORE

Political activist and attorney Jalila Haider was released on Monday after being detained for over six hours by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials at the Lahore airport. FIA officials said that Haider, who was due to fly to the United Kingdom to attend a workshop at the University of Sussex, was detained at the airport as her name was placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) last November. No reason has been stated for putting her name on the no-fly list. According to Haider, she was kept in “informal custody” at the airport. “When I reached the immigration counter, I was told that my name is on the ECL,” she said. “The FIA officials opened a website and told me that I am accused of being involved in antistate activities,” she added. Haider asserted that although the officials informed that her name was added to the ECL in November, yet she was never notified. “My flight was scheduled to take off at 6:40 AM and I was detained at the airport from 4 AM to 10 AM,” she said.

However, after she was released, Haider said that officials denied her being on the no-fly list and told her that she could take another flight. “According to them, it was a technical glitch,” she said. Subsequently, she was allowed to leave the airport Haider founded “We the Humans”, a nonprofit organisation working with local communities to provide opportunities for vulnerable women and children. Last year, she was included in BBC’s list of “100 Most Influential Women”.

another imF man joins sbP

T

STAFF REPORT

HE ruling Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) on Monday found itself facing yet another political challenge after it emerged that at least 20 members of the provincial assembly had formed a forward bloc in the party.

The forward bloc comprises MPAs belonging to South and Central Punjab who are unhappy with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for making bureaucratic appointments without taking them into confidence and non-issuance of development funds.

According to sources, the disgruntled party MPAs have held two meetings within a month with the chief minister but they haven’t received a satisfactory response to their demands as yet.

Talking to a news channel, PTI

SUGAR PRICE EXPECTED TO REACH RS100 PER KG UNLESS GOVT CURBS EXPORT OF ESSENTIAL COMMODITY LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The government has appointed Murtaza Syed, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) employee, as deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, "In pursuance of section 10(4) of the State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956, the federal government is pleased to appoint Murtaza Syed as deputy governor SBP for a period of three years with immediate effect." As per the detail, Murtaza Syed was currently working as the deputy division chief in the IMF's strategy, policy and review department. He joined the fund in 2004 and previously worked in the fiscal affairs and Asia and Pacific departments.

Prior to his current assignment, he was the IMF's deputy resident representative in China. He has been involved in IMF programmes and surveillance of various emerging markets and advanced economies.

His analytical skills have covered macro financial linkages, fiscal and monetary policy, financial crisis, investment, demography and inequality. He has a PHD in economics from the University of Oxford. Earlier, the incumbent regime had appointed Dr Reza Baqir as SBP governor for a period of three years. He also worked for IMF before joining the SBP.

MPA from Layyah, Sardar Shahabuddin said that the disgruntled lawmakers’ main agenda is development.

“Some people had reservations over the local administration,” he said, adding that they wanted to tell the bureaucrats that they didn’t want them to do anything wrong but “legitimate” work.

“Our remote areas should be treated equal to Lahore and Faisalabad, which is also the manifesto of the PTI,” he said.

Shahabuddin said they would go to any length to have their issues resolved.

“We do politics for honour. If we are not given respect, then there will be no party, government or bureaucracy,” he said. “We will go against everyone.”

The PTI lawmaker claimed that at least 10 more lawmakers were willing to commit to their cause.

The PTI government in Punjab may also land in trouble if these 20 MPAs decide to change their loyalties.

A party needs minimum 186 seats to form its government in the province.

The PTI has 181 MPAs and the support of 10 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid in the assembly.

The Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz is the second largest party with 165 seats, whereas the Pakistan People’s Party has seven seats in the house.

The emergence of a forward bloc could increase challenges of the PTI government as it is already engaged in

After wheat, sugar also goes missing from markets STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD

MPA FROM LAYYAH SAYS ‘IF WE ARE NOT GIVEN RESPECT, THEN THERE WILL BE NO PARTY, GOVT OR BUREAUCRACY’

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is facing yet another challenge of ensuring the provision of essential commodities to the common man on affordable prices after it emerged on Monday that a serious case of sugar shortage is looming over the country.

While a majority of Pakistanis is already stumbling amid a wheat crisis that has jacked up prices of bread to more than Rs12-15 a piece, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 a kilo during the incumbent government’s 15 months.

However, over the past week, the wholesale rate of sugar rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage has surfaced in the country.

Last year, Pakistan produced

600,000 tonnes of sugar. Now, however, the wholesale rate of sugar is expected to reach Rs80 a kilo next week.

Further, if the government does with sugar what it did with fine wheat flour and does not halt exporting it, prices could reach up to Rs100 per kg in Pakistan, sources said.

During former military strongman General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, sugar prices had skyrocketed to Rs105 per kilo during the month of Ramzan.

It is noteworthy that Pakistan’s flour crisis has become acute, affecting major cities such as Karachi, Hyderabad, and Lahore and with prices shooting up to Rs70 a kilo in some areas.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of the wheat price hike, ordering a grand operation against hoarders to overcome

the crisis.

On Monday, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the import of 0.3 million tonnes of wheat without regulatory duty, as criticism continued to mount on the federal government over the rising prices of essential commodities across Pakistan.

Chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, the committee allowed for wheat to be imported till March 31, with the first shipment due to arrive by February 15.

It has also asked the Punjab government and the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) to release wheat stocks in order to overcome a country-wide shortage.

A statement issued by the Finance Ministry said that Punjab and PASSCO have approximately 41 tonnes of wheat stocks available.

It is not yet clear from which country or countries Pakistan will be importing the wheat.

Iran says it will quit global nuclear treaty if case goes to UN DUBAI: Iran said on Monday it could quit the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if European countries refer it to the U.N. Security Council over a nuclear agreement, a move that would overturn diplomacy in its confrontation with the West. The 1968 NPT has been the foundation of global nuclear arms control since the Cold War, including a 2015 deal Iran signed with world powers that offered it access to global trade in return for accepting curbs to its atomic program. The fate of the 2015 pact has been in doubt since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it and reimposed sanctions. Iran has responded by scaling back its commitments, although it says it wants the pact to survive. Britain, France and Germany declared Iran in violation of the 2015 pact last week and have launched a dispute mechanism that could eventually see the matter referred back to the Security Council and the reimposition of U.N. sanctions. AGENCIES

talks with its coalition partners — the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNP-M) — to keep its alliances intact.

In a statement, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar rejected rumors that Usman Buzdar will be removed from chief minister’s office.

“PML-Q does not seek chief minister’s post. There’s no threat to Usman Buzdar as long as he enjoys the support of the assembly members and Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he said.

Sarwar said that difference of opinion within the party is also the beauty of democracy, adding that PTI believes in the freedom of expression. “Lawmakers have the prerogative to put forth their demands since they are answerable to their constituents,” he said.

wells praises Pakistan's efforts against illegal us immigrants ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Chief US diplomat for South Asian Affairs Alice Wells on Monday said that the issue of illegal Pakistani immigrants in the United States had seen significant progress. “We appreciate the Pakistan government’s cooperation on the matter,” Wells said during a meeting with Interior Minister Brig (r) Ijaz Ahmad Shah, adding that her government intends to devise a foolproof system to deal with this issue in the future. Elaborating on such a system, Brig Shah told her that a stronger system to verify travel documents, as well as one for monitoring international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), has already been created by the Pakistani government.

“The organisations that we have reservations about are given a chance to present their perspective,” he added. The two sides also discussed Pakistan’s progress on matters raised by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). “It is heartening to see that Pakistan’s government has made significant progress on these matters and that too in a short time,” Wells said. Wells arrived in Pakistan on January 19 for a three-day visit. The visit will be a part of her 10day visit to the region during which she will travel to Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan, from January 13-22. “The US envoy will discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues, including shared interests in a free and open Indo-Pacific region that fosters prosperity, democracy, justice, and human rights,” according to a statement issued on Friday by the US State Department.

Govt may approve up to 214pc hike in gas prices ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The Petroleum Division on Monday sought the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) approval for a 192 per cent hike in gas prices for domestic consumers of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and 214 per cent increase for domestic consumers of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGCL) in an apparent bid to meet the revenue shortfall of both companies for fiscal year 2019-20.

Documents available with Pakistan Today disclosed that the Petroleum Division has forwarded a summary to ECC in this re-

gard and the new tariffs will come into effect from February 1, 2020, once approved.

Similarly, a 136 per cent and 153 per cent increase in prices for the old fertilizer plants lying in the jurisdictions of SNGPL and SSGCL respectively, and a 3 per cent surge for new fertilizer plants situated in SNGPL’s jurisdiction have also been proposed. However, new fertilizer plants located in SSGCL’s jurisdiction would remain unaffected.

Staying on the same lines, general industries of SNGPL are likely to experience a 32 per cent price hike, however, those in SSGCL's jurisdiction would be given a relief of 4 per cent. Zero rated industries in the northern and southern areas of the country

would likely see a 71 per cent price hike and 4 per cent reduction in gas price, respectively. For captive power plants situated in the jurisdiction of SNGPL, the Power Division proposed an increase of 32 per cent and for those SSGCL’s jurisdiction, a 4 per cent reduction may be on the cards.

Furthermore, a 32 per cent hike is proposed for CNG sector of SNGPL while 4 per cent decrease for SSGCL’s CNG sector is proposed. Moreover, 32 per cent hike for the commercial sector of SNGPL while 4 per cent decrease for the commercial sector of SSGCL is proposed in Petroleum Division’s summary.

According to the summary presented to the ECC, the government has also proposed

a significant increase from Rs20 to Rs80 as meter rent for domestic consumers while a hike of up to 245 per cent, 221 per cent, 153 per cent and 32 per cent was also proposed for SNGPL's special commercial consumers, commercial consumers, fertiliser sector and captive power plants, respectively.

It may be mentioned here that the document submitted to the ECC point out that both of the country's gas companies are engaged in gas purchase from exploration and production (E&P) companies in addition to the transmission, distribution and sale of gas to various categories of consumers. In accordance with Section 8 of OGRA Ordinance 2002, revenue requirements these companies are deter-

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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mined by OGRA which, in its decision dated December 11, 2019, determined the revised estimated revenue requirement for FY2019-20 of SNGPL and SSGCL as Rs274.2 billion and Rs289 billion, respectively. Whereas, the present sectoral gas sale prices could generate total revenue of Rs227.9 billion and Rs272.4 billion for the companies, resulting in a projected revenue shortfall of Rs30.8 billion and Rs2.9 billion respectively.

“The OGRA Ordinance, 2002, empowers the federal government to advise category wise gas sale prices to OGRA for notification in the official gazette within 40 days of its decision i.e. January 20, 2020,” a Petroleum Division’s summary read.