E-Paper PDF 23rd December (ISB)

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Monday, 23 December, 2019 I 25 Rabi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 19.00 I Vol X No 173 I 16 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Ghani back in the saddle in afGhanistan govt promises uninterrupted gas supply as situation worsens STORY ON BACK PAGE

Imran received foreign funding to sabotage CPEC, claims Iqbal STORY ON PAGE 02

Cabinet to take up maryam’s eCL plea tomorrow STORY ON PAGE 02

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abduLLah abduLLah, other CandidateS Say they wiLL ConteSt preLiminary eLeCtion reSuLtS, CaLL them ‘fake’

Sindh miniSter SayS CCi authoriSed to make appointmentS in CompanieS on reCommendationS of provinCeS

ghani SayS ‘repubLiC wiLL Continue’, no one ShouLd think of aCquiring power through miLitary meanS

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fghaniStan’S incumbent president ashraf ghani has apparently won a second five-year term based on preliminary results announced Sunday for the disputed September 28 presidential vote. the head of the country’s independent election Commission (ieC) released the long-delayed outcomes at a news conference in kabul, noting that ghani secured around 51% (50.64 exact figure) of the more than 1.8 million total votes. after months of political limbo and bitter allegations of fraud and corruption, afghanistan’s independent election Commission (ieC) said ghani had won 50.64 per cent of the vote. if it holds, the result is enough for ghani to avoid a run-off. he easily beat his top challenger, Chief executive abdullah abdullah, who scored 39.52 per cent. the ieCC has said that assessing the electoral complaints will take up to 39 working days. as soon as results were announced, abdullah’s office said in a statement he would contest them. “we would like to make it clear once again to our people, supporters, election commission and our international allies that our team will not accept the result of this fraudulent vote unless our legitimate demands are addressed,” the statement read. abdullah lost to ghani in 2014 in a divisive election that saw the uS intervene to broker an awkward powersharing deal between the two rivals.

‘REPUBLIC WILL CONTINUE’: addressing his campaign team at a gathering at the presidential palace, ghani said: “Some wanted an interim government. we are simple people–look at our clothes, at our words. we want a pure government, an islamic republic government, and today a republic was ensured,” ghani said. he reiterated that a “republic” will

Sindh seeks provinces’ representation in power companies

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CCi to take up 16-point agenda in itS 41St SeSSion today STORY ON PAGE 03

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continue. “the republic is firm in its place. the republic (government) will continue and citizens will be its center. today is the citizens’ celebration. the people of afghanistan made this success happen,” ghani said. in reacting to his political rival abdullah abdullah’s team, which called the results fraudulent, ghani said the presidential candidates should accept “the principles of the game.” “a game has principles. principles determine laws — the Constitution of afghanistan, the election law… now is the time that everyone should accept the principles of the game,” ghani said. “in the coming days, the electoral Complaints Commission will make its decision. our team will once again act based on the law and others should also act based on the law.” ghani said no one should think of reaching power through military force. “the thought that someone will rule afghanistan by the gun is a bad thought,” he said. ghani commended the afghan national defense and Security forces for ensuring the safety of the election and said their utmost efforts have made other parts of the world

safe. “our national defense and Security forces are the only power which has the authority of using legitimate power and any type of misuse of power will be prevented. however, use of force by State builder has always been within the law,” he said. members of other presidential campaign teams have said they will not accept the results. “now, “fake fraud” was also seen in this announcement, but we will continue the process. we hope that the (independent) electoral Complaints Commission takes action in excluding “fraud,” said fazl ahmad manawi, a member of abdullah abdullah’s campaign team. another candidate, rahmatullah nabil, said the announcement of the results, which are the outcome of “fraud,” will lead the country to a crisis.

modi says citizenship law not anti-muslim as protests continue across india

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at LeaSt 23 dead in proteStS againSt CitizenShip Law

STORY ON BACK PAGE

CMYK Monday, 23 December, 2019

02 NEWS

IMrAN receIved FOreIGN FuNdING tO sABOtAGe cPec, clAIMs IqBAl SWAT

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NAB suMMONs AhsAN IqBAl tOdAy

STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was funded by foreign elements to destroy the country’s economy and sabotage the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Addressing party workers in Swat, the former interior minister said that the premier is purposely delaying accountability in the foreign funding case against him because he has been given the task of destroying the national economy and sabotaging CPEC by anti-Pakistan elements. “The country was moving at a fast pace during the PML-N’s tenure but our economic growth currently stands at the lowest in the entire region due to the flawed policies of the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) government,” he said, adding that the PML-N government had worked for the interests of the country

and had stood undeterred despite the incarceration of the party’s key leadership.

Referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision of skipping the Kuala Lampur Summit in Malaysia, the PMLN leader said that Mayalasian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad did not know about the “U-turn Khan”. It is worth mentioning here that the ruling party currently faces a foreign funding case before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The case was filed by a party leader in 2014 after he developed differences with the party chairman over alleged internal corruption and abuse of

The National Accountability Bureau on Sunday asked Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal to appear before the accountability watchdog for his alleged involvement in Narowal Sports City scam. Iqbal is accused of starting the project worth Rs3 billion illegally. The Pakistan Sports Board is also accused of illegally using its authority for the construction of this project. NAB had also approved an inquiry against Ahsan Iqbal on charges of accumulating assets beyond his known sources of income. According to a media report, the anti-corruption watchdog’s Rawalpindi bureau has been directed to immediately launch an investigation into the matter. NEWS DESK laws governing political funding. On November 25, the premier had said that opposition parties were misleading the people on foreign funding case.

Addressing a meeting of his spokespersons, the premier had said that his party had submitted all relevant details to the ECP and it would get a clean chit in the foreign funding case. He had alleged that both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had raised funds through money

laundering. Imran had directed his spokespersons to update the masses about all the aspects of the foreign funding case.

Earlier on November 23, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had said that the opposition parties had become an example of political hypocrisy. Firdous, in a tweet, had lamented the opposition parties were hurling political threats to ECP under a new guise.

Cabinet to take up Maryam’s ECL plea tomorrow ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

PM to visit Karachi on 27th KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Karachi on December 27 to assuage the concerns of party lawmakers and allies concerning the treatment meted out to the city by the federal government. According to reports, the PM would meet the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inaf (PTI) elected representatives at the Governor House who were not happy with the attitude of the central government to the issues of Karachi. “The PM is expected that some big schemes are announced for the uplift of the megacity,” claimed party sources.

On Friday, the lawmakers from Karachi called on the premier. Talking to the PTI MNAs, the PM had said Karachi was the economic hub of the country, and its progress was the progress of the country.

He had said the progress and prosperity of Karachi are among the top priorities of the federal government. He had said after achieving economic stability, the government was focused on resolving issues of the people including inflation and provision of job opportunities, while special attention was being paid to bring prices of essential commodities under control. Imran had said the private sector and business community were being facilitated for the generation of employment opportunities for the youth.

He said acceleration in the industrial process and expeditious progress in various development projects will provide jobs to the youth. The prime minister called on the elected members to remain in contact with people so that practicable proposals could be implemented for the resolution of their problems.

The government on Sunday has prepared recommendations over the removal of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz’s name from Exit Control List (ECL). Sources told that the suggestions will be presented in the federal cabinet session on Tuesday. On the other hand, Lahore High Court (LHC) will hear the petition filed by PML-N to exclude Maryam’s name from the no-fly list on Monday.

On Dec 9, LHC had declared Maryam Nawaz’s petition seeking the removal of her name from the ECL as inadmissible and directed her to approach the interior ministry. Afterward, the cabinet had opposed to sending her abroad. Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda urged the government not to exclude Maryam’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL). Several ministers, including PM Imran, agreed with his opinion. On Saturday, the PML-N leader had filed the second plea in the high court for removal of her name from the ECL. In the latest petition filed by her lawyers, Muham-

mad Amjad Pervaiz and Azam Nazeer Tarar, the PML-N vice president once again sought one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure.

“The respondent government be kindly directed to delete the name of the petitioner from Exit Control List forthwith. Meanwhile, pending the disposal of the instant petition, the petitioner may kindly be granted one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure,” the petition had read. According to details, the application filed through Advocate Amjad Pervaiz made the Interior Ministry, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as respondents in the case.

The petition requested the memorandum dated August 20, 2018, be declared as “illegal, without lawful authority, void ab-initio and of no legal effect in the interest of justice”.

Additionally, it is also seeking the award of “any other relief deemed appropriate in the peculiar circumstances of the case”. On December 7, Maryam had filed a petition in the LHC seeking the removal of her name from the ECL. The PML-N VP

is currently on bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case, in which she is a suspect, but her name remains on the no-fly list. Her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, travelled to London last month after the government and courts granted him permission to fly abroad on medical grounds.

Subsequently, the court had directed the federal government’s review committee to decide Maryam Nawaz’s application for removal of her name from the ECL within seven days. Former prime minister and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, who was serving a prison sentence, left the country to receive medical treatment in London last month. Nawaz Sharif reportedly had an immune system disorder and other health problems.

His brother Shehbaz – who also traveled with Nawaz – signed a court document that said: “If at any stage, the federal government has credible information that Nawaz Sharif is living abroad despite his fitness to travel, a representative from Pakistan’s High Commission would have a right to meet with his physician(s) to verify or confirm about his health.”

Polio will be eradicated at all costs: PM’s aide ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday said the government would take all measures to eradicate poliovirus from the country. In a statement, he said during the recently concluded polio eradication campaign, 99 percent target of administering vaccine to children has been achieved. A total of 2,65,000 polio workers took part in the drive, he added. The special assistant said 111 polio cases have been reported thus far

this year, adding significance to the campaign. According to data, he said, 39.1 million children were administered polio drops to enhance their immunity against the crippling disease.

He said all chief ministers and political parties played their role to make the campaign, which was launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan successful.

Dr Zafar Mirza urged religious scholars of all schools of thought to play their part in elimination of the disease. Addressing the launching ceremony of the Nationwide Polio Eradication Campaign in Islamabad on

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Dec 13, the prime minister had urged the nation to eradicate polio from the country as it is a ‘matter of shame’ that Pakistan is still among the countries in the world where polio continues to exist. “It is my humble request to all the mothers watching this event that if you are not reached by our polio team then you should set out to find polio workers and make sure your kids get the polio drops” “Pakistan is among the very few countries that still have traces of polio, despite numerous successes rendered by polio staff,” said premier while lauding the sacrifices of polio workers.

No change in visa policy for IOK residents: FO ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan has denied the media reports regarding the change in its visa policy for the citizens of the Indian-occupied Kashmir. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, “Media reports, which appeared in a section of media, about changes in Pakistani visa for residents of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, are completely baseless and incorrect. Pakistan High Commission continues to issue visas to residents of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the visa policy of the government and related bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India.

There has been no change in the visa policy for residents of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.” “The High Commission for Pakistan, New Delhi is also taking into cognizance the peculiar humanitarian situation, post-August 5, in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir while deciding on visa applications for the residents of the region,” it added.

“The High Commission is making all efforts to facilitate as much as possible, the genuine visa applicants, particularly those from IoJ&K. Those who fulfill the visa requirements continue to be issued visas as quickly as possible,” it added.

One Pakistani among four suffocated to death in Greece NEWS DESK Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui has confirmed the death of one Pakistani national among four due to gas suffocation in a factory in Greece on December 19.“According to available information on the media reports, four persons had died on December 19, 2019 due to gas suffocation in a factory in Kalivia, a place 50 kilometres from Athens,” she said in a statement.Local authorities have identified one of the deceased as a Pakistani national whereas identification of the remaining three was in process, said the FO spokesperson.She further added that the Pakistan Embassy in Athens is in close contact with local authorities and will provide necessary assistance and facilitation to bereaved families.Greece is one of the main gateways for migrants trying to enter northern European countries and the first EU state many will encounter. The vast majority of the migrants use smugglers whom they paid off to board overloaded rubber dinghies on the west coast of Turkey.

CMYK Monday, 23 December, 2019

sINdh seeKs PrOvINces’ rePreseNtAtION IN POwer cOMPANIes t NEWS DESK

HE Sindh government on Sunday urged the federal government to include provinces in the public sector power companies in line with the constitution ahead of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting.

The demand was made by Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh in a letter to Minister for Power Division Omar Ayub Khan. According to the letter, the minister said that the electricity sector could only exercise its power after the nominations of the provincial governments’ representatives on the board of directors, governors and management committees in the power companies.

“As per the 18th Amendment, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) is authorised for policy-making and supervision of the power companies,” he said, adding that the

CCI was authorised to make appointments in the companies on the recommendations of the provinces. He hoped that the federal government would implement the constitutional requirements as soon as possible.

CCI SESSION ON MONDAY: The CCI will hold its 41st session on Monday to discuss a 16-point agenda. Four chief ministers of provinces will attend the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, scheduled to be held in Islamabad. In March 2019, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, during a key meeting, decided to write a letter to the federal government, urging it to convene a meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI).

The provincial chief secretaries have also been invited in the meeting. According to the agenda, the annual reports of the CCI for 2016 and 2017 years will be submitted in the session for approval.

The CCI will discuss the amended petroleum policy, LNG

import, and amendment in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) ordinance 2002.

The issue of the NoC for installation of a 25 MW hydro-power project located on the ChashmaJhelum Link Canal will also be part of the agenda. A summary about the privatization of the Haveli Shah Bahadur and Balloki power plants have also been sent to the council

for a decision. The issue of the distribution of natural resources under Article 158 and 172 will also be discussed in the CCI meeting.

The alternate energy policy 2019 will also be presented in the CCI session for approval.

The CCI will also discuss the appointment of the Chairman and Members of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

Global powers must keep India in check, says Qureshi ISLAMABAD

OIc cONcerNed Over INdIA PrOtests

STAFF REPORT

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday urged the international community to take notice of steps taken by the Indian government, affecting the region’s peace. In a statement, Qureshi said all minorities, particularly Muslims in India, have been protesting against the controversial citizenship act and their entire opposition is also protesting. The foreign minister said that he had informed UN Security Council about his apprehensions and possible threats in a “letter he sent on December 12”.

The minister said India can resort to a “false flag operation to divert attention and unprovoked ceasefire violation along LoC” is also continuing. Qureshi said Pakistan has befittingly responded to the unprovoked firing of Indian forces in which a “large number of casualties” have been reported. On Saturday, Prime Minister Imran Khan also warned the international community that Pakistan will be left with no option but to give a “befitting response” to the Indian “false flag operation” in an attempt to divert world’s attention from violent protests against recently passed anti-Muslim law.

Indian PM Narendra Modi sought Sunday to reassure Muslims as a wave of deadly protests against a new citizenship law put his Hindu nationalist government under pressure like never before. At least 25 people have died in 10 days of demonstrations and violence after Modi’s

government passed the law criticised as antiMuslim. More protests took place Sunday. Addressing party supporters in New Delhi — who cried “Modi! Modi!” at the mention of the law — the 69-year-old said Muslims “don’t need to worry at all” — provided they are genuine Indians. “Muslims who are sons of the soil and whose ancestors are the children of mother India need not to worry” about the law and his plans to carry out a national register of citizens, Modi told the crowd of thousands.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed concerns over “the recent developments pertaining to both the issue of citizenship rights and the Babri Masjid case”. In a statement issued on Sunday, it said: “The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has been closely following recent developments affecting Muslim minority in India.” At least 25 people have died in 10 days of demonstrations and violence after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government passed the law. OIC in its statement reiterated call to ensure the safety of the Muslim minority and the protection of Islamic holy places in India. “The General Secretariat reaffirms the crucial importance of upholding the principles and obligations enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and relevant international covenants that guarantee the rights of minorities without any discrimination.” It also added that any action, contrary to these principles and obligations, may lead to further tensions and may have serious implications on peace and security across the region. NEWS DESK

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swati sees 'judicial adventurism' in Musharraf verdict Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Senator Azam Swati on Sunday dubbed the special court’s verdict against former military dictator Pervez Musharraf ‘judicial adventurism’. “This is not judicial activism but judicial adventurism,” Swati said in a TV show.A three-judge special tribunal, established under the orders of Supreme Court, on Thursday found Musharraf of committing crime under Article 6. The senator questioned if the judges who wrote the verdict were writing a new history of the Constitution and the law. He added that the government had ‘reservations over the whole verdict’ and not just the controversial paragraph 66. “The selection of words in the verdict point to the judge’s ego and bias,” said the minister.

Paragraph 66 of the verdict, authored by Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, had “directed the law enforcement agencies to arrest Musharraf and if he was found dead, drag his body to the D-Chowk in Islamabad and hang it for three days”. The observation drew ire from the government, political and legal analysts and the military. The minister said that there were other people as well who were involved in decision making with Musharraf at that time. Swati added that ‘action against the co-conspirators’ will be included in the cabinet’s agenda. When asked about the government’s options on the extension of the army chief’s tenure, the minister said the government had two to three options on the legislation. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf senator stated that the first option the government had was to ‘amend the Army Act’. “The second option is to bring a public bill and the third option is to table an explanatory bill,” said the senator. He added that under the third option the government will clarify the army’s chief’s extension. The minister said that the parliament’s clarity on a matter needs to be accepted by the apex court or any court. “The Supreme Court cannot advise or order the Parliament”, he stated. The top court last month had taken up a petition challenging the extension of the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. In its verdict, the apex court had allowed the federal government to grant a six-month extension to the army chief and directed it to bring necessary legislation within six months’ time. NEWS DESK

celebrated poet Amjad Islam Amjad receives prestigious turkish award Famous Pakistani writer and poet Amjad Islam Amjad received the prestigious Necip Fazil International Culture and Art Award at a ceremony held in Istanbul on Saturday.

According to a press release, the distinguished literary figure was selected by the award jury for his contribution in creating a remarkable impression in the literary and artistic world whereas the event was graced

by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and other leading literary figures. Congratulating Amjad Islam Amjad for receiving the Award, President Erdogan said: “Amjad Islam Amjad is one of the most important poets in modern Urdu literature and a prominent figure in Pakistan”. “Pakistan is a cherished friend of Turkey. Typically relationships are based on mutual benefit. But the Turkey-Pakistan friendship is based on sincerity and solidarity,” he added. In his acceptance speech, Amjad thanked the jury for deeming him worthy of the accolade. “Turkey is close to every Pakistani’s heart,” he said, adding that receiving the award in the presence of the Turkish president was a huge honour.

Amjad was the only foreign recipient of the award in 2019.

Dr Mehmet Akif Aydın and Coşkun Yılmaz won the award for knowledge research and Professor Uğur Derman won the Necip Fazıl Award of Respect. NEWS DESK

Karachi bar censures govt for defending Musharraf KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) has censured the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for defending former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, who was recently convicted by a special court for committing high treason.

The statement came after the government announced that it would challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court. “The KBA is shocked that the government is solely concerned about defending and protecting a convicted criminal rather than doing its lawful duty to prosecute

and punish him,” said the KBA in a statement issued on Saturday.

“More particularly, the attorney general and law minister and other ministers who are supposed to prosecute a criminal on behalf of the State are defending that criminal rather than supporting the judgement.” “It is also strange that provisions of the Constitution are now being quoted in defence of Gen (R) Musharraf who said ‘the Constitution is a piece of paper to be thrown in the dustbin’,” noted the KBA in its statement. “In fact, Constitution is supreme and no one is above the law be it general, dictator or anyone else.”

KBA also regretted the statement is-

sued by the director general of the InterServices Public Relations (ISPR) after the verdict was announced, in which he had said that the special court’s decision was “received with lot of pain and anguish within rank and file of Pakistan Armed Forces”.

“As far as the pain and anguish expressed by the DG ISPR is concerned, the KBA wishes such emotions had been expressed when Gen (R) Musharraf disgraced the good name of Pakistan’s beloved Armed Forces by suspending the Constitution and imposing martial law or when he masterminded the tragic events of May 12, 2007 when dozens of citizens

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including lawyers lost their lives,” the KBA said in its statement.

“On that fateful day, when innocents were being killed by terrorists, the dictator arrogantly showed his fists to show his contempt for law and the value of human lives but no statement about that has been made by the DG ISPR. “The judiciary of Pakistan better understands its responsibilities under the law and the Constitution than any DG ISPR,” the body declared. The lawyers’ body termed as “unfortunate” the insinuations by the government and the security establishment that the judgement was “weakening the security of Pakistan or

being used by foreign hands”.

It further advised that any “defects and errors” in the judgement can be challenged through an appeal “rather than through press conferences or through filing of references against the author judges”. The statement ended with the hope that Musharraf “like other leaders before him” will return to Pakistan and “file his appeal from the jail cell”.

“If not, the government is bound to secure his extradition,” the statement concluded. KBA’s statement comes days after the Pakistan Bar Council issued a press release, objecting to the insulting criticism of the judgement.

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Monday, 23 December, 2019

WEATHER UPDATES

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Seven projectS worth rS4.20bln approved for erStwhile fata PESHAWAR

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APP

HE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government has approved seven gigantic projects worth Rs4.20 billion to promote agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors in erstwhile FATA. An Official of Agriculture and Livestock Department told APP on Sunday that 10 new projects focusing on enhancement of meat and milk production, water conservation, livestock and dairy development have been prepared after consultation with all stakeholders to alleviate poverty and generate employment opportunities for the tribesmen. Out of these projects, seven were approved by the competant forum on which around Rs4. 20billion would be spent during current fiscal year.

The Government has expedited work on Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP) 2019-20 by approving four mega projects for which Rs665 million have been already released.

Similarly, PC-1 of the two gigantic projects worth Rs 12 billion has been prepared and were being sent to concerned forum for approval. The department has achieved 92 per cent success in the allotted targets pertaining to development and provision of services to people.

As per the department's report for financial year 2019-20, PC-1 of the 15 new projects have been developed out of which approval of 14 projects including 11 Public Sector Development Projects(PSDP) worth Rs44 billion were taken and funds of 10 projects have been already released.

These PSDP and ADP funded projects include bringing improvements in watercourses at national level, protection of water resources in rainy areas, construction of small and medium dams, production of wheat, rice, oil, protection of calves, fattening of animals and promotion of trout fish farming in the province including merged areas.

Agriculture programs worth Rs1970 million has been developed under AIP for

erstwhile FATA with main focus on enhancement of crops' productivity, producing of virus free seeds, solarisation of tube-wells and building of small dams to bring its vast areas under agriculture cover.

The programs developed under AIP include Integrated Agricultural Development Program (IADP) worth Rs750 million, merged areas' contribution to the Prime Minister's National Agriculture Emergency Program (NAEP) with a proposed allocation of Rs 640 million, construction of small check dams and watercourses with a hefty amount of Rs580 million for the current fiscal year.

Under IADP, an inclusive program for production of virus free seeds would be launched in Kurrum and Orakzai tribal districts on which approximately Rs180 million would be spent during 2019-20.

Similarly, work on 11 agriculture disciplines would be initiated under integrated agriculture developing program primarily focusing on construction of around 32,000 watercourses, building of small check dams for prevention of

water's wastage and soil erosion, strengthening of poultry farming and solarisation of tube wells.

Behavioral science based adaptation for production of high value horticultural crops would be initiated to promote horticulture and flower industries. The Government would spend around Rs350 million on this project during current financial year. Rs 220 million have been proposed for land reclamation and solarisation of agriculture tube wells during current financial year.

Under the Prime Minister's National Agriculture Emergency Program, focus would be made on areas' enhancement for bolstering crops productivity specifically for oilseed such as sunflower, mustard and groundnut food which Rs120million were proposed.

Similarly, Rs120 million would be spent on crop productivity's enhancement of areas especially for pulses in merged areas.Conservation of land and construction of watercourses would enhance per acre production through enhanced irriga-

RAWALPINDI: Shopping picks up pace as Christmas draws near. ONLINE

Air pollution increases patients’ visits with respiratory issues in federal capital ISLAMABAD

tion network costing Rs270 million.

To prevent canals water from wastage, Rs330 million would be spent on construction of small check dams and rainwater harvesting. At least, 32,000 watercourses would be constructed during next four years in KP. Irrigation water has been released in the main canal of Gomal Zam Dam in South Waziristan tribal district with the capacity to irrigate 100,000 acres land in southern districts of KP. Work on the dam’s second canal has been expedited following completion would irrigate additional one lakh acres barren and infertile land in KP. The official said about Rs13 billion would be spent on water conservation programs during next four years in the province.

As many as 10 cattle markets would be constructed in different districts with an estimated cost of Rs200 million besides establishment of livestock research and development facilities worth Rs100 million during current fiscal year.

Native American artist falls in love with Pakistan ISLAMABAD

APP

APP

The federal capital facing air pollution for the last two months had increased the number of patients visiting the hospitals with respiratory issues. Talking to APP, official of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said around 700-800 patients per day were visiting the hospital with sore throat, flu, cough and inflammation in the respiratory track. He said that increased smoke and dust due to chilly weather, humidity and less rainfall was making it difficult for the allergic patients to move outdoors in critical hours. He said that people should avoid outdoor walks in peak traffic hours as vehicular emissions were the main source of pollution alongwith open garbage burning done in certain sectors of the federal capital. “Every citizen particularly motorbike users should wear pollution mask and sun glasses to avoid serious impacts of air pollution causing red eyes, irritation in the respiratory tract and other health complications,” he added. The air quality data by Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had also reported unhealthy ambience in the federal capital.

Court awards death penalty to convict for killing wife PESHAWAR APP

Additional Sessions Judge III Manshera Sunday awarded death sentence to the convict Dildar Hussain son of Dost Muhammad for killing his wife in Chakya Baila Manshera on June 6, 2017 during Ramdan ul Mubarak.

The judge released his co accused mother Sakina Bibi and sister Gulzar Bibi and also imposed a fine of 5 million rupees on the prime suspect. Dildar Hussain burnt alive his wife Asima Bibi over a domestic issue in Chakya area on the outskirts of Mansehra with the help of his mother and sister, allegedly sprinkled petrol over his wife, leaving her seriously injured. Asima Bibi was shifted to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital where she recorded her statement before the doctors pronounced her dead. Her brother lodged first information report (FIR) with the police, that his sister was married to Dildar Hussain one and a half years ago. The husband and his mother and sister used to torture his daughter without any reason. The police, after lodging FIR under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code, arrested Dildar Hussain his mother and sister. Dildar Hussain and her mother while recording their statement in the police station said that Asima Bibi burnt alive while cooking in the kitchen and refused the allegation of murder.

Every household in Pakistan consumes 200 plastic bags a month ISLAMABAD APP

Every household in Pakistan that comprises six persons consumed around one kilogram approximately 200 plastic bags in a month that were dumped in solid waste.

These remarks were made by the founder of Zero Plastic Dr Ansir A Rajput, a programme striving to reverse damages caused by plastic products to the environment in the country, told APP in his exclusive interview.

He said the plastic bags of 15 microns size was the most used bag for purchasing domestic items in the markets. “People do not bother to properly dispose of those bags in

solid waste that never decomposes rather remains into the system destroying ecology and human health,” Dr Ansir said.

He said that plastic waste hazard was an alarming global threat; not only does it directly endanger the environment, marine life and human beings, rather, it is the 8th largest contributor to global warming.

“Plastic bags used for shopping purposes makeup 30 percent of the plastic waste produced globally. Pakistan, as a developing country does not have proper recycling means, worst, is one of the largest plastic waste contributors. Zero Plastic is a philanthropic movement to save ourselves and the generations to come,” he added.

To a question, he said Zero Plas-

tic had offered alternate jute bags for plastic bags and were locally produced by an industry established in Muzaffargarh. “The jute bag varies in cost from Rs70, Rs100 and Rs140 with regards to its size that could be used up to two years,” he added.

He said that the Ministry of Climate Change was approached to promote these jute bags as an alternate where the Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul had directed to present a business plan. This would help to get the project flagged under the Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme as green entrepreneurship scheme, which would provide an opportunity to house wives and destitute women to earn decent livelihood, he added.

Kya-Rae Arthur, a native American artist of Ballet Beyond Borders (BBB has said that she is so much impressed with the beauty and people of Pakistan that she could not find words that can portray her inner feelings. She recently participated and performed in 13-day long International Islamabad Art Festival 2019 (IIAF19), held in federal capital from November 18 to 30. Talking to APP, she said that in the short period of time, she spent in Pakistan capital Islamabad and some of the surrounding areas, she got to experience the true beauty of Pakistan. "To me the beauty of Pakistan lives on through the people, culture, traditions, language and the landscape," she said, adding that Pakistan was so beautiful --there are no words adequate to describe my experience. Kya-Rae said that she had never experienced such hospitality from people. "It’s as if you can see the love and kindness radiating from within them" she added. BBB artist said she has made memories and friends that will last my lifetime."I now find myself correcting anyone who has anything negative to say about this amazing place" she said.

She said that she cannot express all of her emotions she experienced and at times the beauty was overwhelming.

Kya-Rae Arthur who is also princess 2019 of Salish-Kootenai College, a local college in USA said that she thankful to Ballet Beyond Borders and IIAF19 for creating this very special opportunity for her to share her dance, culture and traditions with the people of Pakistan.

Country’s first stray dogs sanctuary established in Peshawar PESHAWAR APP

No doubt, dogs are popular across the globe for their faithfulness, but, are dangerous and rather more fatal when they become rabid.

A stray or rabid dog can be anywhere and, Peshawar has a huge problem with free-roaming dogs so the city is struggling with ways to manage the issue. No one knows how many street dogs are there in Peshawar. Rabies is endemic in dogs and every year people die of this disease though small in number in the city. Zeba Masood, a US citizen of Pakistani origin has established first sanctuary of stray dogs in posh

University Town area of Peshawar.

The facility known as Lucky Animal Protection Centre is the first of its kind that was established to save street dogs from beating, maltreatment and malnourishment.“I set up the sanctuary to provide protection and shelter to maltreated, beaten, and starving stray dogs,” Zeba Masood said.

“It makes me sick and breaks my heart to see all stray animals on roads in pathetic conditions,” Zeba Masood said and added that these street dogs have increased the risk of dog bite cases that may lead to fatal disease rabies.

“Our goal and mission is to eradicate rabies from Peshawar as well as the whole KP province through the

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mass vaccination of stray and owned dogs, and reducing animal overpopulation through spay or neuter and adoption programs while providing temporary shelter to stray, injured and abandoned animals, husband of Zeba, Masood said. Monthly expenditure of the facility including rent, food, vaccinations and medical supplies amounts to about Rs250,000. These expenses are incurred by her family, friends, animal lovers and concerned citizens of the civil society.

Food of the dogs include chicken meat, carrots, dry fruits and assorted vegetables keeping in view the body and health requirements of the animals.

"Killing a dog is not a solution to

the problem but the situation demands vaccination and neutering on part of government to make these roaming creatures harmless.

He said, "100 dogs are having treatment in the facility and we are planning to vaccinate 500,000 dogs in future from imported injections."

The facility was also receiving adoption applications both from inside and outside of the country he said and added, "We are planning to send a dog to USA for adoption after competing vaccination course". He said, "We are considering to contact armed forces for training of some of our dogs", adding, "We are also conducting awareness session in various schools to save street dogs".

CMYK Monday, 23 December, 2019

NEWS

DhArnA At D-ChowK City Notes

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would have thought the case against Gen Pervez Musharraf was pretty open-and-shut. In fact, the only surprise in the verdict was the decision that his corpse was to be hung at D-Chowk in Islamabad. That shows ignorance that D-Chowk is meant only for dharnas against corruption. As we know (having been told so ad infinitum, from that same D Chowk), corruption is the reason why our country suffers all its woes. And subverting the Constitution isn’t a woe.

The real reason General Musharraf would object to the death sentence is not that he is afraid to die, or that he objects to being called a traitor, or even that he is innocent of the charge and it was somebody else, but that he isn’t properly dressed.

As everyone knows, military men are conscious of the right dress for the occasion. And if sentenced to death, one has to wear a long blue qameez with yellow polka dots over a black dhoti, the whole ensemble being topped by a red

cloth tied around the head and bottomed by leather pumps, but no socks, on the feet. Preferably one should have a mole on one’s cheek with hairs sprouting out of it, and one’s eyes must be lined with kohl. And one should have an evocative alias, for Musharraf, Kalay Shah would be right, recalling his lawyer Ahmad Raza Kasuri, who once said that General Musharraf was no Kala Gujjar, and not to be treated as such.

Of course, General Musharraf would be concerned about his defence, and appealing, and so on, but so is the government. Didn’t the government prosecute him? In fact, no one can register an FIR for high treason; just the federal government. I suppose that it is to prevent an SHO toiling up the road to the Presidency, sweating profusely, intent on asking the President whether he had any old enmity with the Constitution, and if so why?

I can just see an SHO of the old school thrashing Musharraf within an inch of his life while asking him why he subverted the Constitution. As a side-effect, he would also expect to solve some unsolved robberies. Of course, Musharraf might not have confessed, being a commando, presumably with special

training in keeping silent under interrogation if captured.

Another thing about the sentence is the Army spokesman has plunged into the whole debate. He could so easily have stayed above the fray, saying that the military would not comment on judicial decisions. Was he showing he was on the same page as the government, or were government ministers busy showing they were on the same page as the military? Does it really matter, so long as these notes appear on the same page as this newspaper’s Lahore page?

I would suppose the government would have to look after the General’s de-

fence, because he probably couldn’t find any lawyers. I mean, everyone seems to have gone on strike after the attack on the PIC. Law and medicine were supposed to be learned professions, and one sign was that you couldn’t get admission on sports basis in either medical college or law school. However, going by the PIC incident, all-in wrestling and boxing should be advantages, not to mention small-arms training for lawyers. Dancing may be an optional subject, but not on the dance floor, on vehicle bonnets.

Of course, the sentence came on December 17, a day after the anniversary of an event the Army would like everyone to forget. December 16, this year the 47th anniversary of the fall of Dacca, came a day before. It was also the anniversary of the APS massacre, which Imran might remember, because it allowed him to end the dharna which had gone on too long to be of any purpose any more.

Well, not only did Test cricket return to Pakistan, but it has now returned to Karachi, where Abid Ali followed up his century-on-debut (which gave him a unique double, after his century on ODI debut) at Rawalpindi with another in the second innings. But he must be a corrupt element. After all, he’s an opener, and they are opposed to fast bowlers. As everyone knows, especially Imran, fast bowlers are the salt of the earth, and openers are by their nature corrupt. Like Nawaz Sharif.

Patients unhappy over routine protests at PIMS ISLAMABAD APP

Citizens on Sunday complained that a large number of patients at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) had to face several difficulties in accessing health assistance due to routine strikes of doctors and nursing staff.

According to them, the administration of the hospital should take notice of routine absence of doctors and para medical staff in different sections due to their political activities. They added that many patients who visit here from others parts of the country with different medical complications had to move to private hospitals due to whole day agitation related activities of doctors.

“Doctors should raise voice for their genuine demands but they must realize the sufferings of patients at the hospital who faced refusal of treatment due to their strike,” Naseem Alam, a patient at PIMS said. He appealed the doctors to serve the ailing rather than spending time in agitations and protests for political gains. He added that the hospital administration should also realize the problems of incoming patients and attitude of doctors at time of the latter's protests.

Another patient, Saleem Baig said, “During protest few days back some representatives of junior doctors had

MUHAMMAD ALI EHSAN No society can progress if it cannot have order. Many things contribute towards the sustenance of an order in a society but the three that eat it up the most are — unequal distribution of power, weak institutions, and the failure and helplessness of the order itself to adjust when the circumstances change. Obviously order never adjusts itself and the “lack of adjustment” remains most essentially a human (leadership) failure. In the post-Musharraf era there has been a phenomenal change in the identity of both politics and the military in this country.

A gradual balance of power between the politics and military returned and despite some “political tremors”, politics on the whole moved forward and the assemblies for the first time in the history of Pakistani politics completed their tenures.

Politics also engaged in executing some constitutional amendments and the distribution of power concentrated in one person (the president) was handed over to the Parliament. After 2008, there were political, economic as well as security issues but the pillars of the state were working within the boundaries defined by the Constitution and there was this fair and admirable return of balance of power between the institutions in this country.

With a few minor exceptions here and there all institutions worked within the boundaries established by the Constitution. Underpinning this balance of power

clearly communicated us to move to any other hospital for early treatment as no doctor will attend them now.”

He expressed his reservations over regular feature of protests of doctors at major hospitals of the federal capital and appealed the quarters concerned to make certain laws to discourage this inhuman practice in hospitals. He said patients care should not be given in the hands of those who didn’t know about professional ethics and norms, adding the doctors should not refuse their duties towards patients care.Waseem Khalid, a patient said despite several complaints submitted on increasing incidents of misbehaviour with the patients by trainee doctors, the hospital management was reluctant to take any action on those applications.

“Under professional ethics, medical practitioners are bound to avoid any discriminating attitude or exploiting vulnerable situations in the hospital,” Aamir Nazeer, a citizen said.

He said under the code of ethics prepared by Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) for medical practitioners, gross negligence in respect of professional duties might lead to suspension or removal from services.

Shoaib Kaleem, a patient said, "The junior doctors must ensure that they do not indulge in any untoward incident that negatively impacts directly or indirectly on patient care and that their political activities must never interfere with patients’ treatment at PIMS in any way."He said they should adopt polite

behaviour with the patients and guide them properly rather than adopting rough attitude with them.

“The PMC is committed to regulate the standards of medical practice, protect the interests of the patients, supervise medical education, and give guidelines on ethical issues,” an official of PMC said while reacting on non-observance of code of ethics by PIMS doctors.He said the code of ethics provided a set of principles, which doctors could use as guidelines in the varying situations, in line with their judgment, experience, knowledge and skills. In case of receiving any complaint regarding negligence, misbehave and malpractice of doctors, the commission takes strict action against medical practitioners, he added. The official advised the citizens to send their complaints against doctors directly to the PMC. When contacted, an official from PIMS said patient care was the top priority of the hospital management and every doctor and member of nursing staff was responsible to fulfill due responsibilities.

He said there were clear instructions for all medical practitioners and nursing staff to give best treatment to patients at hospital and there was zero tolerance policy for any negligence in this regard.

One man’s hero is another’s villain was the media which now defined “the changed circumstances” in which the order had to operate. Unlike the past nothing could be shelved or brushed under the carpet and nothing that politics or the military did could be hidden from the watchful eyes of the media. The forced circumstances had brought in a change of order —forced because of the War on Terror which highlighted our huge internal and external vulnerabilities and if it was not for resilience and sacrifices of our law enforcement agencies and our entire society which gave rise to our new born nationalism, we couldn’t have won this war.

If the order in the society could have changed for good and it had adjusted favourably to the changing circumstances, we would have benefited a lot as a nation. The victory in the War on Terror was giving us an opportunity — it was becoming the seam that was stitching the nation together with the state. But those driving the order made the mistake of not adjusting to it; instead of cashing on the opportunity and promoting good civic nationalism we continued on our path of sustaining our politics through bad ethnic nationalism. The order that could have evolved was allowed to decay. When democracy decays it goes backwards and when it does that it takes the country with

it. The problem of this country was not what General Musharraf did or did not.

The problem of this country was when the opportunity had come knocking on the door of politics it didn’t extract the benefit of the “changed circumstances”.

It is said that when the rulers uphold their bargain (the bargain of ruling in the public interest) in the social contract that binds them with the ruled, then national identity supersedes all other identities (religious, ethnic, sectarian, and tribal). The drivers of the order (democracy) in the changed circumstances had their political cart driving the military horse.

All they needed to do was drive it well, even this they couldn’t do and motivated by greed, religion and power, the drivers failed to adjust and made mistakes. The result of those mistakes is pretty much evident in the social, political, economic and security conditions of this country. Had the mistakes not been committed, would the two major political parties that showcase “dynastic rule” have many members of their families facing corruption charges, with few in jail, others on bail and many having reached the safe shores of Britain?

Today when you mention the word Britain in Pakistan it does not bring to mind Brexit but Oliver Cromwell. This is because of paragraph 66 of the famous ruling by the

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special court on General Musharraf’s treason case. Before the Honourable Judge of the special court in his judgment quoted from British history in his famous paragraph, our now retired chief justice of the Supreme Court had done the same in the detailed judgment of General Bajwa’s extension case by writing, “I understand that democratic maturity of our nation has reached a stage where this court can proclaim that as declared by Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke of England in Commendam case in the year 1616 regarding powers of King James I, ‘However high you may be, the law is above you’.”

One person’s hero is another person’s villain — a reality that all of us are well aware of but when the judgments of the judges, including some of the superfluous remarks that don’t respect this reality, then create more confusions and divisions instead of harmony and unity in the country. General Musharraf had his flaws and his inconsistencies and as much as many hate him for his “anti-democracy” there are many that still love him for his brand of patriotism, his unwavering loyalty and his selfless and restless energy all utilised for the creation of a better democracy and a better country. Not tried for his original sin of abrogating the Constitution in 1999 for reasons best known to our judiciary,

05

AJK PM directs assistance for LoC victims ISLAMABAD APP

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan on Sunday directed all relevant departments to remain on high alert to deal with any untoward situation arising out of unprovoked Indian firing at Line of Control (LoC).In a statement, the prime minister directed the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and district administration to immediately rescue the Indian firing affectees besides providing them all possible assistance.Raja Farooq Haider Khan further directed the departments concerned to device a comprehensive strategy in coordination with the Pak Army to deal with any untoward situation.The AJK prime minister put health as well as SDMA on alert to effectively deal with the emerging situation arising out after continued Indian shelling on the civilian population resulting into the martyrdom and injuries of local population.He also directed the administration of affected districts to immediately pay the compensation to the owners of the houses devastated in Indian shelling.Raja Farooq Haider advised Minister State Disaster Management Authority to keep a strict eye on the CFL developments and provide immediate relief to the affected population.Terming Indian unprovoked shelling as a cowardice act, the prime minister strongly condemned it and said targeting innocent people and their properties was an inhuman act for which India should be held accountable.He said India’s cowardly acts would never deter the valiant people of Azad Kashmir from their supreme goal of freedom, and they would continue to support the struggle going on in Indian Occupied Kashmir for liberation from the Indian yoke and realization of right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. The AJK PM said escalating tension on LoC was an Indian attempt to divert attention from the worsening situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in India.

General Musharraf was tried for a lesser crime of holding the Constitution in abeyance in 2007.

Eventually, the special court didn’t touch the subject of “aiders and abettors” and in a charged up judicial environment of “justice hurried is justice buried” gave a judicial verdict that many senior lawyers like Aitzaz Ahsan are looking at as “judicial nonsense”.

Our Islamic history is filled with the examples of generosity and sympathetic treatment and none is more evident than the one conducted by a Muslim general of the 12 th century, Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi, who after 88 years of Christian control on the city of Jerusalem, retook it from them. He relived the moments of the Conquest of Jerusalem by Caliph Umar in 638AD and pardoned the entire presence of 60,000 men, women and children in the city. The judges would do well to give the examples of what our religion teaches us — examples of generosity and sympathetic treatment instead of examples that speak of inhumanity and cruelty.

Lastly, Oliver Cromwell “whose body was dug out, beheaded and hanged for three days” was selected as one of the 10 greatest Britons of all time in a 2002 BBC poll. Surely, history has a funny way of coming back and biting those who try to manipulate it. Maybe tomorrow history judges General Musharraf as a great hero and his “facilitators” as the actual villains — who knows?

Monday, 23 December, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

As IndIA's protests swell, whAt Is ModI’s endgAMe? A GOVERNMENT IN THRALL TO HINDU NATIONALISM HAS PUSHED RELIGIOUS MINORITIES INTO A CORNER. IT CAN’T BE SURPRISED AT THE RESULT BloomBerg

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mIHIr sHArmA

ROTESTS have broken out across India, a few of them violent, against a new law that fasttracks citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from three majority-Muslim countries. In the northeastern state of Assam, where migration has long been a major political issue, four protesters were killed when security forces opened fire. In both the capital of Delhi and the town of Aligarh, local police stormed university campuses, beating up and arresting students. It is no coincidence that both the universities are historically Muslim.

In response, the government has arbitrarily turned off the internet across wide swathes of India and many states and cities have prohibited the gathering of four or more people — including in parts of Delhi, the software hub of Bengaluru, and the entire state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 200 million people.

Hundreds have been arbitrarily detained, including some of India’s most prominent public intellectuals.

The widespread dissent has surprised nobody. The citizenship law is dangerous enough on its own terms: It imposes a religious test, which should in any case be anathema in a secular republic, and it deliberately excludes neighboring countries with persecuted Muslim minorities.

But it shouldn’t be seen in isolation.

Officials have also promised a nationwide register that would require Indians to jump through hoops to prove their citizenship. Thus the two bills together are what have caused real concern: Very stringent requirements to verify citizenship can be imposed, and only Muslims will be required to fulfill them. The result is a sort of hideous hybrid of Trump’s “Muslim ban” and Britain’s “hostile environment.”

India is home to 200 million Muslims, the world’s second-largest national population. Like India’s other religious minorities, they’ve always been well integrated

India is leaning towards a dangerous unitarianism

CounterPunCh nYLA ALI KHAn

One of the unfortunate calamities of India’s historical past is that today religio-cultural tensions continue to sharpen divisions along communal lines in the country.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill and National Register of Citizens of India have increased the impetuousness and insanity that the rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has brought out in their constituents. The jarring sounds of the blustering rhetoric of hate and destruction fill the air and engender mass hysteria.

While we live in the era of globalization, it is no secret that in the age of globalization there has been an unprecedented reversion to local, fundamentalist, and fiercely anti-internationalist interests.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill of India as well as the National Register of Citizens have been legitimized by reversion to religious values.

As the people of India seek to improve their lives, they find that oppositional nationalist and proto-nationalist forces can prove as dark a threat to their identities as that which colonialism presented. In Prime Minister Modi’s India, the uncritical reversion to fundamentalism and the superficial creation of a “unified” political identity has led to an erosion of unique and distinctive cultural identities.

Internal hierarchies entrenched by ultra right-wing nationalism relegate religious and ethnic minorities to the background. For instance, the imperialism of Hindi in the India of 2019 has relegated Urdu to the background. The year the BJP came back to power with a brute majority, Muslim culture was metaphorically dislocated.

Historically, the Partition of

IT IS MY BELIEF THAT IN A FEDERAL SET-UP, THE BEST WAY FOR EMOTIONAL INTEGRATION AND NATIONAL UNITY IS NOT THE OVERCENTRALISATION OF POWERS BUT ITS DECENTRALISATION LEADING TO THE RESTORATION OF POWER IN THE HANDS OF THE FEDERATING UNITS 1947 fragmented the writing community by redistributing its members into two separate territorial nations. One of the significant consequences of the Partition was the migration of Urdu writers of Muslim origin to Pakistan. So the chime of Independence was, as Aijaz Ahmad eloquently puts it, “experienced in the whole range of Urdu literature of the period not in the celebratory mode but as a defeat, a disorientation, a diaspora” (Lineages 118).

Ethnic and religious minorities in present-day India continue to protest against the singular definition of nation.

As I’ve said before, it is amusing that all this is being done in the name of so-called national unity and emotional integration. I reiterate that it is my belief that in a federal setup, the best way for emotional integration and national unity is not the over-centralization of powers but its decentralization leading to the restoration of power in the hands of the federating units.

In light of the present overcentralization of powers, India is gradually tending to be a unitary rather than a federal state, and I do not consider this trend as a good omen for the solidarity and integrity of the nation.

Nyla Ali Khan is the author of Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir, The Life of a Kashmiri Woman, and the editor of The Parchment of Kashmir.

into the political system; for decades they were courted by politicians, and the law carved out special protections for them. In recent years, that has changed, especially after the election of Narendra Modi as prime minister in 2014. Right-wing ideologues declared gleefully that Modi’s party had “demolished the theory of a Muslim veto” on who ruled in India.

Now Muslims are slowly being pushed into a corner by a government completely in thrall to Hindu nationalism. This year, India’s only Muslim-majority state was split into two, and suffered the added indignity of having its statehood taken away and replaced by direct rule from New Delhi. A long-running dispute over a mosque that had been demolished by a fanatical mob to make way for a temple dedicated to a Hindu deity ended with the Supreme Court essentially legitimizing the attack by giving the land to “the Hindus.”

When the mosque was originally demolished in 1992, religious violence broke out across the country and India’s cities burned. This time, Muslims have accepted

the injustice quietly. Even after the citizenship bill, and despite incidents of violence and vandalism in rural areas, many of the protests in the largest cities have been peaceful. Yet India’s leaders have chosen to draw attention to the violence: Modi, addressing a political rally, gave vent to a characteristic dog whistle when he said those “setting the fire” could be “identified by their clothes” as Muslims.

In fact, the protests in the cities — many led by students from some of the country’s best-regarded universities — have attracted young people of all faiths and none. They understand that the government wants to make things ever more difficult for religious minorities, and fear the logical endpoint of this strategy. Yet India’s Muslims are faced with an impossible choice. If they don’t protest, they’ll allow their homeland to slide further down a path that ends in the detention camps that are already being built on the border. If they do, then India’s rulers will seize on the crowds to further bolster insecurity among the Hindu majority. It is

no coincidence that the harshest crackdowns on protest are in states ruled by Modi’s party; elsewhere, huge demonstrations have been peaceful and unimpeded.

To many in India and around the world, it’s inexplicable that the government would choose to play with fire in this manner. An overwhelmingly peaceful, well-integrated religious minority of such size is something other countries would envy. But cultural insecurity and demographic paranoia are a toxic cocktail, even when you are — like India’s Hindus — four-fifths of the country and almost a billion strong.

In the end, we’ll have to hope that good sense prevails in the rest of the political class. Some state officials have already said they’ll refuse to apply the laws as they stand. India’s federalism, already under strain, looks like it will be stressed still further.

The government in New Delhi might well have been pleased at first. After all, the angrier that liberals, secularists and minorities got, the more successful its divisive gambit would seem. Yet the growing scale of the crisis — the protests and the internet shutdowns and the assembly bans — suggests that even Narendra Modi’s government might now be wondering exactly what it has unleashed.

From Vietnam to Afghanistan, all US governments lie THE MILD REACTION TO LYING IN PLAIN SIGHT ABOUT AFGHANISTAN SUGGESTS THE US MAY BE WELL DOWN THE ROAD TO UNRAVELLING GOVERNMENT’S CREDIBILITY AND OUR DEMOCRACY ALTOGETHER

Conversation Gordon AdAms

The Washington Post has, after more than two years of investigation, revealed that senior foreign policy officials in the White House, State and Defense departments have known for some time that the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan was failing.

Interview transcripts from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, obtained by the Post after many lawsuits, show that for 18 years these same officials have told the public the intervention was succeeding. In other words, government officials have been lying.

Few people are shocked. That’s a stark contrast to 1971, when the Pentagon Papers, a classified study of decision-making about Vietnam, were leaked and published. The explosive Pentagon Papers showed that the U.S. government had systematically lied about the reality that the U.S. was losing the Vietnam War. The failure of the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan has been known for years. Virtually none of the U.S. goals have been met.

These goals included a strong, democratic, uncorrupt central government; the defeat of the Taliban; eliminating the poppy fields that contribute to the world’s heroin problem; an effective military and police and creating a healthy, diversified economy.

The Inspector General has repeatedly documented the reality in its widely available (and widely reported) audits. Despite this public record of failure, officials continued to trumpet political and military gains on the ground, even that the U.S. could prevail. Privately, they have been wringing their hands.

The Pentagon Papers revealed that senior officials asserted in the 1960s that the Viet Cong were dying in record numbers, enemy leadership was decapitated and there was “light at the end of the tunnel.” Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and his commanders, who knew the reality, continuously called for even more force from 1961 to 1969.

H.R. McMaster, in his classic study of Vietnam decision-making, excoriated the military for not bringing the truth to President Lyndon Johnson, for presenting Johnson with the “lies that led to Vietnam.”

The U.S. was winning in Vietnam, until it was not. Right up to the moment diplomats in the U.S. embassy turned the lights off and were airlifted off the building’s roof.

ARE COMPARISONS JUSTIFIED? Afghanistan is not Vietnam, it is said. Former Afghanistan Ambassador Ryan Crocker argues that the U.S. must be in Afghanistan for America’s security even if reconstruction fails. Brookings analyst Michael O’Hanlon asserts that there were no lies; officials were clear the policy was in trouble. He avoids discussing the voluminous true statements The Washington Post uncovered that were not made publicly.

The U.S. was ignorant about both countries. Serving in the Obama transition in 2008, for example, I learned that Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Bush-Obama Afghanistan coordinator, was carrying out a policy review process that led to a military surge.

Now we learn, courtesy of The Washington Post, that, when interviewed in 2015 as part of Special Inspector General’s “Lessons Learned” project, Lute said, “We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan … we didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.” While Afghanistan is clearly not Vietnam, Washington is still Washington.

PREVARICATION AS POLICY: After more than 30 years of policy work, government experience, teaching and research, I see no mystery here. Concealment, deception and outright lies have characterized U.S. national security policy for decades – from the overthrow of democratically elected governments in Iran and Guatemala to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and more.

But Vietnam was the big lie, permanently exposing the gap between myth – the government knows everything better – and reality – that policy is failing.

Since Vietnam, the media and congressional, think-tank and scholarly investigators have suspected something with every intervention. To the public, the truth about Afghanistan has been clear; public opinion has been way ahead of what The Washington Post revealed.

GOOD REASONS FOR LIES: Lies are an integral part of national security operations.

They seek credibility for government policy.

They mislead adversaries, cover up mistakes and failures.

Above all, they are intended to secure public support for policy and defeat opposition at home. Political scientist John Mearsheimer has noted that governments don’t often lie to their allies and adversaries, “but instead seem more inclined to lie to their own people.”

In particular, secrecy and deception convey power. As philosopher Sissela Bok says, “Deception can be coercive. When it suc-

ceeds, it can give power to the deceiver.”

Secrecy allows policies to be tweaked outside public view. Insiders gain influence arguing for new approaches to the same goals.

Even the goals can shift as interventions deteriorate. The political consequences of failure may be avoided.

It is rare for an official to acknowledge failure and reverse policy; personal, political and national credibility may be at stake. President Johnson insisted that he was not going to be the “first president to lose a war.” Bush, Obama and even Trump did not want to “lose” Afghanistan.

An act of political courage – like the 1960-61 Algeria departure decision of French President Charles de Gaulle, who understood France had lost its fight, is rare.

TRUST BROKEN: Why has The Washington Post series not been explosive? In part, the Pentagon Papers broke the code of secrecy; the bond of trust between the policymakers and the American people was severed forever.

In part, the lies about Afghanistan have been in plain sight for years, courtesy of the media and the Special Inspector General.

And in part, the public is less directly engaged. The warriors are now volunteer professionals, not conscripts drawn from the general public. Casualties are one-twentieth of what they were in Vietnam.

Nonetheless, lying about military interventions carries a serious risk. The Pentagon Papers eroded public faith in the credibility of our democratic government. That erosion was later reinforced by the Watergate scandal. As Bok, the philosopher, wrote, “deception of this kind strikes at the very essence of democratic government.”

British leader Winston Churchill said, “In war-time truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” Deception aimed at the public and the Axis was an essential part of Churchill’s war strategy.

The Afghanistan papers reveal yet again that statesmen still believe the truth should be concealed. But the credibility of statecraft and leadership itself were seriously eroded by the Vietnam lies, weakening the fabric of democracy.

The mild reaction to lying in plain sight about Afghanistan suggests the U.S. may be well down the road to unravelling government’s credibility and our democracy altogether.

Dr. Gordon Adams, a professor of U.S. Foreign Policy, has published widely on defense and national security policy. He was the Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, the White House, 1993-97. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute.

Monday, 23 December, 2019

FOREIGN NEWS 07

russiaN-baCKed forCes gaiN grouNd iN rebelheld Northwest syria

Cuba gets first prime minister in over 40 years HAVANA: Cuba’s first prime minister in more than four decades — long-serving tourism minister Manuel Marrero — took office Saturday as the country resurrected a post last held by Fidel Castro.

The appointment of Marrero, 56, as head of government is part of a process of decentralization and generational change from the revolutionary old guard that is aimed at extending and protecting Communist Party rule. “This proposal was duly approved by the political bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba,” President Miguel DiazCanel said, presenting it to the country’s National Assembly, which unanimously signed off. Immediately after his presentation, Marrero received a handshake from former president Raul Castro, the leader of the Communist Party.

Marrero “is not coming to the job to transform, but rather to implement and manage. The president is the one who leads,” said Cuba specialist Arturo Lopez-Levy of Holy Names University in California.

Marrero served as tourism minister from 2004, late in revolutionary hero Fidel Castro’s administration, continuing in the post under Fidel’s brother Raul and the current president, Diaz-Canel. AGENCIES

BEIRUT

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AGENCIES

USSIAN-BACKED Syrian forces have gained ground after a week-long renewed assault against the last opposition enclave in Syria’s northwest, the biggest such push in more than three months that has prompted a large civilian exodus, witnesses and residents said on Sunday.

The wide-scale offensive led by intense aerial strikes on civilian areas in rural southeastern Idlib province broke months of stalemate on the frontlines, where rebels had been holding back the army from major advances, they said.

Russian and Syrian jets have stepped up strikes on villages and towns around Maarat al-Numan, from which thousands of people have fled to the relative safety of the Turkish border fearing an imminent assault.

The Syrian army said it had gained more than 20 villages and hilltops and was coming close to one of 12 Turkish observation posts in the northwest, part of a deal with Moscow and Tehran in 2017 to avert large-scale fighting in Idlib.

On Saturday, Russian jets hit a busy marketplace in Saraqeb city, east of Idlib, leaving at least eight dead and scores injured, two residents and one rescuer said.

Residents in the area said many villages were now deserted in a campaign that has since it first started in April has

Erdogan says Turkey will increase military support to Libya if necessary ANKARA

AGENCIES

Voters in Uzbekistan cast their ballots Sunday in the first parliamentary election since a new leader ushered in an era of reform after years of isolation and authoritarian rule.

Polling stations in Central Asia’s most populous country opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) and will close 12 hours later.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took charge in 2016 after the death of hardline predecessor and former patron Islam Karimov, who had ruled for almost three decades.

Mirziyoyev has been lauded for doing away with many of Karimov’s authoritarian excesses, releasing some political prisoners, battling forced labour and opening up the landlocked state to tourism and foreign investment.

But choices on the ballot in the former Soviet republic are few — all five

Clashes as police try to clear Hong Kong protesters after Uighur support rally

AGENCIES

HONG KONG

Turkey will increase its military support to the internationally recognized government of Libya if necessary and it will evaluate ground, air and marine options, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, after the two sides signed a military cooperation accord last month.

Turkey backs Fayez al-Serraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya, which has been torn by factional conflict since 2011, and has already sent military supplies to the GNA despite a United Nations arms embargo, according to a report by UN experts seen by Reuters last month.

Turkey has also said it could deploy troops to Libya if the GNA makes such a request. The GNA has been fighting a months-long offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces based in the east of the country. Haftar’s forces have received support from Russia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

“If necessary, we will increase the military aspect of our support to Libya, and evaluate all our options, from the ground, air and sea,” Erdogan said at an event in the northern province of Kocaeli.

Speaking before Erdogan, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey will

AGENCIES

stand by Libya’s government until peace, stability and security are established in the country.

Last month, Turkey and the GNA signed an agreement to boost military cooperation and a separate deal on maritime boundaries, which has enraged Greece. Ankara and Athens have been at odds over hydrocarbon resources off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus.

While Greece has said the accord violates international law, Turkey has rejected those accusations, saying it aims to protect its rights in the eastern

Mediterranean. On Sunday, Erdogan said Turkey will “absolutely” not turn back from its agreements with Libya.

“Nobody should come to us with attempts to exclude us, trap us in our own shores or steal our economic interests,” Erdogan said. “We have no intention of starting conflicts with anyone for no reason, or robbing anyone of their rights,” he said.

“Those who oppose us have no sense of rights, law, justice, ethics or mercy,” Erdogan said, referring to Greece, Israel and Egypt, who have opposed the maritime accord.

Uzbeks vote in polls under pro-reform leader TASHKENT

displaced more than 500,000 people, according to the United Nations and international relief groups.

“Many villages and towns have turned into ghost towns. Russia’s ‘scorched earth’ bombing is helping the army gain ground,” said Mohamad Rasheed, an activist from the area said.

Russia and the Syrian army, which is loyal to President Bashar alAssad, deny allegations of indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas and say they are fighting al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants.

In the past week alone, at least 80,000 civilians fled and face harsh conditions during the start of winter, said the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), a U.S.-based medical NGO. Medical facilities, already crippled by a year of attacks, are struggling to deal with the influx of wounded, it said. At least 68 medical facilities have been attacked since April, the NGO and other U.N. agencies have documented.

Western military sources said the latest bombardment was a prelude to a widescale ground offensive to take over rebel-held Idlib province.

The Idlib region is home to hundreds of thousands of people who fled other parts of Syria as government forces wrested back large areas of the country following Russian intervention on Assad’s side in early 2015 that tipped the war in his favour.

parties competing are represented in the outgoing parliament.

Muslim-majority but staunchly secular Uzbekistan is home to 33 million people, over 20 million of whom can vote.

Britain’s influential magazine The Economist this week named Uzbekistan as its country of the year, saying “no other country travelled so far” in 2019.

Yet the reform drive has so far not allowed real competition to Mirziyoyev, 62, to develop.

The president cast his vote close to midday local time at a Tashkent polling station where he arrived with his family, including daughter Saida Mirziyoyeva who holds a top government communications post.

The 150-member lower house where no party has ever achieved a commanding majority has a reputation for merely rubber-stamping government legislation.

The Liberal Democratic Party is the

currently largest in the legislature with 52 seats, followed by Milli Tiklanish, known in English as the National Revival Democratic Party, with 36.

The People’s Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party also known as Adolat and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan are also represented.

In the capital Tashkent, residents said they wanted to see more from their elected officials and voiced concerns they would not have dared express under Karimov.

Abdusamat Yuldashev, 20, said he had cast a vote “for justice and fairness in our Uzbek society.”

“I want our living standards to increase, our education to improve,” Yuldashev told AFP, saying he had voted for Adolat.

Mamura Mirzakhmedova, a 69year-old pensioner said she would not vote and said there was anger over “prices rising everywhere” as inflation follows economic reforms.

“Where were the meetings of these parties (with voters)? Where are their posters? Where should I find information?” she asked.

The central election commission said Sunday that the vote had crossed the key validation threshold after more than 33 per cent of the electorate cast their ballots.

NEW UZBEKISTAN? The elections are being held under the slogan “New Uzbekistan, new elections” as authorities seek to brand them as the latest example of a newfound openness.

On Sunday the websites of several human rights organisations that had been inaccessible to internet users inside the country in the run-up to the vote were back online.

But the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which has sent an observer mission to the polls, has said many features of past votes remain in place.

Hong Kong riot police pepper sprayed protesters to disperse crowds in the heart of the city’s financial district on Sunday after a largely peaceful rally in support of China’s ethnic Uighurs turned chaotic.

Dozens of police marched across a public square overlooking Hong Kong’s harbour to face off with protesters who hurled glass bottles and rocks at them. Earlier in the afternoon, more than 1,000 people had rallied calmly, waving Uighur flags and posters, as they took part in the latest demonstration in over six months of unrest. A mixed crowd of young and elderly people, dressed in black and wearing masks to shield their identities, held up signs reading “Free Uyghur, Free Hong Kong” and “Fake ‘autonomy’ in China results in genocide”. The protest comes after midfielder Mesut Ozil of English soccer club Arsenal caused a furore in China after he criticized the country’s policies toward the Muslim ethnic minority in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang. Ozil, a German Muslim of Turkish origin, tweeted that Uighurs were “warriors who resist persecution” and criticized both China’s strong hand in Xinjiang and the relative silence of Muslims in response.

Netflix courts controversy with Middle East thriller 'Messiah’ NEW YORK AGENCIES

A prophet who defies a resurgent Islamic State in Syria. A shooting on Jerusalem’s sacred Temple Mount. And — just possibly — the coming of the Messiah. Netflix could scarcely have picked a more controversial plot for its latest thriller, about a mysterious religious leader who emerges in the Middle East and is pursued across the globe by the CIA. “Yes it’s provocative — the show is provocative,” creator Michael Petroni told AFP. “But provocative isn’t offensive.” “Messiah,” out January 1, imagines how modern society would react if such a figure appeared, spreading his message rapidly via social media in a world grappling with “fake news” and breathless 24-hour bulletins.

The question of whether the character — played by Belgian actor Mehdi Dehbi — is the genuine Messiah, a nefarious political agent or simply a trickster is at the heart of the show’s premise.

Monday, 23 December, 2019

08 COMMENT

Climate change and economy

The new CJP Mr Justice Gulzar takes office amid many challenges

Pakistan is among the countries likely to experience the most impact, but is not doing the needed research

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R Justice Gulzar Ahmed took oath of office as the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan from President Arif Alvi on Saturday. His tenure will last a little over two years, as he will retire on 21 February 2022, and he has taken office when there are several challenges, each of which would be enough for such a tenure, and leave him no necessity of seeking anything additional to do. The new CJP, as an active member of the Supreme Court has already played a role in these controversies. To take just one example, in the matter of the Mr Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Mr Justice Gulzar was already a member of the Supreme Judicial Council that he will now chair ex officio. He was also on the bench hearing the case in the Supreme Court.

He was not on the bench that heard the COAS’ extension case, but he will have to deal with that issue in due course. His predecessor as Chief Justice, Mr Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, may have thought he had dealt with the matter finally by sending it on to Parliament to legislate, but if it does not (and there are virtually no signs that the ruling PTI, its allies or the opposition are taking any of the needed steps), the matter might end up in court again. Then there is the Musharraf case, where the former military ruler is almost certain to appeal his death sentence for high treason. Then there is the issue of the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commission members, which may well end up again before his court, if, as seems likely, the government and opposition remain unable to agree on who to appoint.

Another issue that may well arise is that of the government’s tendency towards a presidential form of government, and that too one in which the executive branch stands alone, unchecked by either the legislative or judicial branches. The government’s cause is not helped by statements like the one made by Railways Minister Sh Rashid Ahmad, who said that democracy was the most corrupt system, at a press conference in Lahore on Saturday. Mr Justice Gulzar will find that his tenure is not of the longest, but it may be full of high drama. One can only wish him well in his labours, focusing primarily on the supremacy of the constitution that makes the existence of a democratic Pakistan possible.

Enough on its plate The government need not go out of the way to meet challenges

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WO widely disparate events came together to pose challenges to the government, However, as if these issues did not seem bad enough, the government devoted its time and energy, not to mention attention, to the moving of a reference to the Supreme Judicial Council at Mr Justice Waqar Seth’s judgement in the Musharraf high treason case. The events which deserved more attention from the government included heightened tension on the Line of Control as India ratcheted up the pressure there as a corollary of its steps to suppress protests against the Citizenship Act Amendment Act, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sent in a detailed request, 150 questions, for further information about Pakistan’s steps to implement its action plan to have its present grey-listing ended.

The government’s response: having the Law Ministry begin the research necessary for filing the reference against Mr Justice Seth.

With Mr Justice Seth’s decision in the Musharraf high treason case delivered on Tuesday, the details of what should be done if General Musharraf was to die before being hanged have received enough condemnation to make any further action excessive.

After all, if judges are expected to speak by their judgements alone, opinions of judgements, as expressed by common citizens, should be enough to provide a reply. Instead, the government is devoting energy to taking on the judge personally, not just appealing his judgement (which it also intends to do).

The government is faced with immediate challenges, like the threat of war, and the threat of ending up on the FATF blacklist. Perhaps dealing with those issues is too difficult for the government, as both would create difficulties among vested interests. It might seem easier to go after a judge who has already come under severe castigation for his unorthodox view of how to treat someone guilty of high treason. The government needs to remind itself that it was elected to serve the people of Pakistan, and it should proceed to do so.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

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dr OMer Javed

HERE is indeed significant consensus among the international community, among scientists, social scientists, and policy makers, about the drastic impact of global warming on climate change, the underlying role of human beings in this enhanced impact on climate, and the overall impact of climate change on climate, economy, and life as we know it.

To highlight further, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014; page 40), stated, ‘Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and the sea level has risen.’ In this regard, according to the US Global Change Research Programme 2018 (USGCRP), this climate change phenomenon has led to floods, storms, and droughts happening in higher frequency.

All this rapid change in climate has resulted in significant stress for the economy and the overall financial system. According to both USGCRP and NGFS (Network for Greening the Financial System, 2018), ‘Climate-related shifts in the physical environment can slow economic growth, increase volatility, and depreciate the value of business and household assets and property.’ Moreover, both NGFS (2018), and Glenn D Rudebusch (Climate Change and the Federal Reserve; 2019) highlight the impact of climate change and its increasing relevance for both financial advisors and central bankers in evolving macroeconomic- and financial stability related policies that internalise the impact of climate change related financial risks.

Similarly, policymakers in the State Bank of Pakistan should also evolve macroeconomic and financial policies that are climate change-conscious, in collaboration with ministries related with planning, finance and climate change; including involving input from other government authorities like the NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) in such policymaking.

This is important, since Pakistan is among the

leading countries expected to be affected by climate change. The impact of rampant and severe smog cycles in winters is already causing significant damaging impact on life and economy; not to mention the impact of climate change on agricultural crop output, for instance, the recent negative impact on cotton crop yield.

Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco arranged a conference on ‘The Economics of Climate Change’, where some very relevant and thought-provoking papers were read on this topic by policymakers and researchers.

The three main areas of focus included a) the impact of global warming on macro-economy, b) the link between climate risks and financial risks, and c) the effect of policy on climate change.

With regard to the impact on macro-economy, firstly, research indicates a long-term impact of climate change on worker productivity.

Although research is both thin and is slow to pick up, nonetheless important research has surfaced where large-scale models of global economy and global climate have been constructed ‘to study the links among climate change, climate adaptation, and climate policy.’ Here, using one of these models, which involve a large number of equations and variables, Solomon Hsiang (UC Berkeley, Conference Paper, 2019) highlighted that workers exposed to warmer temperatures, in turn, reduced their productivity; especially of those workers who work in the outdoor, for example, in construction and agriculture.

Secondly, research has been actively studying the impact of policies that taxed carbon on economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions. For instance, employing an integrated assessment model (from the family of models indicated above) Conny Olovsson (Sveriges Riksbank; Conference Paper, 2019) not only emphasised the importance of taxing coal and oil towards meeting climate change concerns and mitigating the adverse impacts on global economy, but also provided quantification impacts of various policies in terms of economic losses and gains. Basically, his research ‘demonstrated that subsidising green energy without taxing coal or other fossil fuels is unlikely to reduce emissions, because energy subsidies tend to increase overall energy use.’

Thirdly, addressing another area of research, where attention is paid to capture regional differences in terms of spill-overs (like climate-change-induced human migration) and climate change impacts, Hashem Pesaran (University of South Carolina; Conference Paper, 2019) pointed out ‘that the permanent losses in welfare can be substantial across the board.’

Addressing the overall second concern that climate risks influenced financial risks, Dana Kiku (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Conference Paper, 2019) through calculating the implied cost placed by investors on future carbon emissions, highlighted that ‘equity prices are sensitive to long-run temperature uncertainty and that such climate risk carries a risk premium.’ This kind of research is important for the financial sector of a developing country like Pakistan, especially for foreign investors– who are unfamiliar with local climate patterns– to internalise, so that the associated risks are better understood, and this enhanced level of certainty helps generate and retain higher portfolio investment inflows.

With regard to the unintended effects of policy on climate change, it was pointed out in the Conference by Joseph Shapiro (UC Berkeley) that ‘Tariffs imposed worldwide to protect certain industries from competition abroad implicitly subsidise carbon emissions. The reason is that tariffs are lower for high-emitting industries than for low-emitting industries.’ Moreover, Sandra Batten (Bank of England; Conference Paper, 2019) that ‘Trade policy and carbon pricing clearly fall outside a central bank’s mandate.

But climate change has important consequences for monetary policy and financial stability.’

The above highlights the importance of conducting research in these and other related areas by policymakers; building up and learning upon the existing research. Climate change is happening fast, and requires a proactive response from countries; where unfortunately the pace of response is slow to say the least.

Dr Omer Javed holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund. He tweets @omerjaved

Efforts to bring socialism in Pakistan The students’ movement had a background MuhaMMad Tahir iqbal

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few weeks ago, university students appeared on the city squares of Pakistan to raise their concerns. Clad in red, they chanted in rhythmic cadences the chunks from the poems of rebel poets whose poetry disseminates message of revolution.

The posture of the students amazed many. Some called them socialists, while others termed them liberals.

Many ask whose agenda they are obeying. The important point is whether they are obeying some agenda or they are ideologically motivated ones, they have managed to resuscitate the debate symbolised by the red colour.

But there is a confusion as to what these students are exhibiting– are they liberals, communists or socialists? Let us strive to clear the dust gathered around the thought being propounded by the students.

First, there is a need to clarify the terms like liberalism, communism and socialism in order to reach reality.

Liberalism is a philosophy which promotes endeavours to remove obstacles in the way of individuals’ liberty. The obstacles are poverty, ignorance, disease and social discrimination, which impede an individual’s will to live freely. In so doing, liberalism may remain within the ambit of a capitalist polity having a free competitive market.

Communism commands disbanding the capitalist structure which produces unevenness in society. In contrast, socialism does not dismantle the existing structure.

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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It readily adjusts itself under already present political format– it could also be a capital set-up– seeking to liberate the proletariats from the totalitarian policies of the ruling class. Thus, socialism does not necessarily endorse collision with capitalism. That is why, political parties of Pakistan have been nurturing socialist agenda speaking for the rights of the labour class.

Let us now travel down memory lane to ascertain reality.

The seeds of socialism can be traced even before the Partition of the Subcontinent. The ideology sneaked into the region along with ‘Red Revolution’ in Russia. The ‘Peshawar Conspiracy Cases’ that befell between 1922 to 1927 and the ‘Kanpur Bolshevik Case’ of May 1924 provide a peep into the efforts to bring socialism in revolt to the British imperialism.

After Pakistan came into being, the Pakistan Socialist Party (PSP) could not create ripples in the face of conservative parties which had just supported the creation of Pakistan on the basis of religion.

The Communist Party, in contrast, was able to win over the farmers and the labourers as it participated actively in labour strikes and language protests in the early 1950s. In 1954, it formed the government with the backing of the Awami Party in East Pakistan. Soon in the wake of clashes between police and the Communist Party, Sikandar Mirza imposed the first martial law on 7 October 1958.

During the Ayub era, the dissenting voices were considerably curbed.

But following Tashkent Declaration, the atmosphere in Pakistan turned antagonistic to President Ayub. So-

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cialist elements again woke up from their snooze. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was shrewd enough to capture the direction of the veering winds, and thus founded the Pakistan Peoples Party whose manifesto, “Islam is our religion, democracy is our politics, socialism is our economy, power lies with the people”, was written by a Bengali communist, J A Rahim.

The PPP’s massive land reforms, nationalisation campaign and efforts to abolish feudalism pleased the working class which joined the party in droves.

Despite having similar ideologies, the PPP could not get close to the ‘Red Shirts’ movement of Abdul Ghaffar Khan because of his looking at Pakistan through the prism of Afghanistan.

In General Zia’s epoch, the leftwing activists formed a ‘Struggle Group’ to resist the repression of the military government. The group, soon, started publishing a magazine, Jadd-o-Jehad, which carried the revolutionary poems of Habib Jalib, Ahmad Faraz and Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

In 1984, the poem, Main Baghi Hoon by Khalid Javed Jan became a symbol of struggle against the dictatorial reign of General Ziaul Haq. On the heels of the 9/11 debacle and Pakistan’s joining as the front line ally of the USA, the socialist strain made its presence felt from the art and cultural platforms through theatres, peace conferences, songs and literature. Literary festivals at Karachi Arts Council and Alhamra Hall, Lahore, apprised the people of the work of poets and writers who spurs the masses for social reforms away from the shackles of fascism.

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The recent rise of students’ activities is not the outcome of some abrupt outpouring, rather, it is the continuation of a socialist thought that has been appearing in every political phase of Pakistan.

But where does the problem lie?

Why does these students’ ideology not have acceptance in our society?

The answer is that there has always been the idea of socialism being anti-religion; whereas it is to be understood that socialism may make adjustment with already existing frameworks.

Another reason for not having acceptability is the culture of free mixing of both genders in the demonstrations. The optics of girls and boys being in proximity while shouting revolution, outrage many in Pakistan which still is dominated by conservatives.

Last but not the least, in rising for the rights of the working class, the current movement’s biggest flaw may be to get aligned with the organisations having an inordinate antiArmy stance. Lessons could be learnt from the postures of the nascent PPP in 1970s which distanced itself from the National Awami Party’s proAfghan manoeuvrings. Then it also raised the slogan of ‘Islamic Socialism’ to create its acceptability in an otherwise orthodox society.

If these issues are properly dealt with, the current movement may produce its inlets in Pakistan’s socio-political milieu, or else, it is likely to meet the same fate as the efforts in the past have faced.

Muhammad Tahir Iqbal can be reached at tahiriqbalstars@gmail.com and tweets @TahirIqbal87

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 23 December, 2019

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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

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

Nehru’s perfidy, Sh Abdullah’s buffoonery

Farewell, your lordship A true jurist ends his tenure

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Syed KaSwar Gardezi

EGACy, as we perceive it today, is mostly focused on a person’s last days in the game. Be it a political office, in the judiciary, the military, the civil service or any other leadership role, a person’s last days in power take precedence in the eyes of the general public over the previous days. Even though judging a person’s performance on the last days in office is unfair, yet the cruel world operates in such a manner and all past deeds are negated if one wrong move is made during the final days.

Asif Saeed Khan Khosa donned the robes almost two decades ago upon the insistence of his father and following some counselling by Mr Ijaz Hussain Batalvi, Senior Advocate. An independent minded lawyer was elevated to the bench which turned out to be one of the most blessed days for the judiciary. Even though commentators remain focused on his last days in office, however let us quickly run through his career on the Bench over the past 20 years. In a bid to quench his thirst to dispense justice, Mr Justice Khosa has decided thousands of cases and has developed the criminal jurisprudence of our country single handedly. From the early days of his elevation, Mr Justice Khosa was mostly tasked to take up criminal matters, which he did in an efficient manner, ending up as one of the top most jurists the country has ever seen.

Breaking stereotypes, the former CJP, Mr Justice Khosa, introduced literary writing in his judgements in a bid to make them a pleasant read for all. While some members of the legal fraternity disapprove of his literary judgements, most of them, including myself, consider his dictates to be a treat to the eyes.

The artistic writing sheds light on any given principle of law in a manner which is comprehended easily and rather poetically. The careful choice of words, measured quotes and crisp writing style has always made his judgements enlightening.

Our judiciary has had its fair share of criticism and praise in the recent past. While some have been criticised for not being proactive, others have been admonished for transgressing their constitutional boundaries. The superior judiciary has never been pivotal in its actual role, often harping around the doctrine

of necessity amongst others. Bold decisions were seldom heard of in the past.

Theatrics aside, Mr Justice Khosa turned out to be one of the only members of the superior judiciary focused on carrying out their duty, as required. He maintained his focus on effective disposal of the cases before him, avoided unnecessary remarks and developed criminal jurisprudence. Before embarking upon a tirade of what he could have done and what he failed to do, one must not lose sight of the fact that it is the very same Mr Justice Khosa who admitted a petition challenging the Musharraf referendum as a High Court Judge, only to be taken off the case shortly afterwards. The very same Mr Justice Khosa who sent Mumtaz Qadri to the gallows in the face of imminent danger to his own life.

The Mr Justice Khosa who, in spite of pressure from the Bar, restored the conviction in the Khadija Siddiqui case.

And yet again the same Mr Justice Khosa who played a vital role in acquitting Aasia Bibi. Not to mention the sentencing of Nehal Hashmi; particularly the vivid remarks in the judgement.

His tenure as CJP was short, yet consequential. Legal jurisprudence continued to be developed on a daily basis. Owing to his sincere efforts, the country now has a clear definition of terrorism. The principle of falsus in uno falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in everything) has been applied and explained in light of Islamic principles. False testimonies have been discouraged and in fact penalised.

The menace of falsehood has long been the foundation behind wrongful convictions. It was due to the attempts made by Mr Justice Khosa that this practice is now being actively discouraged.

Unfortunately, the citizenry, owing to publicity stunts in the past, is more used to theatrical display of justice.. Jurisprudential aspects do not concern the public who would have preferred the panchayat on Sundays as opposed to the serenity of Mr Justice Khosa’s courtroom. Nevertheless, history judges people on the basis of their lasting measures and not the short-lived melodramas. A recent narrative of

him not having taken suo motu notices on a number of things that required interference is unwarranted. Mr Justice Khosa remained focused on the larger picture. He wanted to set precedents of exercising judicial restraint and avoiding undue interference into executive actions. His judicial restraint was instrumental in establishing that judicial interference cannot be a solution to bad governance.

At the same time, Mr Justice Khosa intervened where he was constitutionally required to. He will go down in history for being the first judge who made the military establishment amenable to judicial review. The Army Chief’s extension issue marks the beginning of institutional supremacy in its true sense. ‘Howsoever high you may be, the law is above you’ was effectively implemented as the legality of the Army Chief’s extension was probed into by the apex court. Similarly, it was Mr Justice Khosa’s bench which had earlier directed the special court to expeditiously proceed with Gen Pervez Musharraf’s trial.

If Mr Justice Asif Saeed Khosa is to be criticised for exercising judicial restraint where it wasn’t required, then so be it. Only short sightedness could be the reason behind blaming Mr Justice Khosa for being who he was as the CJP. In spite of the venom spewed towards him, in his own words, he sleeps like a log with his conscience clear.

I have no hesitation in stating that Asif Saeed Khan Khosa was the epitome of a true jurist. If this country had 10 other judges like him on the Bench, our judiciary would somersault towards eminence. He served the country for two decades and dispensed justice to tens of thousands throughout his tenure without fear.

His Shakespearean captaincy of the judicial ship comes to an end as he hung the robes leaving behind a stronger, independent and bold judiciary.

Farewell, your lordship. your services shall always be remembered with reverence.

If Mr Justice Asif Saeed Khosa is to be criticised for exercising judicial restraint where it wasn’t required, then so be it. Only short sightedness could be the reason behind blaming Mr Justice Khosa for being who he was as the CJP. In spite of the venom spewed towards him, in his own words, he sleeps like a log with his conscience clear

Syed kaswar Gardezi is a lawyer and a columnist. He can be contacted at kaswargardezi@gmail.com

AT last, the puppet Kashmir-governor had to publicly announce that ‘there were no plans to abrogate Article 35A’. Prior to Pal’s statement, India’s Union minister Jaitley had declared, ‘Article 35 A [of India’s Constitution] was “surreptitiously” included in the Indian Constitution. It was a “historical blunder” committed by Jawaharlal Nehru”. His rant stimulated former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to warn (March 31, 2019) that ‘if Article 370, which guarantees special status to J&K, is done away with, the state’s relation with India will be over’.

Pandit Jawahar Lal Kaul (assumed surname Nehru) befooled Sheikh Abdullah to stab Pakistan in the back. Barkha Dutt recalls (This Unquiet Land, p 154) that ‘in a 1948 speech to the United Nations, Sheikh Abdullah, the most formidable political leader the state of Jammu and Kashmir had ever seen, made a blistering defence of accession to India. Sher-e-Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir) roared: ‘I had thought all along that the world had got rid of Hitlers…but what is happening in my poor country I am convinced that they have transmigrated their souls into Pakistan…I refuse to accept Pakistan as a party in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir’. Dutt says, ‘Sheikh Abdullah [later] began to talk about the possibility of an independent Kashmir’.

Avtar Singh Bhasin, in his book India and Pakistan: Neighbours at Odds says (on page 73), that on 7 August, a day before his arrest, BBC reported a significant passage from his speech on the Martyrs’ Day in the previous month, which had been blacked out in the Indian press: ‘If I felt that by remaining independent, Kashmir would be well off, I would not hesitate to raise my voice in favour of complete freedom for Kashmir.

If I felt that Kashmir’s betterment lay in it accession to Pakistan, no power in the world could silence my voice’.

Bhasin tells on page 63, ‘Nehru addressed a lengthy letter to him [Sheikh Abdullah] on 25 August 1952 from Sonamarg [saying]… If the Constituent Assembly told India to get out of Kashmir, we would get out, because under no circumstances can we remain here against the expressed will of the people’. India through a series of steps whittled down Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and 35-A of India’s Constitution. Governor replaced Sadr-e-Riasat (head of J&K State) who could conveniently dismiss Wazir-e-Riast (re-designated chief minister).

IHK’s governor’s assurance is just a palliative. India’s Supreme Court may do away with the so-called ‘special status’.

Kashmiris’ fate of total integration hangs in the hands of India’s Supreme Court. Leaders of the mainstream political parties connived at the erosion of the terms of accession through amendments to disputed Kashmir constitution and Article 370. The time is ripe for Kashmiris to review Kashmir-India relations. With one voice Kashmiris from all walks of life should annul the socalled accession, stay still, or accede to Pakistan. And then, review relations with Pakistan also in keeping with Pakistan’s-constitution Article: 257. It is ‘Now or Never’. No more palliatives.

NIkHaT SHaHEEN Rawalpindi

Social media and its influence on lifestyle 2020 here it comes with the speed of light seems like a blink of an eye. Months seems to pass like weeks and weeks like days so it is mid-year 2019, when during I went for a three-day trip with my friends to an area where there was no mobile network coverage, I noticed a sudden change in how time passed. It was somehow the most peaceful time I had spent in a while. The “barkat” had suddenly return in time. It was then that my mind went thinking on how mobile phone, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and other social media had stolen the “barkat” from our time one hour on Facebook went by in 10 mins back at home. Instagram with all its magnetic pull can take hours without disappointment. Here I was actually spending time at nothing then admiring how many different shades the colour green has, the spring water, the snow on mountains peeks the feeling of fresh air on my face. We have become a nation blessed with and yet deprived of national beauty we are more interested in showing of lives on social media at any cost. This is the trending lifestyle where we project only what we want to be seen as # trend whatvwe cal it.

JaFFaR ZaIDI Islamabad

Let there be neighbourly support!

A lot of thoughts came to me when I came to know about the sudden and brief detention of the ex-vice president of the Maldives Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor at Tuticorin Port, Tamil Nadu. He was trying to enter Indian soil without proper travel documents after travelling on a tugboat. It has been reported through the media that Adeeb has been facing political issues and alleged criminal charges in the Maldives.

According to the media report, there were unnecessary tense situations at the Tuticorin port. The local authorities should have taken careful diplomatic efforts to avoid creating an insulting situation for the Maldivian politician. It is hard to believe that even politicians like Adeeb are trying to seek asylum. But this demonstrates the condition of the people in disarray. All Asian nations should have a communication channel and diplomatic measures to create a serene and safe environment around the region rather than being indifferent to the people in a mess and asylum seekers. Great hospitality will go a long way in this direction.

P SENTHIL SaRavNa DURaI Mumbai

Monday, 23 December, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

North Korea threat looms as ChiNese, JapaNese, south KoreaN leaders meet BEIJING

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AGENCIES

HE spectre of new confrontation between Pyongyang and Washington hangs over meetings between China, Japan and South Korea this week, with growing risks North Korean actions could end an uneasy detente and upend recent diplomatic efforts.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping separately on Monday. They will then travel to the southwestern city of Chengdu for a trilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Though they are expected to discuss various economic matters, North Korea appears likely to dominate the agenda.

Pyongyang has grown increasingly frustrated that its halt of nuclear and long-range missile tests has not ended the crippling economic sanctions against it.

It set a Dec. 31 deadline for the United States to make concessions, but Washington has been unmoved. Some experts believe North Korea may be readying to test an intercontinental ballistic missile launch soon, which would likely end the 2018 agreement struck by its leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Safeguarding the stability and peace of the Korean Peninsula and pushing for a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue are in the interests of China, Japan and South Korea,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui told reporters on Thursday at a briefing on the trilateral meetings.

U.S. special envoy for North Korea

Stephen Biegun met with two senior Chinese diplomats during his two-day visit to Beijing this week, following a similar meeting in South Korea and Japan days earlier, as diplomats make last-ditch attempts to prevent new confrontation.

North Korea has not responded to his public call to resume dialogue, however.

“The silence, even after Biegun’s speech in Seoul, makes me concerned,” Jenny Town, managing editor at the North Korea monitoring website 38 North, said on Twitter.

Beijing, jointly with Russia, proposed on Monday that the United Nations Security Council lift some sanctions in what it calls an attempt to break the current deadlock and seeks to build support. But it’s unclear whether Beijing can convince Seoul and

Tokyo to break ranks from Washington, which has made its opposition clear and can veto any resolution.

Though South Korea sees China as instrumental in reviving negotiations, it has so far sidestepped questions on whether it supports the new proposal by Beijing and Moscow. Japan, which has historically been a staunch supporter of sanctions against North Korea, has also refrained from commenting on the proposal.

“With the (2020 Tokyo) Olympics coming up, North Korea going wild would pose a problem for Japan,” said Narushige Michishita, professor at Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

“But bilateral talks with North Korea, for example, will probably be a better approach for Japan than easing UN sanctions.”

Trump invites UK's Johnson to White House in new year: British media WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has invited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit him in the White House in the new year, British media reported on Sunday. Trump’s invitation was made after the British prime minister’s election win this month, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. Britain wants to strike a new trade deal with the United States after it leaves the European Union at the end of January. “Some potential dates have been floated in mid-January but nothing has yet been formally agreed. But it is clear that both sides want to make it happen sometime in early 2020,” the Sunday Times quoted a source close to the White House as saying. Johnson is reluctant to make the visit before delivering Brexit on Jan. 31 and would prefer to go after a cabinet reshuffle scheduled in February when he is expected to appoint cabinet office minister Michael Gove as his new trade negotiator, The Mail on Sunday reported. That could allow Johnson to take Gove on the US visit ahead of talks of a postBrexit trade deal, according to the report. Some Downing Street insiders, however, have concerns about a visit by Johnson due to fears the prime minister could be dragged into Trump’s ongoing impeachment proceedings, the Sunday Times reported. Johnson won approval for his Brexit deal in the British parliament on Friday, the first step toward fulfilling his election pledge to deliver Britain’s departure from the European Union by Jan. 31. As Britain prepares to leave the bloc, Johnson and Trump agreed in a phone call last Monday to pursue an “ambitious” UK-US free trade agreement. After Johnson’s election win on Dec. 12, Trump had said Britain and the United States were now free to strike a “massive” new trade deal after Brexit. “This deal has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the EU,” Trump had said in a tweet earlier this month. The White House and Downing Street did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported invitation to Johnson. AGENCIES

Strike makes for not-so-merry Christmas travel in France PARIS AGENCIES

Holiday travellers across France scrambled for alternatives Sunday as an 18-day-old transport strike over pension reform saw train services slashed yet again.

President Emmanuel Macron issued an appeal on Saturday for a truce over the holidays but talks between the government and unions this week have failed to ease the standoff and labour leaders called for further mobilisation.

Workers at the SNCF and RATP public rail companies have downed tools to protest at the government’s plan to forge a single points-based pension scheme out of 42 existing ones, which would see some public employees lose certain privileges.

As a result, weeks of travel misery worsened on Sunday, when tens of thousands planned to meet up with family and friends for the Christmas break. Only half of highspeed TGV and a quarter of inter-city trains were running, and the SNCF urged voyagers to cancel or delay planned trips if possible.

In Paris, trains connecting the capital to its suburbs were down to a trickle, and only two out of 16 metro lines provided a service on the last shopping Sunday before Christmas.

PUBLIC SUPPORT DROPPING: Macron, on a visit to the Ivory Coast, urged

striking workers to embrace a “spirit of responsibility” and for “collective good sense to triumph”.

“I believe there are moments in the life of a nation when it is also good to call a truce to respect families and the lives of families,” he said in Abidjan.

A poll by the IFOP agency published on Sunday showed public backing for the action dropping slightly by three percentage points, though 51 percent still expressed support or sympathy for the strikers.

Jean Garrigues, a historian with the University of Orleans, told AFP this was likely to change over the holidays — cherished family time for the French.

“The transport blockage has mostly affected the Parisian region, and we can see that in the coming period, it will also affect people in the rural areas. This will alienate many people from the labour movement. There will certainly be a drop in support,” he said.

On Saturday, frustrated traveller Jeffrey Nwutu Ebube was trying to find a way home to Toulouse in the south from the northern port town of Le Havre — some 850 kilometres (530 miles) away. “I’m upset, this strike is unbearable… The government must do something,” he told AFP. Many stranded travellers have turned to car rental agencies or ride-sharing platforms

since the strike began on December 5, but the last-minute surge in demand meant vehicles were hard to come by.

Among those marooned was Jerome Pelletier, who lamented “everything is full, everything is taken.” The government insists a pension overhaul is necessary to crete a fairer, more transparent system.

It would do away with schemes that offer early retirement and other advantages to mainly public-sector workers, not least train drivers who can retire as early as 52.

While some unions support a single system, almost all reject a new proposed “pivot age” of 64 — beyond the legal retirement age of 62 — for retiring with a full pension.

Unions are hoping for a repeat of 1995 when the government backed down on pension reform after three weeks of metro and rail stoppages just before Christmas.

The protest is taking a heavy toll on businesses, especially retailers, hotels and restaurants during one of the busiest periods of the year.

Industry associations have reported turnover declines of 30 to 60 percent from a year earlier. Stormy weather contributed to travellers’ woes Sunday, dropping trees on railway lines in the south of France, blocking several routes, as violent winds left 110,000 households in the southwest without electricity.

Legionaires founder sexually abused 60 boys, religious order's report says VATICAN CITY: Sexual abuse of minors was rife among superiors of the Legionaires of Christ Catholic religious order, with at least 60 boys abused by its founder Father Marcial Maciel, a report by the group showed. The report is important because for decades until 2006, including during all of the pontificate of Pope John Paul, the Vatican dismissed accusations by seminarians that Maciel had abused them sexually, some when they were as young as 12. The order said the report, which was released on Saturday and covers the period since Maciel founded it in his native Mexico in 1941 to this year, was “an additional attempt (by the Legionaires) to confront their history”.

Maciel, who died in 2008, was perhaps the Roman Catholic Church’s most notorious pedophile, even abusing children he had fathered secretly with at least two women while living a double life and being feted by the Vatican and Church conservatives. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 92, who was secretary of state under John Paul, was for years one of the Legionaires’ biggest protectors in the Vatican. Pope Francis accepted his resignation as dean of the college of cardinals on Saturday and simultaneously changed church law to limit the dean’s position to a five-year term, rather than for life. The Vatican first acknowledged Maciel’s crimes in 2006, when former Pope Benedict ordered him to retire to a life of “prayer and penitence. But Benedict resisted calls from some in the Church who said the order should be dissolved because it was toxic to the core. The Vatican instead took over the order in 2010 and began a process of reform. AGENCIES

From Biden to Trump, music choices help rally supporters WASHINGTON AGENCIES

At every campaign rally, Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for the US presidency, waits to hear the first notes of Dolly Parton's popular country tune "9 to 5" before striding energetically onto the stage to greet wildly enthusiastic supporters.

The musical backdrop to this age-old campaign ritual describes the daily grind of American workers: "Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin' / Barely gettin' by, it's all takin' and no givin'."

The senator's song choice -- others on her list include "Everyday People" and "Respect" -- is anything but accidental, aimed at giving supporters an emotional lift while evoking her own working-class roots.

The 70-year-old Massachusetts progres-

sive is competing against a field of 14 others -- all of them deploying playlists at wellchoreographed rallies -- as they seek voters' backing in a race to take on President Donald Trump in elections next November. "The music employed by candidates is chosen with great care in order to appeal to certain audiences or craft an image of the candidate that resonates with the electorate," Jacob Neiheisel, a political scientist with the University at Buffalo (New York), told AFP. Senator Bernie Sanders, the feisty, self-declared democratic socialist who is the oldest candidate in the race, opens rallies to the militant tones of John Lennon's "Power to the People," an ode to protest and resistance from the 1970s. He also favors "Takin' It to the Streets."

And the centrist Joe Biden, who embraces the nickname "Middle-Class Joe,"

regularly ends his rallies with gravelly voiced country singer Kenny Chesney ("For the teacher in the classroom, kid kickin' cans in the street / ... We say we can when they say we can't"). Country music may not export well but it is extremely popular in the American heartland, particularly among more conservative voters.

Biden served eight years as Barack Obama's vice president and never misses a chance to highlight his association with the country's first black president. He includes nearly equal numbers of black and white artists on his playlist.

And Democrat Julian Castro, the only Hispanic candidate in the primary field, strongly favors Latin music -- notably by the late Mexican-American star Selena -as he reaches out to this important demographic ahead of the 2020 elections.

BERNIE AND CARDI B: Music also allows candidates to create memorable moments -- a time-tested approach.

Former president Bill Clinton, a Democrat and avid jazz fan, played this card successfully: When he performed Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" on the saxophone in a TV talk show appearance during the 1992 campaign, voters were surprised but largely enthusiastic at this departure from the traditional gray-suited formality of presidential candidates. Democrats generally do better among young people than their Republican opponents, and music helps them break through to the 18-to-25 crowd, a key demographic if it can be mobilized to turn out and vote.

The team of Pete Buttigieg, who at 37 is the youngest candidate in the field, created buzz with a campy video of campaign aides dancing to "High Hopes" by

the group Panic! at the Disco. (An earlier version of "High Hopes," by Frank Sinatra, was the 1960 theme song of John F. Kennedy -- the nation's youngest president.)The Buttigieg video -- with aides dancing side-to-side, performing handrolls and claps -- has since been imitated many times on social media and is now seen at the Indiana mayor's rallies.

Sanders is quick to highlight supporters from the traditionally Democraticleaning entertainment world as he works to again mobilize young voters, as he did in 2016. Having recently had his praises sung by Cardi B -- the former striptease dancer turned rap star -- the 78-year-old with unruly white hair was recently seen on Instagram, arm-in-arm with pop princess Ariana Grande, who has an impressive 168 million followers.

Monday, 23 December, 2019

BUSINESS 11

ShifT of MalaySian CaR UniT To TURnaRoUnd loCal aUTo SeCToR, SayS Razak dawood ISLAMABAD

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APP

DvISER to Prime Minister on Commerce, Industry and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood hoped that shift of automobile manufacturing unit of ‘Proton’ cars from Malaysia to Pakistan would give turnaround the local auto sector.

Now the new upcoming market players would not only enhance the competitiveness in local automobile market but also give the better alternatives to local customers in terms of quality and rates for opting better option for sale and purchase of vehicle, he told APP here. The adviser said Malaysian big automobile player ‘Proton” of ALHAJ Automotive had agreed to start manufacturing in Pakistan in next three years. Razak Dawood said in the current global competitive environment in auto mobile sector, “We need to bring more competition in local automobile sector and also need to invite more global players for investment in this sector to connect with the global value chain.”

Replying to question, he said recently Malaysian car manufacturer Proton delivered X70 to Pakistan government as per promise made by

the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his visit to Pakistan earlier this year.

He informed that production activities of Proton cars in Pakistan were scheduled to begin in 2021 as plans were being formulated for assembly of several models in the country. He said this would assist the company in achieving its long term goals to sell 400,000 vehicles by 2027. “The Proton cars observe a lot of potential in

Pakistan and as Malaysia is the only Muslim country to have its own automotive brand, both the countries are natural partners who have so much to share with each other”, he said.

The Adviser said under a joint venture of the both sides, Proton manufacturer would usher in a new era of auto manufacturing in the country.

“I see it as a beginning for more partnership between Pakistan and Malaysia in future”, he said.

The adviser said the incumbent government always laid great emphasis on creating an investment ecosystem for both foreign and local investors. He said Pakistan offered attractive investment opportunities and substantial returns in various sector of economy. He said the government was playing a significant role in facilitating entrepreneur and ease of doing business and there was an enabling environment of investment in various sectors including Information Technology, financial services, engineering, goods and textiles.

The adviser said in consonance with the international best practices in car manufacturing, the federal cabinet had recently-approved an electric vehicle (Ev) policy for Pakistan which was also a step towards achieving sustainable development. Currently, trade between Pakistan and Malaysia was being regulated under MalaysiaPakistan closer Economic Partnership Agreement encompassing goods, services and investment, he said. The both countries are working on further extending the trade ties through Malaysia Pakistan closer Economic Partnership Agreement Phase II. He said the government of Pakistan encouraged the Malaysian investors to come and invest in the country.

Trump says trade deal with China to be signed ‘very shortly’ WEST PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would “very shortly” sign their so-called Phase One trade pact. “We just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal and we will be signing it very shortly,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in Florida. The Phase One deal was announced earlier this month as part of a bid to end the months-long tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies, which has roiled markets and hit global growth. Under the deal, the United States would agree to reduce some tariffs in exchange for a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last week the pact would be signed in early January, saying that the deal had already been translated and was just undergoing a technical “scrub.” AGENCIES

US government says verdict in Bayer’s Roundup case should be reversed

Drop in CAD at cost of industrial growth unacceptable: FEBR

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Friends of Economic and Business Reforms (FEBR) has appreciated the government’s efforts to narrow down current account deficit but warned the authorities that balance of accounts should not be at the cost of local industry’s growth.

FEBR President Kashif Anwar, in a statement issued here on Sunday, said that current account deficit reduced to $1.821 billion in July-November FY20, from $6.733 billion a year earlier due to huge fall in imports while exports posted a marginal growth. The government strict import policy along with high cost of doing business owing to multiple raises in fuel cost and energy tariffs have almost halted the industrial production, he added. The current account deficit reduction should be based on growth in exports, resulting into growth in industrial production as well as employment generation.

But unfortunately the present turnaround is largely due to the fall in imports that has accompa-

nied sharp slowdown in growth after the currency devaluation and gradual increase in interest rates, which sent shockwaves through the economy. The industry raw material which is not manufactured in Pakistan has also included in list of high import duties. It is good that the current account deficit narrowed 80% to a 41-month low at $259 million in September last but it also came at the cost of country’s economic growth. The deficit stood at $1.27 billion in the same month of last year.

Kashif Anwar observed that the measures taken by the central bank to aggressively cut unwanted imports through a significant hike in the benchmark interest rate and attempts to revive exports and earn higher remittances through rupee depreciation helped bring down the current account deficit. The measures, however, have adversely impacted the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) at the same time, he added.

He said that for the first time in 10 years, the growth in large-scale manufacturing (LSM) industries contracted over 3.6% in the last fiscal year ended June 2019 after almost all major sectors recorded reduction

in their output, deepening concern about a protracted economic slowdown and a high unemployment rate.

FEBR President said that the government would have to fix structural issues in the economy once and for all. We have to increase exports on a sustainable basis, create import substitutes to make a permanent reduction in imports, attract higher remittances and bring foreign direct investment (FDI) in different projects to have a sustainable current account balance,” he said.

Foreign direct investment into Pakistan also surged 78 percent to $849 million in July-November FY20, while portfolio flows stood at $1.2 billion, which is a good news for the country, he added. FEBR appreciates that the government was successful in bringing down the deficit from a historic high of $19.897 billion in FY18 to $13.830 billion in FY19. “On one hand, this massive decline has helped government reduce the current account deficit, whereas on the other, it has also slowed down the overall economic activity in the country.”

The data showed the large decline in imports was the real force behind the 64 percent reduction in the deficit whereas, exports of goods and services during the quarter increased by a meagre 1.38 percent or $99 million. The exports services during the quarter clocked in at $7.259 billion compared to $7.160 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

Kashif Anwar said that the reduced current account deficit is a positive omen for the government, which is struggling with slow economic growth and high inflation. However, despite massive decline in rupee’s value, the country’s exports have failed to register any noticeable increase during the period.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department said a federal appeals court should reverse a lower court verdict finding Bayer AG liable in the case of a California man who blamed its Roundup weed killer for his cancer. The government said in a friend of the court brief filed on Friday that glyphosate, the weed killer’s active ingredient, is not a carcinogen and as a result a warning on the label was not required as California state law demands. The backing by the EPA and Justice Department comes days after Bayer asked a U.S. federal appeals court to throw out a $25 million judgment it was ordered to pay Edwin Hardeman. Bayer had denied its Roundup weed killer causes cancer. In April, the EPA reaffirmed that glyphosate does not cause cancer. Farmers spray glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in U.S. agriculture, on fields of soybeans and other crops that are genetically engineered to resist it. Roundup is also used by consumers on lawns, golf courses and elsewhere. Hardeman’s lawyers previously accused Roundup maker Monsanto, which Bayer acquired last year in a $63 billion deal, of having failed to warn consumers about the herbicide’s cancer risk.

Bayer stock has lost about 23% in value since the first Roundup verdict for plaintiffs in August 2018.

Bayer argued it would be impossible to comply with the Hardeman verdict, a lawsuit brought under state law, because any warning label would be in conflict with guidance from a federal agency. The EPA and Justice Department agreed in their Friday filing. “It is unlawful for manufacturers and sellers to make claims on their labels that differ from what EPA approves,” the U.S. government said. AGENCIES

Pak-China JVs to help enhance mutual cooperation, regional connectivity LAHORE APP

Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President Zarak Khan said on Sunday that joint venture between Pakistan and China would prove helpful in increasing mutual conviction, cooperation and regional connectivity between the both countries.

Talking to the media here, he mentioned that there were vast prospects in developing some important areas that were currently functioning at small scale with expertise and technology and such areas included fruit processing, spices, marine foods, clothing, wood working, re-modified

vehicles, automotive spare parts, power tools, medical equipment and condiments.

The Chinese were ready for joint ventures in clothing, dyeing and embroidery sector of Pakistan, besides investing in food processing sector having potential for them, he said and asserted that potential market of Pakistani clothing and food with Chinese assistance would not only enhance competitiveness and add value to existing standards of production.

Zarak Khan opined that despite Punjab ranked in the world top 10 in terms of food production but due to lack of technology and post-harvest losses, it was unable to expand its exports base of food items, asserting that transformation of

food processing technology from China to Pakistan would bring a remarkable shift in expanding export base by reducing cost and introducing state-of-the-art features.

The Pak-China Joint Chamber, he said, would arrange visits of Chinese delegations in different food processing units including related to herbal health products, food and horticulture processing. He affirmed that Chinese people had keen interest in food and herbal products of Pakistan. “We should send sample of these products for the purpose to market them in China. There was enormous scope for joint ventures in amalgamated Chinese eastern medicine system with Pakistani expertise,” he suggested.

Monday, 23 December, 2019

12 BUSINESS

‘oGRa’S 221PC RaiSe in GaS RaTeS To PUT RS40B BURden on ConSUMeRS’ ISLAMABAD

Chinese expertise could make Pakistan food basket of world: lCCi LAHORE: Chinese technological advancement and expertise could help Pakistan to serve as a food basket to this part of the world. It has vast fertile land, all weathers and one of the best canal systems but unable to reap fruit from these blessings just because of lack of modern technologies.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh told media here Sunday that China had transformed itself into an economic giant and its unbelievable development in industrial & agriculture sectors had mesmerized the world. He said that China was already playing a vital role to make Pakistan prosperous. Transfer of technology would ensure speedy growth for Pakistan’s industrial and agriculture sectors.

He said that the government to government collaboration well-supported by frequent interaction between private sectors representatives of Pakistan and China were presently at their best. The bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and China was above US $ 16 billion while China was the highest contributor to the net foreign direct investment in Pakistan.

Regular exchanges of business delegations were spreading positive indicators to the world.

There were countless opportunities for the Chinese investors to invest in the vibrant sectors of economy which include engineering, surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals, value added textiles, leather products, poultry/meat and agriculture machinery etc, he said and asserted that it was important that there should be win-win situation for all the stakeholders.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said: “It is the right time to invest in Pakistan,” adding that despite having skills, labour in Pakistan was cheap as compared to China, therefore, Chinese investors should avail this opportunity with joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts.

He mentioned that he had put all these suggessions before a six-member high powered trade delegation from China during their visit to LCCI, and on this occasion, President China Pakistan Economic & Trade Council Chen Jianlu hoped that relations between the businessmen of the two countries would further strongthen in days to come. He was also optimistic that visit of the delegation would help Chinese businessmen to find new partners in Pakistan. APP

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STAFF REPORT

HE Pakistan Industrial & Traders Associations Front (PIAF) on Sunday blasted the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for approving massive hike in gas rates by up to 221 percent putting additional burden of about Rs40 billion on consumers.

In a statement issued here, PIAF chairman Mian Nauman Kabir said that OGRA has proposed the government to allow gas companies to charge heavy losses of their system from the consumers instead of improving their efficiency, which is a sheer injustice, leading to destruction of the industrial base. He said that repeated irrational increases in power and gas tariffs are not solution to energy sector problems but the government would have to address inefficiencies in the system.

He said that to meet the revenue shortfall of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited the OGRA has given approval of gas tariff by up to 221 percent, applicable from next year on Jan 1. This is the third time that the government is going to approve such a dramatic surge in gas prices. According to reports, an in-

crease of 191 percent has been approved for the prices of domestic gas and the fertilizer sector will see a hike of 135 percent. Likewise, a 31 percent price increase has been approved for the consumers who fall in the category of roti tandoor, commercial, industrial, zero-rated export industry, captive power plants, compressed natural gas (CNG), cement and power plants. Nauman kabir said that after the implementation of this raise, the price for the local gas in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh will be even more expensive than imported gas while the Punjab industry had already been

consuming expensive gas.

According to reports, tariff for the first slab of domestic gas consumers has been increased from Rs121 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) to Rs232/MMBTU; second slab tariff has been increased from Rs300/MMBTU to Rs353/MMBTU; third slab tariff has been fixed at Rs530/MMBTU; fourth set at Rs706/MMBTU; fifth at Rs1273/MMBTU; while sixth tariff slab has been fixed at Rs1679/MMBTU. Likewise, the tariff for tandoor category of gas consumers has been drastically increased up from Rs780/MMBTU to

Rs1,026/MMBTU. Similarly, that for commercial gas consumers has been increased from Rs1,283/MMBTU to Rs1,687/MMBTU. Mian Nauman said that OGRA is continuously allowing raise in gas prices due to inefficiency in collection of gas dues and its failure to stop theft.

These inefficiencies are actually an unjust tax on honest gas consumers. The industrial sector as a whole pays its dues in-time and there is no line losses/theft in most of the industrial estates and industrial estates in Lahore are one example. He said that the business community is shocked that instead of taking measures to control line losses, policies were being evolved to add to the miseries of traders.

He said that the cost of doing business has already been increased manifold, leading to constant decline in exports but the Sui Southern Gas Company and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited are planning to put additional revenue burden on domestic as well as the industrial consumers. It is unfortunate that gas companies are planning to increase their tariffs, though the government has already raised gas prices by up to 190 percent in July this year under tough conditions of the $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

Britain gives US investor go-ahead to buy Cobham for $5bn LONDON AGENCIES

Britain has approved the purchase of British defense company Cobham (COB.L) by U.S. investor Advent International for $5 billion after the private equity group made commitments to address national security concerns.

Business minister Andrea Leadsom had put the deal on hold to review the sale of air-to-air refueling equipment maker Cobham, which employs 10,000 people and also makes communications equipment for military vehicles.

“I am satisfied that the undertakings mitigate the national security risks identified to an acceptable level and have therefore accepted them and cleared the merger to proceed,” Leadsom said in a statement bit.ly/2PIzbkS published on Friday.

Leadsom had said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new government of was minded to accept the deal after Advent put forward several legal undertakings, including having a

number of British executives on Cobham’s boards.

Advent will have to give prior notice to Britain’s defense ministry if it plans to sell all or part of Cobham’s business, and honor existing contracts with the government.

A member of the family which founded Cobham said the decision was deeply disappointing.

“In Cobham, we stand to lose yet another great British defense manufacturer to foreign ownership,” said Nadine Cobham, whose late husband was a son of the company’s founder.

“In one of its first major economic decisions, the government is not taking back control so much as handing it away,” she said, adding that the announcement on the weekend before Christmas had been timed to avoid scrutiny.

Johnson said the sale showed Britain - which is due to leave the European Union at the end of next month - was open to investment from around the world.

“It’s very important that we should have an open and dynamic market economy,” he told

British broadcasters during a visit to Estonia. “A lot of checks have been gone through to make sure that, in that particular case, all the security issues that might be raised can be satisfied.”

Founded in the 1930s, Cobham’s equipment came to the fore ahead of World War Two and in the 1982 Falklands conflict. Its technology is now used in aircraft such as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter Typhoon, as well as advanced naval vessels, satellites and military vehicles.

However, it is still recovering from profit warnings in 2016 and 2017 that forced it to ask shareholders for cash and prompted Chief Executive David Lockwood to overhaul operations.

Advent has already won approval from regulators in the European Union, United States and Finland for its acquisition of Cobham, which was backed by shareholders in September.

The U.S. private equity group also bought British electronics company Laird for $1.65 billion last year.

Tesco suspends Chinese supplier after prisoner labor report LONDON AGENCIES

British supermarket giant Tesco suspended a Chinese supplier of Christmas cards on Sunday after a press report said a customer found a message written inside a card saying it had been packed by foreign prisoners who were victims of forced labor.

“We abhor the use of prison labor and would never allow it in our supply chain,” a Tesco spokesman said on Sunday. “We were shocked by these allegations and immediately suspended the factory where these cards are produced and launched an investigation. We have also withdrawn these cards from sale whilst we investigate.”

Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, donates 300,000 pounds ($390,000) a year from the sale of

the cards to the charities British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK.

The Sunday Times said the message inside the card read: “We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai

Qingpu Prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization. “Use the link to contact Mr Peter Humphrey.”

Peter Humphrey is a British former journalist and corporate fraud investigator. Humphrey and his American wife Yu Yingzeng were both sentenced in China in 2014 for illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information to clients including drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. The couple were deported from China in June 2015 after their jail terms were reduced.

The message inside the card was found by a 6-year-old girl, Florence Widdicombe, in London.

Her father Ben Widdicombe contacted Humphrey via the LinkedIn social network. Florence Widdicombe said she was “shocked” to

see the message in the card. “We opened them about a week ago and we were writing in them, and on about my sixth or eighth card, somebody had already written in it,” she told BBC Tv. Her father said at first he thought the note was a prank, but he later released it was potentially a serious matter and he felt a responsibility to pass it on to Peter Humphrey as requested.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Humphrey said he did not know the identities or the nationalities of the prisoners who put the note into the card, but he “had no doubt they are Qingpu prisoners who knew me before my release in June 2015 from the suburban prison where I spent 23 months”.

The cards were produced at the Zheijiang Yunguang Printing factory, which is about 100 km (60 miles) from Shanghai Qingpu

prison, Tesco said.

The company, which prints cards and books for food and pharmaceutical companies, says on its website it supplies Tesco.

Two phone calls and one emailed request for comment to the company went unanswered after usual business hours on Sunday. Tesco said it had a comprehensive auditing process in place.

“This supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken our rule banning the use of prison labor,” the spokesman said.

“If a supplier breaches these rules, we will immediately and permanently de-list them.”

Humphrey and his wife said in their trial they had not thought they were doing anything illegal in their activities in China.

SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY LAUNCHES THE HOME1947 SERIES WITH THE RELEASE OF DIRECTOR KAMAL KHAN’S BEILA! HOME1947 is a deeply personal exploration of the lives and stories of the millions that were displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent states, India and Pakistan.

Tootsie Rolls were added to soldiers' rations in World War II for their durability in all weather conditions.

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OC Films, with two-time academy winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy at the helm, proudly announces the launch of the HOME1947 Series with the release of the first short-film titled Beila, directed by the critically acclaimed and award winning director Kamal Khan of Laal Kabootar fame. The HOME1947 Series is a deeply personal exploration of the lives and stories of the millions that were displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent states, India and Pakistan.

Produced by Gali Films, the first film Beila chronicles the journey of a mother singing her baby to sleep on a crowded train in the chaos of 1947. As she makes her way to an unfamiliar destination, the feeling of loss and an uncertain future overwhelm her. Directed and shot by the 'Laal Kabootar' duo, director Kamal Khan and DoP Mo Azmi, Beila stars film and TV actress Faiza Gillani in an emotional performance, who sang the song live on set in a one take performance.

HOME1947 is a series of 7 short films conceptualized and produced by SOC Films, which

recreate the long-lost sights and sounds of what millions once called home and explores this world not through the words of historians and politicians, but through the eyes of those who lived through it. Indeed, the HOME1947 Series was first premiered as part of the HOME1947 Exhibition at the Manchester International Festival in the UK followed by exhibitions in Mumbai [India], Lahore and Karachi. HOME1947 has been co-commissioned by the British Council in Pakistan in collaboration with the Manchester International Festival and Super Slow Way.

ORIGAMI & MEKAAL HASAN PRESENT THE KOBLUMPI MUSIC FESTIVAL 2019

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

One of Pakistan’s most acclaimed music director, Mekaal Hasan and one of Pakistan’s leading entertainment solution providers, Origami, proudly present The Koblumpi Music Festival 2019 scheduled to take place in Lahore on 22 December at The Farm House.

The Koblumpi Music Festival is an all afternoon festival, from 12 noon to 6 pm, featuring a wide range of independent artists from across the country, with added activities for kids and families, as well as a huge array of food stalls and refreshments. Indeed, Mehreen Rana at Origami and Mekaal Hasan aim to provide an atmospheric experience for the independent music fans and families with children, in Lahore.

The list of musicians and bands for The Koblumpi Music Festival include Sikander Ka Mandar, Keeray Makoray, Poor Rich Boy, Mekaal Hasan Band, Quadrum, Harris Saeed, Farheen Raza, Madlock, Arsalan Hasan, Bayaan, Ali Suhail, Romaisa Tariq, Abdullah Siddiqui and Luke William to name a few.

Being organized in partnership with Lotus PR, tickets for The Koblumpi Music Festival are priced at only PKR 1,000/- which can be purchased in advance from Mocca Lahore [Mall 1 and

DHA Phase 5] from Monday and will also be available at the venue.

“We want to create a platform for musicians across the board to have an opportunity to perform live on stage and bring back the healthy, outdoor activities culture we grew up with. We hope to scale it up next year in March inshallah. This is just the beginning and we are excited!” said Mehreen Rana.

“The Koblumpi Music Festival seeks to present the freshest talent and outpouring of creative thought from

independent artists across Pakistan. The festival will focus on presenting original music by new as well as established artists whose creative vision is one of pushing boundaries and creating new waves in entertainment and music.” said Mekaal Hasan.

Indeed, Origami, which was conceived in 2010, aims to provide and establish multiple platforms of different genres to provide entertainment for the youth in Pakistan.

The Koblumpi Music Festival consists of Festival Director Mehreen Rana, Show Director Mekaal Hasan and Danish Qureshi as Lead Designer and Ali Khan as Creative Director with CityFM89 as the radio partner and Careem as the technology partner.

When Canada's Northwest Territories considered renaming itself in the 1990s, one name that gained support was "Bob."

After OutKast sang "Shake it like a Polaroid picture," Polaroid released a statement: "Shaking or waving can actually damage the image."

Zack Snyder Reveals Ultra-Violent 'Justice League' End

'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Box Office Lower Than 'Last Jedi'

Salman Khan gets a custom-made WWE Championship belt post Dabangg 3

Zack Snyder reveals his epic and the ultra-violent end to his version of the Justice League movie, known to fans as the "Snyder Cut." In a series of posts on the Vero app as well as on social media, the end of Zack Snyder's Justice League features Aquaman, Superman and Wonder Woman battling Steppenwolf.

Jason Momoa previously posted an image of Aquaman gutting Steppenwolf with his trident, which then sees Aquaman throw Steppenwolf in the direction of Superman, who in turn punches Steppenwolf to Wonder Woman where she beheads Steppenwolf with her sword. Zack Snyder's most recent post on Vero includes artwork of Wonder Woman beheading Steppenwolf.

"Now you're getting it," Snyder said.

It's then known that as Steppenwolf is beheaded, that Steppenwolf gets transported back to Apokolips through a Boom Tube where Steppenwolf's head lands at the feet of Darkseid.

New details include that Zack Snyder reveals that Darkseid stomps and crushes Steppenwolf's head.

No surprise here, but it is learned that the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker box office is lower than The Last Jedi.

The Thursday previews for Skywalker are around $40 million, $5 million less than the $45 million The Last Jedi brought in back in 2017, and much less The Force Awakens' $57 million. The China box office numbers are also a complete disaster for the film as it's performing the lowest and weakest of the new Star Wars trilogy films, with Chinese reviews also at the lowest point.

Elsewhere internationally, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has opened in 46 international markets, bringing in around $59.1 million, which again, is similar to The Last Jedi.

The Last Jedi went on to finish with a $1.332 billion worldwide gross, but it quickly faded at the box office, so it remains to be seen if Skywalker will have better legs and if fans will go see the movie more than once. The $40 million Thursday preview haul for The Rise of Skywalker also gives it the fifth-best Thursday preview.

Actor Salman Khan, who is known for his signature step as Chulbul Pandey from Dabangg 3, has now received a special belt custom-made for him. As his film Dabangg 3 hit theatres on Friday, the actor has been honoured with a customized WWE Championship belt by WWE to celebrate the release of the film.

Fitted with side plates, featuring Salman’s name emblazoned in gold, the news was exclusively revealed by Gaelyn Mendonca, host of WWE Now India, during the show.

Salman reprises his role of Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg 3, which opened to an opening of Rs 24.50 crore in all languages on Friday. The film was expected to collect around Rs 25-30 crore but bore the brunt of the prevailing tension amid the protests against CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act).

Sharing the opening figures of the film, film trade analyst Taran Adarsh wrote on Twitter, “Dabangg3 hits Rs 20 cr+ on Day 1 thanks largely to Salman Khan’s star power... Day 1 biz would’ve easily been much, much higher had it not been for the protests.

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Monday, 23 December, 2019

14 SPORTS

LiverPooL head home hungry for more after being crowned worLd chamPionS doha

L Solskjaer defends attitude of absent Pogba London Agencies

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no issues with Paul Pogba and his desire to regain fitness despite the France World Cup winner's continued absence due to injury. Pogba has not played for United since 30 September due to a persistent ankle injury, missing 21 games for club and country in that time.

But the 26-year-old has attracted criticism for visiting Dubai and Miami as well as being filmed dancing at his brother's wedding in Paris while he has been rehabilitating. It has given the impression of someone not doing everything possible to get back to full fitness, but Solskjaer insists it is wide of the mark. "For me, he is one of the best players in the world. I have always said it and you have seen what he can do on the pitch," he said.

"But he needs to be fit. Everyone is allowed to be injured. I was out for 18 months (as a player). I was at weddings and I was ill and doing other things. I wasn't the best dancer – not as good as Paul definitely." The eighth-placed Red Devils could do with the French World Cup winner back on the pitch, as they visit Watford on Sunday. The fixture also marks the start of a run of seven games in 21 days and there is nothing Solskjaer would like to see more than a fully-fit Pogba. "He has been out running with the fitness coach, looking over to us in training and there is nothing more disheartening. It's a proper mental test," Solskjaer said. "Paul is a different person when he can play football compared to when he can't. I think we all are.

"Sometimes you feel like you don't contribute to your team if you are not able to play. So I am sure you will see him smile again when he's back on the pitch."

Agencies

IVERPOOL have made winning trophies a habit in 2019 and Jurgen Klopp's side return to England and to their push for the Premier League title galvanised after being crowned world champions in Qatar on Saturday. It is an honour the Anfield side had never before claimed but which is now theirs after Roberto Firmino's extra-time goal secured a 1-0 victory over Flamengo in a hard-fought Club World Cup final in Doha.

The latest piece of silverware is Liverpool's third in little over six months, after they won the Champions League in June and began this season by winning the UEFA Supercup on penalties against Chelsea. "The year 2019 for the club has been outstanding," said defender Virgil van Dijk. "But we shouldn't be satisfied with it. We should keep going, keep striving for more, and keep wanting more trophies." Van Dijk returned against Flamengo after illness kept him out of the 2-1 semi-final victory against Monterrey and that determination to be back playing summed up Liverpool's attitude towards the compe-

tition. The Club World Cup is not held in the highest regard in Europe, coming in the middle of a busy club season.

That is in contrast to South America, with Flamengo's huge support in Doha showing just how much Saturday's game meant to them. "It might have been different had we got beat, then maybe some people would have said we were wasting our time or whatever," acknowledged Andy Robertson.

"But for us even if we did lose it was all worthwhile because we had a chance to

win a trophy that the club had never won before." He added that "2019 has been incredible, we have won three trophies and hopefully in 2020 there is a couple more for us." Liverpool will continue their defence of the Champions League with a last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid in February, and host local rivals Everton in the FA Cup third round on January 5.

However, the Premier League is the one they really have in their sights as they seek a first English title since 1990.

- LEICESTER BEATEN -As well as the trophies in 2019, Klopp's team have not lost a league game since their very first outing of the year, at Manchester City. They have won 25 and drawn one of their last 26 in the Premier League.There was more good news for them on Saturday as nearest rivals Leicester City lost 3-1 at Manchester City, leaving Liverpool 10 points clear at the top with a game in hand.Klopp's squad have little time for celebrations, however, as they return to England to prepare to visit Leicester on Thursday.

But while a week in Qatar might have seemed like an unwanted distraction for some in a busy schedule, Klopp was keen to point out that his team have still played the same number of games as their challengers."If we hadn't played here tonight we would have played at West Ham, so the same number of games, the same situation, and the difference is the climate, even if it was not as warm as probably Europeans would have expected at the moment," said the German."It is still something we have to adapt to. But that is the only thing that is special, so it's all good, and we need to make sure that we come home safely, and recover in the plane already, and then prepare the Leicester game."

Mbappe double keeps leaders PSG’s cushion over Marseille Paris Agencies

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain maintained their sevenpoint lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a 41 victory over Amiens on Saturday.

World Cup winner Mbappe, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Friday, netted either side of Neymar's effort before Mauro Icardi added a late fourth at the Parc de Princes.

Steven Mendoza claimed a consolation effort for the visitors who dropped into the relegation zone.

"Kylian and Neymar are really good together, they've gained confidence.

Neymar pushes Kylian and Kylian pushes Ney," PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said. "We played like a team.

Now the challenge is to keep this atti-

tude," he added. Second-placed Marseille remain behind their bitter rivals going into the two-week winter break with a 3-1 win over Nimes. Tuchel recalled Neymar, the world's most expensive player, to the squad after resting him for the midweek League Cup victory over second-tier Le Mans.

Amiens boss Luka Elsner chose against giving striker Alexis Blin a start despite his injury time match-winner in Wednesday's cup success over Angers.

Mbappe opened the scoring after 12 minutes to claim his 40th goal of the calender year, chipping over goalkeeper Regis Gurtner after a sweeping counterattack move.Neymar scored a second, his fourth in as many league matches, two minutes into the second half before captain Thiago Silva left the field with an ankle injury after 58 minutes.

Mbappe clinched his double on 65 minutes firing past Gurtner's near-post.

Colombia winger Mendoza netted

his fifth of the season with 20 minutes to play before Icardi made sure of the rout after 84 minutes.

Ligue 1: Theatrical and mid-championship blows Paris Agencies

Neymar and Eduardo Camavinga who burst the screen, André Villas-Boas who reinvents Marseille, Lyon which does not make recipe ... At the intermission, the soap of Ligue 1 delivered its first dramas, with a duo of headliners PSG-OM and unexpected adventures.

THE BEST ACTOR: NEYMAR "Happy end" for Neymar in Paris? Cold with the supporters by dint of rehashing his nostalgia for Barcelona, the man who was worth 222 million euros has returned to the spectacular gestures that had prompted PSG to bet on him in 2017. "I see a real desire on his part to make himself available to the team," said sports di-

rector Leonardo. Dribbles, centers, overlaps: "Ney" (8 goals in L1) finally appears as a star worthy of the three-star cast of PSG, which has a formidable trio with also Kylian Mbappé (11 goals) and the excellent recruit Mauro Icardi (9 goals). And it is the influence of the L1 that benefits.

THE BEST SCREENWRITER: VILLAS-BOAS: He rewrote history: in a few months in Marseille, André Villas-Boas managed to get OM out of its torpor and grab second place at the halfway point, behind the untouchable Parisian rival.To seduce the demanding Marseille public, weaned from fine play since Marcelo Bielsa (2014-2015), "AVB" succeeded.

With outspokenness in front of the press, daring tactical choices and, above all, an ability to inspire sad players.Dimitri Payet and Dario Benedetto rekindled the attack despite a serious injury to Florian Thauvin.

And in defense, the transformation is spectacular, with Steve Mandanda who again deserves his captain's armband, and Jordan Amavi again sharp. What to find the Champions League next year?

THE BEST HOPE: CAMAVINGA: At only 17 years old, Eduardo Camavinga

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is already on the front of the stage, piling up the records of precocity with Rennes, surprising third in the break. Youngest player ever aligned by the Breton club, the nugget burst the screen on this first part of the season. And, just naturalized French, the player born in Angola already has his place in the France hopes team ... while dreaming of an A call that would make him the youngest Blue since the post-war period. Under contract until 2022, Camavinga could well bring back a nice fortune in Rennes if a big European team broke its piggy bank: the French press already evokes an interest of Real Madrid.

THE BEST DIRECTOR: BEN YEDDER: Top scorer in Ligue 1, Wissam Ben Yedder carries AS Monaco at arm's length, yet weighed down by recurring defensive problems.After three seasons at the top in Seville, the French international keeps an impressive efficiency: already 13 league goals, including a double Saturday against Lille (5-1).

"I have no limits, I always try to do more and continue to score," said the former Toulousain. With the line of sight of the center of the Blues at Euro-2020.

THE BELLY: LYON IN THE SOFT BELLY: A coach landed in October, a classification in the soft belly and a workforce weighed down by injuries: Lyon is living a sluggish season.

The miraculous qualification for a knockout round of the Champions League in February-March against Juventus Turin does not deceive anyone: the second budget of Ligue 1, twelfth at midchampionship, is not up to its ambitions, as l showed the sad 1-1 draw on Saturday in Reims. Above all, the team of Rudi Garcia suffered a terrible fate with the serious injuries of Memphis Depay (14 goals in 18 games) and the hope Jeff Reine-Adélaïde.

And here is the sports director Juninho forced to recruit "one player per line" in the winter transfer window to try to bounce back ...

THE BLACK SERIES: DARK TOULOUSE: "We are offering a spectacle that is not worthy of the price paid": when the President of Toulouse offers supporters to reimburse their subscriptions, it is because things are bad: for the Toulouse red lantern, it is a free fall.

Monday, 23 December, 2019

PakiStan grab three earLy wicketS againSt Sri Lanka in Second teSt

SPORTS 15

karachi

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Agencies

AKISTAN grabbed three early wickets pressing for a series-win Sunday in the second Test against Sri Lanka after home captain Azhar Ali hit a return-to-form century in Karachi.

Set a daunting 476-run target to win, Sri Lanka lost skipper Dimuth Karunaratne for 16, Kusal Mendis for a duck and Angelo Matthews for 19 as Pakistan's pace attack spat fire on a lifeless National stadium pitch. At tea, Sri Lanka were on the back foot at 86-3 with opener Oshada Fernando unbeaten on a fighting 47 and Dinesh Chandimal on two. Sri Lanka need another 390 runs with seven wickets remaining.

Pace spearhead Mohammad Abbas had Karunaratne caught behind in the tenth over of the innings before 16-yearold paceman Naseem Shah had Mendis snapped up in the slips in the next over.

It became 70 for three when Mathews, Sri Lanka's most experienced batsman, edged a short delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan declared their second innings at 555 for three at lunch after Azhar and Babar Azam (100 not out) joined openers Abid Ali (174) and Shan

britiShPakiStani boxer crowned engLand & waLeS boxing chamPion sPorts desk

Masood (135) in the run-fest. It was only the second time in a Test innings that the top four had all scored centuries after openers Abid Ali (174) and Shan Masood (135) grabbed theirs on Saturday.

India against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2007 was the other occasion.

Azhar, who had a lean 2019 with no fifty, completed his 16th century

before he was stumped off spinner Lasith Embuldeniya after 11 boundaries in his 157-ball innings. Azam's fourth century — and third in the last four Tests — had seven boundaries and a six off 131 balls. Earlier, when Pakistan resumed at 395 for two, Azhar smashed three boundaries off pace bowler Vishwa Fernando and then

took two runs to complete his first century in 12 months. Azhar added 148 for the third wicket with Azam as Sri Lankan bowlers toiled hard for wickets. Lahiru Kumara finished with two for 139. The Test series is the first in Pakistan since the attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009 suspended international cricket in the country.

Archer and Joe Root on the hit-list as South Africa turn up heat Johannesburg Agencies

Jofra Archer and Joe Root are the two English players that South Africa will be targeting this summer as they seek to get their first World Test Championship points on the board. While South Africa are primarily con-

cerned with getting their own confidence back after a humbling tour to India where the batting, in particular, was exposed, their line-up has to find form against an attack that some argue is among the best around.

The experience of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have run through South Africa before, and the support of Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes present one challenge but the pace of Archer brings another, and assuming he recovers from a bout of sickness in time for the Boxing Day Test, it's the thing South Africa are wariest of.

"He brings something different to the attack, he can bowl quickly in stages, so you've got to prepare for that and hopefully we can play him well this series," Faf du Plessis, South Africa's captain, said.

"It's important to make sure that we don't let him start the series well. With someone like that, who builds a lot on confidence, it's his first tour to South Africa, the Kookaburra ball is a little bit different than the Dukes so for me it's important that we can start well against him."

Archer took just two wickets in as many Tests in New Zealand and conceded over 100 runs in each match, proving himself to be fallible. His problems have continued since arriving in South Africa, with a

sickness bug ruing him out of action for a week and leaving his participation in the first Test in some doubt. However, his absence did also stop some of South Africa's players from getting a first look at him with a red ball in hand. Three members of the Test squad - Pieter Malan, Rudi Second and Andile Phehlukwayo - are all part of the A side, with Phehlukwayo's 3 for 55 proving to be the most successful return. As for Root, though his 226 in Hamilton underlined his quality as a batsman, his tactical acumen as captain has been found wanting and there's no better team to exploit an England's captain's weaknesses than South Africa.

Du Plessis joked that the spotlight on Root's leadership was why Cricket South Africa had brought Graeme Smith back into the fold - on consecutive tours of England in 2003, 2008 and 2012, he oversaw the departure of three England captains in Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss.

However, Jacques Kallis's warning to Root was the one that the England captain will be warier of.

"They've kept him as captain so they obviously believe in him. We will try and keep the pressure on him and it's an area we will target," Kallis, South Africa's batting consultant, said.

British boxer of Pakistani descent Hasnain Ali has been crowned the England and Wales champion after beating Team England's athlete Hanzla Hamza in the finals of the England and Wales Championships.

Ali, who is 17, was bullish from the start and won every round against his opponent, impressing both the judges and the England selectors.

“I managed to beat Hanzla Hamza easily. He was representing Great Britain. He’s the best boy in the country at this time. He put up a good fight but I beat him easily. It’s a great achievement for me to beat the Great Britain representative and I feel proud of myself. I am where I want to be and its looking positive," Hasnain told Geo News.The event was held at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, Greater Manchester and attended by a large crowd.Ali who is currently studying for his A-levels has also won the under-19 tournament after boxing four times in four weeks against older and heavier opponents in his new superheavyweight class.“Balancing boxing and college work is quite hard but I try my best to manage because it is my dream to succeed both academically and in sports. I want to become a role model for others through hard work and success,” Ali said. He pointed out the lack of opportunities for ethnic minority youth, especially for Pakistanis and others minorities who live in deprived areas.He said, “Being a Pakistani boxer in Britain is very hard. You don’t have as many opportunities. My message to all young boys and girls is to keep pushing hard and you will become whatever you want to become.

Persistence and perseverance pay off."

Cricket in 2019: Stokes and Smith shine in eventful year London Agencies

Ben Stokes starred as England won the World Cup for the first time before producing one of the most memorable innings in Ashes history as Australia's Steve Smith enjoyed a successful return to the international stage after the 'sandpaper' ball-tampering scandal. But they were not the lone standout performers in 2019.

Below AFP Sport looks back at five memorable incidents from the year in cricket.

PERERA'S 153 NOT OUT STUNS SOUTH AFRICA: January saw Kusal Perera compile one of the greatest innings in Test history when his stunning 153 not out guided Sri Lanka to a remarkable onewicket win over South Africa in Durban.

Sri Lanka still needed 78 more runs for victory when last man Vishwa Fernando joined Perera in the middle. Perera was then 86 not out and the only realistic hope was that Fernando would hang around long enough for him to get a hun-

dred. He did rather more than that though while Perera, who hit five sixes including two off fast bowling great Dale Steyn, managed the strike superbly to see Sri Lanka to their target of 304.

WORLD CUP FINAL THRILLER: England finally ended their 45-year wait for a first men's World Cup title with a stunning win over New Zealand in an extraordinary final at Lord's in July that saw them triumph by "the barest of margins" in the words of former Black Caps wicketkeeper turned commentator Ian Smith.

Ben Stokes's 84 not out helped England equal but not surpass New Zealand's 241, his innings including a lucky six that came after a throw from the outfield deflected off his bat and went for four bonus runs.

For the first time, the final went into a Super Over and here too the scores were level, with the run out of New Zealand's Martin Guptill off the last ball of the match seeing England win on superior boundary count. Stokes, whose career was nearly ended by a court case that eventually saw

him acquitted on a charge of affray, was a national hero.

STAR BATSMAN SMITH RETURNS: Doubts over whether Steve Smith was still the same Test batsman following a 12-month ban for his role in the 'sandpaper' ball-tampering scandal in South Africa that cost him the Australia captaincy were settled in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston where he marked his comeback with a superb innings of 144 and 142 during a 251-run triumph. It was the start of an extraordinary run spree that saw Smith score 774 runs at an average of 110.57. Australia retained the Ashes as five-match series ended all square at 2-2, with the blow to the head Smith suffered after being struck by a Jofra Archer bouncer during the drawn second match at Lord's eventually seeing Marnus Labuschagne become Test cricket's first concussion substitute.

STOKES'S HEADINGLEY HEROICS: England had already been bowled out for a woeful 67 in their first innings when last man Jack Leach joined Stokes with the

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hosts still needing 73 more runs to reach a victory target of 359 in the third Test at Headingley. But Stokes, in an innings that mixed defensive resilience with attacking flair, hit an unbeaten 135 that saw England to a stunning one-wicket win, arguably

even more extraordinary than their celebrated 1981 Ashes victory at Yorkshire's headquarters, although it would have been a different conclusion had not Australia's Nathan Lyon fumbled a clear run out chance with Leach stranded.

Monday, 23 December, 2019

NEWS death toll in europe from storm rises to eight LISBON AGENCIES

The death toll from a storm that battered Spain, Portugal and France rose to eight on Saturday as the region braced for more violent winds and heavy rain. A 32-year-old South Korean woman died Saturday, a day after being struck on the head by falling debris from a building in central Madrid, the Madrid region’s interior minister said. The building had passed an inspection in 2015 “but weather like this, with heavy rain and wind, causes these fateful cases”, Enrique Lopez told reporters. A man died Saturday after his car was swept away by a swollen river near the town of Huescar in the southern province of Granada, the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement.

Emergency services in Andalusia said a 68year-old Dutchman who went missing while windsurfing in rough weather in Huelva province Friday had drowned.

Those three deaths bring to eight to the number of fatalities from the storm that has battered Spain, Portugal and southern France overnight Thursday to Friday. Storm Elsa flooded rivers, brought down power lines and disrupted rail and air travel across the region. Six of the deaths have been in Spain and two in Portugal, where the extreme weather interrupted train services Saturday between the capital Lisbon and the second city Porto due to flooding on the rail tracks.

FRESH STORM ARRIVING: As a weakened Storm Elsa moved over Britain, the authorities in France, Portugal and Spain all warned of a fresh threat. Storm Fabien has already brought winds of 170 kilometres (105 miles) per hour in Galicia in northwestern Spain, forcing the cancellation of 14 flights according to Spanish airport operator Aena. Another 13 flights were diverted from airports in Galicia to other parts of Spain or Portugal, it added. Some 8,000 households in Galicia were without power due to damage caused to power lines by the wind, local officials said. Spain’s national weather office has put the entire coast of Galicia and the neighbouring region of Asturias on red alert on Saturday — the highest on its fouralert scale — due to strong winds and high waves. Eight Madrid city parks remained shut Saturday because of the strong winds.

Parks and cemeteries were also closed in Bordeaux in southwestern France on Saturday while the Arlette Gruss circus, which had set up in a big tent in the city’s main square, cancelled three performances.

France’s weather office placed 15 regions in the southwest of the country on orange alert Saturday, as the storm battered its Atlantic coast. The winds were as high as 148 km per hour at Socoa, in the southwest near the border with Spain. Even on the northwest coast of Brittany, winds reached up to 120 km per hour. The office said winds in the southwest would likely weaken through Sunday, but the region would still be buffeted by gusts of up to 90 km per hour.

France’s SNCF rail network cancelled services between Bordeaux, Toulouse and Hendaye services in the southwest because of the likelihood of winds blowing trees down on to the line. Officials on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica have closed all the island’s airports Sunday because of the approaching storm. Ferry services to the mainline have also been suspended. And officials on the island closed the roads into Ajaccio to try to prevent anyone getting caught in floodwaters.

Nearly 10,000 homes are still without power in the southeast Rhone-Alpes region after storms overnight Thursday to Friday.

Modi says citizenship law not anti-MusliM as protests continue across india AT LEAST 23 DEAD IN PROTESTS AGAINST CITIZENSHIP LAW NEW DELHI

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AGENCIES

OLLOWING days of violent, sometimes deadly protests across India against a new citizenship law critics say discriminates against Muslims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a rally on Sunday for his Hindu nationalist party in the capital.

New Delhi’s state election early next year will be the first major electoral test for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the wake of the mass demonstrations seen after parliament cleared the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 11.

Several thousand people took part in Modi’s rally where he accused the opposition of distorting facts to trigger protests. “The law does not impact 1.3 billions Indians, and I must assure Muslim citizens of India that this law will not change anything for them,” said Modi, adding that his government introduces reforms without any religious bias.

“We have never asked anyone if they go to a temple or a mosque when it comes to implementing welfare schemes,” he said.

Modi’s nationalist party plans to hold more than 200 news conferences to counter the protests as anger grows over what critics say is an attack on the country’s secular constitution.

At least 23 people have died during clashes with police as thousands of people came out on the streets in towns

and cities across the country to protest, marking the biggest challenge to Modi’s leadership since he first swept to power in 2014.

Fresh demonstrations were planned for Sunday in New Delhi, and northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the largest number of deaths have occurred.

In most places, the demonstrations have been joined by people of all faiths, but Uttar Pradesh is a tinder-box for communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and authorities there have shut internet and mobile messaging services to prevent the circulation of inflammatory material. More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested across India in the past 10 days, additionally, some 4,000 people have been detained and then released, the officials said.

Criticism has also fallen on police, who have been accused of using disproportionate force, using baton charges, and tear gas, and entering university

campuses and assaulting students.

Modi’s government says that the new law is required to help non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who fled to India before 2015 by providing them with a pathway to Indian citizenship.

But many Indians feel that the CAA discriminates against Muslims and violates the country’s secular constitution by making religion a test for citizenship.

Alarmed by spreading protests and the rising violence, authorities have ordered a shut down of internet and mobile messaging services in Delhi, shut metro stations and cancelled permissions for large demonstrations.

Still, on Friday, some protesters clashed with police and set a car alight before being scattered by a water cannon in a commercial in central Delhi close to where Modi held his rally on Sunday.

Earlier in the week, thousands of stone-pelting protesters battled police, who fired shots in the air and used tear gas, in northeast Delhi.

The eastern state of Jharkhand is in the final stages of its drawn out election, with the count set for Dec. 23, and the fall out from the furore over the citizenship act will be more evident once Delhi votes in coming months.

A small regional party currently controls the state government in Delhi, but Modi’s BJP is hoping the fulfilment of a series of major manifesto promises will galvanize its right-wing support base.

In August, Modi revoked the special status of the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, and in November, a court ruling cleared the way for the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a mosque razed by Hindu zealots.

AGENCIES

US President Donald Trump on Saturday criticized House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for holding off on sending the articles of impeachment against him to the Senate.

“It’s so unfair,” Trump said, days after he was impeached by the House, during a speech to conservative student group Turning Point USA, saying that Pelosi adopted the strategy because she has “no case.”

Over a million parents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) refused to allow their children to be vaccinated in 2019, 0 according to a local media report on Sunday.

Data from the provincial health department showed a total of 10,89,087 0 0 parents refused polio vaccination for their children, with the highest number of refusal cases – 6,94,984 – reported in April. Officials said a total of 79 cases have been reported in K-P in 2019 0 and the number is expected to rise before the year’s end. “Negative propaganda against the polio vaccine, particularly the Mashokhel incident, had a significant impact in K-P. The doubts created by that false propaganda dealt a serious blow to anti-polio efforts this year,” said a senior official. NEWS DESK

13 people shot at Chicago party Thirteen people were wounded in a shooting at a house party on Chicago’s south side, police said, adding that they have identified two people they consider of interest to the investigation. The victims ranged in age from 16 to 48 and 12 were in local hospitals Sunday morning, hours after police responded at the scene of what they believe was a house party at around 0 0630 0 GMT, according to a police statement. One of the victims, a 21-year-old male, was critically injured after being shot in the lower back, the statement said. AGENCIES

Govt promises uninterrupted gas supply as situation worsens SIALKOT STAFF REPORT

As the gas supply in different parts of the country remains either suspended or is low pressured, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday said that on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the authorities concerned have been directed to ensure supply of gas to domestic consumers even at the cost of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations.

Addressing a press conference, the SAPM said that there were rumours circulating regarding a hike in gas prices.

“The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) is merely a regulator, which forwards its input to the government while keeping in view the needs and problems of the people,” she said.

She also said that the premier is aware of the public’s issues and knows that the citizens cannot afford costly

FIRDOUS SAYS GOVT WILL ENSURE GAS SUPPLY TO DOMESTIC CONSUMERS EVEN AT THE COST OF CNG STATIONS gas. “We cannot act on the recommendations put forth by OGRA. We must come up with a realistic strategy so that no additional burden is placed on the people,” she added.

“Winter has gripped the country and there is an increase in gas consumption. Keeping this in mind, there has been a 12 per cent increase in gas pressure while the overall usage has increased by almost 2.5 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year,” she further said.

It is worth mentioning here that despite the long shutdown of CNG stations, people in localities of Sindh and Punjab as well as other parts of the country are experiencing either suspended gas supply or a total shutdown, depriving the people of an essential

household commodity. Moreover, the shutdown of the CNG stations in different parts of the country has further aggravated the plight of the commuters who use public transport on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has denied the existence of gas load shedding while also advertising against illegal use of compressors and pumps.

Speaking about the worsening situation in India in light of the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Firdous said that the two-nation theory of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had won and now Indian were thinking about the proponents of the theory.

She said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to impose the new citizenship law on people, prompting

Trump slams House’s impeachment delay as ‘so unfair’ WEST PALM BEACH

Over a million KP children deprived of polio vaccine due to parents’ refusal

“They are violating the Constitution,” Trump said, calling Pelosi “crazy Nancy.”

The Democratic-controlled House voted on Dec. 18 to impeach Trump, setting the stage for a trial in the Senate.

Trump is very unlikely to be convicted and removed from office by the upper chamber of Congress because it is controlled by his Republican Party. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate is needed for a conviction on impeachment charges.

Republicans and Democrats are at loggerheads over how the trial will play out. Pelosi and other Democrats want to

call top Trump aides as witnesses and are seeking assurances that the trial will be held on terms they consider fair.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said he is working in tandem with the White House on trial preparations, drawing accusations from Democrats that he is ignoring his duty to consider the evidence in an impartial manner.

Pelosi has not yet sent the impeachment package to the Senate in a bid to increase pressure on Republicans there.

Pelosi has also not yet announced the

managers, or prosecutors, who will present evidence in the trial.

“Until the House gets a clearer picture of what a Senate trial will look like, the Speaker will not be in the position to appoint managers and take the next steps in holding this President accountable and ensuring the Senate fulfils its constitutional duty,” Pelosi’s office said in a statement on Saturday.

Pelosi’s office said senators have a constitutional obligation to conduct a “fair process that provides both the Senators, who will act as jurors and the

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

CMYK

the people to get out on the streets against the extremist government.

She said that Mod’s Hindutava has miserably failed in India and his extremist policies have ruined India’s reputation as a secular state. “India is facing internal conflicts and confrontation and to divert attention from these issues, the Indian Army is targeting the civilian population in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) through cross-border shelling,” she said, adding that the Pakistan Army has given a befitting response to Indian aggression. Speaking about the opposition, she said that those who plundered the country were now posing as people’s representatives.

Referring to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari’s speech, she said that the party only seems remember Benazir Bhutto, whose death anniversary falls on December 27, during elections to win the public’s favour.

public with the opportunity to understand the full extent of President Trump’s abuse of power.”

Trump is accused of abusing his power by holding back $391 million in security aid to Ukraine in an effort to get Kiev to announce a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in the November 2020 election.

The president is also charged with obstruction of Congress for directing administration officials and agencies not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

Trump says he did nothing wrong and has dismissed his impeachment as a partisan bid to undo his 2016 election win.