E-PAPER PDF 24 FEBUARY 2020 (ISB)

CMYK

Monday, 24 February, 2020 I 29 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 19.00 I vol X no 236 I 60 Pages I Islamabad Edition

COROnAvIRuS

Pakistan shuts down border crossing with iran g

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bAlochistAN govt tAkes eMergeNcy MeAsures, sets uP 100bed hosPitAl NeAr tAftAN, bArs PeoPle froM trAvelliNg to irAN

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PM’s heAlth AssistANt sAys govt eQuiPPed to deAl with ‘ANy eveNtuAlity of coroNAvirus outbreAk’

irAQ, turkey, AfghANistAN ANd kuwAit iMPose trAvel restrictioNs As coroNAvirus cAses begiN to surge iN tehrAN ISLAMABAD

STORY ON PAGE 03

five new polio cases surface in kP

staff report

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AkistAN on sunday announced that it would as a precautionary measure “temporarily” close taftan border with neighbouring iran as alarm grows over a spike in new coronavirus infections, with the government gearing up measures to keep coronavirus at bay. in addition to Pakistan, kuwait, turkey and Afghanistan have also sealed off their borders with tehran in the wake of the spike in coronavirus cases that have claimed 10 lives as of yet. balochistan home Minister Mir Ziaullah langove confirmed the travel restrictions, saying the border was temporarily closed by the authorities in light of reports of coronavirus deaths in iran. the balochistan government has also imposed a ban on the travel of pilgrims from Pakistan into iran by road and has asked the provincial home department to coordinate with other provinces in this regard. over 100 passengers were called back to Quetta from taftan while the balochistan government also directed the establishment of special check posts to stop people from travelling to iran.

‘100-BED HOSPITAL’: chief Minister Jam kamal Alyani directed the provincial disaster management authority to establish a 100bed tent hospital at the Pak-iran border to cope with any emergency situation. taftan Assistant commissioner Najeebullah Qambrani said the screening of those pilgrims staying at Pakistan house has started and added that a team of doctors has arrived

PM vows to alleviate poverty, control inflation

STORY ON PAGE 03

Trump confirms he will sign peace deal with Taliban from islamabad at the mobile hospital. the cM also directed the district health officers to take precautions and ordered the deployment of special medical teams in taftan and other bordering areas.

Meanwhile, Minister for religious Affairs Noorul haq Qadri spoke to iranian authorities about measures being taken to protect pilgrims from the novel coronavirus. A statement by the religious Affairs Ministry said that haq is also in touch with religious scholars and tour groups in order to design a policy to protect the pilgrims from the disease. the statement added that “joint teams had been constituted to protect pilgrims, travelling through the taftan border, from the coronavirus”.

‘EQuIPPED TO DEAL WITH AnY EvEnTuALITY’:

separately, special Assistant to the Prime Minister on health dr Zafar Mirza held a meeting in islamabad, where he was briefed on the situation in iran. dr Mirza said that the government was equipped to deal with “any eventuality of coronavirus outbreak”. the prime minister’s aide said that teams have been posted across the taftan border, where all passengers entering Pakistan are being screened.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

EDITORIAL: Being slowly engulfed by coronavirus ON PAGE 08

Pakistan remained at forefront of fight against terrorism: Gen Bajwa

No military solution to Afghan conflict, says Qureshi STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 02

Pakistan’s economy ‘on the path to recovery’: Credit Suisse STORY ON PAGE 11

Amid disqualifications and coronavirus cases, conservatives claim victory in Iran poll STORY ON BACK PAGE

in today’s issue

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STORY ON PAGE 02

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irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk

CMYK Monday, 24 February 2020

02 NEWS

PakisTan remaineD aT FOreFrOnT OF FighT againsT TerrOrism: gen Bajwa iSLamaBaD

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TLTP

HIEF of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Sunday said that Pakistan has made sacrifices for a peaceful region and the world while being at the forefront of the war against terrorism.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan military, Gen Bajwa passed the remarks while addressing the Royal College of Higher Military Education on the emerging security environment and its challenges, the security situation in the region and Pakistan’s contributions in war against terrorism.

The COAS is on a four-day official visit to Morocco.

“Pakistan being the front line country against terrorism, gave sacrifices and contributions against the global menace for a peaceful region and world,” said Gen Bajwa. Both Pakistan and Morocco

agreed to further deepen bilateral cooperation in a myriad of fields, including security cooperation, joint training and counterterrorism domain. An understanding to this effect came during the army chief’s meetings with Morocco’s Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in Charge of the Administration of National Defence Abdellatif Loudiyi and Inspector General of Royal Armed Forces General Abdelfattah Lourak.

During the meetings, matters pertaining to mutual interest, bilateral defence, security cooperation, and regional peace and stability were discussed. The two sides also agreed upon the tremendous potential for cooperation in multiple fields including security cooperation, joint training and counter-terrorism domain. Talking to them, the army chief said that Pakistan has and will always stand with Morocco even in the most difficult times.

Later, speaking at Royal College of Higher Military Education in Morocco, the army chief shared his views on the emerg-

ing security environment and its challenges, the security situation in the region and Pakistan’s contributions in war against terrorism. Earlier in January last, Ambassador of Morocco to Pakistan Muhammad Karmoune said that Morocco and Pakistan are revamping the ties and that the two nations have agreed to further enhance bilateral cooperation at different levels. An agreement could be signed between the Port of Tangier and Gwadar Port.

Karmoune said that Morocco–Pakistan Joint Business Council has been established and some of its members have visited Morocco to explore opportunities.

The Joint Business Council facilitates the business community of both countries.

Morocco also imports textiles, handicrafts, and other items from Pakistan.

Pakistan is a significant investor in the Moroccan fertilizer production field where Pakistan’s Fauji Fertilizers has signed an agreement with a Moroccan phosphate company with a capital of 800 million Moroccan dirhams. Urea pro-

duced in the Pak-Morocco Phosphate Company in the Moroccan city of Al-Jadida is entirely sent to Pakistan. A Pakistani company has also invested in the Moroccan oil and gas exploration sector.

Ambassador Karmoun said that Pakistan can benefit from Morocco’s expertise in solar energy. In addition, tourism is an important driver of the Moroccan economy. Pakistan too has great potential in

no military solution to afghan conflict: Qureshi Fm hopes deal between Us and taliban will be sUCCessFUl muLtan STAFF REPORT

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday said Pakistan was hopeful for the success of the peace deal between United States (US) and Afghan Taliban — to be signed on February 29 in Doha.

Talking to media persons here, he said Pakistan made sincere efforts in bringing the US and Taliban on the negotiation table.

Pakistan always convinced the world that there was no military solution to the Afghan issue and that it could only be resolved through dialogue, Qureshi said adding that “the US President Donald Trump nominated Zalmay Khalilzad

man dies in dUki Coalmine aCCident QUETTA: A coal miner died when a trolley hit him inside the mine in Duki area of Loralai district on Sunday. According to Levies sources, the victim identified as Ajab Khan was working in the coalmine when a trolley suddenly hit him. As a result, he died on the spot after receiving serious injuries. The body was shifted to the nearby hospital where it was handed over to the heirs after completion of medico-legal formalities. Levies force has registered a case. APP

Urges Us president to take Up Caa bill, kashmir loCkdown on his india trip to move forward for the peace process in Afghanistan”. He said Pakistan also made the Taliban understand that the issue could be resolved through negotiations only. Pakistan wished that both sides should reach to a logical destination of peace in Afghanistan, he added.

“Some powers do not want peace in Afghanistan and they are conspiring against peace process by disturbing law and order through bomb blasts in the country,” he said, adding, “Such powers are spoilers and there is need to avoid and foil nefarious designs of these powers.”

Qureshi also informed that working on the intra-Afghan dialogue process was in progress.

“When there will be peace in Afghanistan, then the rebuilding process will be initiated. Pakistan will also take

part in the rebuilding of Afghanistan,” the foreign minister said.

Responding to a question, he said the incumbent government brought the Kashmir issue in the limelight at the United Nations Security Council’s meeting after five decades. Similarly, the issue was also taken up at different forums, including the US Congress, House of Commons and some others, he added.

The foreign minister said recently, the UN Secretary-General had visited Pakistan and he was briefed about human rights violations in the occupied valley by the foreign ministry, Kashmir committee and other parliamentary committees concerned. Responding to question about rising prices of sugar and flour, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted a

special committee to identify responsible persons for rising prices of sugar and flour. He informed that the inquiry committee presented its report but it was incomplete so the prime minister ordered a further inquiry. The committee would present its detailed report soon, Qureshi said. To another query regarding the completion of the government’s tenure, he said he did not agree with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s statement. A delegation of journalists from Punjab should visit interior Sindh and check the governance in the province. Qureshi posed a question that did the PPP and PML-N resolve problems of the country or provinces?

“It is good for democracy that an elected government should complete its constitutional term,” Qureshi said and also added, “PTI assumed the government in difficult circumstances especially in economic crisis. PTI government is taking all possible steps to improve the economy.”

China assures safety of Pakistan students in Wuhan iSLamaBaD STAFF REPORT

The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad in a series of tweets on Sunday said most Pakistani students in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, are satisfied with the Chinese government’s measures guaranteeing their “daily lives and studies”. “The Chinese govt with the Pakistani govt&Embassy in China has established contacts with each Pakistani student to ensure adequate living and medical supplies. Most students are satisfied. We will continue to do our best to take care of them,” it said.

The embassy said the outbreak of COVID-19 is being fully prevented and has turned out positive trend in China. The outbreak is preventable and controllable and the disease curable, it added.

“We understand the temporary difficulties of Pakistani students in Wuhan. They are with millions of Chinese to prevent and control the epidemic. We will take care of them like our own. They are safe&healthy.

Their daily lives&studies are guaranteed. Parents please rest assured.” “The suggestions of WHO and health experts are that the safest approach is to stay where you are, as any movement of people will lead to the risk of cross infection.”

Coronavirus: Pakistan shuts down border crossing with Iran Continue from page 1 Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani also issued a five-point directive to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Pakistan, which called for closing off of the Pakistan-Iran border or increased regulation at border crossing points. He further said that a health emergency is imposed in areas near the border. On Saturday, PM Imran had also contacted CM Kamal and discussed options to stop the virus from entering the country. He told the chief minister to take all protective measures in the province along the Pak-Iran border. The chief minister had said that he was supervising all safety measures taken by the provincial government.

CORONAVIRUS IN IRAN: After Pakistan, Turkey also announced that it would as a precautionary measure “temporarily” close its land border with neighbouring Iran as alarm grows over a spike in new coronavirus infections.

“We have decided to shut the land border temporarily after an increase in the number of cases in our neighbour Iran,” Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters on Sunday.

Iraq has extended an entry ban for any nonIraqis coming from Iran, the prime minister said, as authorities in Tehran announced 15 more cases of coronavirus and a death toll of eight. Baghdad had banned crossings by non-Iraqis from Iran on Thursday for three days and Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Saturday night that the ban would be extended. He did not specify until when.As for Kuwait, its Port Authority announced a ban on the entry of all ships from the Islamic republic.

Afghanistan said it too would ban travel to and from Iran over virus fears. So far there have been three suspected infections reported in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat and the National Security Council of Afghanistan said on

Twitter: “To prevent the spread of the novel #coronavirus and protect the public, Afghanistan suspends all passenger movement (air and ground) to and from Iran. The suspension also includes the import of poultry products (eggs and chicken) from Iran and Pakistan.”

CORONA OUTBREAK IN IRAN: The COVID-19 outbreak has claimed the lives of at least 10 people in Iran since Wednesday. Authorities have ordered as a “preventive measure” the closure of schools, universities and other educational centres in 14 provinces across the country from Sunday.

The outbreak in Iran has centred on the holy city of Qom, where officials say travellers from China brought the new coronavirus. Iranian Health Ministry’s Spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour added that out 15 newly confirmed cases, seven were in Qom, while four were in the capital, Tehran.

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this sector. Morocco has many well-established ports and port of Tangier, with a capacity of 9 million containers a year, is among the largest ports. Highlighting Morocco’s geographical significance, the ambassador said that Morocco is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea with plenty of water and an agreement could be signed between the Port of Tangier and Gwadar Port.

CTD kills five alleged terrorists in Peshawar

peSHaWar INP

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has registered a case on Sunday of an alleged encounter within Regi police station limit here, in which five suspected terrorists were killed. According to the FIR filed at the CTD police station here, 10 to 12 alleged terrorists entered Pakistan from Afghanistan to carry out attacks in Peshawar, Charsadda, Mohmand and Malakand areas.

The CTD after getting intelligence report about the presence of the alleged terrorists launched an operation, officials said. The alleged terrorists instead of surrendering opened fire at the law enforcement personnel. CTD officials retaliated firing in which five alleged terrorists were killed, the FIR said. The rest of the alleged terrorists managed to escape in the cover of darkness. Three suicide jackets, three submachine guns, two pistols, two hand grenades and walkie-talkie set from the militants, CTD officials said. The slain militants were identified as Manan and Niaz Ali from Peshawar, Adnan from Khyber, Azizullah from Malakand and Jamil Ahmad from Dir, according to the initial report. The CTD has started a further investigation after filing the case.

Officials' transfer not linked to Bushra's Pakpattan visit: Firdous iSLamaBaD STAFF REPORT

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday said that the transfers of government officials in Punjab had no link to the visit of Prime Minister’s wife Bushra Bibi to Pakistan. In a tweet, she said that the news item being attributed to the recent visit of the first lady was baseless. She said linking the transfers to the visit was “condemnable”. The first lady “indeed dislikes protocol, so the question of getting any protocol does not arise especially at the sacred place like the shrine of Baba Farid-ud-Din Ganj Shakar”. The PM’s media assistant was reacting to a news report that had alleged that the shrine administrator and Auqaf manager were made OSDs on the orders of Bushra Bibi for failing to maintain satisfactory arrangements. According to a notification issued on Friday, a number of other shrine staff were also expelled from District Pakpattan for misbehaving with pilgrims and negligence of duty.

CMYK Monday, 24 February 2020

NEWS

PM voWs to AllevIAte Poverty, control InflAtIon IMRAN SAYS PTI GOVT WILL PROVIDE JOBS TO YOUTH, TRANSFORM COUNTRY INTO WELFARE STATE ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday reiterated his resolve to alleviate poverty from Pakistan and to transform the country into a welfare state.

Addressing the 7th Annual Convocation of NAMAL University in Mianwali, he said that no country in the world can make progress without upholding the true principles of education and merit.

The prime minister said that the countries can only rise if they follow principles founded by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Medina. PM Imran said that social welfare programmes of the incumbent government are aimed at transforming Pakistan into a country where social equality prevails. Terming youth as a valuable asset of the nation, the prime minister said that youth are playing a crucial role in steering the nation out of prevailing challenges.

He also appreciated the NAMAL

University for playing a vital role in social growth and economic prosperity of the country.

On the foreign policy front, he said the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and China always stood by Pakistan in time of need. In his address, UAE Minister of Tolerance H.E Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan called for making joint efforts to address challenges and threats being faced by the modern world. He said that strong relations of friendship, brotherhood and cooperation exist between Pakistan and UAE in all spheres of life.

He expressed the confidence that under PM Imran’s strong enlightened leadership, relations between the two countries would further flourish in cultural, social and education sectors. The UAE minister urged all the regional countries to chalk out a unanimous strategy to deal with modern-day challenges, including climate change.

Earlier, in his address, NAMAL University Rector Arif Nazir Butt said

Passengers horrified as PIA aircraft’s door opens during landing NEWS DESK Passengers screamed in horror when the emergency exit door of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft PK-631 travelling from Islamabad to Sukkur opened during landing, a local news outlet reported on Sunday. There were no injuries to any passenger as the pilot managed to land the plane safely. The administration of the national flag carrier also launched an inquiry into the incident to determine the actual cause. On June 8, 2019, a woman, aboard a PIA flight, had sparked panic after she mistakenly opened the emergency exit door thinking it was the toilet. The national flag carrier’s plane was on the runway at the Manchester Airport when she had pressed the button, opening the emergency exit door. Consequently, aircraft’s airbag shoot had opened and 37 passengers had to be off-loaded from the aircraft. The Islamabad-bound PK-702 flight, which was about to take-off from Manchester, was delayed for seven hours owing to the incident. When the woman was asked why she had opened the emergency door, she had said that she thought it was the toilet. Authorities had said that the plane’s airbag shoot had opened by mistake due to a lack of PIA staff the day earlier.

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FIVE NEW POLIO CASES SURFACE IN KP

INAUGURATES TREE PLANTATION CAMPAIGN IN MIANWALI, URGES ACTION AGAINST TIMBER MAFIA that the university is working on the vision of PM Imran to equip students with necessary academic knowledge and requisite professional skills in diverse fields. The prime minister also distributed awards and degrees to various students, who showed excellent performances in different disciplines.

TREE PLANTATION CAMPAIGN: Earlier, addressing the inaugural ceremony of Spring Tree Plantation Campaign in Mianwali, the prime minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is working on the agenda of making Pakistan a prosperous Islamic welfare nation on the pattern of state of Medina.

He expressed the government’s resolve to provide job opportunities to youth, alleviate poverty, and control inflation through prudent economic policies. The prime minister said that the government will provide six million health cards to people across Punjab out of which five million have already been issued.

He said that the government will provide interest-free loans to 80,000 people per month, while 50,000 scholarships will be provided to undergraduate students every year. Shedding light on the significance of the plantation, the prime minister said that the government is planning to introduce a subject of tree plantation in the curriculum across the country. He also said the youth has a major role to play in making the tree plantation drive a success.

He said that the government’s Clean and Green Pakistan initiative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) received global acclamation. The prime minister directed the Punjab administration to prepare a strategy to deal with timber mafia, which is involved in massive cutting down of trees. He also appreciated efforts of the Punjab government in providing basic facilities of education, health and clean drinking water to masses. The premier also inaugurated the plantation drive by planting a sapling at Kundian area of Mianwali.

PESHAWAR: Five new polio cases were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Sunday — four from Khyber district and one from Nowshera. According to the details, a two and half year old child hailing from Khairabad area of the district tested positive for the virus.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) added that all five children who were diagnosed with the disease were not given the all-important vaccine that eliminates the disease. On Feb 20, the two polio cases were confirmed in Lahore and Okara districts of Punjab. In January, it was reported that the overall tally of reported polio cases across the country had reached 134, including 91 cases in KP, 24 cases in Sindh, eight in Punjab, and 11 in Balochistan. The cases have emerged after a February 17-21 nation-wide campaign aimed to vaccinate 39.6 million children under the age of five years against the disease came to an end on Friday. STAFF REPORT

Govt moves SC to empower Karachi’s local representatives ASAD UMAR SAYS METROPOLIS NEEDS AN EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT TO STAND ON ITS FEET KARACHI INP

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday said that the federal government has moved the Supreme Court (SC) to empower local representatives for the betterment of Karachi.

Addressing a gathering in the provincial capital, the minister said that the betterment of the city is the foremost priority of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said that the local government law in Sindh does not meet the requirements of the constitution. “It is a law that denies empowerment to local representatives, and Karachi needs a

government having administrative, financial and political powers”.

“To keep Karachi standing on its feet it needs an effective local government,” Umar said. “The government has moved the apex court for the betterment of Karachi and a constitutional petition has been filed in the court by the prime minister and me as petitioners,” he added.

He urged for a local government in Karachi under Article 140-A of the constitution to ensure a local council system having financial and political powers. On Saturday, the federal planning minister had said that “Naya Pakistan” is not possible without “Naya Karachi”.

He had said that “Naya Karachi” would be formed under the guidance of the prime minister. He had added

that a new local system should be put into practice in which the people of Karachi have equal power and resources. On February 18, the federal minister had said that the new local government system and extension of discretionary powers to Karachi was the only way to resolve longstanding issues of the city.

The minister had said that a number of projects in Karachi could not be completed due to the intervention and weak policies of the Sindh government. The people of Karachi must have an LG system so that the task of development and other infrastructure could be accomplished, he had added. Commenting on Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) and Green Line projects, he had said that it was the responsibility of the provincial government but the centre was also trying to provide necessary help to run the KCR and Green Line.

About the apex court’s orders for ML-1 project, Umar had said that it would be difficult to finish this mega project within two years.

On February 7, Umar had said that the federal government would soon release at least Rs35 billion for the development of Karachi.

WB interested to fund Pakistan's ecosystem initiative with $188m ISLAMABAD APP

The World Bank has shown its interest to provide $188 million to fund the upcoming Ecosystem Restoration Initiative aims at implementing the ‘Ten Billion Tree Tsunami’ and ‘Recharge Pakistan’ programmes. The $188 million fund will be placed under the National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), as it already has a framework and mechanism in place for quick and efficient disbursement of the money. NDRMF has already been financing projects through funding being arranged from the Asian Development Bank, said a press release issued on Sunday. The Ecosystem Restoration Initiative in addition to financing afforestation projects such as the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami would also focus on Recharge Pakistan, E-Vehicles, Marine Life and Blue Economy, Biodiversity and Land Degradation, provision of early warning radars and eco-tourism. The PTI government has had launched these major initiatives as part of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and fighting environmental degradation. The TBTT project is an up-scaled version of the project implemented by the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between 2013 and 2018.

Firdous pays tribute to resilient Kashmiri women NEWS DESK Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday paid tribute to Kashmiri women and said that February 23 is the day to salute the daughters of Kashmir who sacrificed their husbands in the struggle for the freedom of Kashmir.

Addressing the media after a conven-

tion of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) office-bearers from central Punjab in Lahore, she said the day was commemorated to condemn the atrocities of the Indian government and how the women of Kashmir were dishonoured as a group.

“It is the day to tell the world again that our sisters who have been protesting in Shaheen Bagh for the past 60 days, those protesting in India … it is the day to tell our

daughters, sisters and mothers in Kashmir that the daughters, sisters and mothers of Pakistan are with them and they will not leave them helpless,” she added. “The day is not far when the shackles of slavery will be broken and they will see the sun of freedom rising over Kashmir.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan in a post on Twitter urged the “world community, especially the women

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to become the voice of resilient Kashmiri women in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir”. The SAPM also questioned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s health and said that “we know what this mysterious illness is that worldrenowned doctors in London are unable to prescribe something for.”

“The real name of this illness is distance from power,” she said, adding that

“when they are in power, they live healthy lives in Pakistan and rule over the country like kings but when people vote them out of power, every kind of illness surrounds them.” Referring to the absence of the Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, Awan said that he should return to Pakistan amid the “drought in the leadership of PMLN and the season of silence in the party”.

04 ISLAMABAD

Monday, 24 February 2020

WEATHER UPDATES MONDAY

250C 80C

TUESDAY

250C 90C

WEDNESDAY

270C 110C

KP govt alloCateS 62PC fundS to CM, SPeaKeR’S diStRiCtS, ignoReS otheRS FUNDS REAPPROPRIATED FROM ALREADY IGNORED DISTRICTS SUCH AS TANK, SHANGLA, BUNER PESHAWAR

t

AZIZ BUNERI

HE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government led by Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) has re-appropriated a big portion of the developmental outlay to the districts of Chief Minister Mehmood Khan and Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad, Pakistan Today has learnt.

According to the documents, the Planning and Development Department has reappropriated more than 1.7 billion funds for 74 development projects of 20 departments.

These uplift projects would be mostly carried out in the districts of powerful parlia-

mentarians, shows documents.

Out of Rs1.7 billion, the home district of Chief Minister Mehmood Khan Swat and Abbottabad representing KP Assembly speaker would get 62 per cent shares of the total re-appropriation.

The department approved Rs602.355m for Swat district, which makes 35 per cent of the total allocations, while Abbottabad would get Rs475m making 27 per cent share.

Sources in the Planning and Development Department told Pakistan Today that funds were re-appropriated from already ignored districts such as Tank, Shangla, Buner among other, to districts of the powerful

Call for additional slopes at Malam Jabba to boost tourism ISLAMABAD APP

Additional slopes at Malam Jabba will eventually boost adventure tourism which has immense potential to emerge as an arena for winter sports in the country. Talking to APP, some 30 local and foreign players, who took part in the International Snowboarding Championship 2020 recently held at Malam Jabba, passionately called for setting up additional slopes at this scenic spot with 9, 000-feet altitude in Swat valley. ‘Malam Jabba has immense potential for winter sports and adventure tourism which requires proper branding and marketing to lure tourists from across the Europe who are a bit more obsessed with games like skiing and snowboarding,” said Niel, a snowboarder from the Netherlands. Niel, who grabbed first position in ‘Parallel Giant Slalom’ of the ‘International Snowboarding Championship 2020’, said people from the Netherlands felt comfortable to visit Pakistan as it offered safe and hospitable environment to the tourists. “I think Pakistan will soon emerge as top tourist destination of the world, he said. “I am so happy after participating in this championship,” Ahmet Romel Hayat, told APP.

parliamentarians.

Even, the newly merged districts were completely ignored in the reappropriation, said sources.

Adding that Instead of shifting and reappropriating funds for the uplift of the ignored districts-particularly conflict challenged newly merged districts, funds were transferred to the already developed districts. The erstwhile PTI government had too allocated and utilized billions in these districts, said the officials.

Similarly, Swabi, the home district of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has received Rs109 million and remained third most beneficial district followed by

Mansehra with 90 million. While in southern districts, Dera Ismail Khan gets 79 million, Bannu 65 million Kohat 25 million, while Charsadda 47 million and Nowshera 18 million, documents showed.

The tourism department affected the most from the recent transfer, as funds of 11 projects were shifted to the districts of blueeyed, followed by Education Departments with 10 affected projects.

Similarly, funds of six projects of Multi-Sector Development, five of primary and secondary education, four each of interior, health, agriculture, three each of excise and taxation, local government, construction, forestry, urban development depart-

JI urges govt to annul all anti-poor agreements with IMF MINGORA INP

Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Senator Siraj has urged the government annul all anti-poor agreement with the IMF and immediately announce decrease in prices of essential food items.

Addressing a large crowd gathered in Mingora on Sunday to protest against skyrocketing inflation and unemployment, he said, “Poor are starving and thousands lost their jobs during in past few months due to flawed economic policies of the PTI government.”

He said as the JI kicked off the anti-inflation campaign with the warning that the government either announce relief to the public or get ready to go home. He announced that protest rallies will be organized in all major and small cities and government will be forced to mend its way.

Reminding the prime minister his own words he made before coming into power that rulers would be considered corrupt if there would be inflation, the JI chief said the people got right to denounce the present regime as incapable and corrupt. He asked the prime minister to imagine the situation of a common man if as a chief executive of the country he was unable to meet the expenditures of a two-member fam-

ily from his salary of Rs200,000.

It was quite understandable, he added, the rulers were least interested in addressing the miseries of the people. Instead of providing jobs and homes to the public, he said, the government had now started building shelter homes and langar khanas (free food points). All the claims of the PTI chairman to provide jobs to millions of youth and build homes for homeless proved a pack of lies, he added. The ruling party, he said, deceived the public in the name of ‘change’ and now its leaders could not face the masses. This government, he said, was imposed on the country as all the cabinet members either served under Parvez Musharraf or they were imported from the IMF. Terming it partial and politically motivated, Senator Siraj also rejected the so-called anticorruption drive started by the government. He questioned why the masses were not being told the names of those who created fake flour and sugar crisis and earned billions of rupees through it. The JI chief vowed to start a ruthless campaign against corrupt mafia, bring back the looted money which was stashed in foreign banks by the ruling class and turn the country into a real Islamic welfare state if the JI was voted to power.

Online retailers exploit buyers ISLAMABAD APP

A number of online shopping websites as well as social media pages and groups operating in the country pretending to be genuine online sellers are exploiting the customers through providing them sub-standard stuff including dresses, shoes and other accessories. The online shopping websites and social media pages have undoubtedly made the life of citizens quite easier by providing stuff at their doorsteps but reliability of many of these online retailers is still a question. A number of fake websites created on the names of famous brands are making the buyers fool by showing the original branded pictures of dresses and other items with high charges but delivering substandard stuff, replicas and copied items.

“Those fake websites are even using exact names and logos of the famous brands that anyone can hardly feel the difference between original and the fake ones,” Hira Naz, a regular online buyer said. Talking to APP, she said, “I placed the order of two dresses on a popular brand website after fulfilling all the requirements and within two days, a man from the TCS courier service company delivered a packet to my office, received payment from me and left.” “When I opened that packet, both the dresses were totally different to what I ordered and the poor quality of fabric, design and embroidery reflected that these were taken from some flee market. Even the phone number mentioned on the TCS packet was also fake one”, she said.

“Then I decided, it is better to visit the branded stores for shopping instead of relying on the online shopping websites and also I cannot understand why these brands do not take any action against the fake websites using their names and logos for spoiling their image,” she observed. Ali Kamran, another buyer said, “I liked a jacket through an online shopping website (local) and I got crazy to buy that urgently. Payment through credit card was the only option to purchase that jacket so I paid the amount”.

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ments, two each of irrigation, minerals, food and social welfare, and one each of transportation, law, industry, IT and Housing department have also been shifted to the KP CM and speaker’s districts.

The projects which lost the funds were transferred to districts such as Swat, Abbottabad, Nowshera, DI Khan and Swabi includes the feasibility of upgrading forest institute, feasibility of setting up hotel management and tourist centers, Higher Education Management Information Systems, renovation of historical places, and special package for district Buner, enhancing capacity of tour operators, feasibility of housing schemes for government servants, renovation and repairing of Majisd Mahabat Khan and funds allocated for purchase of land for graveyards and shamshanghat for minorities.

Similarly, the project of capacity building of the legislation wing of the Law Department, expansion of Gomal Zam irrigation system, setting up Model Coal Mine in Nowshera, the establishment of the District Headquarters Hospital in Torghar and setting up Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Mardan would also suffer after the funds’ reappropriation.

Kites dot Rawalpindi sky despite ban RAWALPINDI APP

Kite flying is continuing in the city despite the ban imposed on the activity. Kites can be seen in the sky in different localities of the city including Waris Khan, Naz Cinema, College Road, Umer Road, Dhoke Khaba, Dhoke Elahi Bukush, Nadeem Colony, Javed Colony and Chaman Zar. Zia, a resident of Sadiqabad said that shopkeepers having huge stocks of kites of all colours and designs and other stuff including threads and strings used in kite flying were openly selling them, alleging that no official had yet taken notice of it. Parents were worried, as it was a dangerous activity. CPO Muhammad Ahsan Younas said strict action would be taken against kite flying adding that no one would be allowed to violate the rule of law. He said that the ban on kite flying was being strictly implemented. He also said that Station House Officers would be responsible for kite flying in their beats.

Swabi police arrest alleged drug smuggler PESHAWAR APP

The police officials of District Swabi foiled an attempt to smuggling marijuana to Punjab and arrested one accused during routine checking near Ghazi Bharota Bridge Shaheed Baba Check Post on Sunday.According to police, the Tehsil Topi Police of District Swabi on a tip off intercepted a person riding on a motorcycle at Shaheed Baba Check Post during a routine patrolling and detained the suspected motorcycle rider near Ghazi Bharata Bridge.

Monday, 24 February, 2020

Government brinGs in Chinese experts to taCkle loCust Crisis

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Chinese team of experts has arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to inspect the locust crisis situation in the country, according to a press release by the Consulate General of China in Karachi.

“At the invitation by Government of Pakistan, an expert team controlling the locusts sent by the Government of China will visit the relevant areas in Sindh, Balochistan provinces etc. from February 23 to March 4, to inspect the locust crisis situation,” the statement said.

They would hold discussions with the relevant authorities and Pakistani experts and draw up specific plans to deal with the crisis, Consul General Li Bijian said and added that he would accompany the team throughout their assessment including visit to Quetta.

“Right now, the government and people of China are fighting a war against the COVID-2019. From the

very beginning of the outbreak of the epidemic, government and people of Pakistan have been firmly standing together with China to fight the epidemic,” the statement continued.

“Pakistan is now facing the locust crisis. The government and people of China take the locust crisis of their own and will work closely with the Pakistan side to deal with it by providing whatever assistance they can.

“There exists firm and strong

Climate change impacting crops yield in Pakistan LAHORE APP

Crops across Pakistan are being infested by pests, following irregular rain patterns due to climate change, which is damaging the crops yield badly. This was stated by experts on climate change, while talking to APP on Sunday. Environmentalist Mehmood Khalid Qamar said that climate change was a reality. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment report, human activity was responsible for the unsustainable calamity. Due to its diverse geographical and climatic feature situation, Pakistan was among the most vulnerable to climate changes, he added. Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) environmental researcher Kashif Mehmood Salik said that climate change patterns had now reached alarming levels, causing various disasters in the form of floods, droughts and other natural calamities in the country. He said that in the aftermath of the 2010’s torrential floods, one fifth of the country’s land area was submerged, adding that the torrential rains severely damaged the economy and agricultural infrastructure of the country.

The floods impacted the livelihoods of millions of people, leaving 90 million people food insecure. Similarly, in 2012, Pakistan was among those countries whose crops production was badly affected by the climate change effects. Noted environmentalist Dr Sarwat N Mirza urged the government to establish research institutions regarding climate change, which could develop pest resistant cotton seeds, sustaining bad weather conditions. He said that it was not only weather but also locust damages, which had caused heavy losses to growers in the country. He said that due to unavailability of Bt cotton, average yield was 16 maunds per acre, at a production cost of Rs40,000 per acre.

CMYK

confidence that China and Pakistan will win the two front battles against the epidemic and locust crisis with joint efforts,” it added.

Last week, China had announced it was considering aerial and pesticide support to help combat a locust swarm in Pakistan as the food ministry raised alarm over urgent mitigation requirements. Chinese ambassador Yao Jing has said his government was considering

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supplying pesticides and spraying equipment to Pakistan as an emergency project.

“The Chinese side will send a delegation of technical experts next week to Pakistan to further deliberate on aerial management of locust,” Yao had said after a meeting with Food Security Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar. “The delegation will also visit locust-affected areas.”

The Chinese envoy added that Beijing was interested in increasing import of agricultural products from Pakistan, including onion, potato and meat.

“China wants to ease out the export of these products before the high-level visit expected in May 2020,” he had said.

Bakhtiar had apprised the ambassador about the requirement of pesticides and aerial support to control the locust swarm in Pakistan, particularly Sindh and Balochistan.

The participants of the meeting were informed about the current situation of affected areas and how the locust is spreading there.

The minister had also underlined the importance of the measures taken by neighbouring countries to control locust swarms.

Bakhtiar had informed the ambassador about the requirement of aerial support from China to curtail the reproduction of locusts in vulnerable areas.

Monday, 24 February, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW TheaTrics over subsTance: PresidenT TrumP, in an elecTion year and looking To The nri voTe, is haPPy To seT fooT in india IF I WAS THE PRIME MINISTER, I WOULD RESIST HUGGING TRUMP. THE US LEADER HAS GERMOPHOBIA AND DOES NOT LIKE CLOSE PHYSICAL CONTACT – THE MODI EMBRACE COULD SERVE UP AN AWKWARD CAMERA MOMENT times of indiA

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KAnti bAjpAi

INCE 2016 when Donald Trump became President of the United States, India has consistently got him wrong. Delhi’s view was that Trump was going to stick it to China (to India’s benefit), he would be transactional and cut deals, his references (however comical) to India in the presidential campaign augured well, Narendra Modi would “handle” him with his body-hugging charm, and better a hard-nosed, amoral Republican in the White House than a wimpish, politically-correct Democrat.

That assessment hasn’t worked out too well for India. Over three years, Trump has stuck it to China but he has also slapped tariffs on Indian exports. The only deals he has reached with India are

on military equipment, which would have happened regardless of who was president. In keeping with his ignorant remarks on the campaign trail, Trump still knows next to nothing about India – except that he has real estate interests here.

As for charming Trump, only Kim Jong-un and Queen Elizabeth have had that effect. The hard-nosed president, who the Modi government thought would see India as an ally, said nothing during Doklam and instead waded into India’s Kashmir problem, repeatedly offering to mediate in the dispute despite Delhi’s protestations. The portents for Trump’s visit are not particularly good.

Having him drive in a motorcade cheered on by thronging Indians in Ahmedabad is plain silly – who does that any more except banana republics! Thankfully the “Kem chho Trump” event has already been retitled “Namaste Trump”, but the US president speaking at Motera is as bad an idea as “Howdy Modi” in Houston

– which turned into a public relations embarrassment when Modi seemingly endorsed Trump’s re-election. And if I was the prime minister, I would resist hugging Trump. The US leader has germophobia and does not like close physical contact – the Modi embrace could serve up an awkward camera moment.

The biggest problem though is India’s attitude on trade. The Americans are substantially correct. India does not need developing country status anymore, and it is protecting manufacturers who don’t need protecting. The only sectors that need protection are agriculture and health. Our niggling, haggling government simply does not have the courage to accept this and do a deal.

The rest is not terribly important.

Arms sales are likely, but so what? It doesn’t need a presidential visit to seal an agreement on 24 Seahawk helicopters.

More H1B visas for Indians? Indians got roughly 70% of all H1Bs issued in the

The world in grips of an epidemic more dangerous than coronavirus

past 5 years. They also got half of all employer-sponsored Green Cards. Is it really viable and dignified for India to go on about visas even if under Trump the H1Bs have reduced?

This visit is not much about substance.

Delhi desperately wants Trump here so that it cannot be said his first term went without a trip to India. Trump, in an election year and looking to the NRI vote, is happy to set foot in India. If a trade deal happens, however weak it is, he can go to the hustings to show economic deals with Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea and Mexico. A beleaguered Modi, who has had six harrying months, especially on the economy and CAA, would like to “Trump-et” a visit for

Re-examining the Australia–US alliance: Diverging strategic interests

WE MUST PREVENT THE SPREAD OF THE EPIDEMIC OF RACIST FEAR-MONGERING OCCASIONED

BY THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK Al JAzeerA HAmid dAbAsHi

Ever since coronavirus (COVAD-19) was detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, public health officials inside and outside of China have been trying to prevent the outbreak from transforming into a full-fledged global pandemic.

But as public health officials have been addressing the medical dimensions of this outbreak, another epidemic has been spreading much more quickly across the globe: racist fear-mongering.

The latter may prove more dangerous than the former - and each may exacerbate the other.

In a piece for Al Jazeera, Edward Hon-Sing Wong detailed the long history of anti-Chinese racism in Canada that has once again been exposed by this outbreak. But the global epidemic of racism occasioned by this virus is not limited to Canada, or even North America, and neither is it confined to Sinophobia.

The Sinophobia we are witnessing today, in relation to a disease outbreak which could have easily originated in any Western European or North American country, is deeply rooted in the fertile ground of a much more widespread xenophobia.

As health officials in China and around the world seek to prevent the spread of this virus, the rest of us must prevent the spread of the racist condition of "fear of the foreigner" which predates and shall outlive this outbreak.

GLOBALISED RACISM: A quick glance at recent headlines immediately reveals the globalisation of this irrational and racist "fear".

According to PBS, "restaurants in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam have refused to accept Chinese customers. Indonesians marched near a hotel and called on Chinese guests there to leave. French and Australian newspapers face criticism for racist headlines. Chinese and other Asians in Europe, the United States, Asia and the Pacific complain of racism." This is utterly foolish. Pandemics are public health hazards that can begin anywhere in the world.

Historically, the so-called "Justinian Plague of 541" first appeared in Egypt and then spread through the Byzantine Empire, and then throughout the Mediterranean. Leprosy became a pandemic in Europe in the Middle Ages. When the Spanish arrived in the Caribbean in the 15th century, they brought with them such diseases as smallpox, measles and bubonic plague and passed them along to the natives. In 1655, the great plague of London is estimated to have

killed 20 percent of the population. We had the Russian Flu and then the Spanish one. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, was first detected in the US in 1981, but is believed to have originated in Africa decades earlier.

Viruses have no race, ethnicity, gender, or class. They can begin anywhere.

WIDER CIRCLES OF FEAR: Earlier this month, Amnesty International issued a report on the "seven ways the coronavirus affects human rights" and listed racism as one of the most significant and dangerous side effects of the virus.

French, American and Australian newspapers have been accused of racism in their reporting of the crisis. Even the naming of the virus - referred to in some media as the "Wuhan coronavirus" has been exposed for its racism in an article by Marie Myung-Ok Lee for Salon.

"It starts with the question of where the virus originates: is it currently spreading in the US, or another Western country? If so, give it its numerical designation (eg H1N1), or reference the animal in which we think it started (eg Swine Flu, or Mad Cow Disease). But if it started in a country that Americans have stereotypes towards, naming it after that region - as with Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Asian Flu, and now, Wuhan Coronavirus - is a great way to play on xenophobic and racist tropes," she writes.

"Trump's overheated rhetoric on migrants and people of color - and 's**thole countries,' as he calls much of the world - are absolutely fanning the flames of the racist response to the Coronavirus. Yet it is important to recognize that this bias against Asians is nothing new; that the engine of white supremacist culture and language continually hums underground until something like 2019-nCoV makes it visible," Lee continues.

It is nothing new. In fact, the phrase "Yellow Peril" is an old racist slur targeting Asians in Europe and the US. It has been used to demonise Chinese immigrant communities since the 19th century.

But coronavirus has now become the medical term for the rampant globalised xenophobia that was plaguing the earth long before the start of this most recent outbreak.

As health professionals attend to coronavirus, we must tackle and defeat the racist xenophobia that has offered it fertile ground to breed fear of the foreigner.

Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

domestic reasons. Both leaders will enjoy sending China a signal that the two biggest democracies – one faltering, the other tottering – can still come together.

Trump will be re-elected president this November given the incompetence of the Democrats and the likelihood of foreign interference once again in the US polls. Modi will be around till 2024 if not beyond given the follies of the Indian opposition and the steady corruption of Indian democracy. Next time, with this showy formal summit behind us, perhaps Modi can turn to informal, workmanlike summits with Trump, where theatrics are kept to a minimum and we are spared the splashy, triumphalist tamashas.

AustrAliAn strAtegic Policy institute Andrew CArr

All alliances are political compacts. The health of these agreements relies on each party being clear about its responsibilities and committed to the terms.

The political compact of the ANZUS treaty is simple: Australia provides financial alignment, public political support and private intelligence-sharing. In return, the US shares intelligence and technology and provides an implicit assurance of protection of the Australian continent.

This compact, which emerged by the late 1950s, is what I’ll call the ‘Robert Menzies model’ of the alliance. Though it operates in an ad hoc, weakly institutionalised form, it has served both sides well for nearly seven decades.

After spending a few months in Washington as the Fulbright Professional Scholar in Australian–US Alliance Studies, I’ve come to think the Menzies model doesn’t work well enough for either side anymore. This is not to say the alliance is at risk; rather, it is a recognition that as both of our countries and their environments are changing, so too must the commitments we make to each other.

This post argues that there are diverging strategic interests between Australia and the United States. In this post I outline what they are, and in following posts I’ll look at different ways we could revise the political compact underlying ANZUS. What is the value of this approach? First, for all the celebrations of mateship, and the beehive of activity that marks the alliance today, it’s important that we keep a clear eye on the purpose of the relationship. What are we cooperating for? How do our goals overlap or differ? The risk is that in our

bid to maintain intimacy we are accepting a deliberate vagueness about our interests. Closeness will matter little if, in a crisis, it becomes clear one party has no interest in meeting the unspoken assumptions of the other.

Second, while officials will implement policies that may sit across one or more of the potential models for the alliance, they can’t pursue them all simultaneously.

Some of these models will require major efforts at public persuasion and new spending that needs to begin soon. Other ambitions will be contradictory, and trade-offs will need to be made.

In 2015, Michael J. Green and colleagues argued there were emerging ‘expectation gaps’ in ANZUS. Since then, I think these gaps have grown large enough to be identified as four diverging strategic interests between the US and Australia. These are, to be clear, the fault of neither President Donald Trump’s bullying, nor the influence of the Chinese Communist Party. Many are longstanding issues of Australian strategic outlook; we just haven’t needed to talk about them because things were easy in Asia. Now things are hard, and we do need to talk about them.

AMERICAN PRIMACY IN ASIA: Primacy in this context is not a synonym for empire, but means seeking a preponderance of military power and political leadership. Though there are some dissenters, a large bipartisan contingent in Washington maintains that primacy is not only good for America, it is necessary to avoid the world turning to chaos and war. To the degree that there’s a call to pull back from the Middle East, it is generally framed in terms of better sustaining primacy in Asia.

Australia has benefited immensely from American primacy.

We very much like it. But it is not a vital strategic interest for us (that is, it’s not something we would fight to preserve). Nor is this a recent judgement. Since the early 1970s, Australia has welcomed the rise of China, helped it grow economically, and argued that Beijing should receive a level of political and institutional recognition commensurate with its size. Australians believe that great powers deserve some elbow room.

INSTITUTIONAL STATUS QUO: At a recent party I attended in Washington, former prime minister Tony Abbott described Australia as the ‘little brother’ to the ‘big brother’ US. Yet, his government ignored pressure from the Obama administration and signed up to China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Australia has refused to send our navy out to conduct new freedom-of-navigation operations in support of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Abbott’s government, like others before and since, worried that projects such as the AIIB and the Belt and Road Initiative are part of China’s grand plan for influence.

And yet ultimately they have largely accepted the face-value contributions of those schemes and the legitimacy of institutional change.

TAIWAN: Australia wishes Taiwan could ever remain an independent democracy. But it is hard to see Australia doing much to help defend it. The context will of course matter. An unprovoked case of CCP aggression would make it easier, a Taiwanese-initiated break much harder. But Australia’s military is not a very useful vehicle for helping protect or retake the island, and the consequences would be high. Two senior ministers in 2004 and 2014, both conservatives, have publicly said Australia would not automatically go to Taiwan’s aid.

AUSTRALIAN TROOPS BEYOND ASIA: While the Australian government has continued to keep residual forces in the Middle East, this seems mainly an effort to avoid drawing political fire from either the Trump administration or zealots in the press at home.

We wish the region well, especially states such as Israel, but as the 2016 defence white paper made clear, our military spending and attention are pulling closer to home.

No doubt readers will quibble with parts of this list. But if you accept that both the US and Australia are changing, and that our present alliance compact may involve expectations one or both sides do not want to meet, then we need to find a way to put the alliance on a firmer foundation.

Andrew Carr is a senior lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.

Monday, 24 February 2020

FOREIGN NEWS 07

South Korea on vIruS hIgh alert, Italy and Iran taKe draStIc StepS SEOUL

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AGENCIES

OUTh Korea went on high alert Sunday following a sharp jump in coronavirus cases, while Italy and Iran took their own drastic containment steps as an epidemic that has killed nearly 2,500 people in China continued a relentless global expansion.

The World health Organization (WhO) also warned Africa’s poor health systems left it vulnerable to the COVID19 disease, which has spilled out of China to more than 25 countries.

South Korea is raising the nation’s alert to its “highest” level, President Moon Jae-in said Sunday after the number of infections nearly tripled over the weekend to 602. Led by an outbreak cluster in a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu, South Korea now has the most infections outside of China — apart from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan. “The next few days will be crucial,” Moon said following a government meeting on the virus.

“The government will raise the alert level to the highest level according to experts’ recommendations.”

Moon did not specify what those measures may include.

South Korea reported 169 new cases and three deaths on Sunday, taking the countrywide fatality toll to five. Yonhap news agency later reported a sixth death.

More than 300 cases have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of

Jesus sect in Daegu with some 9,300 members either quarantined or asked to stay at home, according to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 1,240 have reported symptoms. The new cases also included a Samsung Electronics employee at a plant in Gumi city, leading the tech giant to suspend operations there until Monday.

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES : Elsewhere, Italy and Iran began introducing the sort of containment measures previously seen only in China, which has put tens of millions of people under lockdown in the epicentre province of hubei.

More than 50,000 people in about a dozen northern Italian towns near the business hub of Milan were told to stay home, while shops and schools were shuttered.

The number of cases in the country rose to more than 100, the president of the northern Lombardy region said Sunday. Italy became the first European

country to report one of its nationals had died from the virus on Friday, followed by a second death on Saturday. Both were elderly. The government was weighing “extraordinary measures” to halt further infections, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

China reported another 97 deaths in its daily update Sunday, taking its total to 2,442, plus 648 new infections. Nearly 80,000 people have been infected worldwide, the vast majority in China.

President Xi Jinping described the epidemic as the country’s “largest public health emergency” since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.

The outbreak in China remains concentrated in the city of Wuhan — locked down exactly one month ago — where the virus is believed to have emanated from a live animal market in December.

China’s infection rate has slowed, but flip-flopping over counting methods has sowed confusion over its data.

Russia-linked disinformation campaign fueling coronavirus alarm, US says WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic, US officials say. The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the United States is behind the COVID-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the US image around the world by seizing on health concerns.

State Department officials tasked with combating Russian disinformation told AFP that false personas are being used on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to advance Russian talking points in multiple languages.

“Russia’s intent is to sow discord and undermine US institutions and alliances from within, including

through covert and coercive malign influence campaigns,” said Philip Reeker, the acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia. “By spreading disinformation about coronavirus, Russian malign actors are once again choosing to threaten public safety by distracting from the global health response,” he said.

The claims that have been circulating online in recent weeks include allegations that the virus is a US effort to “wage economic war on China,” that it is a biological weapon manufactured by the CIA or part of a Western-led effort “to push anti-China messages.”

US individuals including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a philanthropist who has spent billions on global health programs, have also been falsely accused of involvement in the virus.

Russia on Saturday denied the accusations, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

There also was growing concern over the difficulty of detecting the virus.

Japan confirmed Sunday a woman who tested negative and disembarked from the Diamond Princess later tested positive. Similar instances have been reported elsewhere. A third passenger from the ship died Sunday, the health ministry said, without specifying if it was as a result of the virus.

Japan has been criticised over its handling of cases aboard the cruise ship.

Many passengers were allowed to disembark without being properly tested or despite having close contact with infected people. More than 1,000 crew remain on board and are expected to serve a 14-day quarantine.

FEARS FOR AFRICA: Iran ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres across 14 provinces from Sunday following eight deaths in the Islamic Republic — the most outside East Asia.

Iran’s outbreak surfaced Wednesday and quickly grew to 43 confirmed infections. “The concern is… that we have seen… a very rapid increase (in Iran) in a matter of a few days,” said Sylvie Briand, director of the WhO’s global infectious hazard preparedness department. Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from Iran, and flag carrier Kuwait Airways has suspended flights to the country.

Israel’s education ministry announced Sunday 200 Israeli pupils would be quarantined after encountering South Korean tourists who contracted the coronavirus.

telling the TASS state news agency: “This is a deliberately false story.” The disinformation campaign was identified by US monitors in mid-January after Chinese officials announced a third death from the new coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

More than 2,340 people have since died, mostly in China. The number of cases exceeds 76,000 and the virus has reached more than 25 countries, with deaths in Italy, Iran and South Korea, forcing public officials to close schools and impose restrictions.

CLOSE COORDINATION OBSERVED: Disinformation and false theories about the novel coronavirus are considered a serious threat. Several thousand online accounts — previously identified for airing Russian-backed messages on major events such as the war in Syria, the Yellow Vest protests in France and Chile’s mass demonstrations — are posting “almost near identical” messages about the epidemic, according to a report prepared for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center and seen by AFP. The accounts — run by humans, not bots — post at similar times in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French and can be linked back to Russian proxies, or carry similar messages to Russian-backed outlets such as RT and Sputnik, it said.

Iran accuses foreign media of using virus to 'discourage' voters TEHRAN AGENCIES

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday accused foreign media of trying to use a deadly outbreak of coronavirus in Iran to “discourage” people from voting in a general election. “This negative propaganda began a few months ago and grew larger approaching the election and in the past two days, under the pretext of an illness and a virus, their media did not miss the slightest opportunity to discourage people from voting,” said Khamenei. “(Our enemies) are even opposed to any election by the Iranian people,” the leader was quoted as saying on his official website.

Iranians voted in a parliamentary election on Friday, two days after the announcement of an outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country. A low turnout had already been expected after a conservative-dominated electoral watchdog disqualified thousands of candidates, most of them moderates and reformists. Khamenei lauded the people’s “huge participation” in the vote. The COVID-19 outbreak has claimed the lives of five people in the Islamic republic since Wednesday. They were the first deaths in the Middle East. Authorities have ordered as a “preventive measure” the closure of schools, universities and other educational centres in 14 provinces across the country from Sunday. They include the holy city of Qom where the first cases emerged as well as Markazi, Gilan, Ardabil, Kermanshah, Qazvin, Zanjan, Mazandaran, Golestan, hamedan, Alborz, Semnan, Kurdistan and the capital, Tehran.

Tehran’s city hall has ordered the closure of snack shops and water fountains in metro stations, officials said Sunday. Gholamreza Mohammadi, the public relations head of Tehran municipality, said buses and underground trains were being disinfected.

Posters were also being put up across the sprawling city on Sunday, asking people not to shake hands as part of a coronavirus prevention campaign. The World health Organisation has expressed concern over the speed at which COVID-19 has spread in Iran, as well as it being exported from the Islamic republic to other countries, including Lebanon .

Networks restore mobile phone services as Afghan truce holds KABUL AGENCIES

Mobile network operators in Afghanistan were restored across Afghanistan, especially swathes of Taliban-contested areas as a partial truce with the militants held for a second consecutive day.

The Taliban, US and Afghan forces are currently overseeing a week-long “reduction in violence” that kicked off on Saturday. The commitment has seen fighting drop dramatically and is set to pave the way for an American withdrawal deal to be signed later this week.

There have been reports of small clashes in rural areas, but no major attacks that have long defined the conflict have erupted.

“In general we do see (a reduction in violence),” acting interior minister Masood Andrabi told AFP. The lull in violence allowed telecom operators to begin restoring networks across the country that have long been hampered by fighting.

“Around 730 cell towers have restarted,” said Naqeebullah Sailab, vice chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan.

“There are towers which started operating after almost five years.”

Two separate officials with knowl-

edge of the country’s telecoms industry in northern Afghanistan also confirmed that mobile networks were being restored in insurgent-hit areas.

The Taliban have long targeted Afghanistan’s private telecom firms, kidnapping engineers, destroying transmission masts and forcing regular coverage blackouts in volatile areas to avoid detection of their fighters.

Afghanistan boasts millions of mobile users in a population of 30 million, with the fast-growing industry employing around 200,000 people and earning strong revenue in an otherwise moribund economy. Thousands of telecommunication towers, however, are in insurgencyhit areas and vulnerable to attacks.

The partial truce is expected to set the conditions for Washington and the insurgents to sign a deal in Doha on February 29 that could, ultimately, pull US troops out after more than 18 years and launch war-weary Afghanistan into an uncertain future. A successful week would demonstrate that the Taliban have command and control of their forces, and it would also be a show of good faith before signing any deal.

The partial truce has also given a much-needed respite to civilians who have borne the brunt of the gruesome war.

The UN’s Afghanistan mission re-

ported on Saturday that more than 10,000 people had been killed or wounded in 2019 alone. As fighting eased across the country, Afghans took to the streets to enjoy the relative calm.

In their southern stronghold of hel-

mand, Taliban fighters mingled with locals, small “peace” demonstrations took place across the country, and a bicycle race was held in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Washington has been in talks with the Taliban for more than a year to secure

a deal which would see it would pull about half of the 12,000-13,000 troops currently in Afghanistan out. In return, the Taliban would give security guarantees and a promise to hold peace talks with the government in Kabul.

Monday, 24 February, 2020

08 COMMENT Parting of ways Accurate or not, Bilawal’s remarks signal the end of cooperation

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PP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that PML-N supreme leader Mian Nawaz Sharif too had been a ‘selected’ Prime Minister before Imran Khan, while speaking to reporters in Lahore on Saturday. he also said that his mother, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, had stopped him from becoming the Amirul Momineen. Mr Bhutto-Zardari may be right to the extent that Mian Nawaz had become Punjab Chief Minister in 1985 because the military establishment under Ziaul haq and Punjab Governor Ghulam Jilani Khan had ‘selected’ him, but then the establishment had also ‘selected’ Ms Bhutto as PM both in 1988 and 1993. It is true that she had won elections both times, but on neither occasion did she win an absolute majority, and was provided allies to form a simple majority in the National Assembly, presumably by the forces that provided the PTI the votes it needed to convert its electoral plurality into a ruling majority.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari also attacked National Assembly Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif, saying that he was like the PTI in his lack of respect for Parliament, as he was in London despite being Leader of the Opposition. PML-N leaders have refrained from responding in the hop of preserving opposition unity, but a three-way split has become glaringly obvious.

With Mr Bhutto-Zardari throwing accuracy to the wind so long as he can score a debating point against the Sharif brothers, he has left them to ask, even the last shreds of opposition unity seems to have been stripped away. With the JUI-F already having made clear that the two major parties’ indifference to its Long March had made it wary.

PPP’s breaking off and leaving the PML-N alone means that instead of pressing against the government while planning in common, the opposition parties will do the PTI’s work for it by taking on one another. At the moment, with the opposition parties unwilling to take on the government by channelizing the public’s feelings about the government, especially its handling of the economy, the government should be more than content not just to have their forbearance.

Being slowly engulfed by coronavirus Deaths in Iran show lack of readiness

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he recent deaths in Iran from the coronavirus has caused panic in neighbouring Balochistan, giving rise to the fear that the coronavirus may spread to Pakistan at last. The dread disease threatens Pakistan in a number of ways. Apart from the air and sea routes, there is also the land route through the Khunjerab Pass. Then there are surrounding countries. Iran has been the first. There is use of the land route for travel to and from both Afghanistan and India. Then there are travellers returning from China, both Chinese workers returning from the Lunar New Year holidays, as well as students who are somehow finding their way home.

Though Pakistan has refused to evacuate them, and though the Chinese authorities have assured the Pakistani that they will take the best possible care of them they can, students are still braving restrictions to get home. China is putting them in quarantine, along with other stranded Pakistanis, before letting them travel.

Though the coronavirus epidemic is now several weeks old, there has been a curious nonchalance about the whole matter, which is shown by the reaction of the Balochistan health Department to the crisis in Iran, which is making panicky attempts to deploy its resources at the Taftan crossing. There is need of a proactive spirit in all of this, not a reactive. One danger that the local authorities are not taking account of are asymptomatic cases, in which a person may carry the virus, but not show any signs of the disease. At present, travellers through the Chinese or Iranian borders are checked (mainly by thermal scanners) for symptoms, and then allowed to leave the travel facility. Quarantine is the only possible solution, though the 100-bed tent hospital to be set up at Taftan seems woefully inadequate. The federal government seems to be engaged in firefighting only, rather than actively planning. Only if this changes will the crisis be met.

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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Rehabilitating the UN’s image in Pakistan Will people be fooled again?

Ali AshrAf KhAn

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he UN Secretary General’s visit perhaps was to give a lollipop on Kashmir to give a clean chit for violating the Indus Waters Basin Treaty by India.

The partition of India by the British was a well-hatched conspiracy against the Muslims of the Subcontinent in 1947, to protect the Zionist agenda in Middle east and strengthen the Balfour declaration of 1917 written to Lord Rothschild, so first a sword of Israel was pierced in the heart of Palestine, and in the Middle east Israel is allowed to trample humanity, geography and sovereignty, and Pakistan in its infancy was confronted with India’s onslaught under UN and IBRD protection. The British partition plan was sabotaged when Boundary Commission Award was deliberately not announced before the partition of India by Lord Mountbatten, who had manipulated to become the first Governor-General of India after Partition, so that when Punjab and Bengal were partitioned, not a single life was lost in the partition of Bengal but hundreds of thousands of lives on both side were massacred because of using third degree methods in giving two tehsils of Gurdaspur and Pathankot, having Muslim majority to hindu India, only to give only road access to India in Kashmir, followed by the first UN lollipop when the Kashmir war for liberation started in 1947 against the Dogra regime, while the Maharaja had sent a special message to Pakistan government that he was ready to sign the accession treaty with certain guarantees for hindu pundits of Jammu.

Indian PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru rushed to the UN Security Council and succeeded in obtaining UN resolutions for an immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of troops of both India and Pakistan, and the appointment of a Plebiscite Administrator to hold a free and fair plebiscite to decide the future of Kashmir according to their free will. When the UNSC passed these resolutions, how and why the Indian claim of a fraudulent accession treaty with the Maharaja giving special status till resolution of Kashmir issue was not reprimanded and the human rights of the Kashmiri people were not secured. This remained a binding and responsibility according to

division of rivers, and an Indus Waters Basin Treaty was thrust on Pakistan giving three rivers of Punjab to India and the rest to Pakistan.

This was the first time that nature’s gifts given by Allah were also divided under an international organization’s guarantees but only when India had violated this treaty by utilizing what was agreed to be Pakistan’s share of water. President Ayub Khan had approved this treaty but some senior engineering university teachers, including Dr Mubashar hassan, resigned in protest. Now The UN Secretary General has rethe charter of establishment of human rights in alized the UN responsibility when India has alits member states which was trampled by India, ready diverted the Pakistani share of water and the UN not only remained silent but contin- towards itself and by already highlighting this ued passing seven or eight more resolutions to issue is putting salt on the wounds of Pakistan. hold a plebiscite for another decade. Now when hoever, our government digesting and projecting US President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the secretary general’s statements on the media the UNGA told Prime Minister Imran Khan that is no more than eyewash to facilitate President Indian Prime Minister Trump’s forthcoming visit Narendra Modi has reto India to fulfill the US quested him to arbitrate on agenda. the Kashmir issue between Our leaders should try India and Pakistan, that was Now The UN Secretary to rise above the internainstantly accepted and he tionalization phobia of our told President Trump that General has realized the UN problems because every this gesture of arbitration on responsibility when India country keeps its national Kashmir and its resolution interest supreme, and honhas already diverted the would not only bring peace estly try to consolidate their in Asia but more than a biltrue power base within Pakistani share of water lion Muslims would pray for Pakistan rather than always him for resolving the Kash- towards itself and by already looking towards the West to mir issue after 70 years, the retain power that leads highlighting this issue is world powers closed their them to sacrifice vital naeyes when Prime Minister putting salt on the wounds tional interests and allows Modi and the Indian Foreign interference in our national of Pakistan. Hoever, our Office immediately turned policies that are worsening down any arbitration and government digesting and the poor man’s life adsaid India has never reversely because of the ad quested any US President to projecting the secretary hoc system in governance, offer his arbitration on because serious challenges Kashmir and not only reiter- general’s statements on the are disturbing the peace of ated its false claim that it mind of people confronted media is no more than was an integral part of India, with challenges on the eyewash to facilitate but within months scrapped socio-economic front. InArticle 370 of the Indian stead of giving incentives President Trump’s Constitution that provided to fight against the high infor Kashmir’s special status. forthcoming visit to India to flationary trend, our major The UN Secretary Genproblem is the corporate fulfill the US agenda eral also tried to fool innomafia that is eroding the cent Pakistani baboos in the trickledown effect, creating Foreign Office, and politisocial imbalance. Followcians by assuring his support ing blindly IMF dictation on water sharing formula that India has trans- will lead to financial collapse. Manmade threats gressed despite the Indus Basin Waters Treaty are the cause of fiscal, trade, and current account that was first thrust on Pakistan by manipulating deficits. Unimaginable revenue targets cannot be the situation when India first threatened Pakistan achieved by imposing super tax on the common for war on the water issue in the 1950s when a man. The government should reduce GST on war threat was given by India in a planned move, food items from 17 percent to five percent so that then suddenly International Bank for Reconstruc- some relief could be provided to achieve self-retion and Development (IBRD) started geograph- liance to protect our sovereignty. ical division and water problem; experts were planted who after seven or eight years suggested Ali Ashraf Khan is a freelance columnist

Making democratic socialism relatable Sanders is not explain the concept right Dr Yossef Ben-Meir

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he phrase “Democratic Socialism” continues to find its way into current national and political discourse of the USA. Vermont Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders embraces the term, while his opponents, both from within his own party as well as on the Republican aisle, use its label as a bit of an albatross. Mr. Sanders’ own description of the philosophical, theoretical, and pragmatic applications of Democratic Socialism have yet to lay the weaponizing of this concept to rest. In his emphasis on the universality of rights, be they environmental, economic, healthrelated, educative, or concerning human dignity, he leaves out the primary distinction of Democratic Socialism. If properly conveyed, he could directly appeal to even its most vehement opponents at present.

Indeed, classic Democratic Socialism, at its essential core and manner of societal organization is riveted upon this basic premise: local people exert control over their own affairs without the central level of government making determinations on the pathways, priorities, and planning of communities and sub-national jurisdictions.

The Democratic Socialist notion, therefore, is not all that distinct from the basis of the USA’s Federalist system, and the birth and fundamental identity of the Republican Party.

Let us take a case and point. In a recent Town hall, Senator Sanders was asked what specifically he would do in order to combat the effects of climate change visiting upon marginalized communities along Maryland’s seaboard. A Democratic Socialist response to such a question– one which a significant swath of Republican Party members may also appreKarachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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ciate hearing– would adjudicate that to effectively combat climate change and take measures in a specific area, residents of the impacted community with relevant local government officials, business owners, and members of civil society come together to protect that location against the hardship they are experiencing. Democratic Socialism would advocate pivoting some of the responsibility of the national level away from being the focal point of decisive action and instead also shift to a supporting role for local decision-makers.

Yet, in his answer, Senator Sanders entirely emphasized national strategies, including battling fossil fuel companies and heralding a new era of renewable energy, along with other certainly necessary measures. It is responses like as these, however, that can be taken as fodder for those who wield the term Democratic Socialism to scare their listeners. The public and likely many in the Republican Party would feel a greater sense of control over and certainly less threatened by Democratic Socialism if it was expressed more closely to its true meaning; that is, a high level skepticism toward central planning and an unbridled emphasis on local community decision-making on matters of greatest communal importance.

Let us take another matter: the restoration of and investment in infrastructure. Both major political parties in the USA have conceived substantial infrastructural bills to include massive investments in large-scale projects, such as water, energy, and transport modernization. These certainly have their critical place in the betterment and political discourse of our society. Nonetheless, a Democratic Socialist perspective on infrastructural investments would contend that governmental expenditures ought to spotlight a far greater number of projects at the local level with smaller sized budgets, rather than fewer projects requiring

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much greater amounts of capital. Upon hearing this alternative portrayal of an infrastructural program, those who may traditionally fear the Democratic Socialist agenda will come to see that its translation into reality is in fact under their own determination and management, resulting in a decrease of their anxiety and fear.

And, even in regard to large-scale big-budget infrastructural initiatives, a Democratic Socialist would emphasize that identification of such considerably sized projects would heavily come from federations of local associations that support one another, unite, and still maintain their own autonomy. Federations tier upward in order to gain a greater scope of shared local priorities. This is to say that large scale projects are also able to be reflective of the will of local communities through the federation of their own associations into broadly representative groups of increasing numbers of people. efforts like these put forth a more precise description of what actually constitutes bottom-up change and movements, although these processes are rarely applied effectively, even by those who espouse them.

When explaining Democratic Socialism to the American people, particularly those who are highly skeptical proponents of this political philosophy, one ought to emphasize what it most truly is, a commensurate of a US ideal. This epitome of the US character asserts that the people, when faced with matters of concern and affect, must rely on the fundamental assumption that it is they, through their direct participation, who are in the best position to make decisions for the future of their jurisdictions.

Dr Yossef Ben-Meir is an American sociologist with a particular interest in the MENA region. He lives and works in Marrakesh, Morocco.

E-mail: yossef@highatlasfoundation.org

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 24 February, 2020

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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

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

Sports facilities needed at Tump TumP is a tehsil of Turbat. At least twenty villages are situated in tehsil Tump. unfortunately, the people of tehsil Tump are deprived of sports facilities. They don't have sporting equipment such as bats and wickets.

Furthermore, people there are poor so they are unable to buy these things. Sports are necessary to direct the energies of the youth to constructive ends, preventing them from indulging in bad things such as drugs. I actually have seen many youngsters involved in drug usage. When asked why, they replied that they could not play any sport so they turned to drugs. They are confused about their lives.

YahYa IJaz KhoSa Turbat.

Tree felling in District Washuk

The wrong direction The AG’s resignation may not be the end of the matter has been brought into the foray owing to un- bility. even later during the day, after the hearing, no clarification was given by any governsubstantiated allegations of bias.

The Attorney general swiftly went on to ment quarter and it was only after the bench came in heavy the next continue with his arguday did the government ments having fulfilled the decided to submit a written purpose, at least in his clarification to the mind. Little did he know The opening address, as Supreme Court, disowning that he surely had made a the Ag along the way. valiant attempt at getting intended, did send out The top law officer the judges on their knees ripples through the waters. may have been sacrificed but, in the words of mr the ball is now in the Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, But not the expected ones. but actual ‘court’. It is for the he had spewed venom in the wrong direction. The The bench was taken aback members of the bench to decide whether or not the following day, the Ag was received by a visibly per- but only to come down hard written apology submitted by the Ag would sufturbed and angry bench as on the government. In Syed KaSwar Gardezi fice or would they be he was directed to corroborate his allegations by regards to the sanctity of the requiring further action and affixation of responpresenting material evicourt, it appears that the ver since settling into power, the in- dence or, alternatively, to sibility. It does not appeal cumbent government has embroiled it- submit a written apology. entire bench is now united to one’s mind that the self into an unnecessary controversy Surely, the Attorney gencomments of the Attorand will take a unanimous ney general were solely with the judiciary. rather than taking a eral had lowered the digstep back when needed, the federal nity of the court, there can made in a personal capacdecision as far as these government decides to take all matters head-on be no denying that, but he ity and not one individual allegations are concerned. was privy to them beforeas though it was another opposition party rant- wasn’t expecting a late reing out. unable to digest verdicts of the courts, action the next day. In his hand. on the contrary, the Apology, under the the government has been ill advised to go after mind, the matter had been same appeared to be part author judges responsible for admonishing the buried the day before once circumstances, should not of a pre-planned line of government or those taking to task another the bench had asked the action whereby judges of be accepted branch of the state. Justice mr Justice Qazi news reporters to not cover the Supreme Court would Faeez Isa’s case is the prime example of insti- the uncalled for comments. be made to back down by tutional conflict whereby, as widely believed, a raising outrageous allehours later, the Ag judge has been targeted owing to his bold and found himself in hot water gations at a time when strong verdict. and, eventually, was sent packing. Though he they are hearing the case of a brother judge.

A strong worded decision wherein state in- claims to have resigned of his own accord, The matter simply cannot be and should not stitutions have been criticized for overstepping sources within the federal government state oth- be put to rest by the mere resignation of the their mandates, made mr Justice Isa a target. As erwise. It appears as though he was sacrificed Attorney general. alleged by the judge himself, he and his family in order to save the government. Sacking the If a sitting federal government is willing to have been subjected to ilAg is one thing but claim- go to all lengths to lower the dignity of the legal surveillance in the afing that he spoke without Supreme Court, then much can be said about termath of the Faizabad authorization and instruc- their advisors, who appear to be taking their verdict. Nevertheless, the tions would be stretching it own government down the drain. Similar talk Judges who appeared to petitions filed by the judge a bit too far. The Law min- of filing a reference against Chief Justice Waqar are on the verge of conclu- have been tilting towards the ister and the Asset recov- Ahmed Seth of the Peshawar high Court had sion now as the govern- government, till now, seemed ery unit head were also also been heard in light of the musharraf high ment has started its present in the courtroom treason case’s judgement. The idea of going arguments. however, the and yet not one of them after judges seems to gain much traction with to have turned over the serenity of the courtroom stepped forward immedi- the Imran Khan-led government but for what remarks. The allegations, was perturbed by the unately to clarify that the purpose, one fails to comprehend. called for remarks and alBy simply availing legal remedies against controversial statement which have since been legations which marked given by the Attorney gen- a particular judgement, the government expunged, put a question eral did not reflect the should avoid singling out judges and going the opening address of the Attorney general before mindset of the government after them. yes, if an actual illegality has been mark on each and every the Supreme Court bench and was unauthorized. The committed prima facie then indeed the hearing the matter. member of the Honourable Law minister, if what he Supreme Judicial Council route should be Judges who appeared claims is the truth, should adopted but not solely to settle scores and Bench as no names were to have been tilting tohave made it clear to the send out a message declaring war. wards the government, till The opening address, as intended, did send bench that the allegations taken and only a bald now, seemed to have made about the bench were out ripples through the waters. But not the exturned over the remarks. allegation was asserted. The not according to the in- pected ones. The bench was taken aback but The allegations, which structions given by the fed- only to come down hard on the government. In integrity and impartiality of eral have since been exgovernment, as regards to the sanctity of the court, it appears punged, put a question the judges has been brought opposed to absolving him- that the entire bench is now united and will take mark on each and every self of all responsibility at a unanimous decision as far as these allegations into the foray owing to member of the honare concerned. Apology, under the circuma later stage. ourable Bench as no unsubstantiated allegations Denying any involve- stances, should not be accepted. names were taken and ment at a later stage of bias only a bald allegation was Syed Kaswar Gardezi is a lawyer and a wouldn’t absolve the govasserted. The integrity and ernment and its senior columnist. he can be contacted at impartiality of the judges members of any responsi- kaswargardezi@gmail.com

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The incumbent government came with a vision to make Pakistan green. Instead of doing that, in one of the districts of Balochistan, Washuk, trees are being cut excessively.

Furthermore, a famous tree named "Tagaz" which grows naturally in desert is being cut in District Washuk. The pickups load this kind of tree and sell them in nearby districts. According to a report the whole area of the world is 126 billion acres and of this just 4 billion acres is occupied by forests. According to scientists where there are trees there is life, but unfortunately in district Washuk people are cutting the trees in order to get money. I appeal the DC of Washuk Agha Nabeel Akther and the concerned authorities please stop people from felling trees.

MohaMMad Jaan QadIr Turbat, Bolan

The problem of democracy in Pakistan DemoCrACy is the most popular form of government in the modern times. It is based on the fundamental belief that people are capable of governing themselves. Democracy is not a child's play. To achieve it, a lot of struggle and hard work is required. In 1947 when Pakistan emerged, it was intended to be a democratic state. however, it became one only in name, not spirit. Due to this, the population does not possess basic human rights. Because of a failure to address this problem, corruption appears. Pakistan, like other developmental states, should try to achieve real democracy through its actions, not merely words and statements.

GuL SaMEEn rahMaT Kech

Indian scientists discover anthrax vaccine INDIAN scientists have developed a new vaccine against anthrax, a big threat to human life. It is a great success. This news made me very happy because it is proof of the powerful role science plays in serving mankind. I congratulate them from the bottom of my heart and wish that they would carry on their hard work to achieve even greater success. I think we all should motivate them.

MEhr Jan ESSa Kech

Mainstreaming seminaries mAINSTreAmINg seminaries to the national education system would enable pupils of seminaries to excel in contemporary career streams and would also enable them to contribute in the development and progress of the country, urged the CoAS. Thirteen pupils including four girls have achieved top positions in intermediate examination and got prizes and souvenirs. It should be hailed that seminaries have come towards national education system and their pupils have achieved top positions in intermediate examinations.

National education system's curriculum should also incorporate some of the seminaries curriculum so that the gap between students from both streams is bridged. There is a need to educate our young generation about the teachings and history of Islam. moreover, identical curriculum should also be taught/followed in all seminaries so that sectarian differences might be reduced in the society.

FaISaL anSar Karachi

The Baloch and the CPEC The Baloch has been at war with Pakistan and China regarding the CPeC, particularly the constitution of port and the road network. The Baloch is vehemently against the CPeC because many villages falling under the spread of the CPeC from gwadar to Awaran have been dismantled. hundreds of Baloch innocents have been forcefully disappeared and willfully killed. half a million of indigenous Balochs were forcefully evicted from their villages. And the residents of China and Pakistan, in keeping with their nefarious design, want to migrate to Balochistan and marginalize its indigeneous population.

ShEELa BaLoch Kech

Monday, 24 February 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

VIrus hIts shIppIng, spreAdIng globAl econoMIc strAIn LONDON

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AGENCIES

EA freight transport, the lifeblood of trade and a bellwether of the global economy, has been blown off course by the new coronavirus, sparking general alarm. As analysts pore over charts to gauge just how badly Chinese mega-factories have been hit, figures provided by cargo ship traffic paint a gloomy picture.

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) reflects the daily price of moving goods such as coal, rice and wheat along routes deemed representative of the global market.

Some call it the canary in the coal mine for the economic world.

The BDI has now reached lows last seen in early 2016, when the shipping sector was suffering a supply and demand imbalance in the wake of the 2008-09 global economic crisis.

Its “capesize” index for the largest category of ships — ones that cannot even squeeze through the Suez or Panama Canals — is at historic lows.

“The latest slump is directly related to the coronavirus epidemic in China and the subsequent restrictions on activity,” London’s Capital Economics consultancy said in a research note. “Given that China accounts for about 40 percent of global seaborne trade, it is not so surprising that freight rates have tanked.”

Lars Bastian Ostereng, an analyst with Norway’s Arctic Securities, said the outbreak “basically led to full stops in many ports in China”.

FREE FALL: Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, a global merchant based in France, is one of many shipping giants approaching China with caution.

The 169-year-old company has banned its sailors from going on shore and stopped relieving its crews at Chinese

ports, resulting in considerable disruptions. “The coronavirus epidemic is a very serious event for the market,” Antoine Person, a top executive at the firm, told AFP. China does not just produce goods but is also a major consumer with a booming middle class and the world’s largest population.

It accounts for “about 35 percent of all seaborne dry bulk imports in the world,” Ostereng of Arctic Securities said. With the number of reported deaths from COVID-19 now above 2,400 and swathes of the country under effective lockdown for a second month, Chinese demand might suffer for months to come, Ostereng said.

This would impact exports to China from around the world, including the United States and Europe, with accompanying political repercussions.

“Power generation in China has dropped and steel mills are reportedly cut-

ting capacity utilisation which, respectively, point to lower demand for coal and iron ore,” Capital Economics wrote. That in turn reduces Chinese imports of coal and steel produced in places such as Australia and Brazil, impacting their economies. The price of shipping both commodities is reflected in the BDI index, which is in “free fall”, Capital Economics said. In addition to importing raw materials — Chinese factories consume nearly 40 percent of metals produced in the world — the factory slowdown has forced the world’s largest shipper to brace for the year ahead. Denmark’s AP MollerMaersk said Thursday that the outbreak has “significantly lowered visibility on what to expect in 2020”. “We expect a weak start to the year,” it warned.

SEASONAL SWINGS: Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the international business editor of The Daily Telegraph, wrote on Thursday that the shipping collapse

Macron says 'not sure' EU-UK trade deal possible before end of year PARIS AGENCIES

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said he was “not sure” it would be possible for the European Union and Britain to reach a trade deal by the end of the year.

Britain and the EU are about to embark on negotiations aiming to hammer out a trade agreement by the time the post-Brexit transition period shuts at the end of December.

But France has made clear it thinks the negotiations will be particularly difficult, especially in such a tight timeframe.

“I am not sure that an agreement will be reached between now and the end of the year,” Macron said at a meeting with fishermen, who are concerned for their livelihoods after Brexit, at an agricultrual trade event in Paris.

“Anyway, it is going to become more tense because (the British) are very hard,” he said, adding that fishing rights would be a key point of contention.

Britain formally ended its 47-year membership of the EU on January 31, nearly four years after a majority voted to leave the bloc in a 2016 referendum.

France and several other countries

want to be able to keep fishing in British waters, while London wants full autonomy and limited access for European fishermen.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EU’s top priorities are fishing, security and maintaining fair trading conditions for European companies.

He has also firmly rejected a British suggestion that City of London companies could be given broad, permanent access to EU markets without conditions.

Overall, French fishing boats generate 30 percent of their revenue from catches in British maritime territories, particularly rich in fish stocks.

French officials say that the UK exports the bulk of its catch to Europe, indicating that British fishermen have plenty to lose if the two sides fail to reach a deal.

was “threatening weeks of chaos for manufacturing supply lines and the broader structure of global trade”.

He conceded that optimists expect Chinese demand and factory output to explode once the restrictions end and businesses try to make up for lost ground. But no one can be sure when that will be — or if the world has avoided another viral wave that reaches pandemic proportions.

Some shipowners, intermediaries and other market actors said factors such as which way the unpredictable Sino-US trade war goes would weigh as well.

Person, the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs executive, said that “new shipping standards and weather events are also behind the fall in the BDI.”

Argentina agrees to IMF talks aimed at new financing programme

BUENOS AIRES AGENCIES

'America First' vs 'Make in India' as Modi hosts Trump NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Trade ties between the United States and India have long been problematic but under “America First” President Donald Trump and “Make in India” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they have worsened.

While eclipsed by his trade war with China, Trump’s tussle with India, and New Delhi’s prickly reaction, has made a major pact unlikely during the American president’s visit to the world’s fifth-largest economy from Monday.

“They’ve been hitting us very, very hard for many, many years,” Trump said of India ahead of the 36-hour trip to Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi accompanied

by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and others.

Here, AFP looks at the main issues of contention between the two countries on trade, which hit almost $145 billion in 2018, with the US deficit of $25 billion — much to Trump’s annoyance: PROTECTIONISM: India has long had a penchant for protectionism. Its import tariffs are among the world’s highest. Under Modi, facing slowing growth, accelerating inflation and a widening budget deficit, this hasn’t changed.

Under pressure from farmers and fearing yet more cheap Chinese imports, Modi in November baulked at joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trade pact including Asia’s main economies and China. In recent months, Modi’s government has hiked duties on US imports, including on $600 million worth of Californian almonds as well as apples, steel and chemicals coming into Asia’s thirdlargest economy. In its recent budget, the right-wing government raised tariffs on items such as shoes, children’s tricycles and furniture, irking Washington which cancelled a visit by trade envoy Robert Lighthizer, reports said. Plans to force foreign firms to store Indian consumers’ data locally have also irked US businesses, as have e-commerce regulations hitting firms like Amazon and Walmart.

Modi’s “Make in India” drive is aimed at getting foreign companies to manufacture in the South Asian country and so reduce imports — mirroring Trump’s

“America First” mantra.

New Delhi’s actions “have made the protectionism concerns in India even greater”, a senior US official said ahead of Trump’s arrival.

STEEL AND HOLY COWS: However, many of India’s recent moves have been in response to actions by the Trump administration, starting with its 2018 decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium from India and other countries.

India is the world’s third-largest steelmaker, and its exports of steel products have tumbled 46 percent according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Exporters of mechanical and electrical machinery and auto parts have also suffered.

Last year, Trump added to the pain by suspending India’s privileges under the decades-old US Generalized System of Preferences programme that had allowed it to ship $6 billion in goods duty-free.

The US wants to sell more medical devices like

stents to India while US dairy farmers — a key voter base for Trump ahead of his re-election push in November — want greater access for their products.

India says it is worried American cows have been fed bovine extracts — a no-no in a country where most Hindus believe the animals are sacred. Modi relies heavily on support from his farmers too.

EASY RIDER?: United by mistrust of China, Trump’s visit will see deals in defence and other areas, including potentially the supply of six nuclear reactors, the fruit of a landmark atomic accord in 2008. The visit will be big on optics, with Modi and Trump appearing at a rally at the world’s largest cricket stadium and the US president and First Lady Melania watching the sunset at the Taj Mahal. But the main “deliverable” that both strongmen want is a big trade deal, and in its absence they might instead strike a smaller agreement, according to press reports.

CMYK

Argentina and the IMF announced Saturday that they have agreed to start talks aimed at reaching a new financing agreement for the heavily indebted South American nation.

The announcement in statements by both parties came after a meeting between IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Riyadh. The meeting came days after IMF experts concluded that Argentina’s debt is unsustainable. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez hopes to renegotiate $195 billion of its $311 billion foreign debt, including a deeply unpopular $57 billion IMF bailout loan in 2018. Fernandez, who took office in December, has refused the final $13 billion disbursement of the loan, leaving Argentina’s exposure at $44 billion.

“Minister Guzman and I had a very fruitful exchange of views on the country’s challenges, and the path forward to ensure a more sustainable and inclusive growth for Argentina,” Georgieva said in a statement.

“I commended the efforts thus far, under the leadership of … Fernandez, to put in place a set of policies to stabilize the economy and to reduce poverty.” Georgieva said she discussed with Guzman plans “to secure a sustainable and orderly resolution” to his country’s debt situation, and welcomed Argentina’s commitment “to deepen our engagement including through an Article IV Consultation and steps toward a Fund-supported program in the future.

“The modalities of these next steps will continue to be discussed,” Georgieva said.

Argentina’s economy ministry issued a similar statement on engaging in talks with the global financing institution. Negotiations will continue Monday as Guzman meets with IMF experts in Washington, an economy ministry spokesman told AFP. Argentina’s economy shrank by 2.1 percent in 2019, the state statistics institute said Friday. The country has been in recession since mid-2018 as poverty and unemployment rise, with inflation surpassing 50 per-

Monday, 24 February, 2020

BUSINESS 11

Pakistan’s economy ‘on the Path to recovery’: credit suisse KARACHI INp

P

17 new oil and gas exploration blocks await security clearance ISLAMABAD app

The Petroleum Division has forwarded a case of around 17 onshore oil and gas exploration blocks to the quarters concerned for security clearance and subsequent initiation of activities to discover hydrocarbon reserves in all four provinces of the country. The new exploration areas consist of Block-2668-23 (Khewari East) with spanning over 1451.23 square kilometer area in Sindh; Block-29662 (Chah Bali) with 2488.95 sq km area in Balochistan; Block-2967-5 (Mach) with 2496.31 sq km area in Balochistan; Block-2970-9 (Jampur) with 2465.76 sq km area in Punjab; Block-3068-9 (Nareli) with 2414.95 sq km area in Balochistan; Block-2467-17 (Sujawal South) having 1914.1 sq km area in Sindh; Block-2871-7 (Khangarh West) with 2487.11 sq km in Punjab; Block2367-8 (Jhor Wah) having 2308.06 sq km in Sindh; Block-2767-2 (Gaj) with 1473.82 sq km in Sindh and Balochistan; Block-2869-15 (Meeranpur) with 2474.64 sq km in Balochistan and Punjab; Block-2967-6 (Sibi) having 1911.63 sq km in Balochistan; Block-2867-6 (Dadhar) having 2494.98 sq km in Balochistan; Block 3269-3 (Wana) with 1748.3 sq km area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Block-3269-4 (Razmak) with 2381.94 sq km in KP, Block 3269-5 (Miran Shah) with 1427.07 sq km in KP; Block-2767-3 (Hiden) with 857 sq km in Sindh; while Block 3273-6 (Garmala) having area of 2379.27 sq km in Punjab. Official data available with AAP reveals that currently 38 active exploration licenses were awarded to both local and foreign national oil companies, which are undertaking exploration studies and projects in their allocated areas. The exploration and production (E&P) companies, operating in Pakistan, have so far drilled 18 offshore oil and gas wells including Kekra-I to discover hydrocarbon deposits in the deep sea waters, but failed to get the required results. A senior official privy to the petroleum sector developments told APP that the country was in dire need of a big discovery as existing hydrocarbon reserves were depleting fast and its reliance on imported gas and oil was increasing with each passing day. Quoting a recent study, he feared that the existing deposits would further deplete 60 per cent by the year 2027 and underlined the need for stepping up exploration activities in potential areas on war-footing. In a bid to accelerate oil and gas exploration activities in potential areas of the country, the official said the government was in process of floating an international tender for award of new exploration blocks. The tenders would be given in international dailies soon, for which the required formalities are being fulfilled, the official added.

AKISTAN’s fundamentals have ‘improved significantly’ but the ‘challenges’ still lie ahead, Credit Suisse- a Swiss financial services firm- says in its latest report.

Titled "Pakistan: On the path to recovery”, the firm credits ‘assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’, ‘fiscal consolidation’, and ‘much needed reforms’ for the improvement in the country’s economic situation.

“In near term, we expect equities to remain range-bound after a strong rally, but the longterm upside potential remains significant,” the Zurich-based firm said in its report.

The firm added that it was also expecting the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to slash interest rates in the range of 100 to 200 basis points in the second half of this year as the IMF-driven rupee stepped back to stability path.

The financial services firm says it seems too early for a rate cut and it believes the SBP will most likely await firm signs of disinflation before doing so”. “In addition, real rates remain low implying limited pressure for rates to be reduced in the near term,” it said.

“We believe Pakistan’s rate cuts are weighed toward H2 given that inflation has yet to peak and the SBP would likely wait for 2–3 months of disinflation before considering rate cuts. We believe the central bank is likely to cut rates by 100–150 bps.”

Credit Suisse also pinned hope on IMFbacked reforms saying those were injecting a

dose of stability into the battered rupee that resiliently recovered four per cent following the loan program.

“We expect the Pakistani rupee to remain stable and going forward, supported by Pakistan’s commitment to the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program,” it said in the report authored by the firm’s Head of Middle East Research, Fahd Iqbal.

In July last year, Pakistan agreed to IMF's $6 billion worth EFF program to overcome its balance of payments crisis.

“A continuation and improvement in this trend could support a modest overshoot on the real effective exchange rate (REER),” Credit Suisse said with reference to the positive progress of IMF’s assessment on its EFF in Pakistan.

“We note that a move in the REER back to 105 (in line with levels seen prior to 2014) would correspond to a further 2–4pc appreciation in the PKR, according to our estimates,” it added.

Credit Suisse said the rupee had had become extremely overvalued, as measured by the REER prior to devaluations.

“The policy to weaken the PKR aggressively erased the overvaluation completely and in fact left the currency looking historically cheap,” it said. “The appreciation since then has neutralised the PKR’s valuation.”

Pakistani rupee was devalued by around 33pc from December 2017 to July 2019, in parallel with the sharp increase in base rates.

“Most of the devaluations were undertaken in a series of 5–6pc steps and occurred against the backdrop of the government’s negotiations with international donors to bridge its estimated

$12 billion financing gap,” Credit Suisse said.

“The run-up to the EFF approval saw a disorderly weakening of the PKR by a further around 15pc, which the firm believes was driven by moves to comply with the IMF’s final prerequisites for the funding arrangement.”

The foreign company drew the analogy for this from Egypt where, it said the central bank governor was previously the IMF’s senior representative and he oversaw similar policy initiatives. But, it said Pakistan had to devalue rupee in a disorderly manner in the run-up to IMF’s loan program.

“Importantly, however, the approval of the EFF arrangement triggered a slow and steady four percent appreciation in the PKR, with extremely low levels of volatility,” it said.

Credit Suisse said the rupee has stabilised after a lengthy period of depreciation and foreign investors have started to take notice, with portfolio inflows sharply accelerating over the past six months.

The financial services firm further said equities are likely to remain range-bound after a strong rally, but the long-term upside potential remains significant.

“As the PKR has stabilised, and there is potential for further modest appreciation, we believe the carry trade offers a compelling risk/reward opportunity and recommend short duration t (treasury)-bills.”

Credit Suisse, however, said a key drawback for international investors is low liquidity in the index. “The primary risk for investors is the potential for a renewed devaluation,” the reports added.

Economy recovering amid challenges, Alvi tells tycoons MIAN MANSHA URGES GOVT TO CREATE ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR BUSINESSES LAHORE Staff RepoRt

President Dr Arif Alvi has said Pakistan is undergoing economic difficulties, but there are clear and positive signals that the worst is over and the country’s economy and society both are in the process of recovery.

“The business community has rendered valuable services for the development of Pakistan and we request you all for a little more patience while the government’s reform process takes root and demonstrates results,” the president while talking to a group of businessmen including business tycoon Mian Mohammad Mansha.

According to a press release issued on Sunday, President Alvi was invited to an exclusive dinner reception hosted by Nishat Group Chairman Mian Mohammad Man-

sha for him, First Lady Samina Alvi and Lahore based business families.

On the occasion, businessmen met the president and exchanged views on the prevailing business environment. Kohinoor Group Chairman Tariq Saigol, Pak Elektron Limited Chairman Naseem Saigol, Siddiqsons Group Chairman Tariq Rafi, FPCCI President Anjum Nisar, former Foreign Affairs Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Nestle Pakistan Chairman Syed Yawar Ali, Ashraf Group Chairman Zaka Ashraf, Royal Fans Chief Executive Khawar Rafique, Sapphire Group Director Shahid Abdullah, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Reza Baqir and other prominent personalities from Lahore and their families participated in the event.

President Alvi told the gather-

ing that there was also a need to avoid cynicism and undue criticism of state institutions.

He assured the business community of full government support, saying the government would continue to engage with the business community to improve the prevailing business environment.

Speaking on the occasion, Nishat Group Chairman Mian Mohammad Mansha, who led the delegation, said, “We acknowledge the government’s successes in improving the security situation and in bringing Pakistan Super League (PSL) back. Prospects of peace in Afghanistan are also encouraging as it will improve security and economic activity in the region and allow enhancement of cross border trade between Pakistan, Afghanistan and into Central Asia. This also

bodes well for the business communities of both countries and it holds the promise of economic development and prosperity for the people.”

Due to the slowdown in business and economic activity in the country, people were losing jobs on account of retrenchments which needed to be addressed effectively, he said, adding inefficient State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) were generating losses which have to be offset with tax money, could otherwise be spent on the people’s welfare.

“The government needs to privatize these entities to avoid further losses to the national exchequer,” he suggested. Mansha further added that the business community was a major stakeholder and thus the government needs to be in constant dialogue with the community so we could synergize efforts and attain economic progress.

“The business community also needs to be provided an enabling environment, one that is free from harassment, intimidation and bureaucratic bottlenecks, so that they can concentrate and dedicate all efforts towards generating economic activity without which, neither growth can be achieved nor jobs can be created for our youth,” he concluded.

Three-day auto show attracts over 100,000 visitors LAHORE SHaHaB oMeR

The Pakistan Auto Show 2020 concluded at the Lahore’s Expo Centre on Sunday, attracting over 100,000 people to visit more than 100 stalls at the mega event.

The three-day event organized by the Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) from Feb21-23 attracted large crowds of visitors and professionals who sought technological insights and valuable knowledge on the advancement of engineering in the industry.

The exhibition, stretched over 38,666 square feet, was supported by the Engineering Development Board (EDB) and PakWheels.com, while the sponsors included Honda, Suzuki, Hyundai and Millat Tractors.

The exhibition featured a vast range of auto products and its processing units from more than 100 international and local auto-

manufacturers and a multitude of enterprises operating in the relevant sectors.

The exhibition showcased the robust growth and vast potential of Pakistan’s automobile industry, reflecting the nation’s pursuit to become a future hub for auto manufacturing.

The auto show also featured numerous insightful seminars and training workshops, conducted by very learned speakers and experts, who disseminated high-value information.

The event attracted precision-engineering experts, raw material suppliers, used-car dealers, service, repairs, bodywork professionals, automobile financing companies and other service providers.

The industry experts held extensive deliberations to overcome the challenges and devise collective growth strategies.

Several prestigious universities presented their innovations and insightful academic projects during the event.

It promoted a wide array of advanced

technologies and solutions, including; engines, casting, forging, sheet metals, jigs and fixtures, along with electronics, carpaints, tools, tyres, batteries, plastic parts, rubber parts and accessories.

During the event, the visitors also acquired valuable information on car-financing, auto-insurance, and service centers, etc.

A closing ceremony was orchestrated to conclude the show with great fanfare where the leading personalities of the automobile industry, the engineering communities and the regulatory authorities were present along with senior government officials, prominent social personalities and showbiz stars.

Speaking on the occasion, PAAPAM Chairman Captain (r) Muhammad Akram said: “Looking at the resounding success of this year’s event, we are looking forward to next year’s auto show on a much larger scale. I would like to thank the stakeholders of this industry for making

this show the biggest annual automotive event of the nation.”

He said the industry leaders urged the government to devise an effective Auto Policy in consultation with the experts, because that critical policy had long been awaited to enable faster progress of our industry.

He said there are almost 3,000 auto parts manufacturers operating all over Pakistan; the industry has created almost three million jobs and opportunities for respectable income; while it has engaged 500,000 skilled workers as direct employees and 2.4 million indirect employees.

Akram further said the industry had generated a robust investment volume of Rs400 billion and was contributing Rs90 billion to the national exchequer per year.

“It has also achieved an import substitution worth $3 billion per annum and an exports volume of $200 million per annum.

Pakistan is already the cheapest source in the world for producing tractors.”

Chief Organizer of Pakistan Auto Show 2020 Syed Nabeel Hashmi, speaking on the occasion, said the auto show had once again proved that it was the most resourceful event that would play a pivotal role in nurturing innovation, knowledge-exchange and collaborative ventures in the automotive industry.

Global automobile brands and experts enriched the deliberations along with spare-parts manufacturers, component suppliers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM vendors), automobile traders, investors, buyers and enthusiasts, who wanted to expand their business networks and knowledge-base, Hashmi added.

PAAPAM’s Senior Vice Chairman Saad Sherani said: “As the demand for automobiles is expected to rise continuously over the next 3-5 years, the big challenge for Pakistan is to nurture local assemblers and vendors and ensure rapid investments in capacity-building to meet the sharply rising demand.”

Monday, 24 February, 2020

12 BUSINESS CORPORATE CORNER

FBR RelUctant to Remove dUtY on tImBeR ImPoRts: aPtta ISLAMABAD gHULAM ABBAs

KARACHI: Takaful Pakistan Limited & Bank Alfalah Islamic join hands to provide ‘Free Takaful’ coverage to all Bank Alfalah Islamic Account holders and Debit Card holders. PR ess Re Le As e

India clarifies size of gold discovery in Uttar Pradesh LUCKNOW Agencies

India has clarified the nature of a gold discovery in Uttar Pradesh, after a government official said on Saturday that fields with reserves of more than 3,000 tonnes of gold ore had been found, prompting a flurry of activity on social media. Central and state departments have discovered traces of gold in northern Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district after surveying the area for more than 10 years, Roshan Jacob, the head of the mining department in the state had said. Jacob told Reuters that about 3,000 tonnes of gold ore had been found in two areas in the region, adding that concentration level of gold in the area was about 3 grams per tonne of ore.

But India’s Geological Survey of India (GSI) said on Saturday the total gold that could be extracted from the region might only be about 160 kilograms. “GSI has not estimated such kind of vast resource of gold deposit,” it said in a statement. India, the world’s second-biggest gold consumer, mines between 2 to 3 tonnes of gold annually, relying on expensive imports to fulfil nearly all of its demand, which averaged 843 tonnes per year over the past 10 years. The country’s demand for gold - used extensively in jewellery, as offerings to Gods and in lavish weddings cost India more than $31 billion on imports last year, making the metal its second-biggest import item after crude oil. India has frequently considered a plan to revive a cluster of colonial-era gold mines in southern Karnataka state but the project has failed to take off due to predictions of low output and high costs involved.

While an illegal cutting of timber has been causing more deforestation in the country, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) seems reluctant to remove the additional customs duty (ACD) imposed on the import of raw wood and timber to generate around Rs200 million additional revenues.

In a letter written to Prime Minister Imran Khan recently, the All Pakistan Timber Traders Association (APTTA) had requested the premier to intervene as two per cent ACD on the import of raw wood/timer was badly affecting the government’s efforts to save forests and safeguard environment as the demand was currently being met with illegal timber cutting and trade.

As imports had drastically reduced following the imposition of ACD, the timber mafia, which was involved in illegal cutting of trees and timber, was ultimately increasing its illegal activities, the association said in the written correspondence.

Referring to the recommendations of the National Assembly’s

Standing Committee on Finance, which had discussed the issue in detail in the recent meetings, the association claimed that the FBR was reluctant to remove duty.

The letter further stated that Rs200 million was a peanut against an amount of Rs125 billion the government was spending on saving jungle stocks, so the basic principle of taxation should not be to collect revenue by force.

APTTA Chairman Sharjil Goplani said the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) had recommended

several times to abolish the customs duty and all other taxes to reduce pressure on national forests.

The importers claim that because of higher customs duty, sales tax and withholding tax on wood and timber (HS Code 44.03 and 44.07) along with heavy devaluation, the commercial activities have gone down and it’s time for the PTI government to take necessary measures to protect the industry.

Goplani said the bureau was receiving 32-34 per cent customs duty, sales tax and withholding tax

and up to 42pc on the import of wood and timber as raw material, urging the government to remove it completely.

"We can more than hypothetically assume that the shortfall in respect of revenues will be offset by the increased business activities, which will also create many jobs in Pakistan," Goplani said and added that wood and timber was a raw material and basic need of many other industries.

According to the APTTA, China is importing raw wood and timber from all over the world including US, Canada, and Africa, whereas, it is exporting value-added products to US, Canada, European countries, Middle East and North African countries.

The APTTA chairman said if the government allowed duty-free import of wood, it would not only boost the construction industry but would lead to the promotion of many downstream industries by creating a healthy business environment in Pakistan.

According to 2015 report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the forest reserves in Pakistan are 1.9 per cent that is almost zero compared to other countries.

Garment exports touch $1bn in seven months of FY20 ISLAMABAD APP

The exports of readymade garments from the country during first seven months of current financial year increased by 10.84 per cent as compared the exports of the corresponding period of last year. During the period from July-January, 2019-20, about 35,375 thousand dozens of readymade garments worth US $ 1.680 billion exported as compared the exports of 29,239 thousand dozen valuing US $ 1.516 billion of same period of last year. According to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, during the period under review country exported textile products worth US $ 8.099 billion which was up by 3.68 per cent when it was compared with the exports of the same period of last year. During last seven months of current financial year exports of raw cotton grew by 9.99 per cent, cotton yarn 0.78 per cent and other textile materials grew by 11.97 per cent.

HYDERABAD: Prisoners prepare the field for crop plantation at Nara Jail in Hyderabad. PPi

Poultry industry seeks SBP intervention amid high policy rate LAHORE sTAFF RePORT

The poultry industry on Sunday urged the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to review its policies and facilitate the private sector particularly the poultry industry as higher interest rates and economic slowdown had dampened business appetite for bank loans.

It said the credit offtake had sharply dropped by 77 per cent to Rs117.384 billion in the first half of the fiscal year FY20.

In a news statement, Pakistan Poultry Association’s former chairman and expresident of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Abdul Basit said the cost of production had moved upward, reaching the highest level of last 10 years owing to huge depreciation of Rupee against dollar, record high markup rate and continued hike in power and gas tariffs.

He demanded a considerable reduction in the key policy rate, taking it into single digit, with a view to providing the private sector access to low-cost borrowing.

Basit recalled that in the last monetary policy, the central; bank had kept the interest rate unchanged at 13.25pc, causing hardships for the business community, particularly the poultry industry consisting of mostly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in accessing finance.

He was of the view that the cost-of-

doing-business and the cost of production had shot up to uncompetitive levels as the borrowing cost was huge and capital financing had become more expensive.

He said that the outgoing year has proved to be the worst year for poultry industry, breaking record of last 30 years’ losses mainly due to unprecedented esca-

lation in cost of production.

The PPA’s former office-bearer said the poultry sector is unable to pass on ever soaring cost of production to the consumers. “Rather the industry survives by enhancing its efficiency through technology advancement.”

He observed the businesses were not willing to obtain fresh funds from banks due to higher cost of borrowings.

He said the SBP should step up its efforts to get credit flowing at a faster pace and spur growth that slowed at 3.3 per cent last fiscal and was expected to taper further to 2.4 to 3pc in the current fiscal year.

“The demand for the private sector credit is to remain subdued unless the SBP eases policy rate and economic growth gets momentum,” he said.

The SBP’s data showed that conventional banking branches extended Rs55.452 billion loans to private businesses between July and December 2019 compared with Rs377.869 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Corporate sector’s borrowing from

Islamic banks dropped to Rs14.154 billion during the period under review from Rs77.086 billion a year earlier.

Moreover, the government’s borrowing from the SBP had also increased considerably during the period, adding to inflationary pressures on the economy.

Abdul Basit was of the view that the private sector had nothing to borrow from financial institutions because banks preferred to park their money in risk-free government securities. “The flow of banking money is now going towards government papers, which will definitely hit economic growth and affect the investment landscape in the country,” he maintained.

The LCCI’s former president was of the opinion that the government’s shift from borrowing from the central bank to commercial banks would likely result in huge profits for the banks but that would hurt the overall economic growth.

As weakness in private capital inflows continues to persist, the central bank should cut the policy rate to spur growth,” he demanded.

The life of a legend

h

ameed Nizami was an eminent journalist, literary figure, Pakistan movement activist, and the founder as well as the editor-in-chief of the Urdulanguage newspaper, the Nawa-i-Waqt (lit. ‘The Voice of the Time’). He earned national prominence for penning several political articles and opinionated columns in support of successful Pakistan movement while he played a crucial role in the growing influence of the print journalism in Pakistan.

Hameed Nizami was born in the remote railway junction town of Sangla Hill, a few miles from the vintage city Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), Punjab, British Indian empire, on 3 October 1915. He hailed from a Punjabi family and initially studied at the local school in Faisalabad at his own expense. He attended the Islamia College where he gained a Ba degree in Journalism. Later, he attended the Punjab University where he attained the ma degree in english Literature. during his years in college, he was politically

SAJID ABBAS F my nation has sensible young men like Hameed Nizami, my nation’s future is very bright,” said Quaid-e-azam while addressing the participants of the annual session of the all-India muslim Students Federation in Jalandhar. That was when the struggle for Pakistan was gathering momentum.

The late Hameed Nizami commenced his professional life as owner of a newspaper, technically on march 23, 1940, the very day on which the Lahore Resolution was tabled in a public meeting held at the then minto Park. The future doyen of Urdu journalism of this land founded, literally from scratch, his fortnight publication Nawa-i-Waqt, with the help of a couple of his friends on that momentous day, when the muslims of the subcontinent had gathered to voice their resolve to have a homeland of their own.

Hameed Nizami was not new to journalism; he had learnt the ropes the hard but the right way. a master of arts from the University of the Punjab in english Literature he had acquired the knack of gathering and reporting news while he was employed as a young reporter with the associated Press of India. He had spent some time as co-editor of ‘Saarbaan’, a political journal, before becoming the manager of the Orient News of India owned by the muslims.

Hameed Nizami’s approach towards handling contemporary issues, whether political, social or economic, was invariably appreciated for being correct and lucid. He dared to take exception to outmoded concepts and succeeded in advancing correct and rational ideas. That was what developed further as his style of writing till his last days. When Quaidi-azam visited Lahore in 1944 after expelling malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana from the muslim League he sent for Hameed Nizami and said to the budding journalist that he wished him to publish a daily newspaper from Lahore to 100 per cent represent the views of the muslim League and the Pakistan movement and asked to get going right away.

That was the day when Hameed Nizami and his Nawa-i-Waqt joined the front lines of the struggle for Pakistan. Both Hameed Nizami and his paper had to face the wrath of the

I

active. He founded and served as president of the ‘Punjab muslim Students Federation’ wing of the muslim League. His role as student leader and journalist led him to become closer to muhammad ali Jinnah. after attaining master’s degree in journalism, he joined the press directorate of the Punjab government for a short time before joining the literary staff of the Orient Press.

In 1940, Nizami left the Orient Press to establish the Nawa-i-Waqt newspaper.

He became the newspaper’s first editor-in-chief from Lahore on 23 march 1940. The Nawa-iWaqt was a monthly newspaper but he quickly converted the newspaper into weekly on 15 december 1942. after hiring more staff and gaining more credibility, the Nawa-i-Waqt began publishing its articles and news headlines on daily purposes on 19 July 1944. The first edition of the Nawa-i-Waqt came out on 22 July 1944 with a muslim prayer and a message of muhammad ali Jinnah in it.

Nizami’s efforts made Nawa-i-Waqt, with all its resources limitations, a powerful voice of the people for the cause of muslim League and he

penned several articles for the support of Pakistan movement. He was noted as a strong spokesman for democracy in the country, and wrote a harsh column against the first martial law imposed by President Iskander mirza. Through his newspaper, he took hard stance on communism and supported capitalism during the 1950s.

He began to raise his voice against the martial law despite hardship imposed by the government. He once described the martial law as a “dark night”.

Hameed Nizami died on 25 February 1962 in Lahore. His death was mourned throughout the country. after his death, the newspaper founded the “Hameed Nizami memorial Society” (HNmS) dedicated to his style of journalism, and held memorial sessions in remembrance of his name every year. His journalism style was influenced by the renowned philosopher, Iqbal, and he had conveyed Iqbal’s words in articles he wrote. To many politicians, Nizami is noted as a crucial figure in shaping the print media in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan issued a postage stamp in the honour of Hameed Nizami.

THE MAN’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PAKISTAN MOVEMENT

government day. Financial squeeze was a favourite weapon to keep newspapers in line and for close to three years, till the Unionist Government of Khizar Hayat Tiwana fell no government advertisement was

placed for publication with the ‘Nawai-Waqt’. That was despite the fact that the ‘Nawa-i-Waqt’ was neither a party paper nor an official mouthpiece of the muslim League Party which was in opposition to the Unionist party and

Honouring the services of the late Hameed Nizami for the Pakistan Movement and freedom of media, both before and after Indo-Pak Partition in 1947, Pakistan Post issued a stamp after him in its ‘Pioneers of Freedom’ series in 1990.

the Zamindara league.

The same squeeze was applied after independence, too. mian mumtaz daultana, just five days after becoming the Punjab Chief minister tried to coerce the Nawa-i-Waqt to toe the official line. as Hameed Nizami refused to bow down, the government revoked the paper’s declaration Not only that, somebody else was surreptitiously encouraged to publish a propped-up Nawa-i-Waqt. That was open war. Hameed Nizami, to the charging of the government, shot his first volley in reply, by launching his Jihad. When the government tried to throttle Jihad, he responded by catapulting his ‘Nawa-i-Waqt’. at last in June 1952 the government gave up and ‘Nawa-i-Waqt’ made its proud reappearance. This entire affair never dampened the spirit of Hameed Nizami who, a staunch believer in the freedom of the press, brooked no curbs on its independence or censorship of its contents.

Hameed Nizami truly believed that the power of the pen was more lethal than of the gun while dealing with adversaries especially in those days when every muslim worth his salt was involved, one way or the other, in the Pakistan movement. Hameed Nizam used his pen with undeviating resolution and undiminished devotion.

He was straightforward, to the point, with a clear idea of what he was saying or writing about and was fearless in expressing his opinions. That is a trait considered essential for an upright journalist. Ho belonged to that crop of journalists who were born in a period when journalism was taken very seriously and as a profession was held sacrosanct, one in which there could be no middle ground or compromises with principles.

So, when Hameed Nizami took up the cause, he already had some idea what needed to be done; he seemed to have known what Quaid-i-azam desired, for he had been an active member of the Punjab muslim Students Federation and had done a lot to propagate and popularise the programme of the muslim League amongst the muslim masses of Punjab and neighbouring areas. The leading role Hameed Nizami and Nawa-i-Waqt played in the struggle for Pakistan cannot be underestimated. He rejected all ideas that were at cross-purposes to the concept of Pakistan. and those who advanced such mischievous ideas

were countered by Hameed Nizami’s power of the pen. No critic of the need for Pakistan to become a reality was spared and the argument for establishing an independent homeland for muslim was advanced with full force and vigour. Hameed Nizami never reconciled with the politics of opponent of the idea Pakistan. according to him, a subservient press was of no service either to the country or the government. The flatterer kept the leadership unaware of the mind of the people and the real happenings in the country, creating a false sense of security in the rulers who then, unwittingly, could start thinking that the masses were satisfied and happy with their policies.

The present management of Nawa media, which publishes Pakistan Today, one of the most widely read english language dailies, Paperazzi, a lifestyle and fashion magazine, Profit, country’s best business magazine, The Dependent, a satirical publication, and ABC (Arts, Books and Culture), that focuses on country’s arts, books and culture, is carrying on the principles and standards the late Hameed Nizami had prescribed and determined while laying the foundations of the paper.

They are, with care and diligence, keeping the torch alight, which Hameed Nizami lit more than half a century ago.

Hameed Nizami believed in Pakistan as a modern muslim State, a Republic, democratic in polity, following the teachings of Iqbal and the guidelines given by Quaid-i-azam.

He was totally opposed to obscurantist ideas. One of the cardinal points of the policy he set for Nawa-i-Waqt was to completely reject those who had opposed the concept and creation of Pakistan, whether they be so-called old politicians or the newer ones of varying hues or the self-appointed custodians of the faith of contrasting creeds and their followers. In his (Hameed Nizami’s) opinion, nothing good could be expected from people who opposed the Quaid and the creation of Pakistan. He never agreed with their ideas, and neither did he reconcile with anybody putting the rank and file of the common people in straightjacket and directing their politics.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He is a close observer of Hameed Nizami’s life and struggle for Pakistan.

Monday, 24 February, 2020

14 SPORTS

Islamabad UnIted beat lahore Qalandars by 1 wIcket

Inter milan game among three postponed over coronavirus in Italy MILAN AGENCIES

SPORTS DESK Islamabad United defeated Lahore Qalandars by one wicket in their Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 clash at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Sunday.

This is the second victory for Islamabad United in this year's PSL. Muhammad Musa, who could not shine with the ball today despite picking wickets, made up for it as he led his side to victory with a six and two boundaries.

Right off the bat, United landed in hot waters as they lost openers Luke Ronchi (1) and Colin Munro (2) in the first and third over respectively.

Skipper Shadab Khan (52) and

Dawid Malan (22) gave the team some stability until the latter got out in the eighth over. Shadab held the ground and scored a quick half-century off 29 balls. He struck three boundaries and four sixes.

Shaheen Shah Afridi stood out among his peers as he picked 10-3 in his three overs.

LAHORE QALANDARS' INNINGS: Lahore Qalandars had posted 182 runs on the scoreboard with the loss of six wickets largely thanks to an unbeaten 98-run knock by Mohammad Hafeez.

The Qalandars, who lost their first match to Multan Sultans at the same venue on Friday, are looking for their maiden victory in the tournament.

They got off to a fiery start as opener Fakhar Zaman (33) struck a boundary on the very first ball of the innings. Zaman was supported by Chris Lynn (11), who was dismissed

by Musa in the third over.

Lynn was replaced by Mohammad Hafeez, who turned into a run machine for his team, with seven sixes and seven boundaries.

Zaman (33) seemed to be headed towards a bigger score but was bowled by United skipper Shadab Khan in the 11th over. Shadab also dismissed Dane Vilas in the 13th over.

Though the Qalandars lost wickets at regular intervals, the runs never stopped coming mainly due to a con-

sistent Hafeez, who held the fort for the team.

Earlier, Islamabad United had won the toss and elected to field.Islamabad United won their second match of the season against Multan Sultans by 8 wickets yesterday.

SQUADS: Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi, Colin Ingram, Dawid Malan, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Ammad Butt, Ahmed Saifi Abdullah, Musa Khan Lahore Qalandars: Sohail Akhtar (c), Chris Lynn, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Dane Vilas, David Weise, Samit Patel, Mohammad Faizan Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Usman Shinwari.

Sensational Fury crushes Wilder in heavyweight title rematch NEW YORK AGENCIES

Tyson Fury reigns again as a heavyweight world champion after battering Deontay Wilder to a stunning seventh-round stoppage in their World Boxing Council title rematch.

Fourteen months after their dramatic split-decision draw, Britain's Fury dominated the American champion -- who had blood dripping from his left ear and leaking from his mouth when referee Kenny Bayless called a halt as Wilder's corner threw in the towel. "The king has returned to the top of the throne," said Fury, who had dropped Wilder in the third and fifth rounds as he remained unbeaten while handing Wilder the first defeat of his career.

The self-styled "Gypsy King" from northern England -- who was carried to the Las Vegas ring on a golden throne -- had put on a boxing masterclass in their first fight on December 1, 2018, but he was

clearly ready to brawl from the opening bell on Saturday.A massive right from Fury knocked down Wilder in the third leaving him on wobbly legs and although he went down again moments later it was ruled a slip.A huge left to the body had Wilder down again in the fifth, and Fury was raining blows on Wilder when Bayless called a halt at 1:39 of the seventh round after one of Wilder's corner team hurled a white towel into the ring to save him from further punishment.A point deduction in the fifth round for holding was barely a blip for a dominant Fury. Two of the judges had the Briton winning every round, while the third judge gave one round to Wilder.

The 34-year-old American suffered his first defeat in 44 fights, falling to 42-1 with 1 drawn and 41 knockouts. The "Bronze Bomber" was unable to surpass Muhammad Ali's record of 10 successful heavyweight title defenses.

"Even the greatest have lost and come back," Wilder said. "I make no excuses. This is what big-

time boxing is all about."Fury regained a piece of the heavyweight title more than four years after beating Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA, IBF and WBO belts -- and after depression, drink and drug problems had threatened to end his career.

"I just want to say a big shout out to Deontay Wilder," said Fury, who improved his own unbeaten record to 30-0 with one drawn and 21 knockouts. "He manned up. he really did show heart of a champion."I hit him with a clean right hand and dropped him, and he got back up and battled on into round seven."He is a warrior, he will be back, he will be champion again."As the pro-Fury crowd of 15,816 at the MGM Grand cheered, Wilder briefly protested the stoppage.

Title-chasing Inter Milan's clash against Sampdoria on Sunday was one of three Serie A football matches postponed over coronavirus fears in northern Italy. Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona versus Cagliari in the top flight were also pushed back to avoid the spread of the virus with 79 confirmed cases in an outbreak that has claimed two lives in Italy. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced late on Saturday evening that all sporting events in two northern regions would be suspended on Sunday. "Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora intends to suspend all sporting events planned for Sunday in the Veneto and Lombardy regions," said Conte."I am sorry for fans of football and other sports who were planning to go to the matches scheduled tomorrow but citizens need to be responsible." "The Club can confirm that Inter vs. Sampdoria, which was due to take place at 20:45 CET on Sunday 23 February, has been postponed to a later date," Inter tweeted.Third-placed Inter, who lie six points behind Serie A champions Juventus, have a home Europa League match scheduled for Thursday. Saturday saw more than 40 amateur and youth matches in the regions called off because of virus fears.The Serie B game between Ascoli and Cremonese was also postponed.Second-placed Lazio can close to the gap to one point with a win at Genoa on Sunday.But AC Milan missed the chance to move ahead of sixth-placed Napoli into the Europa League places with a 1-1 draw at 10man Fiorentina.Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a goal ruled out in the first half for a handball with Milan also losing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to a foot injury seven minutes after the break allowing Asmir Begovic to come on for his debut.Ante Rebic scored his sixth goal in as many league games in the 56th minute to give Milan the lead.Fiorentina's Dalbert was sent off for a foul on Ibrahimovic, leaving the hosts a man down for the final half an hour. But Erick Pulgar grabbed a point for 13th-placed Fiorentina from the spot with five minutes to go.

Ronaldo marks 1,000th game with record-equalling goal MADRID AGENCIES

Cristiano Ronaldo scored for a recordequalling 11th consecutive Serie A game in his 1,000th professional match as Juventus extended their league lead on Saturday with a 2-1 win over basement club SPAL. The 35-year-old tapped in six minutes before the break to equal the mark held by Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Quagliarella.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored 25 goals in all competitions this season for Juventus, including 16 in his current run of 11 matches.

Aaron Ramsey added a second after an hour, before Andrea Petagna pulled one back from the spot for SPAL, amid

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controversy as the penalty was awarded following a VAR review despite the pitchside monitor not working.

It got Juventus back to winning ways away from home after consecutive defeats against Napoli and Hellas Verona, and ahead of next week's trip to French club Lyon in the Champions League last 16, first leg.

Maurizio Sarri's side opened up a four-point lead on second-placed Lazio who travel to Genoa on Sunday.

Inter Milan are six points behind the champions before their game at home against Sampdoria.

"These were very difficult matches and in the last few years we had never won here," said Sarri.

"The test was to collect the three points, then from tomorrow morning we

will study Lyon thoroughly.

"The goal is the championship. The Champions League is a dream, even if in life it is always nice to achieve dreams."

Ronaldo had an early goal ruled offside but made no mistake when running onto Juan Cuadrado's low cross after Ramsey's ball forward.

The Portuguese forward drew level with Sampdoria forward Quagliarella, who in January 2019 equalled the mark previously achieved by Batistuta in 1994-1995 for Fiorentina.

Both Italian Quagliarella and Argentine Batistuta went on to finish the seasons as the Serie A top scorer after their feat, with both scoring 26 goals in total.

Ronaldo has 21 goals in Serie A this season, five behind leading scorer Ciro Immobile.

Monday, 24 February, 2020

SPORTS 15

AzAm KhAn, mohAmmAd hAsnAin propel QuettA GlAdiAtors to win KARACHI

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uetta Gladiators outgrafted Karachi Kings on Sunday afternoon in a far from glamorous win by five wickets. Imad Wasim became the first captain all year to choose to bat first at the toss, and he may be the last one to do so for some time based on the way his team responded. a stodgy Kings innings was full of fits and starts as four batsmen crossed 20, but none of them were able to reach 30 with Mohammad Hasnain and tymal Mills doing their best to keep the Kings off balance with regular changes of pace.

Yet despite so many nondescript individual efforts, Kings were still able to cobble together 156.

Gladiators nearly bungled what should have been a simple chase thanks to a trio of run-outs, not to mention a trio of other run-out chances that the Kings failed to convert in the field. When azam Khan was the third run-out victim

for 46 to start the 18th, it looked like the door might be left ajar for an unlikely Kings rally in the field as Mohammad Nawaz skied a slower ball to deep midwicket for the fifth wicket a short time later. But after entering at No. 7, anwar ali drove his first ball from Chris Jordan

over mid-off for four, then ended the match three balls later heaving Jordan for six over long-on to clinch victory with an over to spare.

With 34 needed off 24 balls on what had been a difficult wicket to get going for most of the day, Sarfaraz ahmed

flipped a switch, clubbing the first two balls of the 17th over from arshad Iqbal over the midwicket rope for six and four. azam top-edged a hook over fine leg for another boundary two balls later in what turned out to be a 17-run over, the most expensive of the match for either side. It brought the required run rate under a run a ball and despite a brief wobble losing two wickets in the next seven balls, Gladiators held their nerve behind anwar's cool finish. azam Khan's straight driving was superb, accounting for both of his sixes and another of his fours as he top-scored on the day with 46 off 30 balls before being run-out by Mohammad amir on an athletic effort spinning to fire down the stumps at the non-striker's end off his own bowling. He offered several chances but continued to be a thorn in the side of the Kings bowlers as long as he stayed at the crease. alongside Sarfaraz, the pair added 85 for the fourth wicket to navigate Gladiators chase.

Needing 90 off the last 10 overs, the pair made it look relatively comfortable.

So many to choose from in the field as both sides could not capitalise on numerous chances. But arshad Iqbal blew a pair of opportunities to run out azam relatively early in his innings. the first came when azam was on 18 in the 12th over at 80 for 3. after flicking a full-length ball off his pads from arshad to Mohammad amir at short fine leg, Sarfaraz caught azam off guard calling for a tight run. amir's relay to the non-striker's stumps had azam beat by five yards but arshad fumbled the take in the midst of scrambling into position over the stumps.

In arshad's next over in the 14th, Sarfaraz tapped into short midwicket and called for a second run with azam struggling badly trying to come back. though azam practically dropped his bat in desperation trying to stretch for the second, the throw by arshad bounced over the stumps again at the non-striker's end on 28.

Gladiators now top the table on four points after three matches. Kings are locked with three other teams in second place on two points, but are in fifth based on their inferior net run rate.

Bangladesh dominate Zimbabwe as Najmul, Mominul hit ďŹ fties DHAKA

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aJMul Hossain and skipper Mominul Haque hit half-centuries as Bangladesh replied strongly to Zimbabwe in their oneoff test in Dhaka on Sunday.

Najmul made 71 off 139 balls while Mominul was unbeaten on 79 as Bangladesh reached 240-3 at stumps on the second day, trailing Zimbabwe by 25 runs in the first innings.

Pace bowler abu Jayed earlier finished with a career-best 4-71, as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 265 in the opening session, after the visitors resumed on 228-6.

Najmul, who struck seven fours in his fluent innings, led Bangladesh's initial batting charge after Victor Nyauchi removed opener Saif Hasan for eight to give Zimbabwe an early breakthrough. He was involved in partnerships of 78 and 76 runs with tamim Iqbal and Mominul on his way to a maiden test fifty in only his fourth match.

"I think I had the chance to make the innings longer because the wicket was good. Still I would

Jubilee Life Insurance CEO Javed Ahmed presents the Safe Hand of the Match award to Faheem Ashraf after the first match of the HBL PSL 2020.

Tea Bangladesh 120 for 2 (Shanto 55*, Tamim 41, Nyauchi 1-21) say apart trail Zimbabwe 265 from the out, I bat(Ervine 107, Nayeem ted well as 4-70, Jayed 4-71) long I was at the crease," by 145 runs said Najmul. tamim made 41 runs before he edged Donald tiripano to wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva. Debutant Charlton tshuma dismissed Najmul for his maiden test wicket as Chakabva claimed a third catch behind the stumps. Mominul, who hit nine fours, and Mushfiqur saw off the day

de Kock shines for south Africa despite slow pitch without further damage as they shared 68 runs in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand.Mushfiqur, who returned to the side after skipping the previous test against Pakistan, remained unbeaten on 32. Zimbabwe captain Craig ervine said they were let down by their bowling.

"We didn’t hit the good areas consistently enough. Obviously tomorrow we will like to come back strongly and break the partnership as early as possible," he said.

Zimbabwe earlier added 37 runs to their overnight score before Jayed and left-arm spinner taijul Islam

wrapped up their innings.

Jayed dismissed overnight batsman tiripano for eight when he nicked an edge to wicketkeeper liton Das in the seventh over. the same bowler trapped ainsley Ndlovu leg before for a duck in his next over. taijul had Charlton tshuma for a duck before he dismissed the other overnight batsman Regis Chakabva for 30 to end with 2-90.

Skipper Craig ervine was the mainstay of Zimbabwe's innings with 107, while off-spinner Nayeem Hasan nabbed 4-70 for Bangladesh.

CAPE TOWN: Captain Quinton de Kock slammed 70 off 47 balls but South africa were restricted to 158 for four in the second twenty20 international against australia at St George's Park on Sunday.De Kock got South africa off to a blazing start as they set out to recover from a record 107-run defeat in the first match in Johannesburg on Friday. He hit two sixes in the second over, bowled by Pat Cummins, and raced to 50 off 31 balls.

South africa scored 59 runs in the six-over powerplay but scoring proved increasingly difficult on a slow pitch with low bounce as the ball lost its shine and hardness.

De Kock also appeared to become frustrated as he tried to maintain his scoring rate before he was caught at long-off by Mitchell Starc off leg-spinner adam Zampa.

He hit five fours and four sixes. Rassie van der Dussen made 37 off 26 balls but South africa could score only 36 runs off the last five overs. Seamer Kane Richardson was australia's best bowler, taking two wickets and only conceding 21 runs in his four overs. AGENCIES

New Zealand end day three still in the lead and in charge in Wellington WELLINGTON AGENCIES

New Zealand wrested back control of the Basin Reserve test by adding 123 for their last three wickets and then prising out four wickets with excellent plans and execution on a dying surface. Missing Neil Wagner's tireless short-pitched bowling (he's away on paternity leave), the others - trent Boult in particular found a way to create an acceptable impression. they still have work to do to avoid being set a disconcerting target, but they would believe they have done a large chunk of that work on the third day, ending it still 39 ahead. after his four-wicket haul with the ball, Jamieson ended up with the highest score for a debuting No. 9 for New Zealand: 44, off just 45 balls. If Jamieson left some exposed wounds, a dancing comedy act of a 24-ball 38, complete with sound effects, from trent Boult, sprinkled salt on them. However, it was de Grandhomme's solid batting that was critical to

their 183-run first-innings lead after having started the day 51 ahead.

Jamieson displayed excellent balance at the wicket, and an organised technique to play both off the front and back foot. With Shami still struggling to find consistent lengths, New Zealand raced away against the new ball. Shami conceded 25 in his five overs, three of those with the new ball.

With the wind direction switching, R ashwin had to bowl from his less preferred end, and Jamieson celebrated that with two slogged sixes. ashwin's experience eventually prevailed with his around-the-wicket angle bringing a sliced shot, followed by de Grandhomme's wicket caught down the leg side, but the damage had already been done. and, also, Boult wasn't done.

Boult hardly played a ball standing still. He backed away, he shuffled across, but he middled almost every hit, flat-batting a short ball through mid-off, crunching a drive, lofting ashwin, steering, pulling, nudging. after almost every ball

he made a sound, depending on how well he had played it or if the bowler had managed to surprise him. In the 38-run lastwicket stand, ajaz Patel scored no run. eventually Sharma switched to around the wicket to get Boult with a bouncer to end up with a five-for in a match doctors initially didn't give him a chance to play.

Post tea, Southee put his hand up for the big effort. He went around the wicket, and kept bouncing agarwal and Virat Kohli. Just like Wagner, he slipped in the sucker ball, which agarwal nicked down the leg side. He asked for it to be reviewed with one second to go on the DRS clock, contending the bat had hit the ground, but Snicko showed a spike just as the ball passed the bat.

Boult came back to get the big scalp of Kohli, who played an innings in which it didn't appear he was as switched on he usually is. Regular

India 165 and 144 for 4 (Agarwal 58, Boult 3-27) trail New Zealand 348 (Williamson 89, uppish drives, Taylor 44, Jamieson 44, bano u n dedged ary Sharma 5-68, Ashwin through slips, eventu3-99) by 39 runs allyandthethen top edge on

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the hook all went

against what the team needed at that hour. ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari then frustrated New Zealand with an unbroken partnership of 19.4 overs, which showed it was possible for batsmen to dig in.the new ball was 15 overs away at stumps.

Monday, 24 February, 2020

NEWS

Amid disquAlificATions And coronAvirus cAses, conservATives clAim vicTory in irAn poll COUNTRY REGISTERS LOWEST VOTER TURNOUT SINCE 1979 TEHRAN

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RAN’s conservatives claimed victory Sunday in a general election marked by the lowest turnout since the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid public anger against the government, an economic downturn and the disqualification of half the candidates.

A conservative resurgence would heap pressure on beleaguered President Hassan Rouhani and signal a shift from four years ago when reformists and moderates won a slender majority in parliament.

The interior ministry announced results of 95 per cent of the 208 constituencies in Friday’s election, declaring the names of the winning candidates but without specifying their political affiliation.

“Victory for the anti-American candidates, a new slap for Trump,” crowed the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper.

“The people have disqualified the reformists,” it added, alluding to Rouhani’s backers, who have been weakened by President Donald Trump pulling the

Trump confirms he will sign peace deal with Taliban WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he would sign a peace deal with the Taliban if one were eventually reached in Afghanistan. “Yes,” he told reporters at the White House as he prepared to depart on a trip to India. “I would put my name on it.” His comments came after a partial truce took effect in Afghanistan on Saturday, with the Taliban, US, and Afghan forces agreeing to a week-long “reduction in violence.” The truce was intended to set conditions for Washington and the insurgents to sign a deal in Doha on February 29 that could ultimately lead to a withdrawal of US forces after more than 18 years. Trump was not specific about what document he would be willing to sign but said decisions were contingent on progress during the initial truce.

United States out of a landmark nuclear deal and by a slew of economic and political crises.

Seventeen women were elected, the website of the government newspaper Iran said — the same number as in the outgoing 290-seat parliament.

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli announced the participation rate was 42.6pc — the lowest in four decades.

The election came two days after Iran announced its first cases of the deadly new coronavirus that emerged in China.

“We held these elections when there were various incidents in the country: we had bad weather, there was

this coronavirus disease, there was the plane crash,” Rahmani Fazli said, referring to the January 3 downing of a Ukrainian airliner which killed 176 people.

He said that in such a scenario “the turnout rate seems perfectly acceptable for us”. A low participation had been widely forecast, as a conservative-dominated electoral watchdog disqualified about half of the 16,000odd candidates, mostly moderates and reformists.

The Fars news agency said a second round would be held in at least 11 constituencies. One woman candidate has qualified for the second round, Iran newspaper added.

Voter apathy marked the polls, but Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lauded the people’s “huge participation” despite what he termed “negative propaganda” by foreign media.

It “began a few months ago and grew larger approaching the election and in the past two days, under the pretext of this illness,” he said.

“Their media did not miss the slightest opportunity to discourage people from voting. [Our enemies] are even opposed to any election by the Iranian people,” the leader added.

Iran on Sunday reported three new coronavirus deaths, taking its toll to eight — the highest in any country outside China. It said there were 43 COVID19 virus infections nationwide.

Trump departs for quick trip to India to see big crowds WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump departed on Sunday on a quick trip to India, where he is to see crowds so large that they will make the much-ballyhooed turnout for his campaign rallies pale in comparison.

With a travel time of 17 hours, Trump and his wife, Melania, were headed first to Germany for a refueling stop at Ramstein military base before heading on to Ahmedabad, India, which is the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown.

There, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather to greet Trump on Monday for a roadshow leading to a rally in a cricket stadium with a capacity of over 100,000. Trump routinely gets the biggest crowds of any candidate in the U.S. presidential race, ranging up to 20,000 or so, and he has been grudgingly admiring of Modi’s ability to get a bigger crowd than him.

“Here’s my problem,” Trump told a large crowd of supporters in an arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, last week. “We have a packed house. We have thousands of people who couldn’t get in. It’s going to look like peanuts from now on.”

It will be a larger version of the “Howdy Modi” rally that they jointly appeared at in Houston to a jubilant crowd of 50,000 Indian Americans last year, where Trump likened Modi to Elvis Presley for his crowdpulling power.

After addressing the stadium crowd, Trump and his entourage will travel to Agra for a picturesque to visit the Taj Mahal. Then it will be on to New Delhi, where

he and Modi are to have a day of talks and attend an evening banquet on Tuesday. The Trumps get back to Washington on Wednesday.

Consumed with trying to win re-election on Nov. 3, Trump’s travel this week will likely be one of his few foreign trips.

After concluding trade deals with China and Canada and Mexico, Trump would like to reach a similar agreement with India to open more markets for American goods, but progress has been slow and Trump in recent days has said such a pact is more likely after the U.S. election.

India and the United States have hit each other with retaliatory tariffs. Over the past month they have engaged in intense negotiations to produce a mini-trade deal, but officials in both countries say it remains elusive.

The two sides have been arguing over U.S. demands for access to India’s huge poultry and dairy markets, Indian price controls on medical devices such as stents and stringent local data storage rules that U.S. technology firms say will raise the costs of doing business.

Modi’s government has sought restoration of trade concessions that Trump withdrew in 2019 and greater access to U.S. markets for its pharmaceutical and farm products.

U.S. officials say Trump will raise the sensitive subject of religious freedom during his meetings.

Modi’s government has faced protests at home and criticism abroad for enacting a citizenship law that is seen as discriminating against Muslims. AGENCIES

9 people killed in 5.7 magnitude earthquake on Turkey-iran border ANKARA AGENCIES

Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu said on Sunday that seven people including three children were killed in eastern Turkey after a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit neighbouring Iran, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The health ministry later confirmed that two more people have died bringing the total number of people killed to nine. It also said that 37 people have been injured, including nine who are in critical condition. The effects of the quake hit four villages in the Van province. “Seven of the fatalities occurred in Ozpinar village, where search and rescue teams have arrived,” said Soylu. He added that the quake caused 1,066 buildings to collapse while the education ministry said a number of schools were damaged. “No one remains trapped under fallen buildings,” said Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez. The health minister fahrettin Koca said that 25 ambulances, a medical helicopter and 13 emergency teams have been sent to the region. The Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said 144 tents for families have been dispatched. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 9:23 am, was near the Iranian village of Habash-e Olya, less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border, according to the United States Geological Survey. The province was struck earlier this month by two avalanches that resulted in the deaths of 41 people. Meanwhile, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported that the earthquake affected 43 villages in the mountainous Qotour area. The report further said that some residents were injured but did not mention their condition.

Bernie Sanders wins Nevada caucuses, takes national Democratic lead LAS VEGAS AGENCIES

Bernie Sanders scored a commanding victory in Nevada’s presidential caucuses, cementing his status as the Democrats’ national front-runner but escalating tensions over whether he’s too liberal to defeat President Donald Trump.

As Sanders celebrated on Saturday night, Joe Biden was in second place with votes still being counted. Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren trailed further behind. They were all seeking any possible momentum heading into next-up South Carolina and then Super Tuesday on March 3.

Nevada’s caucuses were the first chance for White House hopefuls to demonstrate appeal to a diverse group of voters in a state far more representative of the country as a whole than Iowa and New Hampshire. Sanders, a 78-year-old Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist, won by rallying his fiercely loyal base and tapping into support from Nevada’s large Latino community.

In a show of confidence, Sanders left Nevada for Texas, which offers one of the biggest delegate troves in just 10 days on Super Tuesday (an early election day in the country when the greatest number of US states hold primary elections and caucuses).

“We are bringing our people together,” he declared. “In Nevada, we have just brought together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition which is not only

going to win in Nevada, it’s going to sweep this country.”

Saturday’s win built on Sanders’ victory earlier this month in the New Hampshire primary. He essentially tied for first place in the Iowa caucuses with Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has sought to position himself as an ideological counter to Sanders’ unabashedly progressive politics.

But for all the energy and attention devoted to the first three states, they award only a tiny fraction of the delegates needed to capture the nomination. After South Carolina, the contest becomes national in scope, putting a premium on candidates who have the resources to compete in states as large as California and Texas.

While Sanders’ victory in Nevada encouraged his supporters, it only deepened concern among establishment-minded Democratic leaders who fear he is too extreme to defeat Trump. Sanders for decades has been calling for transformative policies to address inequities in politics and the economy, none bigger than his signature “Medicare for All” healthcare plan that would replace the private insurance system with a government-run universal programme.

Trump gloated on social media, continuing his weeks-long push to sow discord between Sanders and his Democratic rivals.

“Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada. Biden & the rest look weak,” Trump tweeted.

“Congratulations Bernie, & don’t let them take it away from you!”

Buttigieg congratulated Sanders, too, but then launched an aggressive verbal assault on the senator as too divisive.

“Before we rush to nominate Senator Sanders in our one shot to take on this president, let’s take a sober look at what is at stake for our party, for our values and for those with so much to lose,” he said.

“Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans.”

For Biden, a second-place finish in Nevada could be the lifeline he needed to convince sceptics he still has a path to the nomination as the primary moves to more diverse states. He took aim at Sanders and

billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who wasn’t on the Nevada ballot, but has emerged as a threat to Biden in contests that begin next month.

“I ain’t a socialist. I’m not a plutocrat.

I’m a Democrat,” Biden declared.

Warren, who desperately needed a spark to revive her stalled bid, ignored Sanders and instead took a shot at Bloomberg’s height as she thanked Nevada “for keeping me in the fight.”

Rallying supporters in Seattle, she said she wanted to talk about “a big threat — not a tall one, but a big one: Michael Bloomberg”.

Also still in the fight: Billionaire Tom Steyer, who spent more than $12 million on Nevada television and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who hoped to prove her

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

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strong New Hampshire finish was no fluke.

Klobuchar, campaigning in her home state of Minnesota Saturday night, claimed Nevada success no matter her poor showing.

“As usual I think we have exceeded expectations,” she said.

The first presidential contest in the American west tested the candidates’ strength with black and Latino voters for the first time in 2020. Nevada’s population aligns more with the US as a whole, compared with Iowa and New Hampshire: 29 per cent Latino, 10pc black and 9pc Asian American and Pacific Islander.

Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who dominated the political conversation this week after a poor debatestage debut, wasn’t on the ballot. He’s betting everything on a series of delegaterich states that begin voting next month.

The stakes were high for Nevada Democrats to avoid a repeat of the chaos in the still-unresolved Iowa caucuses, and it appeared Saturday’s contest was largely successful. Unlike state primaries and the November election, which are run by government officials, caucuses are overseen by state parties.

Nevada Democrats sought to minimise problems by creating multiple redundancies in their reporting system, relying on results called in by phone, a paper worksheet filled out by caucus organisers, a photo of that worksheet sent in by text message and electronic results captured with a Google form.