E-Paper PDF 27th December (KHI)

CMYK

Friday, 27 December, 2019 I 29 Rabi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 17.00 I Vol X No 177 I 16 Pages I Karachi Edition

Govt seeks review of Gen Bajwa extension case g

Petitioners calls uPon toP court to form larger BencH in ligHt of ‘glaring omissions and Patent mistakes’

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Plea says judiciary can’t direct Parliament to convert ‘convention into codified law’, as it can only interfere in legislative domain to avert illegalities

ISLAMABAD

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staff report

he government on Thursday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, asking the apex court to form a larger bench to reconsider its decision in the army chief extension as the ruling contained “legal and constitutional flaws”.

This development comes a month after the SC granted the government six months to legislate on the matter if it wanted Gen Bajwa to continue as the chief of the army staff.

The petitioners, including the army chief and the prime minister, reportedly requested the court for a larger bench and sought in-camera hearing of the case as well.

Speaking to the media earlier in the day, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the government’s legal team reviewed all aspects of the court’s decision thoroughly and concluded that there were several “legal gaps in the verdict”.

“There are flaws in the verdict, and legal and constitutional faults surfaced in the decision. With due respect to the judiciary, the government wants rectification of the faults and has thus decided to file the review petition. The review petition is being filed ultimately in the higher public interest,” she added.

The PM aide also said that despite the review petition, the option to legislate on the matter through the parliament would remain intact.

She further said that the media would be briefed on the matter extensively by Law Minister Farogh Naseem.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed said that all political parties were on the same page regarding the extension in the tenure of the army chief. Addressing the media in Karachi, he said, “The army chief’s issue is not problematic. everyone is unanimous on his extension. All parties are on board [with the federal government].”

‘LEGAL FLAWS’: The petition, “filed in the interest of public good”, questioned the legal aspects of the judgement. “The impugned judge-

ment is bad in law and facts. The same is completely without jurisdiction, void ab initio and of no legal effect,” it stated.

“The order suffers from material irregularities which have converted the process from being one in aid of justice to a process of injustice,” it stated, adding that the court had “completely overlooked” the laws laid out in the constitution as well as “vital laws”.

“It is respectfully pointed out that glaring omissions and patent mistakes have crept into the Impugned Judgment, violating the law and the Constitution,” it added.

The petitioner “with the highest respect” insisted that the judgement by the top court is “patently erroneous” and that the errors are “floating on the face of the record”.

“The enemies of Pakistan were extremely happy when they thought that General Bajwa’s extension or re-appointment had fallen into jeopardy,” the petition stated, adding, “Pakistan

is undergoing a 5th generation war.”

“Very recently, the Pulwama incident bears testimony to the preparedness of our armed forces under the able captaincy of General Bajwa, who on his proactive initiative has also mustered healthy military international relations and support for Pakistan,” it said.

“The war on terror is not over. The wounds from the APS incident are not forgotten,” the petition reflected, adding, “The preservation of two leading institutions of the state i.e. the Armed Forces and the Superior Judiciary are necessary concomitants to a healthy democracy, rule of law and safety and security against internal and external aggression.”

“The enemies of the state, now for a number of years have ganged up to destabilise Pakistan,” it added.

“General Bajwa’s contribution to take vital steps so as to facilitate safety and security in the country, will go down in history. The pulse of the people at large is that General Bajwa’s re-appointment has been warmly welcomed. There were seminars and processions in favour of General Bajwa’s re-appointment, from which the pulse of the public opinion can be appreciated,” said the petition, adding, “In the present times, it was most appropriate to re-appoint General Bajwa, who himself never sought a re-appointment.”

“The court could not interfere in the legislative domain or equip itself with the function of a parallel legislative authority. It is respectfully pointed out that the direction to the legislature could only be given by the courts so as to avert a situation of unconstitutionality or illegality.

No judicial directions to the legislature could be given so as to convert a convention into codified law,” it added.

The review petition also revealed that on November 25, the respondent mala fidely preferred a direct Petition No.39 of 2019 before the apex court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, challenging the appointment of General Bajwa as the army chief for a second term of three years, commencing from November 29, 2019 to November 29, 2022.

PPP all-set for Liaquat Bagh jalsa g

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

ARSHAD MALIK CASE

fia raids Pml-n’s lahore secretariat g

Pml-n to Hold Protest against raid, calls it Product of imran kHan’s ‘fascist mindset’ STORY ON PAGE 02

LHC finds 'visible lapses' in case against Sanaullah g

court says Political victimisation cannot Be overlooked as it’s an ‘oPen secret’ in Pakistan

sanaullah says case ‘baseless’ STORIES ON PAGE 02

Imran says army ready for any Indian misadventure

2 soldiers martyred in loc firing STORIES ON PAGE 03

Saudi FM meets PM Imran, Qureshi on one-day trip

lHc tells Police, leas to ensure security of Bilawal and ParticiPants

STORY ON PAGE 03

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan People's Party (PPP)’s Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman inspects the venue for the party’s upcoming public gathering on December 27 on the eve of 12th death anniversary of former premier Benazir Bhutto. online

STORY ON BACK PAGE

nePra approves rs1.56 per unit hike in power tariff STORY ON PAGE 11

LAHORE: An annular solar eclipse which was said to be the last big celestial event of the year as it comes to an end, descended upon parts of Pakistan on Thursday morning.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

02 NEWS

Fia raidS Pml-n Secretariat, SeizeS hard drive LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

HE Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday conducted a raid on the central secretariat of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in Model Town in connection with former accountability court judge Arshad Malik’s video case, prompting strong condemnations from the erstwhile ruling party.

The purpose of the raid was “to confiscate material related to the case”, a source said. According to PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar, a four-member FIA team, including a woman officer,

were allowed inside the building after they showed warrants. The party, however, had no prior information about the raid, he added. He said that the FIA seized a computer hard drive which contained data related to the party’s internal matters.

Tarrar further said that the government had been provided with the “original video” by Nasir Butt, the man in whom Malik had allegedly confided, but no forensic examination had been carried out.

“Now you can examine the material you (FIA) have confiscated today,” he said.

“Even the Supreme Court said that Arshad Malik had disgraced the judiciary […] How much has he been interrogated that now raids are being conducted at our

Shehbaz, family ask court to unfreeze properties LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his family on Thursday approached an accountability court in Lahore against a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) move to attach their properties. The opposition leader’s wife Nusrat Shehbaz and son Hamza Shehbaz moved an application challenging the court verdict in regard to freezing of their assets. Both applicants filed the application through their lawyers, which has been fixed for hearing on Jan 3. They state that the decision to freeze their properties is incorrect and request the court to order the authorities concerned to unfreeze their assets. INP

govt seeks review of gen bajwa extension case COntinuEd fROm pAgE 01 The petition stated that the “appointment of the COAS was strictly in accordance with the settled departmental practice followed for seven decades or so”.

“If one would look into the parliamentary debates or otherwise, which would make it rather clear that intentionally and deliberately the matter of the appointment or extension of the COAS was left at the discretion of the prime minister/president.”

THE CASE: In an unprecedented move, the apex court, last month, had suspended the notification of a three-year extension in the tenure of COAS Bajwa on the account of the summary being “not correct”.

The three-member SC bench, headed by the then chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa, had directed the parliament to legislate on the extension/reappointment of an army chief within six months, after noting that there were no clear laws or rules on the matter.

The court, after grilling the attorney general for three days over the matter, had decided that General Bajwa would remain COAS during the six-month period in which the parliament would draft laws regarding the extension and appointment of an army chief.

“We would like to emphasise that this crucial matter of the tenure of COAS and its extension, which has a somewhat chequered history, is before the Parliament, to fix for all times to come,” wrote Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, a member of the three-judge bench which heard the case, in the court’s 43-page judgment.

“It is now for the people of Pakistan and their chosen representatives in the parliament to come up with a law that will provide certainty and predictability to the post of COAS, remembering that in strengthening institutions, nations prosper,” the court had noted.

party secretariat and we are being issued notices?” he asked.

“This is Imran Khan Niazi’s fascism and a machination of his vengeance,” Tarar added, alleging that the newly appointed director-general of the FIA, Wajid Zia, has “an anti-PML-N mindset”.

In addition, the FIA also summoned several PML-N leaders for inquiry in the case. The agency asked Tarrar to appear before it on Thursday, whereas former information minister Parvaiz Rashid and Uzma Bukhari were also issued summons to appear before the agency on December 30.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyam Aurungzeb also condemned the raid on the party’s central secretariat in a strongly-

worded statement.

In a statement, she said the party has decided to register an FIR of dacoity against Wajid Zia. She said this illegal raid by FIA has proved that everything ex-FIA DG Bashir Ahmed Memon said in a news report was true to the last word.

This also proved that the video of Judge Malik was absolutely authentic and he sentenced Nawaz Sharif under pressure. This raid, Marriyum said, was done on the orders of Imran Khan. Just because this imposed regime of the selected Prime Minister could not find a single evidence of corruption, he has now stooped down further to use FIA to harass and pressurize PML-N.

The former Information Minister said that the ex-DG had refused to become an instrument of Imran Khan’s political victimization after which the infamous ‘gems from the JIT’ were once again called to rip up the constitution, law and order of the republic to pieces, she said.

Such acts of shallow and petty hooliganism cannot deter PML-N, she said, adding the biggest culprit of misuse of authority Imran has now corrupted another institution after NAB. A video of Judge Arshad Malik was leaked by the PML-N in a press conference in which the former judge was seen admitting that he was blackmailed to give a verdict against PML-N’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

LHC finds ‘visible lapses’ in case against Sanaullah LAHORE STAFF REPORT

In the detailed court order which granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan in the narcotics case against him, the Lahore High Court (LHC) noticed “visible lapses in the prosecution case”.

Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmad, who authored the court, declared that the “guilt of the petitioner (Sanaullah) needs further probe and his case calls for further inquiry”. Former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah was granted bail on Tuesday six months after his arrest in July. A detailed order in this regard was released earlier today.

According to the verdict: “Lapses in the prosecution case noted above are visible on surface of record like non-preparation of recovery memos at the place of recovery, non-investigation regarding involvement of petitioner in running a network of smuggling of narcotics and sending only 20 grams of contraband out of the total quantity of 15 kilograms heroin allegedly recovered from possession of petitioner do indicate prima facie that guilt of the petitioner needs further probe and his case calls for further inquiry.” Additionally, the judge noted that other co-accused in the case were granted post-arrest bail by the trial court, an order which was not appealed by the prosecution. The LHC also disposed of the ANF’s special prosecutor’s objections to the maintainability of the petition. The judge recounted the events of the PML-N Punjab president’s arrest based on the contents of the First Information Report (FIR) and other material available on the record.

As per the written order, the 21-member raiding party was constituted after receiving information about the arrival of Sanaullah at Ravi Toll Plaza in Lahore. Sanaullah, along with his gunmen (five in number), were stopped at the toll plaza and all of them were disarmed by the raiding party.

Most strikingly, the LHC in its order said that at the place of recovery, no recovery memo regarding the allegedly recovered narcotics was prepared, rather the accused and the case property was taken to the police station where the necessary documentation was carried out. “It is mentioned in FIR that gunmen of the petitioner started grappling with

members of raiding party in order to rescue the petitioner forcibly but they were overpowered and disarmed,” the order stated, adding: “Thereafter a suitcase was found lying in the vehicle and on weighing, it came to 21.5 kg but said suitcase along with petitioner and his gunmen, as well as vehicles, was brought at Police Station, Regional Directorate ANF Lahore and proceedings were conducted at said police station including preparation of recovering memos and sealed parcels etc.” Additionally, the order noted that the sample parcel of 20 grams of the 15kg of ‘heroin’ was prepared for sending to the office of the chemical examiner.

“Explanation furnished regarding non-preparation of documents at the place of recovery was that people passing in their vehicles started gathering at Ravi Toll Plaza, Lahore, due to which accused as well as case property along with vehicles were brought to police station,” the order stated, adding that in the presence of the raiding party there was “hardly an occasion” not to conduct proceedings at the place of recovery. “So [the] explanation furnished for not conducting proceedings at the spot was neither plausible nor convincing,” Justice Ahmad added. Justice Ahmad said that when the accused were produced before the court the next day, the investigating officer had made no request for physical remand in order to investigate them about the network allegedly operating under the supervision of the present petitioner (Sanaullah). “[… ] Indicates that the investigating agency was not interested in unearthing the activities of the petitioner regarding smuggling of narcotics,” the judge stated.

Regarding the claim that the case was registered because the petitioner is a vocal member of an opposition party, the judge said: “Though such argument at bail stage is not attached much weight for the reason that deeper appreciation at the stage of bail is not permissible nor desirable. “However, in the context of [the] petitioner being a vocal political leader of [an] opposition party, this aspect of the case could not be ignored as political victimisation in our country is an open secret.” The written order stated that the seriousness of an allegation is not grounds for the refusal of bail if “on merits, it is found that prosecution’s case is doubtful as a benefit of the doubt always goes to the accused even at bail stage”.

Sanaullah diSmiSSeS drug caSe againSt him aS ‘baSeleSS’ Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah on Thursday dismissed the drugs trafficking case against him as “baseless” and “the worst political victimisation in the country’s history”.

Addressing a press conference after his release on bail, the former Punjab law minister said, “This was a complete lie and a fraud. It was a baseless case. This drama had been staged to damage the party’s reputation.” He claimed that the government authorities, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, knew that the case against him was fake but continued to carry out “victimisation” in order to silence the opposition. He asked why the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had been unable to arrest any member of the international drug network that he was alleged to be a part of in the past six months. “I hold the word of Allah as witness to profess that I have never consumed heroin even once in my life,” he said, adding that he had never used his influence for any drug peddler to be given any concession in his decades-long political career. “And if I am telling the truth, then may God’s wrath be upon the people who carried out this oppression and concocted this fake case against me,” he further said. The PML-N Punjab president said if the intention of those who instituted the case against him was to deter him from supporting his party then “certainly on July 1, I was standing a 100 per cent with my party; today I am standing 1,000 per cent with my party and leader Nawaz Sharif”. He announced that he will demand in the National Assembly and at other forums that a judicial inquiry of his case be conducted. NEWS DESK

NAB barred from arresting PML-N lawmaker without prior notice LAHORE STAFF REPORT

A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Thursday barred the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Mian Javed Latif without prior notice.

The bench headed by Justice Muhammad Tariq Abbasi passed the orders while disposing of a petition filed by the MNA against his possible arrest. In a petition filed through his counsel, Latif recalled that the anticorruption watchdog has launched a probe against him on allegations of amassing wealth through illegal means and observed that NAB Lahore had already wrapped up an asset inquiry against him.

“I am being subjected to vengeance over my connection with the PML-N,” he claimed, pleading to restrain NAB from arresting him in connection with the case. A twojudge bench, headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi, disposed of the petition, directing the corruption watchdog to inform it in advance about whether it wants to arrest the petitioner.

It is pertinent to mention here that NAB, on December 24, had

summoned Javed Latif to appear on 1st January for questioning in a case pertaining to an inquiry about assets beyond means of income. He has reportedly been summoned again for providing an incomplete record with regard to the inquiry whereas his brothers Mian Anwar Latif, Mian Munawar Latif, and Mian Amjad Latif are to appear before the NAB Lahore bureau and their mother Wilayat Latif is expected to fill out a questionnaire sent to her. The accountability bureau has also summoned Mian Akhtar Latif and Javed Latif’s son Ahsan Latif.

The bureau had earlier twice issued call-up notices to seven persons including Javed Latif. According to NAB sources, the first notice was served on them on December 12, while the second notice on December 18. Javed Latif submitted a reply on behalf of all seven members of the family on Dec 23.

The head of the combined investigation team of the accountability watchdog directed him to submit other documents for inquiry at the next hearing on Jan 1st. It was reported on Dec 8 that NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal directed the bureau’s Lahore chapter under Section 34(a) of

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the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, to hold an inquiry into the allegations and submit a final report. Following the directives, the NAB Lahore had constituted an eight-member combined investigation team (CIT) to probe the alleged misuse of authority under Section 9 (a) of NAO and Section 3 of the AntiMoney Laundering Act, 2010.

Reportedly, NAB Lahore has so far been investigating the source of funds used to buy six CNG (compressed natural gas) and petrol stations in Sheikhupura and Sargodha, one paper mills in Sheikhupura, one plaza and houses constructed on a half-an-acre land and two flour mills in Sheikhupura which, on paper, are owned by his mother Walait Latif.

According to reports, Latif’s mother also owned his dera and a building [rented out to APNA Bank], which had been constructed on a land measuring two kanals and 17 marlas near Sharqpur Chowk in Sheikhupura city.

According to APP, Javed Latif’s mother and brothers — Anwar Latif, Munawar Latif and Akhtar Latif — also owned two brick kilns spreading over 20 acres in Kot Ranjeet, Sheikhupura district. The CIT will also investigate the source of funds used to buy a 136-kanal agricultural land in Mouza Hiran Minar, Sheikhupura, in the name of his brothers Amjad Latif and Anwar Latif. Earlier in August, an Anti-Corruption Establishment government team retrieved government-owned land measuring 30 kanals and 15-marla worth around Rs125 million which was encroached by his paper mills.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

imran SayS army ready For any indian miSadventure in aJK PRIME MINISTER SAYS CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF ASSURED HIM THAT ARMY IS ‘READY FOR INDIA’

IMRAN KHAN ASSURES PEOPLE THAT 2020 WILL BE THE YEAR OF PROGRESS

pind dAdAn KHAn

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STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that Pakistan Army is ready to respond to any misadventure by Indian forces in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to divert the world’s attention from the crisis that emerged in India in the aftermath of anti-Muslim laws introduced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a party rally in Pind Dadan Khan, hours after Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in Indian ceasefire violations along the restive Line of Control (LoC) in Dewa sector, the prime minister extended condolences to the families of the martyrs, and said that violence at the border is not occurring in isolation. He said that Modi was responsible for massacring thousands in Gujarat and for the injuries inflicted upon Kashmiris in the occupied valley through pallet guns.

He slammed Indian government for virtually imprisoned eight million residents of Indian-occupied Kashmir after revoking the region’s special autonomy and has now introduced two laws — the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens — which have attracted large-scale protests for being against India’s 200 million Muslims.

“I am telling you now, he will use this [protests in India] to do something in AJK,” said the prime minister. “I informed Chief of Army Staff (COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa about this and he told me that Pakistan Army is ready for India,” he added.

“I want you to listen to my prediction. The people of India will stand up against Modi. Not only

Muslims but Hindus, Sikhs and Christians,” he said, adding that “they know that what he is about to do in India is the same what Hitler did 60-70 years ago against the Jews.” Speaking about the country’s economy, Imran said that 2020 will be the year of progress for Pakistan. He admitted that the current year had proven difficult for the poor but “the next year will be one of progress for Pakistan when jobs will be given to people”.

The prime minister credited his government’s policies for the increase in exports and remittances.

He said that Pakistan had to pay off money that it collected from taxes to international lenders as it had sought heavy loans from them. “In 2019, we stabilised our economy,” he said, adding that “God willing, 2020 will be the year when prosperity will come to Pakistan”. He lashed out at political opponents for wasting Pakistan’s resources when they were in government. He said that not everyone could bring about reform because “the corrupt mafia stands in your way”.

In Pind Dadan Khan, the prime minister performed the groundbreaking of the Jalalpur Canal Project, which will be completed in a period of four years at a cost of Rs50 billion. The 116-kilometrelong canal, off-taking from Rasul Barrage, is expected to turn around the economy of the rural areas of Jhelum and Khushab.

NEWS

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Saudi Fm meets Pm imran, Qureshi on one-day trip ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud on Thursday held meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his maiden one-day visit to Pakistan. Upon his arrival at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) office, he was received by Qureshi. Both foreign ministers, during a delegation-level meeting, discussed bilateral relations, regional situation and matters of mutual interest. Qureshi thanked Saudi Arabia for supporting Pakistan’s stance on occupied Kashmir and both sides agreed to continue holding bilateral meetings on the issue. The delegation-level talks between the two sides were followed by a one-on-one meeting between Foreign Minister Qureshi and Prince Faisal. Their meeting was followed by the Saudi FM’s call on the PM, which was also attended by Qureshi.

According to reports, the purpose of the trip was to thank Prime Minister Imran for not attending Kuala Lumpur Summit which was held in Malaysia earlier this month. Earlier this month, the prime minister had decided not to attend the KL Summit — which was held in Kuala Lumpur and was attended by leaders of Muslim countries including Iran, Qatar and Turkey as well as religious scholars. STAFF REPORT

bSiP purge irks bilawal

‘Excluded’ people failed to meet BISP criteria: Nishtar

PPP CHIEF ASKS GOVT TO WITHDRAW DECISION, SAYS HE WILL CONTEST IT AT ALL FORA

cember 15. Women could now use biometric ATM and the details of cash withdrawals will be available on our screens. We will encourage women for self-sufficiency, whereas, the stipend is linked with the inflation rate.”

While detailing the Ehsaas undergraduate programme, the special assistant announced the provision of educational scholarships to 50,000 students in a year. She termed it the biggest-ever programme for the educational scholarship of the country. She added that 134 initiatives are being taken under the Ehsaas programme.

KARACHI: The chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on Thursday expressed anger over the government’s decision to expel over 0.8 million people from the database of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

The PPP leader termed the decision as an attack on the process of making poor women empowered. He said the decision shows that the incumbent government is not interested in eradicating poverty from the country.

Bilawal demanded the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) govt to take back its decision and warned that he will take up the issue at every available forum. STAFF REPORT

iSLAmABAd STAFF REPORT

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar on Thursday said that the government has decided to expel 820,165 unmerited people from the database of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Sania Nishtar made the announcement while conducting a press conference during the inauguration ceremony of Ehsaas programme for undergraduate students at Higher Education Com-

mission (HEC). The ceremony was also attended by President Dr Arif Alvi.

“The people who have been expelled from the BISP database over failing to meet the merit. The deserving people had been apportioned after a survey conducted 10 years ago which is seemingly enough to change condition. Unmerited people were being paid since 2011. The government took the decision for restricting government employees to get registered in the programme.”

“The steps are being taken to provide financial aid to the needy people

and a biometric mechanism with the collaboration of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is designed to reach out them. It is decided to expel 820,165 women from the programme.”

“Those having ownership of a car or paying telephone bills up to Rs1000 will be declared ineligible for the programme’s registration. A new ‘Kifalat’ programme will be introduced under BISP for poor women.”

Dr Nishtar said, “We are shifting to a cent per cent digital system as the previous card system expired on De-

Two soldiers martyred in LoC firing RAWALPINDI: Two Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in Indian ceasefire violations in Dewa Sector along the Line of Control (LoC), Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday. In a tweet, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor identified the martyred soldiers as Naib Subedar Kandero and Sepoy Ehsan.

According to ISPR, in response to continuous cross-border ceasefire violations during the past 36 hours, Pakistan troops damaged Indian posts in Haji Pir Sector and killed three Indian soldiers. Additionally, a few had also been injured. Indian and Pakistani troops had been exchanging fire across the restive border, with casualties caused on both sides. On Saturday, the military’s media wing had reported that the Indian army suffered heavy casualties and damage to its posts when the Pakistan Army responded to ceasefire violations from across the dividing line. STAFF REPORT

Obituary It is informed with profound sorrow that Mr. Shamim Haider (PC-369), a regular member of the Punjab Club, passed away to his heavenly abode on Thursday, December 26, 2019 (Inna Lillahe Wa Inna Illehi Rajeoon).

NaMaz-e-JaNaza His Namaz-e-Janaza will be offered on Friday, December 27, 2019 at 11:00 aM at 16-K, Gulberg 2, Lahore.

For CoNDoLeNCe: Dr. Shahida Haider Mr. Shahid Ali Haider (PC-587) Cell: 0300-8477777 Mrs. Sadeyeh Haider Mr. Shehzad Ali Haider (PC-752) Cell: 0300-8420217 Mrs. Anoushe Haider Mrs. Huma Nadeem Mr. Nadeem Shahid Mrs. Ayesha Babar Mrs. Nadeem Babar

AGHA KHALID MEHMOOD (S E C R E T A R Y)

Court to hear Maryam’s ECL plea after vacations LAHORE: A petition filed

by Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, seeking removal of her name from the Exit Control List (ECL) is expected to be heard after the vacation period. The plea was fixed for hearing on Thursday at the Lahore High Court (LHC) by a bench, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannu, but both the judges were on the seasonal winter leave. The PML-N leader, in her petition, had said that the high court had ordered the federal cabinet to decide on removing her name from the ECL but a meeting of the cabinet decided against putting her off of the no-fly list. INP

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04 KARACHI PRAyER TImINgS FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:40

12:21

4:06

7:01

5:42

7:03

CNG stations in Sindh to remain closed for 24 hours KARACHI: Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on Thursday announced that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station will remain closed in Sindh for 24 hours, a local news outlet reported. An SSGC spokesperson said that the decision had been taken due to the shortage of gas, adding that SSGC was facing difficulties to meet the gas demands of domestic consumers. He said that the SSGC’s management is closely monitoring the situation and assured that gas supply to filling stations will be resumed after SSGC gets the required pressure and amount of gas for distribution. Earlier on December 25, the All Pakistan Compressed Natural Gas Association (APCNGA) had announced to defy the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) orders to shutdown fuel stations in Sindh. The two stakeholders were embroiled in the feud after fuel stations in the city witnessed continuous shutdown.

The association had said that the SSGC on Wednesday allowed them to reopen fuel stations but suddenly an email was conveyed to stations at 8:20 pm to close them down.

“We were not informed of the decision on the right time,” an association’s statement had read adding that there was a long queue of vehicles outside the stations. STAFF REPORT

ATC drops terror charge in hit-and-run case against ex-MPA

QUETTA: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Quetta on Thursday dropped terrorism charge against former Balochistan legislator Abdul Majeed Achakzai in a case pertaining to running over and killing a traffic sergeant in 2017. ATC Judge Muneer Mari announced the verdict on a plea filed by Achakzai, seeking deletion of section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act against him.

Accepting the applicant’s request, the judge sent the case to a sessions court for trial.

Achakzai, who is out on bail, was booked for running over and killing traffic subinspector Haji Attaullah on June 20, 2o17 near GPO Chowk in Quetta. Initially, the case was registered against unknown persons, but a video showing his vehicle running over the traffic officer emerged, prompting the police to arrest him. He was then released on bail against a surety bond of Rs5,00,000. According to the police, traffic sergeant Attaullah died after hit by a rashly driven land cruiser while he was performing his duty at the GPO Chowk on Zarghoon Road. Achakzai was later booked in two more cases – one pertaining to a kidnapping registered at the Satellite Town police station back in 2009. It merits mention here that Majeed Achakzai is also a close relative of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai. He was an MPA from the PB-13 constituency in Qilla Abdullah district. STAFF REPORT

Friday, 27 December, 2019

WEATHER UPDATES 0 TUESDAY

28 C

170C

WEDNESDAY

290C

180C

THURSDAY

290C

170C

FRIDAY

280C

170C

CeNTre’S INdIffereNCe TowArdS SINdh IS ruINING eCoNoMy, SAyS MINISTer KARACHI

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INP

INISTER for Industries and Commerce & Cooperative Department Jam Ikramullah Dharejo has said that due to the federal government’s inadequate and inefficient policies, industries in Sindh are suffering from destruction and are asking the federal government for rights and are not begging.

He said this while addressing a joint press conference with representatives and office bearers of industrialists’ organizations here at Karachi Press Club Thursday. Muhammad Javed, Chief Coordinator of Karachi Industrial Forum, Zubair Motiwala, President of the Council of Pakistan Textile Association, Salman Chawla, Islamuddin, Ali Shahid, Nasim Akhtar, Ahmed Chennai and others were also present on the occasion.

Provincial Minister Jam Ikramullah Dharejo further said that Karachi industrialists had been inviting the attention

of federal government that industries were being destroyed due to load shedding of electricity and gas, so it is possible to estimate the situation of the country’s economy and federal ministers on the other hand were making tall claims on economy and it was really a shocking situation. He said, “The Prime

Minister comes to Karachi but he does not have time to listen to the problems of Sindh industrialists. Federal ministers from Karachi have also kept their eyes closed on these issues.”

The minister said that gas stoppages had left millions of homes cold. Thousands of people have become unem-

ployed and are suffering severe mental stress. Sindh Minister for Industries and Commerc & Cooperative Department Jam Ikramuallah Dharejo said that Sindh is providing 70% of gas domestic production and Sindh exports 55% but its legitimate rights are denied.

He said thatdue to the unjust policies of the unqualified government, heavy gas taxes of Rs175 billion have been levied which are unbearable and are destined to destroy industries. Jam Ikramullah Dharejo said that people of Sindh and Sindh are demanding their constitutional and legal rights. He was of the opinion that the Industries were in danger of shutting down if the federation did not provide immediate gas supply to them, Jam Ikramuallah Dharejo said.

The federal government should take the nails to the senses. The federal government and its ministers have to be serious on national issues. Provincial Minister Jam Ikramuallah Dharejo assured the industrialists that Sindh government stands with Sindh industrialists who will be with them whatever happens.

Govt hospitals face shortage of medicines IGP takes notice of cop KARACHI PPI

Sindh Health Department has failed to supply life-saving medicines to public sector hospitals throughout the Sindh province, despite the lapse of almost two quarters of the fiscal year 2019-20.

The health facilities run by the provincial government have been facing acute shortage of life-saving drugs and disposal surgical items for last six months due to lethargy and negligence of Sindh health department bureaucracy.

Patients in Sindh’s major government hospitals, including Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Sindh Government Lyari General Hospital, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, National Institute of Child Health (NICH) and others, are often asked by doctors to purchase the prescribed medicines from their own pocket. Reliable sources in Sindh health department told PPI that the procurement process of life-saving drugs, surgical and disposable items, X-rays films, chemical and allied items through centralized system of drug procurement is in the final phase. The supply of drugs to hospitals is likely to resume within a month, they were optimistic.

However, the government hospitals of Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas,

Shaheed Benazirabad, Shikarpur and other cities and towns are also facing acute shortage of life-saving drugs and other items. Many crucial medicines for patients suffering from chronic diseases are not simply available in majority of the government sector hospitals.

The Sindh Health Department had introduced centralised procurement system in 2014-15 to purchase life-saving drugs for all the hospitals in order to control corruption and kick-back culture and other irregularities in purchasing medicines. Since then, about 85 per cent medicines for all the public hospitals in Sindh are being procured through a centralised system, while remaining 15 per cent through local-purchase system at discretion of hospital administration. Undue delay and complications in the procurements procedure have put lives of many poor patients in danger. Presently, almost all major government hospitals of Sindh are facing acute shortage of life-saving drugs and surgical items.

An official at the CHK told that tender for procurement of medicines and surgical items through central procurement system should have been issued in May or June to avoid this crisis-like situation. He further informed that provision of drugs and surgical items to OPDs and emergency patients on daily basis has become even more difficult.

250 vehicles impounded during road checking campaign KARACHI INP

As many as 7043 vehicles have been checked during the first two days of Road Checking Campaign of the excise department, Sindh, against tax defaulting vehicles under the directives of the provincial minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla. During

the campaign so far 250 vehicles were seized for various reasons the documents of 450 vehicles were also confiscated and in total tax and penalty amounted to over Rs 44 lakh was collected. According to the details, 1999 vehicles were checked in Karachi, 1884 vehicles in Hyderabad, 1115 in Sukkur, 987 in Larkana, 680 in Mirpur Khas and 378 vehicles in Shaheed Benazirabad.

beating rickshaw driver KARACHI: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Dr Sayed Kaleem Imam on Thursday sought details of departmental action taken against a policeman who beatup a rickshaw driver in Khairpur.

Taking action on media reports, IGP orderd Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Khairpur Umar Tufail to submit details of legal and departmental measures taken against the policeman for beating up a rickshaw driver. It may be noted that a policeman on Thursday cruelly tortured a rickshaw driver in Gambat town of district of Khairpur. In a video that went viral, the cop was seen torturing the rickshaw driver in the middle of the town. The tortured man alleged that he was thrshed when he refused to give bribe to the cop. He appealed IGP Sindh Dr Syed Kaleem Imam, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Ghulam Nabi Memon and DIG Sukkur to take notice of the matter, and provide him justice. PPI

Sindh to establish 8 new jails KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday decided to construct eight new jails, including two in Karachi, across the province, citing the shortage of space for the prisoners. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting under the supervision of the Sindh Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah and Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz in Karachi. Inspector General of Prisons Nusrat Hussain gave a briefing to the participants of the meeting. He said the overall space of jails across the province is 13,038 while 17,239 prisoners are currently present in the prison cells. Hussain detailed 6,886 prisoners are being given education facility from primary to masters and four progress reports were submitted in the Supreme Court (SC) regarding jail reformations while the next report will be filed in the first week of January 2020. During the meeting, Mumtaz Ali Shah announced new jails will be constructed in Thatta, Nawabshah, Qambar Shahdadkot, Kandhkot, Mithi, Karachi’s Malir and District West. He directed authorities to prepare a summary for acquiring 100 and 200 acre land for jails in Malir and West districts respectively. The provincial chief secretary also ordered jail authorities to conduct medical screening of new prisoners.

Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahzad praised the construction of new jails in order to end the shortage of space and efforts for rehabilitation of prisoners. He said that the Sindh government has made good progress in jail reformations. STAFF REPORT

Section 144 to be imposed on New Year’s Eve KARACHI INP

Commissioner of Karachi Iftikhar Shalwani on Thursday revealed that there would be no barricades or hindrances at the seaside of the megacity on occasion of New Year. The commissioner in a

statement on the matter said that citizens of the metropolis will not be stopped from celebrating the event.

He also revealed that directives have been issued to the local police to ensure that the traffic situation in Karachi remains normal on December 31, the last evening of 2019.

Whereas, Shalwani forewarned that display or use of firearms, pillion riding and one-wheeling on motorbikes was strictly prohibited and would result in a criminal offense if caught. Section 144 will be in place for the duration of the day to ensure a ban on pillion riding, a formal request for the approval has been

made to the home department of Sindh.

The commissioner appealed to the citizens to observe the occasion in the realms of decency and bearing in mind their civic duties, along with this Iftikhar Shalwani also revealed that KElectric (KE) will also abstain from unneeded power outages on the occasion.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

NEWS

iHC uPHoLdS AbrAr'S APPointment AS red CreSCent CHief ISLAMABAD

t

STAFF REPORT

HE Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday upheld the appointment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Abrarul Haq as chairman of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The decision came on a petition by the PML-N leader and former PRCS chairman Dr Saeed Illahi, who had moved the court against his premature removal from the post.

In the verdict, which had been reserved in the morning, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah also removed an earlier stay order against Haq’s appointment. Dr Elahi was appointed by the PML-N government as the PRCS chairman in 2014 and granted an ex-

tension for another term in 2017. In the application, he had contended that he had been appointed for a period of three years as per rules and regulations

PAkiStAni migrAntS feAred deAd Among Seven AS boAt SinkS in turkey'S LAke vAn ISTANBUL

Indian LoC violations condemned FM QURESHI, AJK PM URGE WORLD TO TAKE NOTICE OF INDIAN MISCHIEF AT LOC

AGENCIES

ISLAMABAD/MUZAFFARABAD

An unspecified number of Pakistani migrants were feared dead as news of a boat carrying migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan sinking in eastern Turkey’s Lake Van surfaced on Thursday. According to the Turkish governor’s office in Bitlis province, seven people died and 64 were rescued when the boat sank. The boat sank after capsizing as it approached Adilcevaz district in Bitlis, which is on the northern shores of Lake Van, the office said in a statement. The accident happened at around 3 am (0000 GMT). The lake is near the border with Iran, from where migrants regularly cross into Turkey, heading west toward Europe.

It was not clear why the migrants were on the boat in Lake Van, which is completely within Turkey’s borders. Five people were found dead at the scene and two died at hospital, while the 64 people rescued were taken to nearby hospitals and shelters, the governor’s office said. It said gendarmerie forces, emergency response teams and police divers were conducting search operations.

INP

Alvi, Sanjrani discuss political situation

NEWS DESK Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani here on Thursday called on President Arif Alvi at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad. Matters of mutual interest, important national issues, current political situation and other issues were came under discussion in the meeting, said sources. Speaking on the occasion, Sadiq Sanjrani said that the parliament is the best forum to discuss and resolve public issues. Earlier on July 25, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had called on President Arif Alvi to discuss current political situation.

Matters of mutual interests, PM Imran Khan’s successful visit to US, current political situation, opposition’s no-trust motion and other issues were came under discussion in the meeting, sources had said.

Talking to journalists following the meeting with the president, Sadiq Sanjrani had said that the Senate session on no-confidence motion will be held on August 1.

and that his tenure would end on March 9, 2020.

However, Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar informed the court

that the government has already changed the rules for the appointment of the chairman.

During the hearing, Justice Minallah remarked that the matter of appointment falls in the category of administrative issues being looked after by the prime minister.

In November, the PTI government had removed Dr Elahi from the chairmanship of the society without assigning any reason. President Dr Arif Alvi, in his capacity as head of the PRCS, had appointed Haq chairman of the society for three years.

PTI officials had said that Dr Elahi had been removed for openly criticising the government. Dr Elahi claimed that his removal was illegal because he had neither completed his tenure nor was there any cogent reason to remove him from the position.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the world to take notice of India’s mischievous activities.

In a statement, he strongly condemned the Indian army’s unprovoked ceasefire violations on the Line of Control. The Foreign Minister said ceasefire violations on the LoC is an Indian attempt to divert attention from the strong reaction against the controversial Citizenship Act in the country. He said the people of India have rejected Modi government’s extremist thinking. He said Modi government is bent upon destroying peace in the region.

The Foreign Minister paid trib-

utes to the two Pakistan Army soldiers martyred in the latest ceasefire violations on the LoC. Saluting the velour and courage of the armed forces, the Minister said the entire nation is proud of the sacrifices of the armed forces.

AJK PM CONDEMNS UNPROVOKED INDIAN FIRING ON CIVILIANS AT LOC: Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Raja Farooq Haider on Thursday condemned the cease-fire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) that claimed lives of two Pakistan Army personnel.

He condoled with the families of the two martyred army personnel and said that the Pakistan Army has rendered unprecedented sacrifices for safeguarding the homeland.

He further said that the Indian forces are resorting to unprovoked firing at the civilian areas alongside the border.”The unprovoked firing from Indian forces on civilian population was, however, befittingly responded by the armed forces, forcing the enemy guns to go into hiding.”

The AJK prime minister said that the people living alongside the border are in high spirits and stand alongside the armed forces in testing times.

Senate body seeks extensive briefing on water distribution system ISLAMABAD APP

Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources on Thursday directed Indus River System Authority (IRSA) and all provincial irrigation departments to give an extensive briefing about specific particulars of water distribution mechanism, in its next meeting.

The Senate body also directed the officials to provide all rules and systems in place for this purpose.

The meeting, held under the chairmanship of Senator Shamim Afridi at the Parliament House, was also attended among others by Senators Muhammad Usman Kakar, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Sassui Palijo, John Kenneth Williams, Syed Sabir Shah, Waleed Iqbal, Secretary Water Resources, representatives from WAPDA, and irrigation departments.

The committee discussed the matter of the land, lost due to sea intrusion on different coastal district of Sindh and the construction of Sindh Barrage and its impact on reduction of sea intrusion.

It decided to move the privilege motion against Chairman WAPDA for not attending the meetings. Regarding the present status and way forward on Dasu Hydropower Project, the committee was told that the project was 74 km downstream from Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Karakoram Highway (KKH).

It was informed that some portion of the existing KKH will submerge in the dam and the portion was being constructed on an alternative route close by. It was a run-of-the-river project that will produce 4320 MW of power and the dam height was 242 m.

The body was informed that the cost had escalated from Rs 486 billion to 511 billion due to the land acquisition issues and the revised completion date was February 2025.

It was informed that preparatory work contracts of Rs 50 billion had been signed and work was in progress.

For the main work, two contracts had been awarded and ground work was in progress while for electromechanical works contract had been signed. Land acquisition will also be completed in 2020.

miftah ismail released from Adiala Jail in Lng case ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister Mifath Ismail was released from Adiala Jail on bail Thursday after issuance of his release order by an accountability court. The court issued release order of the former minister and PML-N leader in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scandal after his lawyer submitted Rs. 10 million surety bond in the court. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted post-arrest bail to Miftah Ismail in the case on December 23. A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mian Gul Hassan approved the bail for the PML-N leader subject to submission of surety bonds worth Rs 10 million. INP

firdous asks media to stop Anf's media trial ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday appealed to the media not to stir controversy by conducting a media trial of the Anti-Narcotics Force. Talking to media persons after attending a ceremony here, she said a section of the media was presenting a one-sided picture of the case and giving the impression that the ANF (officials) had some personal grudge against Rana Sanaullah. Rana Sanaullah’s physical remand, she said, was not taken as he was caught red-handed by ANF officials with heroin in his possession. Moreover, it was a general practice that only a sample of the confiscated contraband was sent for laboratory tests, she added. The ANF, she said, would file an appeal against the bail granted to Rana Sanaullah by the Lahore High Court in the Supreme Court (SC).

The special assistant said after a thorough examination of the SC verdict on the Chief of Army Staff’s extension case by its legal team, the government had filed a review petition. The decision was taken to the effect after the legal team had pointed out some legal loopholes in the verdict. The option of legislation through the Parliament on the matter would still remain available to the government, she said.

About laying the foundation stone of Jalalpur-Kundwal Canal project by Prime Minister Imran Khan, she said the project would be built at the cost of Rs 48 billion and completed till 2024. The canal originating from Rasool Bridge would terminate at Khushab after passing through Pind Dadan Khan, and bring around 170,000 acres of land under cultivation. About half a million 500,000 people of districts Jhelum and Khushab would benefit from the canal. Earlier at the cake cutting ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the launch of an Urdu daily, she said the newspaper had promoted constructive journalism. It was the media’s responsibility to point out problems of the masses in a constructive manner and the respective media group had fulfilled that responsibility by constructive criticism, she added. APP

Malala most famous teenager of decade: UN UNITED NATIONS STAFF REPORT

Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has become the most famous teenager in the world in the second decade of the 21st century, a UN report said on Monday.

According to a review, the United Nations news service looks back at some of the big stories that happened in the teenage years of the 21st century and Malala’s global recognition tops the list of positive stories that unfolded

between 2010 and 2019.

The first part of the review covered the period between 2010 and the end of 2013 and focuses on the devastating Haiti earthquake, Malala’s efforts to promote girls’ education, and the creation of what has now become “the world’s most dangerous UN mission”, in Mali.

“From a young age, Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai was known for speaking out in favor of the educating girls and highlighting the atrocities of the Taliban,” the report noted.

It pointed out that Malala was born

CMYK

05

and brought up in then volatile Swat Valley and while taking the bus home from school, in October 2012, she, and two other girls, were shot by a Taliban gunman: she was hit in the head by a bullet, but survived and eventually recovered.

“Malala’s activism and profile have only grown since the assassination attempt. She won several highprofile awards, including the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and became a UN Messenger of Peace in 2017, with a special focus on girls’ education,” the report added.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

The imminenT failure of lebanon's new prime minisTer hassan diab will likely oversee lebanon's final poliTical, social and economic collapse al Jazeera

o

imad K harb

N December 19, Lebanese President Michel Aoun named Hassan Diab as the country's next prime minister after a slew of candidates for the position failed to receive enough political support.

Diab had been put forward by Hezbollah and its allies in the Lebanese parliament, among them Speaker Nabih Berri's AMAL Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) headed by the president's son-in-law and foreign minister, Gebran Bassil.

Immediately after Diab was named, and despite the latter's assurances that he will form a government that addresses the many problems facing the country, protests broke out in the streets decrying the formation of what is considered a Hezbollah government that will aim to abort the ongoing uprising.

The protesters have demanded the end of the sectarian system and the appointment of a politically independent premier who would form a government of unaffiliated experts and technocrats to write a new electoral law and conduct early parliamentary elections. So far, they have failed to realise these demands.

But even according to the power-sharing system in use today, where the prime minister has to be a Sunni Muslim, Diab is not likely to succeed. Having scant support among his Sunni community and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Bloc in parliament, he lacks the political backing to be a strong prime minister vis-a-vis President Aoun and the Hezbollah-AMAL alliance.

Protesters doubt his ability to address their demands of fighting corruption and it is hard to see how Diab will be able to manage the panoply of political and economic troubles the country faces. Domestic, regional and international circumstances make his political success unlikely.

Since the 1975-1990 civil war and following the ignominious withdrawal of Syrian troops in 2005, Lebanon has witnessed divisions, confrontations and frequent stalemate. The last three years, however, have been especially troublesome.

The October 2016 political deal which gave Aoun the presidency in exchange for Hariri getting

the premiership became increasingly hard to maintain as the president, supported by Hezbollah, deprived his prime minister of his prerogatives as chief executive. Ever the opponent of the 1989 Taif Accords, which charted the post-civil war period and strengthened the position of the prime minister, Aoun has, since becoming president, tried to restore the powers of the Maronite president in the executive branch, such as choosing ministers. This came on top of Hariri's troubles running an unwieldy government of national unity.

Today, Diab - an academic who has never run for public office or built a political base of his own - is at the mercy of the same Hezbollah-AMAL-FPM alliance without much discernible support from his own community. He thus starts his tenure limping, as protesters in the street are demanding the appointment of a strong leader who represents a popular base and who is capable of fighting corruption and nepotism.

The immediate impact of Diab's institutional weakness will manifest itself in his expected inability to curb Hezbollah's power and influence in state institutions. Like Hariri and others before him, Diab will also fail to check the party's status as an armed militia with independent decision-making and a state within the state.

With Hezbollah claiming the current street protests were inspired by outsiders, mostly the United States, to weaken "the resistance", it is impossible to imagine that it will assist its choice for prime minister in reasserting the Lebanese state's primacy over all factions in the country.

Equally problematic for Diab will be dealing with the country's teetering economy. Ratings agency Fitch has recently downgraded the country's credit rating and warned that Lebanon is either going to restructure its debt, which amounts to 150 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), or default on it.

This year Lebanon's public debt reached $86bn, while its budget deficit remained at 11 percent. Restructuring or defaulting will be calamitous considering the lack of trust of outside investors, the absence of funds to stimulate the economy, and the limited impact of any action by Lebanon's Central Bank, which has so far instituted some monetary changes to try to halt the decline.

Furthermore, a weak prime minister and government can offer no concrete solution to the rampant corruption that has beset Lebanon for decades and led to the current uprising.

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index ranks Lebanon 138 out of 180 countries.

Corruption permeates state institutions, the bureaucracy, and even the parliament, making Diab's job extremely difficult.

The same goes for necessary efforts to reform state agencies and the judiciary where entrenched interests coincide with political power to protect influential personalities and politicians.

While Lebanon's troubles and street demonstrations are caused primarily by domestic dynamics, the country's regional environment exacerbates the situation.

Bereft of a strong position within his Sunni community, Diab lacks the basic characteristic for attracting support from regional powers, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Even Hariri, who inherited his father Rafiq's connections in the Gulf and other parts of the Arab world, had difficulties maintaining good relations with Riyadh after his 2016 deal with Aoun and Hezbollah.

In November 2017, the Saudis even put him under house arrest in Riyadh and forced him to resign before French President Emmanuel Macron intervened. Regionally, Diab's premiership will be viewed as part of the tug of war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as the latter scored yet another victory in Lebanon with his appointment. Granted, the kingdom and the Islamic Republic may be testing the possibility of patching things up, but Riyadh still resents Tehran's influence in Beirut through Hezbollah.

The reluctance of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to fund Lebanon at this crucial time is another obstacle for Diab to surmount. Their financial assistance in the form of deposits in the Central Bank, for instance, could restore investors' trust and encourage the bank to increase liquidity in the domestic market.

But for them to do so, Diab needs to dissipate doubt about his relationship with Hezbollah and to show that he can be independent of the party's bidding - a rather unlikely scenario given his institutional weakness.

Looking at the international scene, it is also difficult to see how Diab can muster enough political and economic support for his mission. While many actors value their relationship with Lebanon and understand the country's political dilemmas, they remain convinced that its troubles can only be solved if protesters' demands are addressed directly.

A conference convened in Paris on December 11 failed to reach agreement on financial assistance to the country so long as it does not have a functioning government committed to reform. Without such assistance, all bets are off that things will be better in the foreseeable future.

After Diab forms his government, he is likely to run into some very unpleasant circumstances. While the US may want to go easy on the prime ministerdesignate, his association with Hezbollah is likely to at the very least dampen any American enthusiasm

for his government.

On December 20, US Assistant Secretary of State David Hale paid a visit to Lebanon and met the country's leaders but remained uncommitted to providing blanket support, instead diplomatically stating that the US has no say in the formation of the government.

On the same day, Aoun asked Diab to form a government, Germany's parliament passed a resolution calling for a ban on Hezbollah activities on German soil. This could affect relations between Berlin and any Lebanese government perceived to be cooperating with the party.

Similar bans have been adopted by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the US and Canada.

While France has tiptoed around a decisive break with Hezbollah and Iran, President Macron cannot break with the US, Germany, the UK, and others to offer help to Diab.

Diab's association with Hezbollah and loss of political and financial support from influential international actors will stymie his ability to address the dire economic situation. This will likely increase the party's and Iran's influence on Lebanese politics, thus only exacerbating Diab's and the country's problems.

Although Diab has asserted that his government will be independent and made up of experts, demonstrators see it as beholden to Hezbollah.

President Aoun and his allies Hezbollah and AMAL know that Diab does not have the support of a specific political bloc and, therefore, has no chance of success in fulfilling the demands of the Lebanese protest movement. He may only have been chosen because he is no threat to the current president and will not try to limit Hezbollah's influence in state institutions.

Diab will probably soon have the distinct misfortune of presiding over the final political, economic and social collapse of Lebanon. While he will be able to find a majority in parliament that can help him shepherd a limited reform programme - the same majority that helped him get the post - he will not be able to mollify the Lebanese public which sees no hope in the current political system.

Simultaneously, his association with Hezbollah is unlikely to raise the regional and international communities' interest in helping his government undertake the radical economic programme the country needs to correct its path forward.

His tenure, however long it will be, will thus be yet another episode of the type of failed governance which the Lebanese people have been protesting against since October.

Perhaps the time has come for Lebanon's current elites to allow for the change demonstrators are demanding: an overhaul of the political and economic systems that can pave the road for a more modern polity and more equitable society.

Imad K Harb is Director of Research and Analysis at Arab Center Washington DC.

hindu nationalists are seeking the israelification of india

Middle east Monitor Nasim ahmed

In their quest to refashion India as a Hindu state, Hindutva extremists have placed themselves on a collision course with the country’s secular constitution. Their goal is no less than the reformation of India as an ethno-religious state affording special rights and privileges to Hindus within a multi-tier system of citizenship. The model state that they aspire to replicate is Israel.

The Zionist state has become an aspiration as much as an inspiration for farright nationalists around the world, India included. Founded to protect the exclusivity of one ethno-religious majority over everybody else — especially the indigenous population — Israel is looked upon with envy by the likes of white nationalist Richard Spencer. The far-right extremist, who once described himself as a “white Zionist”, praised Israel gushingly following its adoption of the Nation-State Law last year, which declared Israel to be a state of the Jewish people only. The bill was criticised strongly for relegating nonJews to secondary status in a move akin to the US or Britain declaring themselves to be “white, Christian” nations by law.

Israel’s ability to pass itself off as a democracy despite relegating minorities

to second-class status has a special appeal for ultra-nationalists. Its strength as a highly militarised nation, able to maintain an apartheid system without suffering any consequences on the international stage, has a unique attraction. The success of the Zionist state has turned what were once ultra-nationalist fantasies — which many thought, mistakenly, had been relegated to the dustbin of history — into a realistic political vision in a world beset by fear and conflict.

In fact, far from being a democracy, Israel is unique in the way that it has created a multi-tier citizenship model within the state for the purpose of maintaining its Jewish character. A number of laws have been enacted to build the state around institutionalised discrimination.

The 1950 Law of Return, for example, incorporates the fundamental ideology of Zionism: all Jews, no matter where they were born, have the inalienable right to migrate to Israel. It’s easy to see why ethno-nationalists across the world would like to see this replicated elsewhere.

The 1952 Law of Citizenship (better known as the Nationality Law), meanwhile, gives all persons who are accorded Jewish nationality in the above Law of Return the right to claim Israeli citizenship automatically upon arriving at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, without any formal procedures. The same law, however, stipulates specific protocols for non-Jews who wish to have citizenship.

Right-wing nationalists find Israel’s extraterritorial notion of sovereignty appealing. In this form of political order, citizenship is granted to anyone sharing the same ethnicity or religion, regardless of where they live in the world. In Israel’s case, only Jews are granted nationality rights, while non-Jews residing in the same territory are deprived of such rights.

Unlike liberal democracies in the West, Israel upholds a constitutionally-imposed distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality”. Only Jews are granted nationality and able to enjoy the full spectrum of rights granted by the state. An odious system of delivering state benefits is used in order to foster an impression that Israel is not discriminating against non-Jews.

The separation of services between “national” institution and “government” institution allows for the legal siphoningoff of resources to provide services for Jewish citizens only. For example, institutions financed by Zionist groups such as the Jewish National Fund can and do discriminate openly in favour of Jews without seeming to taint the apparently democratic government with the stench of racism.

This kind of Jew/non-Jew bifurcation of public services denies non-Jewish citizens of the state from accessing funds and services open to Jews only. With 92 per cent of the land of Israel “owned” by the JNF, much of it expropriated from Palestinians, non-Jewish Israeli citizens are deprived of access; they are unable by law to own, lease, live or work on it.

Israel is thus a model to imitate as far as Hindutva ideologues are concerned.

Guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalists seek to “Israelify” India into a racialised state. Their reasoning is simple: if Israel is accepted as the “only democracy in the Middle East” despite its many apartheid policies, then why can’t India continue to claim to be “the largest democracy in the world” while becoming an ethno-religious state?

Such a project is fraught with danger.

The Hindutva vision for India is almost certain to stir up the demon of communal strife, the like of which led to the killing of millions during the country’s partition and independence in 1948.

Unlike Israel, which was founded on ethno-religious tribalism — rather like Pakistan — Hindutva ideologues have to abolish the country’s secular constitution to realise their vision. The conceptual shift made possible through propaganda and rhetoric has been underway for some time, with some of the worst dehumanising language being used to describe Indian Muslims now becoming socially and politically acceptable.

Indian ministers have fuelled antiMuslim hostility by demanding the reduction of legal protection for minorities and suggesting that western standards of human rights are somehow not compatible with India. A similar argument was made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in defence of Israel’s right to continue its annexation policy by disregarding the human, civil and political rights of Palestinians and insisting that applying international law to the situation in Israel-Palestine simply isn’t feasible.

Of course, just as there are anti-Zionist Jews who challenge Israel with regard to its discriminatory policies, not all Hindus endorse Modi’s racist political project. Indeed, many denounce Hindutva’s ideology as a malign distortion of Hinduism itself.

However, as is often the case in such ideological battles for hearts and minds, moderate voices are drowned out by the roar of fanatics seeking to recreate what they envisage to be imagined past glories.

Spurred on by the global paralysis of support for human rights and the growing disregard of international law, despots, autocrats and ideologues of all political and religious backgrounds are seizing this moment to push the boundaries of what is and isn’t acceptable.

Beyond the rhetoric, measures are underway to change the face of India. Amongst the inflammatory steps taken by Modi since his re-election in May is the push for new

They musT be sTopped legislation, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). This controversial move, which threatens to demote the status of the country’s two hundred million Muslim citizens, sparked protests across the country recently; at least 20 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces.

The bill grants amnesty to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from three neighbouring countries, namely Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. While India’s federal government says that the law will protect religious minorities fleeing persecution, opponents say that by dividing alleged migrants into Muslims and non-Muslim categories, it explicitly and blatantly seeks to enshrine religious discrimination in the law, contrary to the country’s longstanding, secular constitution and ethos.

The CAB is only one of the initiatives threatening India’s constitution. Another is the pan-India citizen verification process known as the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Critics say that it has become weaponised by hard-line Hindus and that its true motive is to disenfranchise many of India’s Muslims. When it was trialled in the Indian State of Assam, 1.9 million mainly Muslim citizens were made stateless overnight.

By themselves, the CAB and NRC may appear harmless. Seen within the context of the rise of Hindutva and the march towards re-creating India as a Hindu state, though, these measures serve a hostile and divisive political agenda.

The international community must support all Indians in their resistance to the hard-line Hindu nationalists and not indulge Hindutva’s racist ideologues in the same way that it has indulged Zionism since 1948. Hindu nationalists are clearly seeking the Israelification of India; they must be stopped.

The writer is a commentator on the Middle East and political Islam.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

From AlGerIA to HonG KonG, A yeAr oF AntI-estAblIsHment rAGe PARIS

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Agencies

NGRy citizens have swelled the streets of cities across the globe this year, pushing back against a disparate range of policies but often expressing a common grievance — the establishment’s failure to heed their demands for a more equitable future.

While street protests are nothing new, experts say the intense 2019 flare-ups reflect a growing sentiment that the social contract between governments and citizens has broken down, with voters paying the price but unable to affect meaningful change. “What unites the protests is that all are responding to a sense of exclusion, pessimism about the future, and a feeling of having lost control to unaccountable elites,” said Jake Werner, a historian at the University of Chicago.

The financial crisis of 2007-08 in particular, he said, exposed systemic failings and induced years of austerity and insecurity for millions of people. It also produced an acute sense of unfairness, in particular among young people who see their prospects of earning a decent living slipping away with every price hike or benefit cut.

“What was previously experi-

enced as proper or natural is now increasingly experienced as a form of domination and injustice,” Werner told AFP. As a result, it often takes only a small move to spark a protest — in Chile it was a metro ticket increase, in Iran and France it was higher fuel costs, in Lebanon a “WhatsApp tax” — that balloons into a wider revolt demanding better living standards.

Elsewhere, as in Hong Kong, Algeria and India, calls for greater political freedom have become a potent rallying force. In Iraq, fury over corruption and unemployment boiled over into fiery clashes which have left hundreds of people dead and forced the prime minister to resign.

“The belief in democracy’s capacity to change people’s lives is un-

doubtedly eroding,” said Erik Neveu, a sociologist at the Sciences Po political science university in Rennes, western France.

REJECTION OF NEO-LIBERALISM: For Olivier Fillieule, a specialist in social movements at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, this year’s protests built on the same dynamics which produced movements as diverse as Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, or the Russian opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

“Don’t forget that Time magazine named ‘the Protester’ its person of the year in 2011,” Fillieule said.

“The rejection of neo-liberalism is the main driver of most of these movements,” he said, noting that “the state’s abdication of some of its

FOREIGN NEWS 07

responsibilities leaves people alone against the market”.

The impression that big companies and the wealthy seem to get a free pass — despite calls to force multinationals to pay more taxes — only further inflames the sense that the game is rigged.

“Society is fed up with paying and paying. They’ve squeezed us like a lemon,” Marcela Paz, a 51year-old teacher, said during a protest in Santiago, Chile in October.

And if the traditional rungs for climbing the social ladder are out of reach, experts say more people will feel that protests, and potentially violence, are the only recourse.

In France, for example, the “yellow vest” anger over high costs of living quickly spiralled into rioting and clashes with police — and eventually forced the government to pledge billions of euros in tax cuts and wage boosts.

UNANNOUNTABLE: Experts say the multitude of long-running protests, some of which have carried on for weeks or even months at a time, could provide mutual energy while also inspiring new movements. “It is clear that protests and other forms of movement activity have been very much on the rise in recent years, and perhaps this year in particular,” said Doug McAdam, a sociologist at Stanford University in California.

blindspot to backlash: India's modi and party misread the mood MUMBAI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government did not anticipate the protests against a new citizenship law that have raged across the country and is now scrambling to control the damage, members of his ruling party said. In Modi’s biggest challenge since taking office in 2014, hundreds of thousands have protested against the law offering citizenship to immigrants from non-Muslim minorities who have fled Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. At least 21 people have died in clashes with police. Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were taken aback by the backlash, some party members told Reuters.

They said they had been prepared for some anger from Muslims, but not the widespread protests that have convulsed most major cities for two weeks. Now the party and the government are reaching out for help in defusing the crisis to allies and opponents sidelined when the bill passed earlier this month, the sources said.

“I really did not see the protests coming … not just me, other BJP lawmakers were also unable to predict this kind of anger,” Sanjeev Balyan, a ruling party legislator and junior federal minister, told Reuters. While there is no threat to his big parliamentary majority, the 69-yearold Modi’s reputation as a master strategist with his finger on the pulse of the people has taken a hit.

CITIES CONVULSED: In a nation with a history pocked with sectarian bloodshed, many Muslims fear the new law – and a planned national citizenship register – could make the minority second-class citizens. Students, politicians and rights activists, both Hindus and Muslims, have also taken to the streets, saying Modi is jeopardizing India’s secular constitution. The government denies the citizenship register is imminent and says none of the changes will affect existing citizens. Three other BJP lawmakers and two federal ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were mobilizing party supporters from all walks of life to start community dialogues and dispel discontent over the law and the register. Agencies

Xinjiang-related issues not about human rights or religion but fighting violence: Tang Tianru ISLAMABAD Agencies

Israel hits Gaza with air strikes after ‘rocket fire’ JERUSALEM: Israeli military aircraft carried out air strikes against the Gaza Strip Wednesday night, the army said, in what it called a response to a rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave.

Warning sirens had cut short a rally by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he campaigned on the eve of his Likud party’s primaries being held on Thursday, public television reported. “Planes and helicopters hit several Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. Military posts were among the targets,” the Israeli army said in a statement. The army had earlier said “a projectile was fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory and was intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system”. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN 11 showed images of a security guard informing Netanyahu of a “red alert” late Wednesday. The prime minister waved goodbye before being hustled from the room with his wife Sarah. On September 10, the head of the Likud party had also been evacuated from an election rally, in the southern city of Ashdod, after sirens warned of an attack from Gaza. On Thursday, the embattled premier will face off against longtime rival Gideon Saar in a Likud leadership contest that could threaten his grip on power. Last week, two rocket attacks were launched against Israel from Gaza without causing injury, Israel’s army said. In response, Israeli warplanes twice bombed Hamas installations in the enclave.

Israel holds the Islamist movement responsible for all rocket attacks coming from Gaza, though the Jewish state also targets other armed groups operating there.

Since 2008, Israel has waged three wars against Hamas and its armed allies in Gaza, where two million Palestinians live amid violence, poverty and a 10-year Israeli blockade. Agencies

Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights ethnicity or religion but about fighting violence, terrorism and separatism, Tang Tianru – a Chinese entrepreneur based in Islamabad said.

Speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday, she said the US House of Representatives had passed the controversial Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 which was an interference in China’s internal matters.

“This bill deliberately smears the human rights condition in Xinjiang, slanders China’s efforts in de-radicalization and counter-terrorism and viciously attacks the Chinese government’s Xinjiang policy. It seriously violates international law and basic norms governing international relations and grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs. China is strongly indignant at and firmly opposed to it,” she said.

Previously, Tang Tianru said, Xinjiang suffered gravely from extremism, violence and terrorism. “Faced with severe circumstances, the government of Xinjiang Autonomous Region lawfully fought violent and terrorist crimes while addressing the root causes. Our efforts include advancing de-radicalization, economic growth, ethnic solidarity, social harmony and stability. Thanks to those efforts, Xinjiang hasn’t seen a single terrorist attack over the past three years. Those endeavours are endorsed by all 25 million people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang. They are also China’s contribution to the global counter-terrorism cause,” she added.

The international community, she said, speaks highly of China’s Xinjiang policy. “Since the end of 2018, over 1,000 representatives have visited Xinjiang in more than 70 groups, including officials from various countries, regions and international organizations, and people from the press, religious groups and the academic circle,” Tang Tianru said, She said they acclaimed that Xinjiang’s experience in counter-terrorism and de-radicalization was worth learning from.

“In March this year, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation adopted a resolu-

tion which commended China’s efforts in providing care to Muslim citizens. In July, ambassadors of over 50 countries to the UN Office at Geneva co-signed a letter to the president of the UN Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, applauding China’s respect and protection of human rights in its counter-terrorism and deradicalization efforts. In October, at the Third Committee session of the 74th UNGA, more than 60 countries commended in their statements the tremendous human rights progress achieved in Xinjiang, China,” she elaborated.

Tang Tianru said all those were strong proof that the US accusations on Xinjiang-related issues are entirely against facts and the mainstream public opinion of the international community.

The Chinese entrepreneur said the Chinese government and its people were determined in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests. “Under the pretext of Xinjiang-related issues, the US attempts to sow discord among various ethnic groups in China, undermine prosperity and stability in Xinjiang, and contain China’s growth. But its attempt will never succeed,” she said.

About the US act, she said: “I don’t know what you think of those US lawmakers, but I’ve heard that some of them don’t even have passports. They have never been to China, let alone Xinjiang.

How can they speak for the 1.4 billion Chinese people or the 25 million people in Xinjiang? And yet they are making unwarranted allegations and false comments on Xinjiang. How arrogant!”

She said the US politicians were talking about “conscience” with China on ethnic minorities. “What ignorance, what brazenness, what hypocrisy! Have they forgotten? The two-century long American history is tainted with the blood and tears of native Indians, who were originally master of the continent.

Starting from the 19th century, the US army occupied millions of square kilometres of land and grabbed countless natural resources by expelling and slaughtering native Indians through the Westward Expansion,” Tang Tianru said.

Apart from that, she said, the US also conducts forced assimilation of native Americans, killing, expelling and

persecuting them and denying them their due civil rights.

“Today, they only account for 2.09 per cent of the total US population.

They are facing numerous difficulties, including backward infrastructure in reservations, shortage of water and electricity, lack of Internet access, unemployment, poverty, diseases and poor living conditions. Faced with all these shocking facts, can the US politicians feign ignorance? Where is their conscience?” she questioned.

She said since the 1990s, especially after the September 11 attacks, elements of terrorist, separatist and extremist forces launched several thousand terrorist attacks there, causing massive casualties as well as property loss.

“In the ‘July 5’ incident alone,197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured. Borrowing international counter-terrorism experience, China started vocational education and training in Xinjiang, which is a step answering the call of the UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism,” she added.

She continued: “I wonder if the US lawmakers have read the document through? Perhaps they never bother about UN resolutions or action plans. As the Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism points out, poverty, unemployment, lack of job opportunities, poor education and the cynical distortion and misuse of religious beliefs, ethnic differences and political ideologies by violent extremist groups, are all backgrounds and motivations of violent extremism.”

The document, she said, also proposed to encourage members of violent extremist groups to leave such groups by providing them with educational and economic opportunities as well as vocational training resources.

“To this end, many countries have set up de-radicalisation centres and education transformation centres. Some countries have developed both in-prison and community-based education transformation of terrorists and high-vulnerability groups. In the UK, the Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) makes it mandatory for all terrorism-related offenders to receive training. There are also segregation units in prison to prevent the spread of radical violent terrorism,” Tang Tianru said.

In recent years, she said, the US used human rights and counter-terrorism as a cover to wage wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, killing millions of innocent civilians and turning more into displaced refugees.

“Such acts in total contempt of people’s right to life and development are a real ‘outrage to the collective conscience of the world’! Terrorism and extremism are common enemies of human beings.

Counter-terrorism and de-radicalization is the shared responsibility of the international community. It hasn’t been long since the September 11 attacks. The US should not forget the pain as wounds heal. If it continues to play with double standards or even infringe upon other countries’ sovereignty and security, it will end up swallowing a bitter fruit with its own interests harmed,” she added.

Tang Tianru said; “I just heard AP and others are broadcasting this press conference live. I would like to ask a favour. Please convey to the American people this message. Do you know what ordinary Chinese people think of this stupid bill the US Congress just passed? This is what they say: the US messed up Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Syria, then yemen. Now it is trying to mess up China’s Xinjiang and Hong Kong. This is only wishful thinking and a pipe dream. It will never succeed. I do hope you will let the American people hear the Chinese people’s voice. It would be much appreciated.”

About the China-US trade deal, she said China’s position was consistent and clear, and “We always honour our word. On the trade issue, she said, “We hold that only a mutually-beneficial agreement acceptable to both reached on the basis of equality and mutual respect will last and serve the interests of the two peoples.”

With regard to Hong Kong and Xinjiang, she said, “we have also stated the Chinese government’s solemn position repeatedly. No one should underestimate the Chinese government’s resolve and ability to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests,”

Friday, 27 December, 2019

08 COMMENT Rallying in Rawalpindi Needless obstructionism

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He PTi government should understand that its refusal to let the PPP hold a rally in rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh was bound to be counterproductive. it did not need the Lahore High Court’s rawalpindi Bench to order that the rally be allowed to realise that it was there not to oppress people, but to allow them freedom. rather than increasing the public space for people, the government is trying bureaucratic methods to restrict it. The LHC rawalpindi Bench gave short shrift to the administration’s plea that it could not provide security to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto.

The PPP’s rallies at the venue have been an annual feature, held as they are to commemorate the 2007 assassination of then party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto there. This was the first occasion for the PTi government to handle it, and it immediately apparently forgot its own experiences while in opposition, when it was allowed to hold its dharna at D-Chowk islamabad for 126 days, with virtually no let or hindrance. The rawalpindi Bench, by ordering the granting of permission, may well have averted an unfortunate clash, for PPP leaders had announced that permission or no permission, the rally would be held regardless. if there was any attempt to stop the rally, such as by the time-honoured method of flooding the ground, the gathering of even a relatively small crowd in the heart of the city, on its main artery of Murree road, could have lead to unfortunate consequences. There is a need for the government to be wary of such an event today, when the rally takes place.

The government should realise that it needs the opposition more than the opposition needs it. after all, it is the government which needs its help in the Senate to pass the legislation mandated by the Supreme Court about the COaS’s tenure extension. it should not forget that the extension of his tenure is its own proposal, not the opposition’s, and it should also remember that the kind of truculent petulance it showed over the rawalpindi rally will not make for ease of cooperation. it should also remember that this kind of obstructionism had nothing to do with accountability, which is its usual excuse for bad behaviour of this kind.

Another pie in the sky PM Khan’s 2020 outlook is overly optimistic

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iTH the new year just around the corner, there is little to look forward to in terms of the economy considering its precarious condition, which the PTi government had vowed to turn around within a year, once in power. Tall promises of economic prosperity that had “never been seen before” were made during the 2018 election campaign with an emphasis on job creation, poverty alleviation and growth, all of which would supposedly be achieved without taking loans, particularly from the iMF. after forming a government with a razor-thin majority, the PTi’s economic team came across as an underprepared collection of new and old faces that had not fully comprehended the enormity of the task at hand. Former Federal Finance Minister asad Umar was shown the door in less than a year, and perhaps it wasn’t all his fault, for he had been put up on a pedestal by none other than Prime Minister imran Khan himself, portraying him as some sort of economy and finance guru who would immunise Pakistan to the worryingly harsh macroeconomic realities it was facing. an iMF package was secured, but as a first in the country’s history the Fund also sent its own programme implementation team; Dr Hafeez Sheikh as PM’s advisor on finance and reza Baqir as Governor SBP. They have proven quite effective as energy tariffs continue to rise on a regular basis, an unachievable tax revenue target stares the government in its face, record high inflation persists as does a 13.25% discount rate that shows no signs of being cut. in light of these stark realities Mr Khan has promised that 2020 will be the year of change and growth, expressed with more or less the same empty bravado shown more than a year ago. There are no lucrative foreign direct investments in the pipeline to speak of, exports have stagnated and refuse to budge amid factory closures due to the high cost of doing business and the so-called tax reforms have not been implemented in a fashion that will see the government’s coffers overflow anytime soon. There is no basis for the PM’s statement that this coming year will be a comfortable transition from ‘stability to growth’. rather than inaccurately passing off its performance as some unique diamond pulled out from a lump of coal the PTi government should first gain some goodwill among the masses that has seen their standard of living severely reduced in the past year and a half.

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

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

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At Penpoint

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M.A. NIAZI

He verdict in General Musharraf’s high treason case was perhaps inevitable. it did not cover the 1999 coup because that had already been validated, but the ruling on his sacking of iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as Chief Justice, and the imposition of emergency, could probably have been nothing else.

What was the court supposed to do? acquit him?

However, the sentence of death then included a proviso that has drawn much obloquy on the court’s chairman, Mr Justice Waqar Seth, Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court. The provision was that if General Musharraf died abroad, his corpse was to be hung in D-Chowk.

One emotion that is clearly reflected is abhorrence for the act. a High Court Chief Justice has gone to the extent of expressing this sentiment. it also reflects the recognition that the penal system does not provide for adequate punishment. after all, the death sentence would be equally applicable to someone who abetted a murder when the victim too thirsted after the murderer’s blood, and Javed iqbal, hanged after confessing to the murders of 1000 homeless boys whom he had first assaulted. His punishment, it was suggested, should be execution and the dissolution of his corpse in acid, the way he had disposed of his victims. The view of punishment as a form of revenge obviously applies whenever there is any desecration of a corpse. in a death sentence, the purpose of deterrence exists, though there can be no reform, which is supposed to be another purpose of punishment. it should be realised that the death sentence is sufficient deterrence, and there is no need to do anything with the corpse, something which echoes how england dealt with Oliver Cromwell’s body.

Cromwell imposed what is the UK’s only experience of military rule, known as the rule of the Major Generals, because the UK was divided into 10 districts from august 1655 to January1657, each headed by a major-general. The real reason his corpse was dragged out of its grave and hanged, was that he had the head chopped off of King Charles i, the father of the desecrator, Charles ii, who was restored in 1660 after Cromwell died in 1658. Musharraf had not beheaded any king. it seems to be the same vengeful spirit informing the government’s decision to send a reference against Chief Justice Seth to the Supreme Judicial Council. Whether any judge in future would like to give a judgement, knowing that it could lead to SJC proceedings, is doubtful. it should be remembered that the judge presently facing proceedings before the SJC, Mr Justice Qazi Faez isa of the Supreme Court, also authored a judgement, in the

High treason judged The judgement came within a context Faizabad dharna, critical of military institutions. even if he escapes conviction by the SJC, he will have gone through the agony of the proceedings.

The sentence on General Musharraf will not be executed if he does not return. if his body is not repatriated, Chief Justice Seth’s decision, even the grisly part, will remain unexecuted.

However, the sentence is a deterrent. Military men like the law, and if the case law is established that coups will not lead to automatic validation, they will not be inclined to carry one out.

However, the attempt by the defence to raise the issue of his abettors is a little short-sighted. The case did not deal with a military coup per se, but with that part which saw him attempt to bring the judiciary to heel. How he imposed an emergency, without the PM’s advice, and then used that declaration to place 15 Supreme Court and 56 high court judges under house arrest. apart from the impropriety of sacking judges without reference to the Supreme Judicial Council, little distinguished this from the imposition of martial law. in this trial, none of General Musharraf’s abettors were even questioned, and he applied for the Prime Minister, the Law Minister and the new Chief Justice to be included.

From the point of view of future coupmakers, that is worrisome, for while the coupmaker is clearly liable, the abettors too are liable, down to the troops occupying PM House. The defence of obeying orders remains untested, though used during the nuremberg trials, of nazi leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity, who said they had been obeying orders, and the person issuing the orders, Hitler, was now dead. That defence, known as the nuremberg defence, was rejected, and sentences of death and life imprisonment were handed out by the nuremberg Tribunal hearing the case. That was a victors’ court trying losers.

The problem is that any special court trying anyone and his abettors for a coup or coup attempt is not made by the winners of a war, but the result of political circumstances. even the imposition of martial law itself is an internal political act. The recent investigation by the Supreme Court into the tenure of the army Chief should be seen in that context.

The Supreme Court is attempting to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution. The reaction of the army to General Musharraf’s sentence, including the hostile statement of the DG iSPr and the visit by the current COaS to SSG headquarters, carries the hint of accusing the judiciary of hostility towards the army. That raises shadows

of the old accusation of treason. is the superior judiciary tainted by treason?

Does the attempt to bring actions involving the military (such as a service chief’s tenure) under the Constitution involve treason? it must not be forgotten that any regulation of extensions may act to limit military interventions. Under the last two martial laws, the COaS had extended his tenure as President by a simple notification. if the law prevents him from doing so, any intervening COaS would try to limit the Martial Law to within his tenure.

The judgement did not occur without context. a former COaS and coupmaker was sentenced to death very soon after the sitting COaS did not get an extension because of a court intervention.

The military has always tried (successfully so far) to remain a law unto itself, internally accountable, not liable to the sort of control by politicians that has seen all indian service appointments above the rank of full colonel or equivalent (not just promotions, but postings as well) made by the appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

The judiciary has also done its best to insulate itself from politicians’ control, with appointments vetted by a bipartisan parliamentary committee, and thus not monopolised by the political government as before. now, it seems, it is not trying to establish control over the state, so much as move beyond its position as one of the three pillars of the civilian state, to make itself the arbiter of the entire state, including the military component. it almost seems as if there is a replay of the Curzon-Kitchener controversy, when Lord Kitchener, the Commander-in-Chief of the army in india, objected to the dual control of the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, which he exercised through the Military Member of the Viceroy’s Council, back in 1902. The affair only ended when Curzon resigned.

The military has always opposed dual control, and did not want any interference in its affairs, not just because it is the only institution left unscathed, but because it violates the principle of unity of command, which means that a superior’s orders must be obeyed, legal or not. it seems that the civilian executive and legislative have given up, as the accusers of imran Khan that he is selected, seem more concerned that they have not been selected, while the legislators are elected only if the military wants.

The judiciary is thus the only pillar of the state still civilian and committed to constitutional rule.

M.A. Niazi is a member of the staff.

A phoenix that rose from the ashes Today is Benazir Bhutto’s 12th death anniversary

Abdur rAsool syed

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enazir Bhutto,- one of the greatest leaders of the world and the first Muslim woman to head an islamic country, was an epitome of courage, resoluteness, steadfastness and resilience. Her intrepidity is eulogized not only by diehard ideologues but also by her worst detractors. Her life is characterised by an indefatigable struggle against the despotic forces of dictatorship and fascism. She left no stone unturned to get the democratic ethos entrenched. She so carried forward her great father zulfikar ali Bhutto’s legacy of populism that every Pakistani wept over her assassination.

Her coldblooded murder shook the people and her charismatic persona impresses the generations to come.

She was born on 21 June 21, the first of four children in a Sindhi landowning family. She grew up in the trappings of the post-colonial, english-speaking elite. With an english governess, called “Pinkie” due to her rosy complexion she was enrolled in a convent school.

While 16, she had to leave for radcliffe College, Harvard University, for which she was not mentally prepared. “i cried and cried and cried because i had never walked to classes in my life before,” she once told an interviewer. “i’d always been driven to school in a car and picked up in a car, and here i had to walk and walk and walk. it was cold, bitterly cold, and i hated it … but it forced me to grow up.”

From Harvard, she went on to Oxford to study politics, philosophy Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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and economics, an arena where she honed her debating skills by becoming the first foreign woman to be elected president of the Oxford Union. She was a brilliant student and excelled in oratory at Harvard and Oxford, inspiring not just minds but also connecting hearts—she introduced former UK PM Theresa May to future husband Philip. after completing her studies, she aspired to be a diplomat. But circumstances led her to continue her father’s legacy. Soon after her return in 1977, her father was ousted as PM and imprisoned, and martial law was declared. Two years later, he was executed, which became the defining moment in Benazir’s life, launching her full-steam into politics.

Over the next five years, with the PPP outlawed, she was in and out of detention, under house arrest or in prison, under harrowing conditions.

She was allowed to leave Pakistan in 1984 for treatment of a serious ear infection. She settled in London, but then there was the mysterious death of one of her two brothers at his home on the French riviera.

Some accounts suggested that he had been poisoned, which she believed to be the handiwork of Pakistani agents.

When martial law was lifted in December 1985, Bhutto felt the time had come to return. Her homecoming in april 1986 in Lahore was tumultuous, celebrated by hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis who so thronged the streets that her motorcade took 10 hours to travel eight miles. in her elegant British-inflected accent, she called on General zia to

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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resign, saying that it was “a bad year for dictators” — a reference to the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in Haiti. The momentum of her welcome propelled her on a national tour and then her party to victory in the 1988 elections.

Government, however, proved difficult for both of her terms as PM, from 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996. She was credited with ending media restrictions and speaking out for women’s rights, but she was constrained by the military and the mullahs, Pakistan’s two most powerful institutions.

Benazir faced constant character assassination, perpetual resistance from the mullahs who would try to stir up the public emotions by proclaiming that a government headed by a woman was un-islamic and persistent refusal by army generals to salute a female PM. Yet she managed to leave behind a legacy of commitment to democracy, economic empowerment of the downtrodden and social equality rivalled by only her father’s.

During her tenure, she strived hard to elevate the status of Pakistani women. She established the first women bank, a separate ministry for women affairs, inducted female judges in the judiciary, erected a separate police station for women, directed a five percent quota for women in every government department, set up the Muslim women’s Parliamentary Union, and established a women’s sport’s board.

She had to face many plots, orchestrated by her adversaries to

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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make her government fail. allegations of corruption were levelled at her that resulted in loss of government twice. Her husband, too, because of alleged corruption, was nicknamed “Mr 10 Percent”. ironically, he spent eight years imprisoned without a formal conviction.

Benazir’s reputation was further damaged by the assassination of her brother Murtaza during her own regime which some believe was engineered, if not by her, but by her hubby asif ali zardari since her brother coveted the leadership of the PPP. However, even after her death, she continues to reign over hearts and minds even though she led quite an unusual life. as she was said, “i have led an unusual life. i have buried a father killed at age 50 and two brothers killed in the prime of their lives. i raised my children as a single mother when my husband was arrested and held for eight years without a conviction— a hostage to my political career.”

Benazir was undoubtedly a woman of great achievements.

Some of her achievement came to limelight and were acknowledged even after her death—as is the case with a posthumous Un Human rights Prize in 2008.

She was like a phoenix that rose from the ashes time and again. She proved an iron lady in her tragic death in a suicide blast at the height of her election campaign in 2007. Despite having life threats she continued her struggle unwaveringly. Hence, a lesson of steadfastness, courage and boldness can be learnt from her life.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Friday, 27 December, 2019

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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

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

Bridging the gap between academia and practice

Fall of Dhaka was inevitable-2 The claims of genocide are now proven flase

sultAN M HAlI

I

n the first part of this article, carried on the same space the previous week, factors leading to the “Fall of Dhaka” were examined. The inevitability of the creation of Bangladesh was a reality, which should have been accepted wholeheartedly by the secessionists as well as the people and leaders of West Pakistan. as discussed earlier, since the severance of ties was so bloody that good sense was occluded by vindictiveness. it is a fact of recorded history that both the secessionists and the Pakistan army carried out excesses. The secessionists targeted the nonBengali population and the West Pakistani civilians and armed Forces personnel while the army, in its frenzy of retaliation, carried out a bloody carnage. The figures for genocide and rape being quoted by both sides are a gross exaggeration; the claim of three million Bengalis being massacred by Pakistani troops in 1971 is farfetched. Declassified US reports, indian and Pakistani military officers’ accounts, Lt Gen aaK niazi’s memoirs and a number of published books and articles like Subversion in East Pakistan by aMK Maswani, and Sarmila Bose’s Dead Reckoning specify that both Pakistani forces and Bengali insurgents were responsible for coldblooded genocide of civilians and their military counterparts. Yet, taking advantage of a pro-india Government in Bangladesh, macabre forces are bent upon picking at old scars in order to humiliate Pakistan and appease india.

Historical facts recorded by neutral observers shed light on the facts. Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Hamoodur rehman’s article Ideology of Pakistan published in the Supreme Court’s Journal Section of the All Pakistan Legal Decisions (PLD 1976 SC(Pak) Vol. XXXViii-Page 215-226) not only provides a clue but also an insight into proper understanding and background. He writes that as far back as 14 July 1971, Morning News, Karachi, carried the banner headline on its front page captioned, ‘india prepares blueprint for war on Pakistan’ quoting late Mr Yehia Syed’s report from London. Yehia Syed’s article titled ‘india fought the war on her published plan’ also carried by Morning News, Karachi (4 March1972), mentions what was known as india’s Subramaniam Plan— no more a secret— details of which were released in advance in London, according to which it was then the most opportune time to launch an attack and like a ripe plum (referring to east Pakistan) it would fall into india’s lap.

The book The Role of Big Powers in the

East Pakistan Crisis of 1971 by Bengali author Matiur rahman, published by Dr razia rahman (65 alfriston road London SW11) and reviewed in The Muslim World League Journal, Makah al-Mukarramah Vol. 12, no.

4, rabi al Thani/January 1985 (page 64) is highly revealing. Two more books by the same author, Bangladesh Today-An Indictment and a Lament (1978 edition) and Second Thoughts on Bangla Desh (1979 edition) shed ample light on the subject. it is equally tragic that these erudite and established authors have also focused on the fact that the irate insurgents of Mukti Bahini, in a spate of fury massacred Pakistani troops as well as non-Bengali citizens and committed unspeakable acts like rape and mutilation of dead bodies.

Mr H n akhtar in his article captioned After the Cassandras have spoken regarding the tragedy of 1971 has referred to a book, Pakistan Cut to Size reveals that Pakistan had fallen victim to a Communist and zionist-inspired conspiracy. The Jewish Chronicle London disclosed that Major General Jacob who was second in command of the indian forces in east Pakistan, was a Jew. He was related to the famous family of the late Dr i S Fox who was Chairman of the British zionist Federation. The paper said that there were a number of Jewish officers in indian armed forces, among the better known were rear admiral Benjamin abraham Samson and naval Judge advocate elliz Thirad. it has been widely spread that the Pakistan army killed over three million people in military action, and they all were innocent civilians.

This baseless indian and awami League propaganda has been belied by independent researchers like Sarmila Bose, in her book Dead Reckoning, quoting the Home Ministry of Bangladesh in 1972 that there were reports of only about 2,000 complaints of death due to military action while the Mukti Bahini slaughtered thousands of Pakistani troops and non-Bengali civilians. even the Sylhet-born sociology professor, Dr abdul Mu’min Chowdhury, educated in

Dhaka and exeter Universities, a Bengali nationalist who actively participated in the separatist cause, came out with eyewitness accounts. He states that the Pakistan army carried out a limited counter-insurgency, not genocide, in east Pakistan. Dr Chowdhury spoke out in 1996 to tell the true story of what went on during that war. in his book Behind the Myth of 3 Million he dispels many conjectural assumptions about Pakistani security forces’ action, stating that the allegations against Pakistan were entirely cooked up and the actual death toll was much lower than the falsely fabricated three million figure; and in order to arrive at this conclusion, Dr Chowdhury cites an extensive range of sources. The sources maintain that the number of east Pakistanis who supported independence and were subsequently killed during the war was to glorify the movement against West Pakistan, but evidence points otherwise.

The total strength of Pak army was 40,000 in east Pakistan out of which 237 officers, 136 JCOs and 3,559 other ranks were killed and wounded in the counter-insurgency operations between March to november 1971. it is not humanly possible to commit that level of genocide as the Pakistan army was being accused of both for tactical and humanitarian reasons, the sources added. even Col akbar Hussain, a decorated ‘Mukti Juddha’ and Cabinet Member under both General ziaur rehman and Mrs Khaleda zia, told the national assembly of Bangladesh during a debate on 15 June 1993 that the awami League had created the myth of ‘three million killed’.

So much for the allegation of genocide of 3 million Bengalis. in the third and last part of this Op-ed, next week, the myth regarding the heavy mandate of awami League in the 1970 General elections will be exposed.

The sources maintain that the number of East Pakistanis who supported independence and were subsequently killed during the war was to glorify the movement against West Pakistan, but evidence points otherwise. The total strength of Pak army was 40,000 in East Pakistan out of which 237 officers, 136 JCOs and 3,559 other ranks were killed and wounded in the counter-insurgency operations between March to November 1971. It is not humanly possible to commit that level of genocide as the Pakistan Army was being accused of both for tactical and humanitarian reasons, the sources added

Sultan M hali is a retired Group Captain and author of the book Defence & Diplomacy.

Currently he is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host.

aS one progresses from academia to practice, one experiences a 180-degree turn of events from promising prospect to harsh reality which is allegedly a grave concern for the beginners in any given field. Theoretical knowledgesynthesizing minds of fairly brilliant individuals typically fail the practical grounds ascribing to the lack of field exposure and business modelling. This, in turn, is the failure of the whole system where institutes are accountable for outdated academic curricula, unskilled professors with zero pragmatic approach, and incompetent co-curricular and extracurricular activities. Contrarily, the industry is accountable for self-interest based agendas, futile fellowship programs and non-availability of quality resources for skilful training symposiums. There is an absolute need for the formation of active intermediary authorities in all respective fields to adequately regulate a comprehensive collaboration between academia and experienced practitioners. Successful formation of joint platforms with active participation from both sides can be significantly productive in gradually improving technical, social, and operational competencies, consequently bridging the gap between academia and practice.

AR SAMDIA BUTT Lahore

Jinnah’s ‘Purana Pakistan’ MarTin Luther King Jr once said ‘almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world a better place’. Jinnah wanted the Pakistanis to respect our minorities. i want to reiterate that Prime Minister imran Khan had promised to give minorities their due rights. He envisioned following the model of the state of Medina. Mr Khan’s zeal was witnessed when he proposed that Dr atif Mian was the panacea for the economic calamity of Pakistan. He desired to see Dr atif as the Finance Minister in his ‘naya Pakistan’. The desire was a rhetorical. nevertheless, Mr Khan coerced Dr atif to resign from the economic advisory Council, owing to his faith; which is indifferent to our economy. Consequently, Dr imran rasul resigned in protest. This robbed our economic Council of competent members. However, Jinnah would have daunted the government’s decision because he guaranteed justice, equality, and opportunities for the minorities. Jinnah was a protagonist of minority rights. He stood for the Muslims when they were a minority in the colonial india. Jinnah must have been disenchanted following this inauspicious decision.

The premier idealises Jinnah and pledged to withhold the values of the father of our nation. The white part of our flag denotes Pakistan’s minority. One need not be a Muslim to serve this country. any person regardless of their religion is capable of serving his/her state without prejudice.

Unfortunately, our government has unceasingly disdained almost every other Pakistani, who had the audacity to choose a dissimilar trajectory since the demise of Mr Jinnah.

Pakistan loses her chance to prosper when every Joginder nath Mandal, Sir zafarullah Khan, abdul Salam and in this case Dr atif is left to the mercy of the bigots in the country.

This is a startling moment for our homeland. The food for thought is that can our nation flourish with this myopic attitude and is Pakistan alike india when it comes to minorities?

Ostensibly, those who claim to be the harbinger of revolution, need to aspire for the Pakistan of 1947 i.e., ‘Purana Pakistan’.

BARRISTER ARSALAN ChAUDhRy Narowal

Banning plastic bags PLaSTiC bags had been a huge indication of apocalypses since 1950s and it is very much notorious of being the fountainhead of enhancing the mortality rate of people in Pakistan. Plastic bags are being manufactured with various hazardous chemicals which are very much dangerous for every individual surviving in Pakistan, because in every corner of Pakistan plastic bags are being used to carry out the eatable goods without being aware the causes and health risk and sometimes it is very much spoiler for the lands because the plastics would make a timber land into a barren land. according to the expert scientists that plastic takes more than 500 years to break down in a landfill. Moreover, the scientists have claimed that the plastic bags have been the source of numerous deadliest diseases such as cancer endometriosis, neurological damage, endocrine disruption, birth effects and developmental disorders, immune damage, asthma, and cause multiple organ damages. Furthermore, the Minister of Climate Change Senator had evaluated that more than 55 billion plastic shopping bags are being used in Pakistan where the utilisation had been increased to 15 per cent per annum. in Pakistan approximately 8,021 production units are available whose production of average is nearly 250-500 kilograms per day and the result more investigated that more than 160,000 were directly and 600,000 were indirectly dependent on the industry. i request to the government to conduct surveys to create awareness among the residents about the health risks of applying plastic bags.

MEhRAJ ALTAF Turbat

Friday, 27 December, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

turKey to send troops to lIbyA At trIpolI's request: erdoGAn ANKARA

t

Agencies

URKEy will send troops to Libya at the request of Tripoli as soon as next month, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, putting the north African country’s conflict at the center of wider regional frictions.

Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) has been fending off a months-long offensive by General Khalifa Haftar’s forces in eastern Libya, which have been supported

by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Last month, Ankara signed two separate accords with the GNA, led by Fayez al-Serraj, one on security and mil-

itary cooperation and another on maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean.

“Since there is an invitation (from Libya) right now, we will accept it,” Erdogan told members of his AK Party in a speech. “We will put the bill on sending troops to Libya on the agenda as soon as parliament opens.” The legislation would pass around Jan. 8-9, he said, opening the door to deployment.

For weeks Ankara has flagged the possible mission, which would further stretch its military less than three months after it launched an incursion into northeastern Syria against a Kurdish militia.

Turkey has already sent military supplies to the GNA despite a United Nations arms embargo, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters last month.

typHoon pHAnFone KIlls At leAst 16 In pHIlIppInes MANILA: A typhoon that swept across remote villages and popular tourist areas of the central Philippines on Christmas Day claimed at least 16 lives, authorities said Thursday. Typhoon Phanfone, with winds of 195 kilometers (120 miles) an hour, tore roofs off houses and toppled electric posts as it cut across the Philippines on Wednesday. With the internet and mobile phone networks still cut off in some badly damaged areas, a full assessment of Phanfone’s damage was not immediately possible on Thursday morning. But at least 16 people had been confirmed killed in villages and towns in the Visayas, the central third of the Philippines, according to disaster agency officials. Phanfone also hit Boracay, Coron and other holiday destinations that are famed for their white-sand beaches and popular with foreign tourists. The airport at Kalibo, which services Boracay, was badly damaged, according to a Korean tourist who was stranded there and provided images to AFP. “Roads remain blocked, but some efforts have been made to clear away the damage. It’s pretty bad,” Jung Byung Joon said via Instagram messenger. “Everything within 100 meters of the airport looks broken.

There are a lot of frustrated people at the airport as flights have been canceled.

“Taxis are still running but it’s windy and still raining so no one wants to leave the airport, including me. ” Though much weaker, Phanfone tracked a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan — the country’s deadliest storm on record which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013. “It’s like the younger sibling of Haiyan. It’s less destructive, but it followed a similar path,” Cindy Ferrer, an information officer at the Western Visayas region’s disaster officer, told AFP. Tens of thousands of people in the mostly Catholic nation had been forced to evacuate their homes on Wednesday, ruining Christmas celebrations. Many others were not able to return to their families, with ferries and plane services suspended. Agencies

The Tripoli government and Haftar’s forces were not immediately available for reaction to Erdogan’s comments.

Erdogan visited Tunisia on Wednesday to discuss cooperation for a possible ceasefire in neighbouring Libya. On Thursday, he said Turkey and Tunisia had agreed to support the GNA. TENSION WITH RUSSIA: Moscow has voiced concerns over a possible Turkish military deployment to Libya in support of the GNA. Erdogan has said Turkey will not stay silent over mercenaries from the Kremlin-linked Wagner group supporting Haftar.

“Russia is there with 2,000 Wagner (fighters),” Erdogan said on Thursday, also referring to some 5,000 fighters from Sudan in Libya. “Is the official govern-

ment inviting them? No.” “They are all helping a war baron (Haftar), whereas we are accepting an invitation from the legitimate government of the country. That is our difference,” he added.

Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army has been trying since April to take Tripoli from the GNA, which was set up in 2016 following a U.N.-brokered deal.

Turkish and Russian officials held talks in Moscow this week to seek a compromise on the issues of both Libya and Syria. Russia’s Vedomosti said on Thursday the discussions had lasted much longer than the expected three days.

In Syria, Russia is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Turkey has backed rebels seeking his ouster during the more than eight-year civil war.

China sails carrier group through Taiwan Strait as election nears TAIPEI/BEIJING Agencies

China has sailed its new aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Thursday, as a presidential election campaigning was in full swing on the island amid heightening tension with Beijing.

Democratic Taiwan is claimed

by China as a wayward province and is the Communist Party’s most sensitive and important territorial issue.

China has threatened to attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence. Taiwan holds a presidential vote on Jan. 11 with President Tsai Ing-wen hoping to win re-election.

She has repeatedly mentioned what she sees as the threat of China as a warning to voters.

Tsai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party is pro-independence, although she has said she wants to maintain the status quo with China but will defend Taiwan’s security and democracy. The Chinese carrier Shandong sailed north through the Strait, the Taiwan ministry said in a short statement, adding that the carrier group was

accompanied by frigates. The ministry did not say exactly when the ships made their voyage. “It’s the responsibility and duty for the two sides across the strait to maintain peace and stability and strive for the well-being of the people,” Taiwan’s presidential office said in a statement. “Beijing should cherish peace and stability across the strait and in the region, which are not easy to come by.”

China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A senior Taiwan official familiar with security planning said the Chinese navy patrol was the latest bid by Beijing to meddle in Taiwan’s election. “By flexing military muscles, China is trying to intimidate non-aligned voters,” the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. “Beijing understands that this could be a double-edged sword, but what worries China more is the possibility of a fiasco for proChina forces in the election.”

China would prefer to the see the candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang party, which backs stronger ties, win the election. The

Chinese ministry’s spokesman, Wu Qian, speaking earlier on Thursday at a monthly news briefing, said everything was going “smoothly” with the new carrier, though did not comment on its deployments.

“It will continue to conduct trials and training, and form a combat capability through training. We will make an overall consideration about its deployment according to the situation and task needs,” Wu said. He did not mention its sailing through the Taiwan Strait. The carrier, China’s second largest, entered service at a base in the South China Sea last week in a big step in the country’s ambitious military modernization.

Last month, the ship, still unnamed at the time, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on its way to what China called routine exercises in the South China Sea, with Taiwan scrambling ships and aircraft to monitor the group. President Xi Jinping said in January that China reserves the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control but will strive to achieve peaceful “reunification”.

The latest talks follow reports that Russian-backed attacks were forcing tens of thousands more Syrians to flee towards Turkey. Turkey has also been ramping up efforts to strike deals with nations around the Mediterranean, where Ankara has been at loggerheads with Greece over resources off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus.

China, russia, Iran to hold joint naval drills starting Friday BEIJING: China, Iran and Russia will hold joint naval drills starting on Friday in the Indian Ocean and Sea of Oman, China’s defense ministry said on Thursday， ，amid heightened tension in the region between Iran and the United States. China will send the Xining, a guided missile destroyer, to the drills, which will last until Monday, and are meant to deepen cooperation between the three countries’ navies, ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a monthly news briefing. The drill was a “normal military exchange” between the three armed forces and was in line with international law and practices, Wu said. “It is not necessarily connected with the regional situation,” he said, without elaborating. The Sea of Oman is a particularly sensitive waterway as it connects to the Strait of Hormuz – through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes – which in turn connects to the Arabian Gulf. The drills are also coming at a time of fraught tensions between the United States and Iran. Friction has increased since last year when U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six nations and reimposed sanctions on it, crippling its economy. Washington has proposed a U.S.led naval mission after several attacks in May and June on international merchant vessels. Agencies

Netanyahu faces party leadership challenge ahead of March election JERUSALEM Agencies

Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a fresh challenge to his power on Thursday as his Likud party held leadership primaries in the run-up to a national election, the country’s third in under a year.

Netanyahu, head of Likud for the past 14 years, is widely expected to retain the right-wing party’s leadership. However, the challenge has added to pressures that have mounted this year on the four-term premier, who is under indictment and fighting for political survival.

In November, Netanyahu was charged for corruption in three criminal cases and he has twice failed to form a government in the wake of two inconclusive national ballots, held in April and September.

Netanyahu’s centrist rival in those elections, Benny Gantz, was also unable to form a coalition government, which has led Israel to political deadlock and an unprecedented third election.

Netanyahu has cast the legal case against him as a political witch-hunt orchestrated by the media and the Israeli left in the hopes of ousting a popular right-wing leader. Though the troubles of ‘King Bibi’ as he is nicknamed by his fans, do not seem to have dented the loy-

alty Netanyahu commands among his supporters, some Likud members have said it is time for fresh leadership. His challenger in the party primaries, Gideon Saar, a former education and interior minister and a popular member of Likud, has said that the party is unlikely to regain power in the March 2 election unless Netanyahu steps aside. Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister for more than a decade, has dismissed Saar’s challenges, talking up his security credentials and international prowess. Some 116,048 Likud members are eligible to vote in the party primary, though stormy weather could keep some of them at home. Results are expected by Friday morning.

I'm still scared: Asia remembers tsunami that killed 230,000 HANG NGA Agencies

Communities across Asia commemorated the more than 230,000 victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Thursday, the 15th anniversary of one of the world’s most deadly disasters.

On the morning after Christmas Day in 2004, a 9.1 magnitude quake off northern Sumatra island triggered a tsunami with waves as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) that swept over vulnerable coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.

“It still haunts me … I can remember it all the time,” said Suwannee Maliwan, 28, who lost both parents and five other relatives when the tsunami hit the Thai province of Phang Nga.

CMYK

“Sometimes I dream that a wave is coming. I’m still scared,” she said.

“Sometimes I want to move somewhere else, but it’s not possible because I was born here, my mom and dad passed away here.” Memorials were scheduled in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where entire villages were flattened and more than 125,000 people perished in the giant waves. Since then, the area has been largely rebuilt, with some 25,600 residential, commercial, government and school buildings constructed inside a high-risk zone, that had suffered virtually total devastation in 2004.

In Thailand, where more than 5,300 people were killed, including tourists visiting resort islands in the Andaman Sea, officials held a memorial ceremony and called for more awareness and prepared-

ness for disasters.

“The government wants to lift safety standards… and build awareness across all sectors in preparing and protecting people against disasters,” Deputy Interior Minister, Nipon Bunyamanee, said at an opening ceremony. He said Dec. 26 had been designated national accident prevention day. Officials later laid wreaths at a memorial center in Phang Nga province to pay tribute to King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s nephew, Bhumi Jensen, who was last seen jet-skiing off the coast when the tsunami hit. An interfaith service for Muslim, Christian and Buddhist victims was also scheduled. Survivors from Ban Nam Khem, the worst hit Thai village, will hold a candlelight vigil in the evening. At least 1,400 people were killed when waves struck the fishing village.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

BUSINESS 11

NEPRA APPRovEs Rs1.56 PER uNit hikE iN PowER tARiff

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD The first workshop of the China-Central Asia Accounting Elites Exchange Programme officially kicked off at the Shanghai National Accounting Institute. The programme consists of four workshops in a two-year cycle, targeting officials from departments in the accounting field in China and Central Asia, as well as professionals from companies, industry associations, accountancy firms and other accounting theory and practice circles. press release

OGDCL management under its CSR programme has launched National Talent Hunt Programme 2019-20 for all four provinces and Gilgit Baltistan. press release

TPL Insurance and FINJA – SIM SIM partner to sell TPL’s digital insurance products to SIM SIM wallet customers. p r e s s r e l e a s e

t

aHMaD aHMaDaNI

HE National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved Rs 1.56 per unit increase in the power price on account of fuel price adjustment for the month of October 2019.

Following a request of Central Power Purchasing Authority (CPPA) to jack up per unit power price by Rs1.73 per unit on account of fuel price adjustment for the month of October 2019, NEPRA has taken the decision of Rs 1.56/unit hike in the price of electricity. However, this raise in per unit price of electricity will not be applicable on lifeline consumers who use 50 units a month and the consumers of the K-Electric.

NEPRA official said that the actual cost of the generation of per unit of electricity in the month of October 2019 was Rs 5.3235, while reference fuel cost of per unit was earlier set at Rs3.7579 and in this way fuel variation was registered at Rs1.5656/unit during the said month.

Sources in the power sector said that already burdened power consumers will bear the additional cost of approximately Rs14.5 billion with effect to the NEPRA’s approval of Rs 1.56 per unit hike in power price on account of fuel price adjustment of the month of October 2019.

During the course of hearing, CPPA pleaded that furnace-oil-run power plants had produced power in the said period due to the unavailability

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan receives second tranche of $452m from IMF KARACHI: Pakistan on Thursday received $452.4m as a second tranche of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Confirming the report, a spokesperson of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that the release of second tranche amounting to over $452m showed IMF’s confidence over the government’s economic policies. The amount will be added to the bank’s data next week, he added. The spokesperson said that central bank’s net reserves increased by $14mn to $10.9 billion during the week ending December 20. He maintained that the country’s total foreign reserves stood at $17.6 billion. SBP’s spokesperson said that net foreign reserves held by commercial banks are around $6.68 billion. INp

natural gas; 25.41pc from re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG); 9.23pc from nuclear power; 0.14pc from mixed sources; 0.06pc from bagasse; 0.64 from solar while 0.14pc electricity was imported from Iran to meet the energy needs during the month of October 2019.

As per CPPA, total energy generated in October stood at 9,572.06 gigawatts, while the energy delivered to power distributing companies (DISCOs) was 9,296.60GWh (97.12pc).

Earlier, NEPRA, in a public notice, invited all the interested/affected parties to raise written/oral objections, as permissible under the law, during the course of NEPRA’s public hearing regarding fuel price adjustment.

Special persons to get loan at 5pc rate GHUlaM aBBas

Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design in collaboration with Pakistan Embassy Rome presented a fashion show on at Pakistan Embassy via della Camilluccia, 682 Rome, Italy. p r e s s r e l e a s e

of gas. The CPPA advocated that power generation with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) run power plants could not be met also because of the shortage of gas. Also, merit order was not followed due to shortage of gas, said CPPA. Speaking on the occasion, the NEPRA chairman said that if efforts were used towards the distribution of electricity then problems related to power supply could not surface. However, it is noted that power generation with high speed diesel was not utilized in October, said NEPRA. CPPA in its application advocated that 25.48pc electricity was produced from hydel sources; 24.62pc was generated from coal; 0.20pc from residual furnace oil; 12.17pc from

State Bank of Pakistan, as announced earlier, has relaxed various rules for financing to low cost housing in the country with special relaxations being introduced for the special persons. As per a briefing prepared for a parliamentary panel, the SBP claims that after the announcement of relaxation in financing policies, there was a jump 15 percent in house finance in September 2019 as compared to the same month last year.

As per the documents the gross outstanding Housing Finance by banks and HBFCL stands at Rs 103.64 billion in September as compared to Rs 89.79 billion recorded in September 2018.

As per the central bank the housing market is among the most important markets in the economy due to its sizable portion of production activity in an economy. In Pakistan, the sector remain underdeveloped mainly due to sup-

ply and demand side challenges.

Keeping in view the importance of this sector SBP has declared the housing finance as priority sector lending.

SBP has undertaken various initiatives to promote and develop housing finance in Pakistan such as facilitation in establishment of Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company, issuance of separate Prudential Regulations to cater to the specificities of housing finance; ongoing capacity building of stakeholders and measures for promotion of low cost housing finance.

Following the announcement made by Prime Minister regarding the SBP’s Low Cost Housing Finance Policy, SBP has ensured the policy and regulatory incentives for the financing of low cost houses in the country. The policy, which covers regulatory relaxations to banks/ Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), has introduced subsidized fixed rate financial facility for low cost housing for special segments.

In order to facilitate availability

of long-term affordable funding for housing to special segments of society e.g. Widows, Transgender, special persons, SBP shall provide refinance against subsidized low cost housing financing by banks/DFIs (conventional and Islamic). Under this scheme, banks / DFIs are allowed to finance up to Rs 2.7 million for housing unit costing up to Rs. 3 million. The loan tenor would be 12.5 years at a rate of 5% for end borrowers, while SBP will provide 100% refinance to banks / HBFCL at 1%.

Under the regulatory incentives for low cost housing for Banks/DFIs, relaxations in existing Housing Finance Prudential Regulations have been offered to banks/ DFIs to promote low cost housing finance. As per the announced relaxations the existing 0.5-1.5 % general reserve requirement against classified housing finance portfolio has been removed for low cost housing finance.

Besides the Loan to Value (LTV) ratio of 85:15 has been re-

laxed to 90:10 for low cost housing finance. Bank/DFIs exposure in low cost housing finance has been excluded from calculating the real estate exposure limit finance. The standardized risk weight as applicable on banks/ DFIs' exposure to Residential Mortgage Finance has been lowered to 25% from 35% on low cost housing.

For the purpose of financing low cost housing units, banks/DFIs have been allowed to apply the valuation of single unit on all the units of the same society/colony instead of conducting separate valuation for each unit constructed on the same layout and size.

Banks/DFIs Borrowings from Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC) are exempted from maintenance of CRR and SLR. Maximum size of a housing loan by Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) has been increased from PKR 500,000 to PKR 1,000000. Besides the regulatory cap of 40% for MBFs on exposure above Rs 2500,000 has been removed.

The big shortcoming: A grumpy 2020 for global growth PARIS aGeNCIes

US political clouds coupled with wider climate and digital transformations point to a tricky 2020 for the world economy, although experts say a lurch back to crisis is improbable.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said last month that activity had been hobbled by weaker trade and investment in the past two years, as US President Donald Trump pursued a trade war with China.

The OECD expects global growth to dip in the coming year to 2.9 percent, its lowest level since the world recession of 2009.

Trump appears to have struck a truce with China for now, under a "phase one" pact announced this month, but pre-existing tariffs remain in place and it will take time to demobilise their effects.

More broadly, the OECD contrasted proactive actions taken by central banks with the policy foot-dragging by governments in the face of climate change and

the march of technology.

Industrialists and investors are having to correct their climate strategies even as Trump sits firm in his policy of denial. Oil giant Saudi Aramco recently had to trim back the volume of its gigantic share offering.

The International Monetary Fund was a little more optimistic in its latest World Economic Outlook, forecasting 2020 growth of 3.4 percent but warning nevertheless of a "synchronised slowdown and uncertain recovery".

At a time of populism and protests around the world, politics will remain an economic wild card next year.

Trump heads into the November presidential election under an impeachment cloud, and Britain's Brexit divorce from the European Union will likely be sealed next month, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's election triumph.

The rise of technological giants sitting on mountains of data is meanwhile challenging the distribution of wealth between governments and big business, and has the potential to reshape the world of work as

artificial intelligence exploits that data.

The online arena has emerged as another front for Trump's trade wars, after he threatened tariffs on France over its digital tax imposed on the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google. Europe is threatening a collective response.

BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL: Ludovic Subran, chief economist of German insurance giant Allianz, sees a global "purgatory of growth" coming up.

Any systemic shock next year "will probably not be born in finance, but will be exogenous, for example a big regulatory shock on personal data, or in relation to the climate", he said.

If Trump survives the impeachment process and wins a second term, he could "double the bet against China" at the risk of military confrontation, Subran added.

Trump and his potential challengers on the Democratic left are united in their hostility to the free-trade and liberalisation agendas that, they argue, hollowed out industrial America over the past decades.

The mistrust is felt well beyond the United States.

"We're not worried about how to overcome a cyclical crisis, we know what to do," said Ingo Kuebler, the staff representative at Mahle, a German automotive supplier that has already been forced to downsize as car buyers turn away from diesel engines.

"The big issue is transformation, digitalisation, electric mobility," he told AFP, fretting that an influx of cheap Chinese car batteries means "we are dreading the loss of many jobs".

THE BIG INCOME GAP: Since the financial crisis a decade ago, central bank policies have led to negative interest rates spreading in some countries, squeezing bank profitability and inflating private debt.

With growth faltering, the debate about wealth distribution will likely become still more acute. Anger at inequality runs like a thread through protest movements from rich Hong Kong to developing Chile.

In 2018, according to Oxfam, 26 billionaires had as much money as the poorest half of the world.

"Even when people seem to enjoy

basic material comfort, they may still experience the same level of misery and unhappiness as the poorest," French academic Esther Duflo said in October after she won the Nobel Prize in economics.

US investor Steve Eisman of "The Big Short" fame thinks that another global crisis is unlikely, but the best that can be hoped for is a slow strangulation of growth.

"What will happen next time, whenever it does happen, will be your normal garden variety of recession where the economy slows and goes negative and people lose money. That'll be painful enough," Eisman told AFP. "A systemic crisis? Once was enough for our lifetimes," he said, reflecting back on the implosion of 2007-2008 that made hundreds of millions for his hedge fund when he correctly foretold the US subprime collapse.

The prescient strategy of Eisman and other investment mavericks was recounted in a book by journalist Michael Lewis and subsequent Oscarwinning movie.

Friday, 27 December, 2019

12 BUSINESS

CoRPoRAtE GovERNANCE wEAk iN PuBliC sECtoR BANks: sBP ISLAMABAD

PM imran directs to speed up work on hydropower projects Prime Minister Imran Khan while directing to accelerate pace of work on hydropower projects, said that increase in water storage capacity and production of cheap electricity is government’s preference. According to details, PM checked progress on hydropower projects and showed satisfaction on pace of work. He directed ministries to resolve issues which are hindering progress on projects. He added that increasing water storage capacities and production of cheap electricity is one of government’s preferences. He said that effective use of water resources is a key factor in agricultural and economic development. Cheap electricity will end power shortages and increase production capabilities of local industry enabling them to compete in international market.

PM was briefed that work on Dasu hydropower project will commence in 2025 and will be completed by 2027. It will generate 2160 MW of electricity. Work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam will commence in 2020 and will be completed by 2027. It will store 8.1 million acre foot of water and will generate 4500 MW of electricity. BUsINess DesK

Gold price gains Rs1000, traded at Rs87,900 per tola ISLAMABAD: The per tola price of 24 karat gold appreciated by Rs 1000 on Thursday and was traded at Rs 87,900, as compared to Rs 86,900 on last trading day, Karachi Sarafa Association reported. Likewise, the price of 10 gram gold witness increase of Rs 857 and was traded at Rs 75,360 against last closing of Rs 74,503. The price of silver also increased by Rs100 and was traded at Rs 1070 per tola and that of 10 gram silver was traded at Rs 917.35. In international market, the price of per ounce gold increased by $ 15 and was traded at $ 1505 as compared to last closing at $1490. app

sBP forex reserves jump $14m to $10.9bn KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased 0.13% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. Earlier, the reserves had spiralled downwards, falling below the $7-billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements.

However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves. On December 23, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $10,907.3 million, up $14 million compared with $10,892.9 million in the previous week. The central bank also received inflows worth $452.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as second tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme on December 23, 2019. “These funds will be part of the SBP weekly reserves data as of December 27, 2019, to be released on January 02, 2020,” the statement added. Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $17,595.2 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,687.9 million. Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the IMF on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China. Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country’s ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.

Earlier, the SBP received $350 million under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). A few weeks earlier, the SBP successfully made a foreign debt repayment of over $1 billion on the maturity of Sukuk. sTaFF repOrT

s

sTaFF repOrT

TATE Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir said in a seminar that corporate governance practices in public sector banks are generally weak and less transparent due to likely political intervention in the affairs of these banks.

He also said that there is a need to rationalize the shareholding structure of these banks to minimize the undesirable role of governments

in their affairs.

The governor was speaking at a SAARC Seminar hosted by the SBP on “Emerging Trends in Good Governance of Banking Sector in SAARC Region”. Besides Pakistan, the seminar, held at National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF), was attended by delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

At the seminar, Dr Baqir also said that corporate governance is the cornerstone for the success of any business entity.

However, for financial institutions, the importance of corporate governance becomes even more critical as banks are highly leveraged entities facing a wide range of risks in their day-to-day operations.

Therefore, a different and specific regulatory framework is required, due to their leveraged business model, and diverse ownership and group structure.

He added that the concentration of banks’ shareholding to a few families and their nominees on the boards is against good governance

FBR intelligence office unveils fake and flying invoices scam ISLAMABAD sHaHZaD paraCHa

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation-IR, Karachi has unveiled a scam of tax evaders who have deprived national exchequer with billion of rupees through fake and flying invoices.

The Director General I&IIR, Islamabad has emphasized to plug the leakages of revenue and in the line of his direction, Director l&I-IR, Karachi initiated action and unearthed 50 to 60 unscrupulous persons who are engaged in issuing and utilizing flying and fake invoices either to evade sales tax or to facilitate other persons in minimizing their sales Tax liabilities.

The scam is operating through various cities of Pakistan and issuing sales tax invoices without any physical movement of goods.

Sources said that so far paper transactions valuing Rs

7.729 billions involving sales tax of Rs 1.305 billion is unearthed.

Sources also said that suspected revenue involved in the scam will rise up to 10 billion. Investigations are underway to trace and apprehend the master mind of the mafia behind the scam.

It is reliably learnt that a thorough investigation of the scam is underway and so far suspension and black listing of 10 bogus registered persons namely; M/s. Shahid Enter-

prises, M/s. Hashmi Traders, M/s. Jibran Enterprises, M/s.

Rizwan Enterprises, M/s.

Lucky Corporation, M/s. Zaid Emprises, M/s. Zahid & Co., M/s. Khatri Enterprises, M/s.

S.S.S. Expo, and M/s. A-One Packages registered in Karachi is initiated. Sources told that cases of bogus registered persons falling in the jurisdiction of other cities are being recommended to other Directorates having jurisdiction.

PESHAWAR: A vendor sells peanuts and dried fruits on his pushcart in the provincial capital. ONLINE

practices and may adversely impact the effectiveness of the board.

The governor also emphasized that boards of the banks with more gender diversity or female representatives and diversified experience in the fields of IT, risk management, finance and economics can play a more effective role in achieving the organization’s overall strategic objectives.

In his closing remarks, he suggested that terms of reference of the Saarc Finance network may be revised to align with central banks in the region facing the same challenges.

stock exchange gains 799 points ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday witnessed bullish trend as KSE 100 Index jumped by 799.47 points (1.94%) to 41,127 points from 40,328 points on the previous working day. A total of 132,017,420 shares valuing Rs 6.52 billion were traded against 135,300,750 shares of Rs 7.16 billion during the last trading day. Shares of 359 companies were transacted, out of which 258 recorded gain and 84 sustained losses whereas the share price of 17 remained unchanged. The top three traded companies were, UNITY with a volume of 27,199,500 shares and price per share of Rs 15.97, WTL with a volume of 21,015,000 shares and price per share of Rs 1.27, and HASCOLR1 with a volume of 17,767,500 and price per share of Rs9.54. app

indian iPos fall to four-year low as economy falters Indian initial public offerings tumbled to a 4-year low by value in 2019 as the economy slowed, but some analysts are hoping for better in 2020 on the back of potential government reforms likely to boost stock markets. Funds raised by Indian IPOs fell to just $2.8 billion this year, the lowest in four years, according to data from Refinitiv. In 2017, the proceeds hit a record $11.7 billion before falling to $5.5 billion in 2018. “2019 has been the worst year from an IPO market perspective,” said Sandip Khetan, a partner at consultancy EY. “Because of different types of disruptions, such as corporate failures and bankruptcies, things have slowed down considerably,” he said.

Financials and industrial sectors led the declines in IPO issues, with proceeds more than halving. India's NSE Nifty 50 index .NSEI was down about 1.4% for the year on Sept. 19, a day before the announcement of a cut in the corporate tax rate boosted markets and raised hopes of more reforms to help the economy. The NSE index was up 12.4% in 2019 as of Tuesday’s close. “The government has addressed a lot of economic reform requirements in the last three months,” said EY’s Khetan. At the same time, many of this year’s IPOs have performed well, boosting the outlook for more issues next year. aGeNCIes

Oil nears $68, highest since September, on trade hopes, OPEC LONDON aGeNCIes

Oil rose towards $68 a barrel to its highest in over three months on Thursday, buoyed by a report showing lower U.S. crude inventories, hopes of an end to the China-U.S. trade dispute and OPEC-led efforts to constrain supply.

The American Petroleum Institute, an oil industry group, said late on Tuesday that U.S. crude stocks fell by 7.9 million barrels last week, much more than the de-

cline forecast by analysts.

Brent crude LCOc1, the global benchmark, reached $67.83 a barrel, the highest since Sept. 17, and by 1438 GMT was up 39 cents at $67.59. U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 crude gained 14 cents to $61.25. “Prices for now are still supported,” said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. “It’s difficult to go against that trend during the holiday period.”

Trading volume remains low due to the Christmas holidays, which have delayed the release of the U.S. govern-

ment’s official oil inventory report by two days until Friday.

Also supporting prices, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would have a signing ceremony for the so-called Phase 1 agreement to end their trade dispute that was put together earlier this month.

The roughly 17-month trade war between the world’s two largest economies has hit global growth and demand for oil, weighing on crude prices for most of the year.

Even so, Brent has still rallied 25 per-

cent in 2019, supported by supply cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia.

The so-called OPEC+ group agreed this month to extend and deepen production cuts that would take as much as 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply off the market from Jan. 1, or roughly 2% of global demand.

Still, U.S. producers, not party to the OPEC+ agreement, have been pumping record amounts of oil, especially shale.

Growth in U.S. production is forecast by

many to slow in 2020.

“Oil prices continue to show year-end strength, supported by a combination of definitive progress on the U.S.-China trade deal, the December OPEC/OPEC+ agreement and slowing shale activity,” said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader.

But more supply is coming in the new year from OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which this week agreed to end a dispute over their Neutral Zone, which can supply as much as 500,000 bpd.

5 DRAMAS TO KEEP US HOOKED THIS WINTER BREAK

By Rohama Riaz

RUSWAI

MERE PAS TUM HO

The iconic drama”Ruswai” featuring Sana Javaid, Mikaal Zulfiqar and many other emerging stars like Natalia is based on a true story and depicts the bitter reality of our society. The most heinous crime “Rape” has been discussed in the drama. The taboos attached to rape are extensively discussed. The real face of society, the power of people and helplessness of family are quite evident from the sequence of the drama. It shows how a woman is treated after all this and the hurdles she has to face on the path of justice.

Seeing the flawless plot, we can predict a gamechanging ending where the ultimate lesson will be “to blame the rapist not the one who gets raped”.

Who does not wait for Saturday impatiently? Secretly, all men and women are completely hooked to this drama for many reasons. Yes, it gives a little boost to the man ego as it discusses a woman who cheats on her husband but the fact is it goes both ways. Cheating is wrong in any case. The most fascinating thing about the drama is the dialogue delivery and the real-life lessons that are ingrained in each episode. It is a lesson to home-wreckers, the rich, the cheaters and the corrupt. For the first time in Pakistan, a live-in relationship is being broadcasted. The most noticeable part is that It does not target one gender only when it comes to cheating.

It also raises a question that why a woman is forced to forgive a man when he gets into an extra-martial relationship but the case entirely different otherwise.

P

akistani drama industry is at the peak of success with some incredibly plotted drama and efficient actors portraying some meaningful character. We are slowly moving from typical saas-bahu rivalry to life long and life-changing story-lines. these 5 dramas are totally stealing the limelight and we cannot agree more because of the way they are executed. and these dramas have kept us all busy while we enjoy of winter break.

EHD-E-WAFA

ALIF

Army ants that misinterpret the scent trails left by other ants will sometimes break from the crowd and march in circles. If enough ants join, they can form massive "death spirals."

ISHQ ZAHE NASEEB A solar eclipse helped end a six-year war in 585 BCE. When the sky suddenly darkened during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes in modern Turkey, soldiers took it as a sign to cease fighting.

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

This will be extremely unfair to compare the drama with Alpha Bravo Charlie, the iconic drama but it has its own perks and charm. It shows the importance of friendship, it gives a glimpse into a strenuous army training, a cute love story of Dua and Saad and on top of it, shows a friendly bond between kids and their parents. It shows an aspect of ongoing corruption, landlord system and the importance of a good career over anything else.

Alif is a spiritual journey of so many actors.

They have also quoted in some interviews how Alif changed their life for good. It is an insight into the life of actors which is not just about glamour but is more than that.

There is a connection to Allah, there is poverty that brings them to a point where they have to move forward while there is no way back. It shows an undying connection with God, the real self of an actor and the fact that pride always has a fall.

A drama that has kept people in complete awe. It discusses split personality; a disease that has a taboo attached to it and rather than taking it seriously, these individuals get different labels like “Pagal” “Transgender” “Psychotic” etc. It is the high time that we started talking about these issues openly while bringing them in normal conversations. Zahid Ahmad has aptly played his character and Yumna Zaidi, fully immersed in her role, was no doubt an epitome of phenomenal acting.

Merry Christmas From Henry Cavill, Superman and the Snyder Cut

Michael B. Jordan Reacts To Superman, Matrix 4 Rumors

Merry Christmas from Henry Cavill and Zack Snyder as the Man of Steel actor releases a video on social media and Snyder posts new Superman images from his version of Justice League.

Henry Cavill, who can be seen in the stellar new series on Netflix with The Witcher, posts a video of himself wearing a Santa Claus hat where he gives his dog, Kal, a Christmas present.

"Santa just came with Kal's present and I think he might know what it is. What do you guys think?" Cavill said.

Regarding the new Henry Cavill Superman images, Zack Snyder posted the above pic on the Vero social app along with a new pic of Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne (see below).

"You are my lord and king. You are Arthur," Snyder said about the Superman and Aquaman image.

"Have you found the secret that I have lost?" Snyder said about the Affleck pic.

A second Superman image offers: "Drink from the chalice and be reborn," which is a reference to Snyder teasing that his cut is the Holy Grail.

Fan-favorite actor Michael B. Jordan happens to be rumored for all sorts of roles, including a new version of Superman as well as a young Morpheus in The Matrix 4.

MTV caught up with Jordan and his Just Mercy co-star Jamie Foxx, who happened to play Electro in Amazing Spider-Man 2.

"What! That would be so crazy! Son of Jor-El!" Foxx responded to the notion of Jordan playing the Man of Steel.

"Honestly, I've been rumored to play Morpheus, to Superman, to Duck Tales reboot, to Power Ranges, and everything in between," Jordan said. "So it's like, I'm kinda used to the rumors I'm playing something, but anything that I do dive in to has gotta be done the right way." Michael B. Jordan continued by hinting that he wouldn't want to replace existing characters - the SJW PC route - but that he would want to play new ones.

In the comics, Calvin Ellis, aka Kalel, is the Superman of Earth-23, who was raised by the poor Ellis family, instead of the Kent's, and would also go on to do great deeds, including even becoming President of the United States.

CMYK

Wendy's founder Dave Thomas dropped out of high school but earned his GED in 1993. His GED class voted him Most Likely to Succeed.

Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor film likely to open at Rs 20 cr, may push out Dabangg 3 Good Newwz, starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in prominent roles along with Kiara Advani and Diljit Dosanjh, is all set to end the year with a bang. The film is expected to have a good start on the last Friday of the year as it enjoys a solo release and is getting a good word of mouth.

Trade analyst Girish Johar is confident the film will open at over Rs 20 crore on day one despite Salman Khan’s Dabangg 3 stil at the ticket windows. ”The film has been promoted well across India. The people have liked the trailer. It is a multi-starrer with Akshay, who is already on top and brings a great variety to his work, and Kareena, who is coming after a long time and has a fan following of her own. Kiara and Diljit are also very strong. The songs are hit among the audience and it is also a solo release.

Everything looks positive and it should turn out to be a good news in itself.”

Friday, 27 December, 2019

14 SPORTS

Alli cAps spurs fightbAck to siNk brightoN LOndOn

d

AGENCIES

ELE Alli got Tottenham back on track as the England midfielder capped a gritty escape act with the late winner in Thursday's 2-1 victory against Brighton.

Jose Mourinho's side were in danger of a second successive Premier League defeat when Adam Webster headed Brighton into a shock lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But Harry Kane equalised after the interval and Alli finished off a flowing Tottenham move in the closing stages to erase the bitter taste of last weekend's acrimonious London derby loss to Chelsea."I'm very happy with second half. I'm not saying players were wrong but we changed bits and that makes a difference," Mourinho said.

"It's hard after a defeat to have confidence and we started poorly, it affects the confidence. Brighton have monsters in the air and it affected the self-esteem of our team."In the second half the players put all the negative aside and were very strong in their performance."

Avenging their defeat at Brighton in October, Tottenham, unbeaten in Boxing Day fixtures since 2003, have won three of their last four league games as

they try to climb into the top four.Saluting Alli's crucial contribution, Mourinho said: "Another goal and another incredible performance and effort. The work rate was absolutely incredible from Dele. "The little details are more important than what people look at. His attitude and fighting spirit was so good."

That Chelsea setback was completely overshadowed by the alleged racist abuse of Blues defender Antonio Rudiger by Tottenham fans after his role in Son Heung-min's red card.

Amid widespread calls for stronger action to stamp out racism in football,

Tottenham fans appeared to behave better this time. Since Mourinho's first game in charge of Tottenham, no Premier League team had conceded more goals than the 14 his side allowed across all competitions heading into this round of matches. Those defensive frailties were on display when Steven Alzate lost his marker and forced Paulo Gazzaniga into a sprawling save.

Kane has a knack of scoring on Boxing Day and the Tottenham striker thought he had netted again when he fired home from Winks' pass, but the goal went to a VAR review and was

ruled out by the narrowest of offside decisions.

Brighton made the most of that letoff to take the lead in the 37th minute.

Pascal Gross swung over a freekick and Webster rose above Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez to plant a powerful header past Gazzaniga for his third goal of the season.

Mourinho must have been furious that Tottenham wilted against such a simple set-piece and his team's record of one clean-sheet in his nine matches suggests a defender could be high on his January shopping list.

Underlining the urgency to address that problem area, Brighton's Bernardo forced Gazzaniga to save from a corner moments later to the audible frustration of the Tottenham crowd on a dank, wet day in north London. Mourinho, standing rain-soaked on the touchline, revealed before the game that his Christmas was ruined by the death of his family's pet Yorkshire Terrier.

But Kane put a smile back on his manager's face in the 53rd minute when he seized on a deflection off Lucas Moura after the Brazilian's determined run. Drilling a shot that Mat Ryan could only push back out, Kane gobbled up the rebound with a clinical finish for his eighth goals in five Premier League games on Boxing Day. Kane's 16th club goal this season was followed by Mourinho making a significant switch when he sent on Christian Eriksen for Harry Winks.

Eriksen made an immediate impact in the 72nd minute when he floated a delicate pass to Serge Aurier who flicked the ball into the path of Alli, who guided a superb lofted finish over Ryan.

In-form Elhouni boosts Esperance hopes of CAF title hat-trick Psris AGENCIES

Arteta says Xhaka can succeed at Arsenal despite fan fallout LONDON: Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka is moving in the right direction as he rebuilds his relationship with the club’s fans and can be an important player for the team going forward, new manager Mikel Arteta said.

Swiss international Xhaka reacted angrily to home supporters booing him as he walked off the pitch in a match against Crystal Palace in October and was subsequently stripped of captaincy by former manager Unai Emery. The 27-year-old, who was also dropped, has since found his way back into the squad and former Manchester City assistant Arteta said he would offer his full support to Xhaka, having taken charge of 11th-placed Arsenal last week. “When I was going from Arsenal to City to start coaching and we were looking at that position, he was one of the players on my list,” Arteta, a former Arsenal midfielder, told the British media before his first match in charge at Bournemouth on Thursday. “I was happy when Arsenal signed him because I thought he awas going to be a terrific player. He has done some really good things and now has got stuck in a difficult situation that was growing and growing and one day it exploded. “But I have been amazed by how this relationship is starting to come back a little bit and the fans have been positive about him. It’s difficult to change completely the scenario from where he was to a magnificent one. But we’re in the right direction.” Xhaka has been linked by the German media with a switch to Hertha Berlin but Arteta said he had spoken to the player about his future. “I told him how much I like him and what I expect from him, how important he is for the team,” Arteta added.

“I’m here to help him, I want him to feel we’re right behind him... if we can get fans in the right way as well... it’ll be helpful for the team.” AGENCIES

Hamdou Elhouni-inspired Esperance of Tunisia want to carry on where they left off in the Club World Cup when the CAF Champions League resumes Friday with three matchday three fixtures.

Libyan Elhouni scored a hattrick in a 6-2 rout of Al Sadd from host nation Qatar last week as his side finished fifth in the annual competition, which Liverpool won.

Group D leaders Esperance are seeking an unprecedented third straight Champions League title and will enjoy home advantage against pointless V Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo. AFP Sport previews the eightmatch schedule spanning Friday and Saturday with Esperance, fellow Tunisian team Etoile Sahel and TP Mazembe of DR Congo defending perfect group records.

Group A: Primeiro Agosto of Angola must contain Jackson Muleka in Luanda if they hope to end the two-match winning run of five-time African champions Mazembe.

Muleka scored twice in a 3-0 home triumph over Zamalek of Egypt,

also five-time winners of the competition, and repeated the feat as Mazembe edged Zesco United 2-1 in Zambia. Winning away to 2018 semi-finalists Primeiro, who have only one point, would confirm Mazembe as favourites to win the group as they chase a first Champions League title since 2015.

The last Mazembe success was masterminded by French coach Patrice Carteron, now in charge of second-place Zamalek, who face Zesco in Zambian mining hub Ndola.

Group B: Algerian Karim Aribi hopes to increase his chart-topping nine-goal tally in the Champions League this season when Etoile Sahel host Al Hilal of Sudan near Tunis.

Aribi scored four goals in a qualifier and has at least four more matches to try and overtake Nigerian Stephen Worgu, who netted a record 13 times in the 2008 season.

Etoile, the only club to lift all five past and present CAF trophies, edged record eight-time Champions League winners Al Ahly of Egypt 1-0, then outclassed Platinum 3-0 in Zimbabwe.

Ahly recovered from the loss in Tunis to beat Al Hilal more decisively than the 2-1 score suggests and are ex-

pected to collect maximum points against pointless Platinum in Cairo.

Group C: Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane believes the South African club can defeat hosts USM Alger of Algeria despite a disruptive build-up to the match in Blida near Algiers. Limited travel options meant the Pretoria outfit left Johannesburg Monday and flew via Paris to the north African nation, where they trained on Christmas Day. "I believe we have more chance of defeating USM than Wydad Casablanca," said 2016 Champions League-winning coach Mosimane, referring to a 0-0 draw in Morocco this month. But if Sundowns lose, they could surrender top place if twice champions Wydad exploit home advantage and beat struggling Petro Luanda of Angola.

Group D: Esperance have recovered from a poor start to their challenge for a third consecutive title with wins over Raja Casablanca and JS Kabylie taking them to the top of the standings. The victories over the Moroccan and Algerian clubs came after the 'Blood and Gold' battled to overcome minnows Elect-Sport of Chad in a qualifier.

New boss ANcelotti bAcks keAN to fiNd his feet At evertoN LIVERPOOL: New Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti said his misfiring striker Moise Kean needs time to adapt to a new league and backed the Italian teenager to overcome his problems and succeed, citing the example of Michel Platini at Juventus in the 80s. The 19-year-old Kean joined Everton from Italian champions Juventus in August on a five-year deal for a fee of around 27.5 million euros ($30.49 million), but is yet to score in 13 Premier League matches. He struggled under former manager Marco Silva while Duncan Ferguson, Everton’s interim boss before Ancelotti took charge, brought him on as a second-half substitute against Manchester United this month and took him off before the game finished. “When I was a player I remember Platini arriving at Juventus from Saint Etienne (at 27). It took him six months to adjust and that was Platini,” Ancelotti told the British media. “I had the same problem with Hirving Lozano when he came to Napoli and he was two or three years older than Kean... We should always be patient with young players. “Kean is a player we tried to sign when I was at Napoli but he chose Everton. He has fantastic quality and I’m sure he’ll be a top talent but he’s 19 and everything is new for him here.” Italian Ancelotti will take charge of 15th-placed Everton for the first time against Burnley, who are 10th, on Thursday. AGENCIES

MANdzukic joiNs QAtAr's Al duhAil froM juveNtus TURIN: Al Duhail have signed Croatia international striker Mario Mandzukic on a free transfer from Italian Serie A champions Juventus, the Qatar Stars League leaders announced. The 33-year-old had been linked by the British media with a move to Premier League side Manchester United but will continue his career in the Qatari top flight having terminated his deal with Juventus, which was due to expire in June 2021.

Mandzukic scored 44 goals in 162 games in all competitions for Juventus after joining them from Spain’s Atletico Madrid in 2014, but has not featured in the current campaign under manager Maurizio Sarri. He has previously played for German sides Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg among other clubs.

Mandzukic helped Croatia reach the final of the World Cup in Russia last year and scored in their 4-2 defeat by France in the title clash. AGENCIES

Liverpool's Klopp says hectic festive schedule is a 'crime' LiVErPOOL AGENCIES

Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp has described the Premier League’s hectic festive schedule as a “crime” against some teams that are forced to play two matches in the space of 48 hours.

The league leaders, who won the Club World Cup title by beating Brazil’s Flamengo last Saturday, take on secondplaced Leicester City on Thursday and host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, but other teams including Manchester City are not as fortunate. The champions visit Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves on Friday before welcoming Sheffield United on Sunday, prompting manager Pep Guardiola to write to the league to “thank” them for a demanding schedule.

“It is absolutely not OK,” Klopp told the British media. “There’s no rea-

son why more teams do not get more than 48 hours between Premier League games. “None of the managers have a problem playing on Boxing Day, but playing on the 26th and 28th is a crime.

This year we play 26th and 29th and it’s like a holiday.”

The likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton, Watford and Manchester United all play twice within 48 hours this week. “I understand all those saying it shouldn’t happen. They’re not moaning. They’re telling,” Klopp added. “We can say what we want but no one is listening... sports science gives you nothing to deal with this.

“The body needs a specific amount of time to go again. But we ignore that completely.” Liverpool are looking to increase their 10-point advantage over Leicester, while the Foxes will aim to return to winning ways after their ninematch unbeaten run was ended by City.

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Friday, 27 December, 2019

SPORTS 15

sMith eyes ceNtury As AustrAliA seize coNtrol AgAiNst New zeAlANd MELbOurnE

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AGENCIES

ASTER batsman Steve Smith ground out an unbeaten 77 Thursday as he zeroed in on yet another century, putting Australia in the driving seat after the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand.

In the Black Caps' first Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since 1987, skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl, and it looked to be a good decision with Joe Burns out first ball and David Warner just before lunch.

But first Marnus Labuschagne, the world's leading run-scorer for 2019, and then Smith smacked half centuries to seize back control and leave them on 257 for four, frustrating the disciplined New Zealand bowlers.

Along with the fidgety Smith, Travis Head was not out 25, desperate for runs

after a lean spell. Labuschagne made 63 with Colin de Grandhomme taking 2-48.

The signs are ominous for New Zealand with superstar Smith scoring centuries in his past four Tests in Melbourne, and a fifth looking likely.

"The way they bowled and placed their field, I had to be patient," said Smith. "It's not the kind of wicket you could go after them. I think we did pretty well today.

"The plan will obviously be to score as many as we can (on Friday)," he added.

"But after getting sent it, I think you'd take 257 for four at the end of the day. One more good partnership would be nice and sort of set the game up for us." The visitors need to win to square the three-match series after crashing in the opening daynight clash in Perth by 296 runs.

It was a bold decision by Williamson to bowl on a pitch that has traditionally been docile and favoured the batsmen.

And it appeared to pay dividends in a sizzling opening over from Trent Boult,

back after missing two Tests with a rib injury.

After three testing balls AustrALIA 4 to Warner, his fourth clattered into Burns' middle For 257 (smIth 77*, stump, with the opener LAbusChAgnE 63, dE out for a golden duck to grAndhommE 2-48) v huge roars from the large New Zealand contingent nEw ZEALAnd in the 80,000-strong crowd. wrestle back the initiative beBoult was sorely missed fore a Neil Wagner delivery saw by the Black Caps in Perth and along with Tim Southee found early Warner caught at slip for 41, with Southee taking an outstanding one-handed catch. swing and zip with the ball.

The in-form Labuschagne looked set "Obviously we would have liked a few more wickets on our tally," said for another big score after plundering his Boult. "I think the overheads (cloudy con- fifth consecutive 50, having converted ditions) and the way the pitch played in three of his previous four into centuries.

But it wasn't to be and he was out in the first hour or two, it's annoying not to bizarre fashion, with a rising de Grandhave them a couple more down.

"On the positive, they haven't got too homme ball ricocheting off his elbow and far ahead of the game. Hopefully we get onto the stumps as he attempted to leave it. Smith was met with a mix of boos and a couple (of wickets) early tomorrow."

BOOS AND CHEERS : After Burns cheers as he walked to the crease and fell, Labuschagne and Warner dug in to after a poor summer, by his standards, ap-

peared determined to build a decent score. It was slow going, but he brought up his 28th Test half-century off 103 balls -- his first in four Tests.

Along the way he passed Greg Chappell (7,110 runs) to become Australia's 10th highest run-scorer, with David Boon's 7,422 his next target.

As in Perth, Matthew Wade again came under a short-ball barrage from Neil Wagner, with one bouncing off his helmet as their rivalry heated up. But he survived to make 38 and provide valuable support for Smith before edging de Grandhomme to wicketkeeper BJ Watling.

England dismiss south African top three injured photographer delays play Centurion: Photographer Christiaan Kotze became part of the story on Thursday when he was injured in front of the sightscreen and caused a delay to the start of a Test match – and possibly contributed to South African batsman Dean Elgar's wicket.

Kotze, on assignment for AFP, had finished shooting some pre-play images before the first Test between South Africa and England. He was walking in front of the sightscreen when he tripped on the boundary rope and then lost his footing on a slippery pitch cover. He collapsed in severe pain from what was diagnosed as badlysprained right knee ligaments and needed medical treatment on the spot before he was carried away on a stretcher. The start of the match was delayed by several minutes – and when it began Elgar played a loose shot and was caught behind down the leg side off the first ball of the match, delivered by James Anderson. Kotze's his wife Catherine took over his ground level camera, while after treatment he hobbled up to a more comfortable position in the press box. "I hope I didn't cause Dean Elgar to lose concentration," he said. "But when I was limping past some English guys they thanked me for the wicket." AGENCIES

bangladesh insist on neutral venue for pakistan tests CEnturiOn AGENCIES

England dismissed South Africa's first three batsmen after deciding to bowl on the first morning of the first Test at SuperSport Park on Thursday.

South Africa were 79 for three at lunch, with James Anderson, Sam Curran and Stuart Broad taking a wicket apiece. Although England captain Joe Root said he wanted to take advantage of "live grass" on the pitch, having opted for an all-seam bowling attack, the first two wickets owed more to loose strokes than the conditions.

Anderson, who became the first specialist bowler to appear in 150

Tests, took a wicket with his first ball, a loosener down the leg side which Dean Elgar glanced to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. Aiden Markram hit four boundaries in an innings of 20 before flicking a ball from the left-armed Sam Curran to Jonny Bairstow at midwicket.

Hamza, playing in his third Test, looked good in making 39 before being squared up by Broad and edging a catch to Ben Stokes at second slip. All-rounder Stokes was in the England team even though his father, Ged, remained in a Johannesburg hospital with a serious illness.

According to a team spokesman, there was no change to Ged Stokes' condition, which was described as

"stable" on Wednesday.

Three England players were ruled out because of illness - Ollie Pope, Chris Woakes and Jack Leach. All three remained "in quarantine" at the team hotel, according to the England spokesman.

The South African team included two new caps in batsman Rassie van der Dussen and batting all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius.

England captain Joe Root said the decision to pick five seam bowlers had been made because of the conditions and not because of Leach's illness.

England wore black armbands in memory of former captain Bob Willis.

Paes, 46, announces 2020 will be his final year as a professional MuMbAi AGENCIES

India’s veteran tennis player Leander Paes announced on Wednesday that 2020 would be his “farewell year” as a professional before he hangs up his racket.

The 46-year-old, who started his professional career in 1991, has won 18 doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles and a bronze medal in the singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Paes won a total of 54 doubles titles in a career spanning three decades, partnering more than 100 players. He is also the most successful doubles player in the history of the Davis Cup with 43 victories in 56 matches.

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"I want to announce 2020 as my farewell year as a pro tennis player," Paes wrote on Twitter where he also thanked his family for their support.

“I am looking forward to the 2020 tennis calendar where I will be playing a few select tournaments, travelling with my team and celebrating with all my friends and fans around the world.”

“It is all of you who have inspired me to become me and I want to take this year to say ‘Thank you’ to you.”

At the peak of his career at the turn of the century, Paes was ranked No. 1 in the doubles circuit along with partner Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom he won three Grand Slam titles.

The duo won 26 doubles titles as a pairing between 1997 and 2011.

DHAkA: Bangladesh are ready to play T20 Internationals in Pakistan next month but the Test series must take place in a neutral venue, the chief executive of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Nizamuddin Chowdhury, said. Test cricket returned to Pakistan after a decade with a two-Test series against Sri Lanka earlier this month. Rawalpindi and Karachi hosted Pakistan’s first Tests on home soil since a militant attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in 2009. Enthused by the smooth staging of the series, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced its team would no more play their ‘home’ matches abroad as has been the practice with Test teams shunning the country citing safety concerns.

PCB’s assertion notwithstanding, Bangladesh remain wary of touring Pakistan for a lengthy period, Chowdhury told the Daily Star newspaper. “We stand firm on our ground. We only want to play T20Is in Pakistan,” the BCB CEO was quoted as saying. “The stakeholders related to the series do not want us to play longer-version cricket in Pakistan,” Nizamuddin said.

Bangladesh are expected to play three T20 Internationals in Lahore before a two-Test series against Pakistan who completed a 1-0 series victory against Sri Lanka on Monday.

“Actually, we have no other option here. We can play the T20Is but if we are to play tests then it should be in a neutral venue,” Nizamuddin added. PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has hinted raising the matter with the governing International Cricket Council should Bangladesh refuse to play the Tests in Pakistan. “No one should be under any misapprehension as to where Pakistan’s home Tests will take place,” Mani told reporters on Monday. “All of Pakistan’s matches, against Bangladesh or anyone else, will take place in Pakistan. “I still hope the BCB will reflect on the matter and accept there is no reason for them not to visit Pakistan.” AGENCIES

Friday, 27 December, 2019

NEWS

ppp All-set for lIAqUAt BAgH jAlsA LHC teLLs poLiCe, LeAs to ensure seCurity of ppp rALLy LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

HE Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed the law enforcement agencies and police to ensure security to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and participants of the rally as it allowed the PPP to hold a gathering at Liaquat Bagh on slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary.

The opposition party had previously announced a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh — the place where the former premier was assassinated on Dec 27, 2007 — but the district administration had refused to give permission, citing security concerns.

The party had consequently filed a petition with the LHC challenging the decision. Subsequently, Justice Tariq Abbasi summoned the district adminis-

tration on Dec 26. Following the court’s directives, Rawalpindi’s Deputy Commissioner Saifullah Dogar appeared before the court to submit his comments on the petition.

During the proceedings, the court remarked that providing security to Bilawal was the responsibility of all law enforcement agencies while ensuring security for the planned public gathering was the responsibility of the police.

A day earlier, PPP had insisted it would hold the rally at Liaquat Bagh on Friday to observe Benazir’s death an-

17 CIvIlIANs kIlled IN tHIrd AttACk oN YeMeN MArket ADEN AGENCIES

Seventeen civilians were killed in an attack in a market in Yemen’s northern Saada governorate, the United Nations said, the third deadly assault on the same location in just over a month. The attacks come despite relative calm in Yemen, where large-scale combat between government troops — backed by a Saudiled military coalition — and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels has subsided.

The UN said 12 Ethiopian migrants were among the 17 civilians killed in the incident on Tuesday at the Al-Raqw market in Saada governorate, a Houthi rebel stronghold. At least 12 people were wounded, it said, without saying who was responsible or what weapons were used.

An attack on Al-Raqw market on November 22 killed 10 civilians, again including Ethiopian nationals, and just days later, at least another 10 civilians were killed and 22 wounded in a second such incident. “The attacks on Al-Raqw market raise deeply troubling questions about the commitment of the parties to the conflict to uphold international humanitarian law,” Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said on Wednesday. “Every attack of this kind is a gross violation,” she said in a statement.

The UN says 89 civilians have either been killed or wounded in the attacks on the market. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced since March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemen conflict to back the government against the Houthi insurgents. The UN considers the war in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

niversary, whether the party got the permission or not. “Jialays [PPP workers] from all over the country are on their way to Liaquat Bagh, but opponents and remnants of [former military dictator] Ziaul Haq faced problems over this,” said party’s Information Secretary Nafisa Shah during a visit to the venue to oversee preparations for the Friday event.

‘CHAIN OF FEDERATION’: Bilawal, in a message on the eve of 12th martyrdom day anniversary, said that Benazir Bhutto was the strongest chain of Federation of Pakistan.

“Those who assassinated her had planned to break the chain but failed due to “Pakistan Khappe” slogan of President Asif Ali Zardari soon after the national tragedy,” said the PPP chief.

He said Pakistanis would never forget their brave leader, who sacrificed everything for the country and for the rights of its downtrodden masses.

“As a young daughter whose father and the most popular leader Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged by a military dictator, she fought bravely and led the followers of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto into an untiring struggle against tyrant Ziaul Haq,” the PPP chairman added.

His mother suffered solitary confinement, imprisonments and forced exiles while fighting for the restoration of democracy, he added. The PPP chairman pointed out that Benazir Bhutto defeated the dictatorship and was given power under compulsion after remnants of Zia dictatorship failed to completely hijack the 1988 general elections.

After elections, as Prime Minister, she ordered the release of all the political prisoners in the country and launched programmes for the development of the country and the masses, he added.

indian state demands damages, threatens to confiscate property over protests LUCKNOW AGENCIES

India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state is demanding millions of rupees from over 200 people and threatening to confiscate their property as a penalty for damage done to public property during protests against the country’s new citizenship law.

Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has suffered some of the most violent protests against India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, which gives minorities who have migrated from three neighbouring countries a path to citizenship but doesn’t make the same concessions for Muslims.

At least 15 of the 21 people killed in the protests have been in Uttar Pradesh, a state that has been a tinder box for tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

At least 230 such notices have been issued, and most of the people they had been issued to were Muslims, state government officials said on Thursday. The claims are likely to run into tens of millions of rupees, they said. It was unclear how many of them have been charged with rioting or other crimes, and none have been convicted. State officials have blamed much of the violence on Muslim mobs protesting against the law.

In the town of Rampur, the family of Mohammad Faheem, whose brother-in-law Mohammad Mehmood is in police custody, has received one such notice.

“Mehmood did not participate in a protest and was at home that day but police still arrested him,” Faheem told Reuters. Mehmood, sells spices on a cart and cannot even af-

NEWS DESK The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday received two contempt petitions seeking contempt of court proceedings against federal ministers and other government officials over comments against the special court’s verdict in the Musharraf high treason case. According to the details, petitioners Advocate Malik Ajmal Khan and Advocate Shabbir Hussain Gillani have nominated Federal Minister for Law Farrogh Naseem, Special Assistant to PM Firdous Ashiq Awan, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor and other officials as defendants in the case. The defendants would be tried under Article 204 whereas the petitioners have requested that the defendants “should be disqualified from holding a public office”. “Those who committed contempt of the court are representing the government and holding public offices. They insinuated the court and smeared the learned judge and the court. They levelled baseless allegations against the learned judge and used impolite words against him,” the petition states. “No person has authority to scandalise and malign a judge due to his verdict in a case. The government people’s support to a proclaimed offender is against the law, the petition added.

Afghan war caused 100,000 civilian casualties in last decade: UN

More INdIA protests As HINdU HArdlINers flex MUsCles NEW DELHI: Indians took to the streets again on Thursday in yet more protests against a citizenship law, a day after pro-government Hindu hardliners staged a show of force complete with horses, drums and batons. Two weeks of at times violent demonstrations have killed at least 27 people as anti-government protesters have vented their anger nationwide in the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he stormed to power in 2014. Modi denies accusations that the law, which eases naturalisation procedures for non-Muslim minorities from three nations, is part of a master plan to reshape India as a purely Hindu nation.

But coupled with plans for a national register of citizens, it has stoked fears at home and abroad, including in Washington and at the UN rights office, about the marginalisation of India’s 200 million Muslims. On Wednesday several thousand baton-wielding volunteers from a Hindu hardline group — of which Modi is a lifelong member — held a rally in the southern city of Hyderabad, in a show of support for the government. Members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militaristic group that has long espoused “Hindutva” or Hindu hegemony, marched through the streets beating drums and blowing horns. The parade, organised before the protests began, saw volunteers ride horses, sing songs, and perform group exercises using lathis — bamboo batons deployed by Indian riot police. AGENCIES

ford a lawyer to get bail, Faheem said. “How will we pay the fine?” he asked. Authorities have followed the legal procedure in assessing damage to public property as well as in issuing the notices, said Mrityunjay Kumar, a spokesman for the Uttar Pradesh government.

Critics, however, said such notices are premature. “You cannot be the complainant and the judge yourself,” Vikram Singh, a former head of police in Uttar Pradesh, told Reuters, adding that the state needed to appoint a competent authority to asses the damage.

“Sending notices to 100, pursuing 50 and succeeding in two will do more harm than good.”

Contempt pleas filed against ministers for scandalising special court

Hundreds of thousands of people across India, including university students, have joined protests against the law, posing the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he took office in 2014. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party controls the state government in Uttar Pradesh, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest, is one of the leading lights in the Hindu nationalist party.

Students in several Indian cities have led the protests, making use of social media to wage a parallel battle online and teach people how to organize demonstrations. India’s army chief on Thursday criticized the role of students in the protests.

KABUL: More than 100,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured over the past decade, the United Nations reported on Thursday, as it renewed calls to end the bloody 18-year conflict. The announcement comes as the Taliban and US continue to hold talks aimed at drawing a close to America’s longest war, after the negotiations were called off in September by President Donald Trump due to insurgent attacks. However, fighting continues to rage across the country, with ordinary Afghans frequently bearing the brunt of the violence. “I recognise with extreme sadness that civilian casualties recently surpassed 100,000 in the past 10 years alone, from the time the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began systematic documentation of civilian casualties,” Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN special representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

“The United Nations urges those participating in all peace efforts to consider the millions of ordinary Afghans, especially the victims of the conflict, who want a chance to live in peace so they can rebuild their lives.”

The grim milestone also comes days after officials announced preliminary results in Afghanistan’s latest presidential elections that put President Ashraf Ghani on track to secure a second term. The Taliban have long viewed Ghani as an American stooge and have refused to negotiate with him, leading many to fear that fighting will continue even if the US secures an eventual deal with the militants.

Earlier this year, the UN reported that an “unprecedented” number of civilians had been killed or wounded in Afghanistan from July 1 to September 30 this year, saying there had been 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injuries in that period. A UN tally found that last year was the deadliest on record, with at least 3,804 civilian deaths caused by the war—including 927 children. AGENCIES

'Ring of fire' eclipse wows across Asia LAHORE AGENCIES

Skywatchers from Saudi Arabia and Oman to India and Singapore were treated to a rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse Thursday.

Annular eclipses occur when the Moon is not close enough to the Earth to completely obscure the Sun, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible.

While these types of eclipses occur every year or two, they are only visible from a narrow band of Earth each time and it can be decades before the same pattern is repeated. Depending on weather conditions, this year’s astronomical phenomenon was set to be visible from the Middle East across southern India and Southeast Asia before ending over the northern Pacific.

Hundreds of amateur astronomers, photographers and set up by Singapore’s harbour for what some described as a “once in a lifetime” event. “The next one will happen in about 40 years I think,” said Jason Teng, 37, who took the day off work to photograph the eclipse.

The amateur astronomer used a special solar filter on his telescope as there is no safe period to observe an annular solar eclipse. Alexander Alin 45, a geophysicist from Germany, travels around the world following eclipses. “It’s only two minutes, but it’s so intense that you talk about it with your friends, family for the next month,” Alin said.

ECLIPSE STOPS PLAY: In southern India, people gathered on the beaches in Tamil Nadu to watch the event. The eclipse even affected cricket, with play delayed by two hours in a first-class match between

Mumbai and Rajkot. The eastern state of Odisha declared a public holiday, with all government offices, courts, schools and colleges closed. But in New Delhi, cloud and pollution blocked the view and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his disappointment, although only a partial eclipse would have been visible that far north.“Like many Indians I was enthusiastic about solareclipse2019,” Modi said.

“Unfortunately, I could not see the Sun due to cloud cover but I did catch glimpses of the eclipse in Kozhikode and other parts on live stream.”

In Indonesia, hundreds of people gathered outside Jakarta Planetarium to watch the event using protective glasses supplied by the planetarium, hoping for clear skies at the time of maximum eclipse. “I could see the eclipse this morning and now am very excited to see the peak though now it is cloudy,” said Chandra

Ayu Dewi, 39, who arrived at 7:00 am with her children. Outside the narrow band where the “Ring of fire” effect can be observed, skywatchers would see a partial solar eclipse. The next annual eclipse in June 2020 will be visible to a narrow band from Africa to northern Asia. The following one in June 2021 will only be seen in the Arctic and parts of Canada, Greenland and the remote Russian far east.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 66-C, 1st Floor, 21st Commercial Street, Phase-II (Extension), DHA Karachi and printed at Ibn-e-Hassan Printing Press, Hockey Stadium, Karachi. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

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