E-Paper PDF 6th February 2020 (ISB)

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Thursday, 6 February, 2020 I 11 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 19.00 I Vol X No 218 I 16 Pages I Islamabad Edition

AnnexAtion of KAshmir will leAd to its independence, sAys imrAn g

PM Lashes out at Modi govt, says bJP hides behind nationaLisM to whiP uP war hysteria

MUZAFFARABAD STAFF REPORT

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riMe Minister imran Khan on wednesday said that indian Prime Minister narendra Modi’s annexation of Kashmir will eventually lead to the independence of the occupied territory. addressing a special session of the azad Jammu and Kashmir (aJK) Legislative assembly on Kashmir day, the prime minister said that he believed that occupied Kashmir would achieve independence as a result of its bifurcation by Modi-led government on aug 5 last year. feb 5 is being celebrated as a day of solidarity to express support for the people of indian held Kashmir and their inalienable right to self-determination under the united nations resolutions. earlier in the day, Prime Minister imran arrived in Muzaffarabad to address the session.

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aJK PM teLLs Pti govt to beware of truMP’s offer, as it wouLd onLy benefit india

upon his arrival in Muzaffarabad, the prime minister was presented with a guard of honor.

Prime Minister imran was accompanied by foreign Minister shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Kashmir affairs and gilgit-baltistan ali amin gandapur and Kashmir committee chairman syed fakhar imam. the assembly session began with the aJK and Pakistan anthems. Legislative assembly speaker shah ghulam Qadir welcomed Prime Minister imran and aJK PM as well as the other government officials. speaking about Kashmir, the PM said prior to aug 5, no one was listening to the situation in held Kashmir and added that on that day [aug 5] Modi had made a mistake that he could not step back from. “hopefully Kashmir will now go towards independence,” Prime Minister imran said, adding, “our job now is to inform the world about what is happening in the valley on all forums.” “they [india] cannot continue in this

manner any longer. they have detained eight million people in an open jail.” the prime minister warned that india’s situation will continue to deteriorate with time. “in desperation, Modi said that he will defeat Pakistan in 11 days. the head of a country, giving such a statement when both countries in question are nuclear powers, cannot be normal. “his [Modi’s] only aim is to please his hindutva base. the last refuge of every scoundrel is patriotism. they hide behind nationalism and then make such claims,” imran said. “worried people make such statements, and they are now worried.” he urged the world to not play into india’s trap, predicting that they will either use terrorism as an excuse or conduct a false-flag operation to inflict more torture on the people of occupied Kashmir. “they would have proceeded to do so had we not raised the issue in front of the whole world. they have stated that they wish to change the region’s demography, from a Muslim-majority to a Muslim-minority. “we should not give them any chance. this is a political, and diplomatic fight as well as in the media. and for the first time since the 60s, international media is presenting Pakistan’s stance,” he added.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Govt, Opp raise voice for Kashmir amid months-long lockdown STORY ON PAGE 03

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Moonis meets PM imran, hopes of breakthrough on demands g

PML-Q Leader says toLd PM his Party wants to resoLve issues with govt aMicabLy STORY ON PAGE 03

Nawaz's treatment delayed twice due to Maryam's absence, Shehbaz claims g

PML-n President says forMer PM’s daughter shouLd be aLLowed to traveL to London on ‘huManitarian grounds’ STORY ON PAGE 02

Pso lands in trouble as default risk mounts STORY ON PAGE 11

FBR says didn’t ask IMF for revision in revenue target STORY ON PAGE 03

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

02 NEWS

nAwAz's treAtment delAyed twice due to mAryAm's Absence, shehbAz clAims PML-N PRESIDENT SAYS FORMER PM’S DR ADNAN SAYS NAWAZ WAS FOUND TO HAVE ‘COMPLEX DAUGHTER SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO TRAVEL MULTI-VESSEL CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND TO LONDON ON ‘HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS’ SUBSTANTIAL ISCHEMIC AND THREATENED MYOCARDIUM’

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NEWS DESK

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that cardiologists treating former prime minister Nawaz Sharif have changed the predecided date for his treatment twice because his daughter Maryam Nawaz has not been allowed to travel to London to be with him.

In a statement, the National Assembly opposition leader said it was very unfortunate that Maryam was not being granted permission to take care of her father.

Maryam should be permitted to be with her father on humanitarian grounds, the PML-N president said.

The PML-N supremo is currently in London for medical treatment. While

Maryam had sought permission to fly abroad to be with her father, the federal cabinet in December last year decided not to remove her name from the exit control list (ECL) in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference. On January 14, the federal cabinet placed her name on the ECL for the second time in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

“As Nawaz’s health is concerning, the margin for medical action is reducing as more time passes,” Shehbaz said, adding that cardiologists had to twice change the earlier decided date for his brother’s cardiac catheterisation as Maryam was not with him.

Further, Shehbaz said that Kulsoom Nawaz’s death had a “severe negative effect” on Nawaz’s health. He added that Maryam had been a source of comfort, ease and strength for her father during this time.

Meanwhile, Nawaz’s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan said that the former prime minister, after intensive investigations, was found to have “complex multi-vessel coronary artery disease and substantial ischemic and threatened myocardium”.

In a tweet on Wednesday, he highlighted that Nawaz was scheduled to undergo a procedure last week. However, the procedure was delayed as Maryam was not allowed to travel.

“Now, once again, the procedure is being postponed for a later date for the same reason.”

He stressed that “any undue delay is taxing on [Nawaz’s] health and could have adverse consequences”. “Maryam must be with her father at the time of this complicated, high risk cardiac intervention,” he added.

On December 23, 2019, Nawaz

sought an extension in his stay abroad on the expiry of the four-week period granted by the Lahore High Court. Following his request, the Punjab government constituted a four-member committee to decide on it and sought fresh medical reports to make an “informed decision”.

Earlier this month, a picture of Nawaz at a London restaurant along with some members of his family had surfaced on social media, raising questions about the condition of the former premier’s health. Following this, on January 15, the Punjab government had rejected Nawaz’s medical reports which had been submitted on December 23.

Once again on January 30, the Punjab government asked Nawaz to submit fresh medical reports so that a decision on his request seeking more time abroad could be made.

Imran says fighting polio is govt's biggest priority ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Afridi defends statement on usage of drugs to manufacture medicines ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi on Wednesday said that the practice of using cocaine and other drugs to manufacture medicines was followed by all developed countries. The statement comes days after a video – wherein Afridi can be heard saying that the government burned tonnes of drugs recovered every year when they can be used to make medicines – went viral and received criticism on social media. He had also announced that a factory was being built on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan where drug seeds would be used to manufacture medicines. In a media talk on Wednesday, the minister said that India had earned $22 billion by exporting medicines made by drug seeds. He added: “The vision of the prime minister is to take proactive initiatives and use every resource — even the ones that are an affliction — which have a positive utility.” “There is a saying in English: ‘Nothing is good or bad, it is the thinking that makes it so.’ People whose minds are full of negativity will present even good things as negative.” STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s biggest priority is to eradicate polio from the country.

The prime minister met a delegation of the organisation working towards polio eradication, where he was accompanied by Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza.

The SAPM briefed the session about measures taken to root out polio from the country, saying that four million children under the age of five were administered polio drops. Dr Mirza said that in the ongoing drive, more than 100,000 security personnel and 250,000 polio workers performed their duties.

The prime minister said that the government will put to use all the possible resources to get rid of the disease, adding that measures to streamline cross-border (Pakistan and Afghanistan) movement are being taken. The prime minister said that the government values every organization working to eradicate polio from the country. A day earlier, the army chief met with Rotary International’s four-member team.

Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa praised the efforts of Rotary International in Pakistan’s fight against polio, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

In the meeting, measures related

Another polio cAse detected in sindh, 2020 tAlly jumps to 3 KARACHI: Another polio case emerged in Sindh on Wednesday in Kashmore district, raising the total number of cases in 2020 to three. According to the National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio, a three-year-old girl in the interior of Kashmore district was tested positive for the virus. The first case of the year from the province was discovered on Jan 25, when the virus was detected in another 40-month-old child in Sujawal area of the province. The case was detected in village Yousuf Jatt of Union Council Kothi in Sujawal.

In December 2019, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed displeasure over the emergence of fourteen polio cases in the province this year. He directed the health department to launch an anti-polio campaign afresh with a new strategy and vigour by involving UC councillors, members of the provincial assembly of different parties. He issued directives for administering polio drops to every person at transit points such as Jacobabad, Mochko post and Karachi Toll Plaza. Chairing a meeting of the Provincial Taskforce for Polio Eradication, he vowed to eradicate the crippling disease from the province by the end of 2020. STAFF REPORT

to healthcare in Pakistan and the country’s battle against poliovirus were discussed. The army chief praised the contributions of the RI in the eradication of polio in Pakistan.

He also expressed hope that the efforts will lead to completely root-

ing out the disease from the country.

In January, it was reported that the overall tally of reported polio cases across the country reached 134 in 2019, including 91 cases in KP, 24 cases in Sindh, eight in Punjab and 11 in Balochistan.

Flight operations to china not suspended, govt says ISLAMABAD: The health ministry on Wednesday clarified that “flight operations to and from China continue as per normal routine”. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said that “no decision has been taken to suspend flights” to the coronavirus-hit country.

Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan had halted all passenger flights to and from China amid the coronavirus influx.

Passenger flights between the two neighbouring countries were suspended from January 31 to February 2 after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus a global health emergency. Though no confirmed case of the coronavirus – medically named 2019-nCoV – has been detected in Pakistan thus far, the government has taken a slew of preventive and precautionary measures.

The novel coronavirus originated in a wet market of Wuhan city, in the central Chinese province of Hubei which has been put under quarantine in an attempt to prevent the proliferation of the highly infectious viral disease. Dr Mirza said that the authorities, with the help of China, have completed proper planning to prevent an outbreak. Referring to the suspected cases in Pakistan, he said seven individuals have been cleared and their tests have come back negative. He also said that the government had defined SOPs at all the airports for the people arriving from China and intended to consult with the provinces on the matter. “Our teams will go into the provinces to ensure they are on the same page as the Centre.” Reiterating the government’s decision not to repatriate Pakistani nationals from Wuhan – the epicenter of the virus – he said: “It is better for them to stay there to ensure they are monitored and treated.” STAFF REPORT

pakistan Army pilots awarded for saving French mountaineer RAWALPINDI: A special award ceremony was held at the Army Museum on Wednesday to honour the Pakistan Army Aviation pilots who rescued a French mountaineer in 2018. According to the ISPR, Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of General Staff (CGS) Pakistan Army, senior military officers and officers from Pakistan Army Aviation attended the ceremony. Rear Admiral Didier Malterre, Commander of French Joint Force in Indian Ocean conferred France National Defence Bronze Medal to brave pilots of Army Aviation who took part in the daring rescue operation.

Pakistan Army Aviation pilots had rescued the mountaineer on request of the French embassy. STAFF REPORT

Khadim Rizvi says Zindagi Tamasha will release 'over his dead body' LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi on Wednesday said that he would not let film Zindagi Tamasha release no matter what anyone does.

He was addressing party workers and supporters at Faisal Chowk here on the occasion of Kashmir Day. “We will not let the film Zindagi Tamasha release and will do whatever it takes to make sure it does not see the light of day,” he said, adding ‘jo karna hai kar lo’ (do whatever you can).

Earlier on January 28, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) had set up a fourmember committee that would review the

film Zindagi Tamasha and submit a report to CII Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz.

The members of this committee include Ghulam Majid, Abdul Rasheed, Taaj Muhammad and Muhammad Ashfaq, all of whom are said to be experts in the concepts of Shariah.

“All the members are competent and hold qualifications in Islam and social sciences. They belong to CII’s research wing and were selected for this task after going through an interview process. We have shown them the CBFC letter and advised them on how to review the film, keeping religious sentiments in mind,” CII’s Media Coordinator Rana Zahid had said.

“The Council’s supreme body will further take a decision regarding the film

after viewing the report,” he said. He further told that the CII has sent a letter notifying the CBFC of its plan of action in the first phase and is expecting a reply soon.

According to another anonymous member of the CII, the four member bench will also question the viewpoint of CBFC members over objectionable dialogues.

“How were these dialogues and scenes that hurt the sentiments of the public even cleared if they (CBFC) watched the film? The reply of the CBFC members will also be a part of the report. We are just concerned over the objectionable dialogues that hurt the public. We have no concern otherwise. No scene or dialogue that hurts religious sentiments, would be allowed to pass,” said the member.

CMYK

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

NEWS

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moonis meets pm imrAn, hopes oF breAKthrough on demAnds ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q) senior leader and scion of the Chaudhry family of Gujrat, Moonis Elahi, on Wednesday met Prime Minister Imran Khan in a bid to bridge the gulf that has come between the two allied parties in the government.

The meeting comes after Moonis’ father, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, told a representative of the newly-formed government committee tasked with holding talks with the allied parties that they preferred meeting the premier directly instead of negotiating with his representatives. On Monday, Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood held a meeting with Punjab Assembly Speaker Elahi but failed to convince him to hold talks with the government committee.

The PML-Q leader reportedly told the minister that further dialogues would not be possible until the implementation of the recommendations tabled by the previous dialogue committee comprising Jahangir Tareen and Pervez Khattak.

On Sunday, the PML-Q had demanded the federal government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to start implementation on the negotiated matters that include allocation of development funds for PML-Q lawmakers and appointment of bureaucrats of the party’s choice in five districts. Talking to reporters after meeting PM Imran, Moonis said that the first meeting with the latter was good.

“We talked openly and whatever the PM said was clear. After all these happenings, I think things will get right,” he said, adding that he had informed Imran about the PML-Q’s concerns and had also assured him of their support in resolving the issues amicably.

us lawmakers express concern on atrocities in ioK US Congress lawmakers have expressed profound concern on the ongoing human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir. Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel told a private news channel that the US Congress will conduct its own ‘investigation and fact-finding’. “There are things happening in Kashmir that are very troubling, they are troubling me, to my colleagues and people here,” said the US lawmaker. Congressman Engel said that the issue primarily should be dealt under the Foreign Affairs Committee, and it will have a hearing on the difficulties of Kashmiris.

“We don’t think we can turn our heads and pretend it is not happening, it cannot be swept under the rug,” said the US lawmaker. He added that the Congress plays a very important role certainly in war and peace, and likewise in human rights violations, expressing hope that a lot of things will be done in US President Donald Trump’s administration. Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, Ami Bera also spoke on the subject of ongoing atrocities against Kashmiris, saying that he will personally attempt to visit the occupied valley to ascertain the situation. On February 5, Pakistanis across the world are observing Kashmir Solidarity Day today in support of Kashmiri people’s struggle for their right to self-determination under United Nations resolutions. NEWS DESK

ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

A new brokers regime introduced last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to expand the investor base has polarised brokers across the country, with Lahore and Islamabad supporting the move while Karachi investors being up in arms against it.

The SECP on Monday had approved a new regime for securities brokers to expand the investor base while finalising the amendments into the Securities Brokers (Licensing and Operations) Regulations 2016 in the light of the comprehensive consultations with all stakeholders to min-

“It was unfair to setup another committee when a committee was already working on the issue,” Moonis said, adding that some people, who had been associated with the PML-Q in the past, had misled Imran Khan.

Moonis rejected reports that his party wanted to topple the government of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

“However, some people want to fail Imran Khan. It was our agreement with the PTI that our ministers would be fully empowered, they would be able to do transfers and postings and there would be no interference in our ministries.

Matters about three districts were also settled,” he said. Referring to Elahi’s meeting with Shafqat Mehmood, Moonis said Mahmood had assured his party that decisions taken by the committee comprising Tareen and Khattak would be implemented. He added that work on transfers and postings was underway, but the issue of release of development

funds has yet to be sorted out.

“We want this alliance to work and it is also our desire to contest the next election together,” he said, denying that his father Pervez Elahi was eyeing the CM’s office.

TAREEN UNHAPPY: Meanwhile, PTI senior leader Tareen is reportedly unhappy for being ignored in the new dialogue committees formed by PM Imran.

In a meeting with Khattak on Wednesday, Tareen is said to have conveyed his reservations over some party leaders who were giving an impression that he was responsible for the breakdown in the talks process with allied parties.

According to some reports, Khattak has conveyed Tareen’s reservations to PM Imran and the latter had invited Tareen for a meeting at his Bani Gala residence on Thursday. It is said that the PM would include Tareen in the new dialogue committees in a bid to placate him.

Govt, Opp raise voice for Kashmir amid months-long lockdown ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistani politicians and the military chief on Wednesday expressed support for Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination as the nation observed Kashmir Solidarity Day with zeal and vigour.

As India remained under lockdown since Aug, government and opposition leaders were also unanimous in lending their support to the Kashmir cause. On Aug 5 last year, the Indian government had repealed Article 370 of its constitution, stripping occupied Kashmir of its special status.

In a statement, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the “unprecedented length” of restrictions imposed in occupied Kashmir “fully exposed the fiction of India’s democracy and its scant regard for basic human norms”. “The occasion is being observed to reaffirm support for Kashmiris who have been subjected to an inhuman lockdown and communications blockade for six months now,” he added.

In a series of tweets shared, later on, Prime Minister Imran said Kashmirs, the ummah, Pakistan as well as the international community have re-

jected “India’s travesty of law and justice”. “India has turned 8 million Kashmiris into prisoners in their own land through the deployment of over 900,000 occupation troops. History has few precedents of such suffocation and violation of the fundamental rights at this scale. Tens of thousands of innocent people have been arbitrarily detained and thousands of young boys abducted and incarcerated at undisclosed locations.

“This is a true manifestation of Indian state-terrorism,” he said, adding that India had been exposed before the world as a “majoritarian and authoritarian polity”.

Additionally, he said that international human rights organisations and international media should be given access to the region to evaluate the human rights situation. “We urge the international community to play its role in ensuring respect for the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people and averting grave risks to global peace and security posed by India’s belligerent rhetoric and aggressive action,” Prime Minister Imran said.

He said that Pakistan would always stand shoulder to shoulder with Kashmiris. “Pakistan will continue

its full moral, political and diplomatic support until the Kashmiri people have realised their legitimate right of self-determination in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.”

‘BATTLE OF HOPE AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS’: In his message on the occasion, President Dr Arif Alvi said the nation is expressing solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir “who have rendered unmatched sacrifices for their legitimate right to self-determination over the course of past seven decades in an indomitable struggle for freedom from oppression”.

QURESHI CALLS ON INTL COMMUNITY TO ‘DO MORE’: In his message, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the international community to do more for the people of occupied Kashmir “in this time of trial and tribulation”.

The foreign minister said that “each additional second on the lockdown clock is a burden on the world’s collective conscience”. He also urged India to allow a UN fact-finding mission to visit occupied Kashmir and assess the reports of human rights violations in the region.

Fbr says didn’t ask imF for revision in revenue target ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Federal Board of Revenue has not requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for downward revision in the annual revenue target, its spokesperson Dr Hamid Attique told Pakistan Today on Wednesday. It was reported the FBR team had informed the IMF team the premier tax collection agency has made a realistic assessment of possible revenue collection and estimated that it could fetch maximum revenue of Rs4,450 billion by the end of current fiscal year against the revised downward target of Rs5,238 billion.

Moreover, it has also been reported that the government is likely to impose Rs200 billion additional taxation measures through a mini-budget. The FBR would be facing a mammoth revenue shortfall of Rs1,100 billion with the collection of Rs4,450bn compared to initially envisaged target of Rs5,550bn.

The possible shortfall is projected at Rs788 billion if potential revenue collection of Rs4,450 billion is to be compared with the revised target of Rs5,238 billion. It was also reported that the FBR took taxation measures to the tune of Rs730 billion for materializing its desired target of Rs5,550 billion on the occasion of last budget. However, now the top management argues that of Rs730 billion, the bureau has envisaged collection of Rs100 billion through administrative efforts as it is likely to raise Rs35 billion through Customs Duty and Rs65 billion through IR taxes.

The Sales Tax and FED are yielding results but in case of income tax, the salary-related taxation and withholding of telecoms are providing revenues, and some other measures would start yielding results along with returns of the tax year 2020.

It isn’t yet known if the IMF team has agreed to fix the revised downward target because it will all depend upon the overall fiscal deficit. There is special focus on the primary target of 0.6 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal year.

NA body to take up polarising brokers’ regime today imise custody risks and safeguard investors. The brokers were categorised in line with their net worth and governance requirements into three categories: Trading & Clearing broker (T&C), Trading & SelfClearing (TSC) and Trading Only (TO).

The T&C and TSC categories shall be permitted to retain custody of client assets, whereas TO brokers will only have custody of its proprietary book, directors, and sponsors and their close relatives. The TO category will, therefore, operate with significantly reduced compliance requirements. The brokers from Islamabad and

Lahore maintain that the new regime will eventually help expand the clientele base across the country. According to brokers of the two cities, the capital market in Pakistan has shrunk significantly in terms of size and liquidity, and based on restrictions faced by the country due to the FATF [Financial Action Task Force] amendments were essential in the capital markets.

"We welcome the amendments and our concerns have been addressed in the new regime," Syed Mukhtar Hussain, a TREC [Trading Right Entitlement Certificate] holder from the former Islam-

abad Stock Exchange said.

Hussain, the chairman of ISE’s demutualisation committee, said that the majority of the brokers of Islamabad and even Lahore belonged to the TO and TSC categories. “One positive aspect was that with reduced compliance requirements, the TO brokers would be able to focus more on their business side and client acquisition, leading to an increase in the investor base,” he said.

"Now that several regulatory requirements have been reduced we should take this chance to increase the retail business,"

he added. He said that the new regime allowed the TO brokers to keep custody of proprietary assets and assets of its sponsors, directors, and their close relatives. “If the issues arise that the top category brokers having the title of Trading and Clearing were misusing the business data of the TO brokers, we will push for the demand of an independent clearing agent,” he added Umar Abbasi, a TREC holder based out of Lahore, added that there were only 250,000 investors in the capital market in a population of 220 million, and the individual investors were 70 percent of it.

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Thursday, 6 February 2020

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KP establishes isolation facility for suspected coronavirus patients in Peshawar

ISLAMABAD: Students hold a demonstration to express solidarity with Kashmiris who are struggling for their independence from India. ONlINE

OCCuPIeD KasHmIr turNeD INtO wOrlD’s bIggest PrIsON: Dr FIrDOus ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

rally was taken out on Wednesday to express solidarity with the oppressed people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Women from different segments of the society including the parliamentarians participated in the rally and raised slogans in support of Kashmiri people and against the Indian atrocities.

Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the occupied valley has been turned into the world's biggest prison by the Indian forces.

She regretted that the basic rights of the Kashmiri people are being trampled upon in complete violations of international laws. She said the people of Pakistan feel the pain and agony of their Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said there are several UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir dispute and the world body should play its role for the resolution of this lingering dispute as per the aspirations of Kashmiri people.

Later, the participants of the rally submitted two resolutions to the UN office in Islamabad drawing attention towards the blatant human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Inquiry panel wants Bannu varsity VC to choose between resignation and sacking A government inquiry committee has recommended that the governor ask Vice-Chancellor of the Bannu University of Science and Technology Prof Abid Ali Shah to choose between resignation and sacking over an inappropriate dance video.

The vice chancellor was sent on forced leave on Sept 19, 2019, a day after the video went viral on social media.

The video showed Prof Abid dancing with a woman in a room.

The social media outrage prompted Governor Shah Farman, who is also the chancellor of the university, to form a three members committee to look into the matter.

The committee comprised University of Peshawar Vice-Chancellor Prof Mohammad Asif Khan, chairman of the Governor’s Inspection Team Imtiaz Altaf and Auqaf and Haj secretary Farrukh Sair.

Prof Abid’s forced leave expired in three months but as the inquiry wasn’t completed, the governor extended it for three more months until March 2020.

The vice-chancellor was sent on forced leave under Section 12(8) of the KP Universities Act,

2012, which declares, “The Chancellor may send the Vice Chancellor on forced leave for ninety (90) days extendable once if the circumstances so demands for reasons to be recorded.”

According to reports, the vice-chancellor told investigators that the video showing him dance was real but he danced before becoming the vice-chancellor and that, too, outside the campus.

Prof Abid also alleged that a retired government official used the video to blackmail him for employment in the university.

Sources said the probe team had declared in its findings that the video in question could be acceptable in the western societies and not in Pakistan.

They also noted that the indecent video also harmed the vice-chancellor’s credibility as a teacher. Sources said the higher education department had submitted the inquiry report to the governor for action.

They said the governor in his capacity as the university’s chancellor would offer the vice-chancellor a chance for personal hearing.

The tenure of Prof Abid is set to complete next July. When contacted, Prof Abid claimed that his

dance video was fake and that he had approached the Federal Investigation Agency for its forensic audit.

He also questioned the legitimacy of the probe body, saying he’s a BPS-22 officer, so a BPS-21 officer is not authorised to hold an inquiry against him.

Prof Abid had moved the Peshawar High Court against the notification meant to send the vicechancellor on forced leave.

During the pendency of that petition, that 90 days time and as his forced leave was further extended, he filed another petition with the court against it.

As the lawyers ended strike lately, progress on it can take place.

Sources said the chancellor could remove a vice-chancellor under Section 12(7) of the KP Universities Act, 2012, which declared, “The Vice Chancellor shall hold office during the pleasure of the Chancellor.

“Provided that before removing a Vice-Chancellor from his position, the Chancellor may grant an opportunity of personal hearing to the ViceChancellor.” NEWS DESK

The government of Khyber Pakhunkhwa has established isolation facility for suspected patients of coronavirus in Peshawar’s Police and Service Hospital, according to an office order issued by the provincial health department. The notification states the general public will not be provided medical facilities at the Police and Service Hospital. “The ongoing epidemic of Corona Virus (2019-n Cov) in China and its cross border transmission to 27 countries with reported 17,386 cases and 362 deaths till date, there is a strong likelihood that suspected cases of 2019-n Cov may be encountered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and especially in District Peshawar,” the office order read. The confirmed death toll in mainland China rose to 490 after the hardest-hit Hubei province reported 65 more deaths — the biggest single-day tally since the first fatalities emerged last month. More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the virus, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions, and airlines to suspend flights to and from China. The WHO said on Tuesday that the dramatic measures taken by China had provided a “window of opportunity” to halt transmission, while calling for more global solidarity to combat the virus.

The novel coronavirus has continued to spread with Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand on Tuesday reporting new infections that were not imported from China. NEWS DESK

Chinese national not infected with coronavirus, NIH confirms Chinese national suspected of carrying coronavirus is not infected, medical reports from the National institute of Health (NIH) confirmed. Earlier, the Chinese national was shifted to an isolation ward in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital from the capital’s airport. The patient's test samples were sent to the NIH for confirmation. The patient will be kept under observation for at least 12 hours. The NIH’s officials said that they had received 25 samples suspected of coronavirus from Islamabad, Sindh, Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which were examined and termed negative. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Tuesday imposed a state of emergency in the province amid fears of the deadly coronavirus spreading from China into Pakistan. The KP ministry of relief, resettlement and rehabilitation on Tuesday afternoon released a statement saying that the state of emergency was declared in line with the directives of the federal health ministry. "Since we [Pakistan] are a neighbor of coronavirus-hit China, there is lots of foreign travel between the two countries. This is why the relevant departments should ensure that safety precautions are in place," it said. NEWS DESK

Drones employed against looming locust threat in KP DI KHAN: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday has employed modern technology to deal with the increasing locust swarm threats. Drones were used to spray insecticides and pesticides on fields in Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan). The authorities said that drones were employed to spray the insecticides and pesticides in difficult terrains in the locality where planes, vehicles could not reach.

Trees, bushes and adjoining areas in DI Khan were sprayed to keep the locusts at bay. Swarms of locusts earlier on Monday invaded large swathes of adjoining areas of Chishtian, causing huge loss to the standing crops. Different crops standing on hundreds of acre were destroyed by the swarms of grasshoppers in several villages. INP

Pakistan 7th most populous country with cancer patients: experts ISLAMABAD APP

The speakers at an awareness seminar on cancer said that Pakistan was the 7th most populous country with increasing ratio of cancer patients.

According to the statistics shared by the Shifa International Hospital (SIH) experts, while addressing awareness seminar on “World Cancer Day” at Shifa International Hospital (SIH), show estimated cancer prevalence of 148,041 new cases, 101,113 cancer related deaths (48,449 Men and 52,664 Women) in 2012, and a prevalence of 344,243 living cancer patients.

However, the age standardized ratio was more in females (128 Women and 95 Men per 100,000 populations respectively).

In Pakistan, breast cancer and Lip or Mouth cancers were highest in ratios as compared to others, according to the data presented by Dr. Yasser Rahman (Consultant Medical Oncologist).

Around 9.6 million people die each year worldwide from cancer, more deaths than those caused by HIV/ AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis combined and if we no action was made World Health Organization experts project cancer deaths to rise to 13 million by 2030.

Minister of State for Climate

Change Zartaj Gul said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was facing serious increase in cancer patients where the risk could be reduced through extensive awareness and education.

She made these remarks as chief guest while addressing awareness seminar on “World Cancer Day” at Shifa International Hospital (SIH) here. She commended efforts of Shifa International Hospital to spread awareness in masses for early detection and prevention of cancer.

Zartaj said during her social work at Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital, she noticed that every second patient suffering serious cancer complications was hailing from KP province.

CMYK

“There is need to conduct research and detailed study on this situation as if there is any issue with the soil, water or the air that is causing huge number of masses affected due to cancer in the region,” she added.

The minister mentioned that every fifth women in Pakistan was suffering from breast cancer and was diagnosed at the critical stage which was hard to cure.

The President of Pakistan and the first lady had spearheaded the pink ribbon campaign to make awareness among the masses particularly women on breast cancer which was also joined by the parliamentarians and the media, she added.

She said the ministry of climate

change was going to initiate a massive crackdown against Mercury hazardous whitening creams and cosmetics that were ripping off the human skin and causing skin cancer. Moreover, the action would also be launched against health hazardous mercury amalgam used in dental fillings, she added.

She also exhorted the youth to shun intake tobacco and drugs as 400 deaths per day were recorded in Pakistan due to smoking and drugs use.

“Every 3rd and 4th girl is involved in smoking which is health injurious and against our norms as we are a nation of fine morality, ethics and culture,” the minister added.

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

NEWS

IrAn suggests formIng new bloc wIth PAKIstAn, turKey, russIA And chInA

t

neWS deSK

IES between Pakistan and Iran are unique and peaceful with the potential to extend peace to their neighbours and regional countries. Tehran and Islamabad thus are part of the most important strategic members of this emerging world which can move to form a new regional bloc.

This was stated by Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Ali Hosseini while speaking at the Islamabad Strategic Studies Institute (ISSI) on Tuesday. The ambassador was speaking on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of friendly and close ties between Iran and Pakistan. The relations are based upon joint history, culture and civilisation, said the ambassador.

He further said, “Iran and Pakistan are passing through an important time of their bilateral relationship. We have reached a crucial moment, where the future of political power belongs to Asia.”

We have common views on most international and regional issues, he said, adding that the two countries also enjoy rich support of cultural, religious and historical affinities, and consider foreign occupation as the source of many disasters.

“On the 72nd anniversary of establishment of relations between the two countries, we express our complete readiness for cooperation and support to Pakistan in achieving its development targets, just as we announced our support to Pakistan immediately after its in-

dependence in 1947,” the ambassador said, adding that Iran attaches high value to its eastern neighbour, which has stood by it through thick and thin.

The ambassador went on to add that around 40 days have passed since the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani – the day when Iran lost a leading commander, Lt Gen Soleimani.

He also extolled the slain general.

Once again they have proved to everyone that they have no obligation and respect to international rules and laws.

The crime was not only to attack the national sovereignty of Iraq but also to target one of the elements ‘providing security’ in this region subject to different conspiracies from al Qaeda to ISIS and Al-Nusra Front.

Regional issues such as narcotics,

terrorism and sectarianism have been exploited dexterously to undermine our peace and tranquillity, Hosseini said.

He urged South Asian countries to utilise their great potential and existing opportunities to boost cooperation and overcome regional issues.

Countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Russia and China have the potential to form a new alliance for a better future in the region, he proposed.

In current times, cooperation is the basis of development and progress.

Countries like Iran and Pakistan, by utilising one another’s relative and absolute economic gains, can remove any type of hurdle. The two countries can become complementary to each other in economic affairs.

Other fields of cooperation between

Imran Farooq case: Witness tells court about interaction with murder suspects neWS deSK The driver, Akbar uddin, who picked up Mohsin Ali Syed — one of the prime suspects in the Imran Farooq murder case — from Heathrow Terminal 4 revealed details about his interaction with the man from Hendon magistrates court to the Islamabad High Court via video link, on Wednesday.

"Mohsin was not interested in anything else or anyone when I was taking him to Tooting area to stay. All he was interested was in knowing where Mill Hill was (Mill Hill is the area where MQM founder Altaf Hussain lives and the MQM office is also located nearby. Dr

Imran Farooq lived only about two miles away from Mill Hill).

Regarding Moazzam Ali Khan, another key suspect in the murder case, Akbar uddin said that he stayed with his family when he visited. "I live with my wife and three daughters. I knew him though a friend Shehzad and then he [Shehzad] introduced me to another friend Akbar. They introduced me to Moazzam," he said.

The driver said that Moazzam first came to the UK to attend Altaf Hussain's wedding which was when he first met him.This was also his first visit to England. "Later we became friends and started calling me after going back fol-

lowing the wedding. We became good friends. He stayed in London for about ten days. I used to drop him near tube stations during his first visit," said Akbar uddin.

"He came three or four more times for visit. He collected me from Karachi international when I visited the city. I visited again in 2012 and Akbar requested me to visit Moazzam in a certain area from where he couldn’t leave for certain reasons. That area was 90. I saw people guarding his house with guns. I decided that that was it. During his last visit he requested me to take him to the MQM office in Edgware office where he stayed for two hours. He was shivering and

sweating in cold and smoking like anything," he said.

Moazzam told me Mohsin was his nephew and coming to the UK for studies. "He asked me to look after him. I don’t think I will be going back to Pakistan ever again. I am so scared," he said.

During cross questioning, Akbar uddin said he has no pictures with Moaz-

zam. He was interviewed on January 31, 2014 by police.

Moeenuddin Sheikh — suspect Mohsin’s landlord — told the court he gave his statement to police in 2013.

Mohsin stayed with him and Kashif visited him thrice.

“Mohsin Ali Syed was my tenant in 2010. He was working in the same shop where I worked with a different employer. He was looking for a room and he took it on rent when I offered. He provided me a copy of his passport and showed me the identity card of the college where he was studying,” he said.

Sheikh told the court that before he disappeared in September 2010, a person named Kamran came to meet him.

“I tried to reach him on his phone. I rang his college and I was told he hasn’t attended the college for the past few days.

I then informed police about his disappearance. The police officers visited my house,” he added.

Continued on page 01

BeiJing NADIA PERVEEN

MEASURES AT GOVERNMENT LEVEL: l Since the day this problem has started, high level research labs formulated with the Eminent Chinese and foreigner Researchers to discover the virus, symptoms, sources, causes and preventions, as this was a new virus so no prior information was available. l The outbreak of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus has posed a serious threat to people’s health. However, the prevention and control of such a sudden outbreak require more scientific knowledge and the participation of the public, so that the disease can be defeated and the epidemic can be controlled. To clear the doubts about the virus, misconception, prevention, reduce the risk of transmission and for the better understanding about the issue, A Handbook of 2019-nCoV pneumonia Control and prevention has been issued timely. l All the research and information regarding this virus has been shared publically time to time by the Chinese government. World Health Organisation (WHO) is informed and is consulted at the same time. l The public is being instructed to do precautionary measures. And basic information is being communicated with masses timely and effectively.

Iran and Pakistan in the region include Organisation of Cooperation of Islamic Countries (OIC).

The most basic factor of the independence of Pakistan was Islam, that is why interaction with Islamic countries has been a priority in Pakistan’s foreign policy of Pakistan. As Iran also has been founded on principles of Islam, so Pakistan as an Islamic and neighbouring country attains a special place in the foreign policy of Iran.

In this connection, Iran and Pakistan have participated in most of the OIC conferences. Unfortunately, due to the role of some countries, this organisation has not been effective in addressing issues of the Islamic Ummah and taking positions in the support of the Islamic cause.

Annexation of Kashmir will lead to its independence, says Imran

Coronavirus epidemic through the eyes of a foreign student I am living in China since September 2018. The purpose of writing this article is to reduce panic in people who are currently in China. Many foreigners are in great stress and some are creating panic, plus their families are also really worried about the safety of their children so, I felt to write the steps which China is taking for the safety of not only for Chinese, but also for foreigners.

Being a foreigner there are many things I really like about the Chinese government to deal with this toughest situation. I strongly believe no other nation has this ability to deal with this issue like China is dealing. I trust in Chinese Government that they will overcome this issue very soon that is the reason I did not leave China although I had a great pressure from my friends and family to leave. I feel safer here than anywhere else plus I want to follow the instructions of the Chinese government to not travel to prevent this disease.

One more reason to write this article is to let foreigners know that China government and administration really care about the people, they are doing their best to save you no matter you are not Chinese, they have no discrimination.

You just need to trust them and just cooperate with them, that’s it. And just follow instructions.

I have noticed that Chinese people are not behaving in a panicked manner there are two most important reasons for this, one they already had fought the same battle in 2003 when there was SARS in China. And at that time, this nation bravely fought and defeated that virus.

So, this is not a new situation for them. The second most important reason is the trust level of the Chinese people on their government and administrations.

A few days back I saw some posts on the WeChat moments from some of my foreigners’ friend like CHINA STAY STRONG and I started thinking that is this something that China needs? I mean emotional support? The majority will say yes, but I really think no.

They are a very strong nation.

05

l From 23 January, Wuhan city has been locked down completely and all the transportation services has been suspended to stop the virus spreading into the other regions. l As this is the time of the spring festival, already a huge number of people had been travelled to their homes for celebrations. So after this transportation within the Wuhan city also has suspended to reduce people to people interaction. l After these steps which are being taken in Wuhan, some other cities which were getting effected has also suspended their transportation services. l All New Year events have been cancelled. l Till 24th January, 7 major cities of China has imposed health emergency, and the bus services from one city to other cities has been suspended. l Furthermore, the special counter has been established on the railway stations and airports for the temperature checking of passengers, and in case anyone has temperature they were moved to hospitals for treatment immediately.

The writer, Nadia Perveen, is a Pakistani student at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing.

CMYK

Commenting on so-called “Islamic terrorism”, Prime Minister Imran said: “Religion and terrorism are not linked. Since 9/11, Muslims have been persecuted due to Islamic terrorism. Therefore, we have to be very careful about what their game plan is.”

He added that the Kashmir issue now had to be taken to the “next level”. The premier acknowledged that the issue “drifted” after it was raised at the UN General Assembly, at a time when it was at its peak, due to the “storm that was headed to Islamabad”. However, the issue has now entered the world’s political arenas, Imran said. “We will inform them of what is going on in the occupied valley.” The premier ended his address by reiterating that Modi’s actions will lead to freedom for occupied Kashmir. Prime Minister Imran began his address by responding to the AJK premier’s address, saying he was a democrat because the history of the world had proven that democracy was the best system. He said that as far as “consensus-building” was concerned, he stood with the AJK premier but added that “reconciliation with the corrupt” was something he did not support. “One thing I want to tell the AJK parliament is that don’t lose hope,” he said, adding: “Losing hope means you have lost faith in God.” “Indeed it is a very difficult time for the country. But I have no doubt the country will not only manage to find its way out of these difficult times but will eventually become a great nation.”

AJK PREMIER WARNS IMRAN AGAINST US MEDIATION: Earlier, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider warned Prime Minister Imran against accepting United States’ offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute, saying that such a move would only benefit Pakistan’s arch-rival India. During his address in the AJK Legislative assembly, Haider said that after Aug 5, 2019, today was the first time Pakistan had expressed solidarity with Azad Jammu and Kashmir and its people. “As a Kashmiri, I want to make a request, start national reconciliation in Pakistan. Raise yourself above everyone else and take everyone along,” Haider said. “You are the prime minister of the country. We respect you and have some expectations from you. Please end these fights on TV talk shows, this has really divided the country.” Haider said the West had put Pakistan in “shackles” which “we need to remove”. “This can only happen when there is national unity and consensus of opinion in the country,” he added. The AJK premier said that his government was cognisant of the challenges being faced by Pakistan and was thankful that, despite the difficulties, Islamabad continued to standby the Kashmiris. “I hope you didn’t mind anything I said,” the AJK premier said as he wrapped up his address. “We are with you and will not let Pakistan’s flag come down in Kashmir.” The regional president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Barrister Sultan Mahmood said that the Kashmir issue has been internationalised, adding that the premier had raised it at every forum.

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW

Why I converted to IslAm And burIed my hIndu IdentIty PERIYAR HAD SUGGESTED AMBEDKAR CONVERT TO ISLAM. AFTER YEARS OF RESEARCH, I TOO FOUND ISLAM TO BE THE ONLY RELIGION IN INDIA THAT COULD ANNIHILATE THE CASTE SYSTEM

Print

I

raEES MohaMMED

LEARNED one thing in my eight years’ experience with the Dalit movement through Dalit Camera assignments, and my research on caste for the last 14 years. Babasaheb Ambedkar was right when he said that leaving Hinduism is the only way to fight caste. Dalit Camera is a digital platform that documents voices of Dalits, Adivasis, Bahujans, and minorities through a website and a YouTube channel by the same name.

Following his footsteps, I chose to leave Hinduism and embrace Islam on 30 January 2020 in Kodungallur, a historical town in Kerala’s Thrissur district. Kodungallur is where the first Indian mosque was built. I am now Raees Mohammed. The date is significant. It is the day when the first Hindutva terrorist Nathuram Godse assassinated Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It is also the day when our beloved brother Rohith Vemula, who fought against caste discrimination in Hinduism, was born.

A RELIGION FOR EMANCIPATION: In my childhood, as a devotee of Lord Ayyappa, I had been to Kodungallur six times. It is also where CPI-ML (undivided) Kerala state secretary Najmal Babu embraced Islam in 2015. Rationalist Thanthai Periyar (father) had said that if one wanted to annihilate caste in 15 minutes and live with self-respect, then Islam is the only solution. Periyar had also suggested to Babasaheb Ambedkar to choose

Islam as a religion for emancipation. In my years of research, I too found Islam to be the only religion in India with the strength to annihilate the caste system.

The anti-caste movement has been the longest ongoing socio-cultural movement in India. The main demand is to consider ‘untouchables’ as equal citizens in Hindu society, and to be located under the ambit of the Constitution rather than Hindu religion. But I was curious why this easy solution to annihilate caste via Islam has never been even a reference point in Dalit movement and Dalit literature.

FIGHT FOR EQUALITY: In January, I was invited to Kodungallur to address a gathering on the dangers of fascism, and against the proposed National Register of Citizens, the National Population Register, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Muslims are battling for their citizenship rights in Narendra Modi’s India today. But theirs is a battle different from the struggle of Dalits. The former is for justice and citizenship. The latter is for something as basic as self-respect, to be treated as an equal human being. In that sense, Dalits have it much worse. This is when I embraced Islam and buried my Hindu identity as Ravichandran Bathran. I do not want to refer to my Hindu name because if you dive deep, all Hindu names only indirectly refer to caste, and I don’t want this Raees Mohammed to carry the old baggage.

The name is not the real problem.

After all, my parents named me with so much love. But the problem comes when the Hindu society attaches that name to a caste and instils a stereotype of the

world. He is also promoting imminent successes in capitals that have never had diplomatic relations with Israel, investing in Trump’s moment in the White House in order to put the weight of the most powerful country behind the radical right-wing’s candidate in the upcoming election.

It was no coincidence that among the first to call Al-Burhan to congratulate him on his normalisation meeting with Netanyahu was US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and that the first invitation to the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council in Khartoum came just hours after the meeting in Entebbe. We must prepare ourselves mentally for potential surprises with other Arab generals who are suffering greatly from a lack of legitimacy and are under pressure from brokers and mediators not only to build closer relations with Washington, but also — and importantly — with Tel Aviv. The way to Washington’s heart is clearly through Israel’s stomach.

I do not rule out the fact that Entebbe was chosen deliberately as the location for this first meeting between Al-Burhan and Netanyahu by the Israeli leader himself. The Ugandan city is near the shores of Lake Victoria, where Netanyahu’s brother, Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu died in 1976 at the hands of a guerrilla group. I believe that Netanyahu the Prime Minister wanted to avenge the blood of Netanyahu the Colonel, albeit after nearly half a century. It is also as if he is mocking the capital of the “Three No’s” resolution agreed in Khartoum on 1 September 1967: “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it…” was one of the most important resolutions in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Addustour.

Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian American writer based in Ramallah.

Pradesh, they speak Hindi and a dialect closer to Odiya.

Scavengers and sweepers are not allowed inside the homes of upper-caste Hindus. Even the toilets are constructed outside the homes. Indian sociologists and anthropologists have a problematic understanding of caste and Indian homes, where Dalits have a separate entrance (as is visible from most buildings). Things are changing slowly in rural areas.

On the contrary, mosques have toilets within their premises. A toilet is not considered unholy. This is where I fell in love with mosques. I do not find any good reason why Dalits should continue to carry Hinduism on their shoulders.

WHO’S A DALIT? Many people request me to drop the word ‘Dalit’ form Dalit Camera. Dalit is not a term to refer to the physical body of untouchables, it’s a revolutionary concept that Dalit Panthers conceived of. Now, I don’t have a caste. But being part of Dalit Camera is a sign of solidarity I show to Dalit Panthers, and to my beloved Muslim brothers and sisters. For us, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s image itself is enough. It conveys his ideology and idea of justice.

So, Dalits and Muslims have a battle to fight. The fight of Muslims is constitutional in nature, but the fight of Dalits is social, which is more difficult. Many Dalits still do not know that they are being treated unequally because of Hinduism. It’s for this reason Dalits are not aware that they too might find themselves without citizenship one day.

Raees Mohammed, formerly known as Ravichandran Bathran, is the founder of Dalit Camera @dalitcamera.

What was the Entebbe meeting between Netanyahu and Al-Burhan all about?

Middle eAst Monitor oraiB al-rantawi

What was going on in the minds of Sudanese leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they went under the cover of darkness to Entebbe in Uganda? What drove them to respond to the overt and covert mediators and brokers, including those who organised and praised their meeting, and those who promised great benefits for Sudan as, perhaps, a future ex-name on the US blacklist of countries supporting terrorism?

Al-Burhan is “developing” what his ousted predecessor started in the form of modest steps towards normalisation with Israel. Towards the end of Omar Al-Bashir’s presidency, Khartoum hinted several times at its intention to get closer to Israel and seek a rapprochement. He opened his country’s airspace to Israeli aircraft and made a major U-turn in Sudan’s positions and Arab, regional and international alliances.

The general has his eyes set on US recognition of his government’s legitimacy; it is an assortment of “generals” and “revolutionar-

ies”, with the military institution playing a specific role, relying on the Rapid Support Forces that have been closely associated with the Janjaweed groups in Darfur with the same role. This role is to remove Sudan from the blacklist and restore relations between Washington and Khartoum.

That’s the main, direct goal of this major step in normalisation which, unfortunately, has occurred before the ink had dried on the two closing statements of the emergency Khartoum and Jeddah summits regarding the US “deal of the century”. Sudan is following the approach of governments that now view normalisation with Israel as a goal, guarantee and condition for their continued existence.

However, the more important long-term goal of this risky step serves the generals’ personal intentions to stay in power after riding in on the back of the noble Sudanese popular and social revolution. The military’s road to government forever passes through Tel Aviv and perhaps the move of the Sudanese Embassy to Jerusalem. The rule that governs the behaviour of regimes whose legitimacy is contested looks as if it is “be with Israel and don’t worry”.

As for Netanyahu, he is racing against the clock before Israel’s third early election within twelve months on 2 March. He rushed to have the details of the deal of the century revealed and promoted the breakthroughs in his relations with Africa, as well as the Arab and Muslim

Al JAzeerA MariaM Barghouti

With the announcement of the Trump administration’s “deal of the century” on January 28, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sprung into action. Within hours of the White House ceremony, at which US President Donald Trump released the details of his plan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said “a thousand no’s to the deal of the century”. The PA then proceeded to issue a number of threats, including once again to sever ties with Israel’s security agencies, and a call for mass demonstrations against the proposed deal. Despite its rhetorical huffs and puffs, however, the Palestinian leadership could not muster a powerful reaction to the outrageous infringement on Palestinian rights that Trump’s proposal really is. It could not even mobilise its own people. Why? Because for more than 20 years now the PA has actively participated in the repression of the Palestinian people, while maintaining a close relationship with Israeli security forces. Its attitude, rhetoric, and policies in the past and in the present have always been directed not at protecting the rights and wellbeing of the Palestinian people, but at maintaining power at any cost. The “deal of the century” has unmasked the PA’s duplicity and the toll it has taken on Palestinian mass mobilisation.

Since its establishment in 1994 as a result of the disastrous Oslo accords, the PA has done little more than help Israel pacify the Palestinians while their land, property, and resources have been taken over by Jewish settlers. To secure its power, the Palestinian leadership has maintained close cooperation with Israel, torturing Palestinian dissidents and providing intelligence on Palestinian activists. It has also violently quashed any public protest that threatened its grip on power or has been considered a “threat” by the Israelis. It has repeatedly deployed its national guard, riot police, and thugs loyal to Fatah, the party that dominates the PA, to suppress dissent. My first experience of the PA’s heavy hand was in 2011 during a demonstration in Ramallah’s Manara Square in solidarity with revolutions in neighbouring Arab countries. Hundreds of young people gathered peacefully, chanting political slogans, calling for unity between Fatah and Hamas and against the Oslo order. Within hours we were attacked, harassed, and arrested. In 2012, we went out on a protest against the planned visit to Ramallah of Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, a man accused of committing countless crimes against the Palestinians, including the massacre in Jenin during the second Intifada and the assassination of various Palestinian leaders. We saw his meeting with Abbas as yet another act of PA complicity with Israel’s settler-colonial project. We went out en masse to protest, but we were severely beaten

by PA police. Later, the PA intelligence followed us, harassed us in the streets, called our families and threatened them. Worse still, we were slandered on social media platforms as “traitors” working for a “foreign agenda” by PA loyalists. In 2018, we went out to demonstrate against the complicity of the PA in the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which by now has rendered the strip unliveable. The PA had cut off the salary of employees in Gaza and cancelled medical referrals and financial assistance to hundreds of families in need. Because of their narrow partisan interests, two million Palestinians were suffering in unbearable living conditions. Our protest was again attacked brutally, we were beaten, dragged across the streets of Ramallah and arrested as we sought treatment for our injuries in the hospital. These are just a few examples of the PA’s systematic campaign to silence and placate the Palestinians in order to provide Israel with a “sense of security”. And this is not to say that Hamas is an innocent actor; it too has committed its fair share of repression against the Palestinian population in Gaza and has tried to silence criticism. Apart from clamping down on Palestinian dissent, the Palestinian leadership, whether in the West Bank or Gaza, has also sought to instrumentalise mass mobilisation for its short-sighted political goals. Every time there is a declaration by an international body which threatens the PA’s position as a representative of the Palestinian people (albeit one they have not elected), we witness a series of speeches and statements by Palestinian officials calling for protests. The PA and other Palestinian factions and political parties consider Palestinian protest to be a weapon they can use whenever they wish. They want mass mobilisation only when it suits them, not when it is in the best interest of the Palestinian people. The problem is that this attitude, along with years of suppression of dissent and harassment of civil society has added another layer of repression - on top of the Israeli occupation - leaving Palestinians disenchanted and damaging their ability to effectively mobilise for their struggle. Over the years, many stopped seeing a reason to take to the streets because their protest would either be brutally cracked down on or co-opted by political forces they see as illegitimate. It is no wonder then that when the PA called for mass mobilisation in the streets against the “deal of the century”, few turned up. Today, the PA is only able to mobilise those loyal to its political structures and its partisan arm - Fatah. To get a crowd in Ramallah, it has to bus people in from outside the city. By now, many Palestinians have lost trust in the Palestinian leadership. Many know that the PA’s threats to cut ties with Israel’s intelligence agencies are empty ones. Last time it did that in 2017, it was found that 95 percent of security coordination with Israel was maintained. But despite the political and moral bankruptcy of their leaders, Palestinians have not despaired. They continue their struggle for justice, rights, and the end of the Israeli occupation and apartheid. They continue to mobilise despite their leaders and their complicity with Israel. The spirit of the Palestinian street is alive, but it can no longer be conjured by duplicitous political forces. It will only come out in defence of the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people.

hereditary occupation of scavenging. My father was treated badly because the Hindu society said he did a job that was considered filthy. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. First, you enforce a traditional occupation on some groups, treat their members badly, and then blame the people rather than the caste system.

My parents chose a Sanskrit name, an unusual practice among my relatives, who always chose names that are easily identified with Chakkiliyars or untouchables. But like my parents, I too experienced unequal treatment. My education and earnings did not change my identity, and never will. But we are fed with this lie by none other than the Dalit movements.

My father worked as a sanitary worker and my mother was a sweeper in a local school. For the last 15 years, I worked to address the discrimination and untouchability faced by my parents and tens of thousands like them because of their work — sanitation workers/sweepers/scavengers.

We belong to Chakkiliyar/Arunthathiyar caste in Tamil Nadu, who are called, especially by fellow untouchables, as migrants or outsiders. The reason being that Arunthathiyars’ first language is close to Telugu. During my research in undivided Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and Karnataka, I found that in all these states, the sanitation workers were addressed as outsiders. It doesn’t matter whether they had migrated from other states. Interestingly, in all south Indian states, except in undivided Andhra Pradesh, sanitation workers speak Telugu. In Andhra

THE WAY TO WASHINGTON’S HEART IS CLEARLY THROUGH ISRAEL’S STOMACH

Why is the Palestinian Authority unable to mobilise its people?

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

FOREIGN NEWS 07

ButtIgIeg tAkes leAd In chAotIc IowA vote, sAnders second WASHINGTON

d

AGENCIES

EMOCRATIC White House candidate Pete Buttigieg seized a shock lead in the chaotic Iowa caucuses, closely trailed by leftist senator Bernie Sanders, according to partial returns released on Tuesday after an embarrassing delay in reporting the results.

Progressive standard-bearer Elizabeth Warren was in third place followed by Joe Biden, a disappointing showing for the former vice president who has claimed he is best positioned to defeat Donald Trump in November.

Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has been battling Biden for the moderate wing of the party, hailed what he called an “astonishing victory” in the midwestern farm state which kicks off the presidential nominating process.

“I have never been more confident in our campaign, in our team, and in the vision that brought to us this point,” Buttigieg told ecstatic supporters in New Hampshire, which holds the next nominating contest on February 11.

With polls still mixed on whether Americans would be comfortable with an openly gay president, Buttigieg also made a rare, though implicit, reference to his sexuality — and the added significance it gave the Iowa outcome.

“It validates for a kid, somewhere in a community, wondering if he belongs, or she belongs, or they belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country there’s a lot backing up that belief,” he said with a catch in his voice.

According to the partial results, Buttigieg, unknown nationally a year ago, leads with 26.8 percent followed by Sanders, the 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist, with 25.2 percent, followed by Senator Warren with 18.4 percent, and Biden with 15.4 percent. The centrist senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar was in fifth place on 12.6 percent, with 71 percent of the precincts reporting.

The results were posted some 21 hours after

Iowans gathered across the state to hold the first vote of the presidential nominating season.

Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, apologized profusely for the delay and blamed it on a “coding error” with an app being used for the first time to report the returns from precincts across the farm state. Price pledged to provide the full results as soon as possible.

“We have been working day and night to make sure that the results are accurate,” he said. “And we also have a paper trail and documentation that we have been able to use to provide information to help verify the results.”

As Iowa struggled to publish the results and frustrated Democratic candidates fumed, Trump gleefully pounced on the hold-up, describing the Democrats’ failure to deliver timely results as an “unmitigated disaster.”

“Nothing works, just like they ran the country,” tweeted Trump — hours before delivering his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress under the cloud of impeachment.

SHOCKING INCOMPETENCE: The results are usually known within hours of the conclusion of the caucuses, which do not involve a traditional ballot but see voters attending public gatherings and voicing support for the candidate of their choice.

Iowa kicks off the process of selecting presidential nominees every four years, but the fiasco surrounding the results is likely to increase calls for the state to lose the honor.

“The top finishers, probably Sanders and Buttigieg, could have used their showings to launch into New Hampshire,” the next contest, said Larry Sabato, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia. “Instead, the story is the shocking incompetence of the Iowa Democratic Party.”

He called for an end to the “strange system in a 91 percent white state” in favor of giving other states a chance to kick off the process.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner expressed alarm over the Iowa debacle.

“This chaos has created an environment where misinformation is now running rampant online, further undermining confidence in the democratic process,” he said.

With Iowa still mired in confusion, the Democratic candidates turned their sights on New Hampshire. According to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll released Monday, Sanders is leading in the Granite State with 24 percent, followed by Biden on 18 percent, Warren with 13 percent and Buttigieg with 11 percent.

Alluding to his own victory in Republican caucuses in Iowa, Trump said that “the only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is ‘Trump.'”

“When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?” Trump tweeted.

21 dead, others trapped after avalanche in eastern turkey ISTANBUL: An avalanche in eastern Turkey killed at least 21 people, including military police and civilians who were working to rescue victims of an earlier snowslide, the local governor said on Wednesday. Mehmet Emin Bilmez, governor of the eastern province of Van, said some 30 people had been pulled out from under the snow. More people are believed to be still trapped, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said earlier, without giving a number.

TV footage from Van’s Bahcesaray district showed dozens of people using shovels and sticks in snowfall and high winds to dig out buried vehicles, and other overturned vehicles. Soylu said the conditions in the area made it difficult for rescue vehicles to operate, adding a vehicle had been pulled out from under 4-5 meters (16 feet) of snow.

Rescue teams were working to rescue people trapped under an earlier avalanche that struck on Tuesday, killing five people. Eight people were rescued from that avalanche and the second snowslide occurred as teams were searching for two others. AGENCIES

Former Malaysian PM's 'influential' wife goes on trial for corruption

KUALA LUMPUR AGENCIES

The corruption trial of Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak, began on Wednesday, with a prosecutor describing how she exerted “considerable influence” over government decisions.

Accusations of graft on a massive scale, were leveled against the couple after Najib lost a general elec-

tion in 2018. They have both denied all charges, labeling them politically motivated. Najib now faces dozens of graft and money laundering charges linked to the plunder of funds from sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd. During a break from one of his own ongoing trials, Najib came to see Rosmah, 67, on her first day in the dock.

During that brief visit Najib spoke to his wife and her lawyers, giving her a little hug before leaving the court. Rosmah faces three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes involving a sum of 194 million ringgit ($45.93 million) to help a company, Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd, secure a solar power project.

Of that total, prosecutors accuse Rosmah of arranging for 187 million ringgit to be paid as a political donation to Najib, while also receiving two bribes of 6.5 million ringgit. The trial had been due to start on Monday, but was delayed as the defense said Rosmah

was too ill to attend. Sitting in the dock behind her legal team, dressed in a green floral baju kurung, a traditional Malay long smock and dress, and wearing a headscarf, Rosmah appeared calm throughout the first day’s proceedings. Prosecutors argued that Rosmah had put herself in a position where she was able to influence decisions by the government, particularly the award of the a 1.25 billion ringgit solar power project for rural schools in the eastern state of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. “By herself, she occupied no official position. However, she wielded considerable influence by reason of her overbearing nature,” Gopal Sri Ram, who leads the prosecution, said in his opening statement. High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan dismissed the objection from defense counsel Jagjit Singh that the prosecution’s characterization of Rosmah as “overbearing” amounted to character assassination.

Airline conflict alert system given new impetus after plane downed by Iran DOHA: The shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran has given new urgency to efforts to develop a shared conflict alert system for airlines, the head of the world’s biggest airline body said on Wednesday.

Iranian air defense units said they mistakenly shot down Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752, killing all 176 people on board, shortly after it took off from Tehran airport on Jan. 8. At the time, they were on heightened alert because of increased tensions with the United States. The incident has renewed calls for an effective conflict alert system for airlines. Concerns were also heightened in 2014 when Malaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 on board. “There will be something to be done again,” International Air Transport Association Chief Executive Alexandre de Juniac told Reuters at a CAPA aviation summit in Doha. IATA represents about 290 airlines, or more than 80% of global air traffic. After the Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down, IATA backed the creation by the United Nations’ aviation agency, ICAO, of a conflict zone website that would alert airlines and pilots of possible dangers. AGENCIES

Women at the Oscars: Often in a secondary role LOS ANGELES AGENCIES

Since the first Oscars were awarded more than 90 years ago, there have been by far fewer women winners in all categories except costume design.

With the 92nd edition of the Academy Awards on Sunday also shaping up to be dominated by male winners, here is a breakdown of the wins for women over the years: 15 PER CENT FEMALE WINNERS: Since the first Oscar ceremony in 1929, just 15 percent of the golden statuettes for acting and film production have been handed to women, according to an AFP analysis of data on winners of individual awards (not overall awards given to films).

This is equivalent to 376 women from a total 2,435 winners.

The proportion of women drops to roughly 10 percent, or 201 of 2,085, when the gender-specific actor and actress awards are not included.

The percentage of women winners has increased over time, but they remain

largely in the minority.

For the first 10 years of the Oscars, 13 percent of winners were women — and only four percent in the categories open both to men and women.

Over the most recent decade, this rose to 22 percent of overall laureates, and 17 percent in the mixed categories.

The most “feminine” Oscars were in 2016: the jury handed 11 of 30 mixed awards, or about 37 percent, to women.

NO WOMAN’S LAND: A woman has never won in the cinematography category.

The prestigious best director category has only gone to a woman once: to American Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for “The Hurt Locker”. No woman has been nominated this year.

There has also only been one woman among the 207 winners for sound mixing: American Lora Hirschberg in 2011 for “Inception”. The best visual effects award has only been handed to women twice, from a total 240 winners.

The best original score category has only seen three female winners out of 167: American lyricist Marilyn Bergman

in 1984 for “Yentl”; English composer Rachel Portman in 1997 for “Emma”; and Englishwoman Anne Dudley in 1998 for “The Full Monty”.

They may be joined this year by Icelandic maestro Hildur Gudnadottir, who is nominated for her work on “Joker”.

MAKEUP AND COSTUMES: While still under-represented, women fare better in the categories of screenplay with 21 winners out of 279; sound editing (six of 72); production design (25 of 296); and film editing (15 of 113).

Only two categories see a strong female presence: makeup and hairstyling, and costume design.

The Oscar for makeup and hairstyling has been handed to women 30 times out of 81 (37 percent).

And costume design is the only category in which more women than men have received the golden statuette: 66 out of 112 overall, or 59 percent, rising to 77 percent for awards since 2000.

American Edith Head received the Oscar eight times between 1950 and 1974, including for “All About Eve” in

1951 and “Roman Holiday” in 1954.

YOUNG ACTRESSES FAVOURED: For acting, the spread of winners is equal between the genders because of the separate categories for men and women in leading and supporting roles.

But young actresses take home by far more awards than their older colleagues.

Of 92 winners for best actress, only

11 have been aged over 50. This compares to 21 for best actor. And 32 of the women were aged under 30, which is the case for only a single male actor: Adrien Brody for “The Pianist” in 2003. It means that winning male actors are, on average, seven years older than their women counterparts, a gap that has nonetheless closed to four years over the past decade.

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

08 COMMENT

Whither the rule of law?

The opposition in disarray While the PTI’s ratings are dropping like a stone

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he grand opposition alliance formed soon after the 2018 elections to give a tough time to the PTI government, is dead and there’s no formal obituary. While the JUI-F’s differences with the PML-N and PPP started during the socalled Freedom March, they climaxed when the two mainstream parties agreed to vote for the amendments in the Army Act, allowing an extension to the COAS. While nothing is final in politics, the event marked the parting of ways, at least for the time being.

The JUI-F has now announced another alliance comprising smaller nationalist parties and miniscule religio-political entities. The new alliance has decided to launch another protest movement against the PTI government. The alliance would hold a public gathering on February 23 in Karachi. The JUI-F is also to organize a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on March 13 as a show of force. But could it gather enough people to fill the seats?

The PPP and PML-N do not see eye-to-eye with each other on the future line of action, the former concentrating on street power and the latter on change through Parliament. With inflation surging to 14.6percent, the highest in 12 years, PPP chair Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has threatened to take to the streets over the skyrocketing prices. It remains to be seen if the PPP has the capacity to sustain the protests in Sindh while conducting these in other provinces also.

The PML-N wants a change of government through elections, which are nowhere in sight. This, combined with the sudden end of the PM’s familiar refrain of “No NRO for any one ”, has given birth to speculations. There are stories of negotiations taking place between the PMLN leadership and the establishment, which is avowedly fed up with the PTI’s incompetence. There is also talk about an interim set-up prior to the elections as well as formation of a national government for the time being.

One had expected Prime Minister Imran Khan to grow from a common politician to a statesman, pay attention to Parliament, develop working relations with the opposition and reduce the prevailing bitterness between treasury benches and the opposition. Mr Khan however continues to ride the high horse as before.

CPEC needs help The government must undo the initial damage

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he tweet by China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC) Authority Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Asim Bajwa, saying that the multibillion dollar project had completed its first phase, of energy and infrastructure projects, and would now engage in its second, which would lead to the creation of thousands of jobs, and to an overall increase in prosperity, is to be welcomed. CPeC had been touted as a gamechanger for the Pakistani economy for years, but it had not really played such a role so far. Indeed, at the time of its takeover, the PTI government had criticised it, until it became convinced that was not a gravy train for the previous government to loot, but had far-reaching ramifications for the nation’s economy. however, the present government should not assume that its duty was fulfilled by its setting up the CPeC Authority, of which General Bajwa is head.

There is more work that has to be done, most of it by the government. First of all, there have still not been satisfactory set up of the Special economic Zones that are not just key to CPeC, but are vital to creating jobs, something on which the present government is banking very heavily. Second, there are still a number of law and order problems in Balochistan, which is ruled by the BNP, which is a PTI ally. While the PTI government should deal with the question of the Special economic Zones at least in the two provinces it rules, and the one where an ally is in power, it should also persuade that ally to resolve the law and order issues that are holding up the execution of CPeC projects there.

That the government is taking a proper interest in CPeC was shown by the meeting the Prime Minister chaired last week, to review the progress of projects under CPeC. More crucial would be the execution of ancillary projects, without which the major project would be useless, and which require Pakistan to carry out the ancillary work. One benefit, obvious to all, of CPeC has been an end to loadshedding. enjoying further benefits requires the government to show vigilance, and other parties not to make it a political football.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

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The Musharraf case raised several issues Zaeem mumtaZ BHatti

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he doctrine of necessity refuses to go away. It is something of an extraconstitutional anomaly which acts as a panacea for a whole host of unconstitutional acts and illegalities. Wherever logic fails, this doctrine comes to the fore. It gives legitimacy to unconstitutional acts, allowing the judiciary to compromise with the deep state in order to surrender institutional independence.

Chief Justice Muhammad Munir sowed the seeds of this notorious doctrine in the Molvi Tameez-ud-Din case. Now it has taken deep root in the judicial consciousness. every once in a while, an effort is made to uproot it. however, it refuses to give way to the rule of law and constitution. When Mr Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth and Mr Justice Shahid Karim, two of the three judges of the Special Court established under the Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act read with Article 6 of the Constitution and the high Treason (Punishment) Act, 1976, returned a guilty verdict of Pervaiz Musharraf, it was thought in some legal circles that the door to a coup d’état was slammed shut. A robust reaction was witnessed: paragraph 66 of the judgment delivered by Mr Justice Seth became the proverbial punching bag. It was blown out of proportion so as to take the sting out of the rest of the 65 paragraphs. Quite recently, the Federal Government has filed the reference against him before Supreme Judicial Council, which has been vigorously condemned by the Pakistan Bar Council.

There are mainly three arguments put forward by Musharraf apologists. The first is that since Cabinet approval was not sought by the then Prime Minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif, the formation of the Special Court was unconstitutional in view of the Mustafa Impex case (PLD 2016 SC 808). The fallacy in is self-evident. If taken to a logical conclusion, every decision made by Nawaz Sharif as PM would stand vitiated. It is well-settled law that superior court judgments are to be applied prospectively and on the pend-

ing matters or cases, not retrospectively. The Mustafa Impex decision was made in 2016, while the Supreme Court accepted the Sharif government’s request to set up a Special Court for Musharraf on 18 November 2013.

The second argument is that since “hold in abeyance” were inserted in 2010 by the 18th Amendment, Musharraf could not be held guilty retrospectively in view of Article 12. Those making this deceptive argument don’t read Clause 2 of Article 12. This clause explicitly gives a retrospective effect to the constitutional offence committed under Article 6 either by abrogation or by subversion. Mr Justice Shahid Karim in his erudite and elaborative judgment, shines a light on it in para 50. This clause carves out an exception to the right against retroactive punishment. The reason is not far to seek: abrogation, subversion or suspension of Constitution is an offence under the Constitution, and those committing it cannot be allowed to go scot-free even though it is applied ex post facto.

Further, he held that while designing this provision, the framers might have Oliver Cromwell’s example at the back of their minds. Needless to emphasize that the five charges that were made against Musharraf centre on “subversion of the Constitution”. And both judges held him guilty.

The third argument is that Musharraf was not afforded the guarantee of due process enshrined in Article 10-A, as his trial was held in absentia.

This argument would have been tenable, had he not been present in court at the time of framing of charge. The charge was read over to him on 18 February 2014, as is evident from a perusal of paragraph 13 of the judgment authored by Mr Justice Seth. And he pleaded not guilty on all five counts, manifesting his desire to stand trial. even otherwise, his counsel, Farogh Naseem, the law minister, cross-examined the witnesses for days on end. Further, the verdict was announced after six years. Now he cannot turn around and invoke Articles 10 & 10-A, not least when the verdict was given after holding a full trial. In a word, the requirements of due process, such as an opportunity to produce evidence, to cross-examine, to be represented by a counsel were fully satisfied. even otherwise, the Supreme Courtdirected the

Special Court to go ahead with the trial in his absence in view of Section 9 of the Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act, 1976 and judgments regarding an absconder. It was further held that it would not offend against Article 10-A of the Constitution, as the trial could not be left to the mercy and sweet will of the accused.

The moment the Special Court delivered the judgment, convicting Musharraf of high treason and sentencing him to death, it became functus officio. It stood disbanded and became defunct.

In other words, the proverbial Rubicon was crossed. There was no going back. The convicted Musharraf had had only one legal remedy, that is, to prefer an appeal before the Supreme Court. In the wake of this verdict, the petition under Article 199 of the Constitution challenging the formation of Special Court pending adjudication before the Lahore high Court was rendered infructuous for all intents and purposes. The LhC should have stayed its hands and not assumed the jurisdiction to proceed with the matter. But it was not to be.

It turns out to be the classical case of putting the cart before the horse. It begs the question, can the high Court sit in judgment over the orders of the Supreme Court? The answer is obviously a negative one. The Supreme Court settled all the subtle legal questions facing the Special Court in various orders challenged before it.

All said and done, the Lahore high Court judgment will leave the jurisprudence in tatters and turn the settled law on its head to provide Musharraf the speediest justice. Musharraf’s counsel adopted a circuitous route to overturn his conviction and declare the formation of Special Court ultra vires the Constitution. even otherwise, it is a well-entrenched law that the appeal is a continuation of the trial and all the factual and legal controversies reopen in it. however, Musharraf’s counsel bypassed it. It is simply baffling that where there was an appeal provided, how the Lahore high Court could entertain, hear and adjudicate upon the petition. Now that a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against this decision, one earnestly hopes that the Supreme Court would hold aloft the rule of law.

Zaeem Mumtaz Bhatti is a lawyer based in Lahore. He tweets at @zaeem8825. He can be contacted at zaeem.bhatti89@gmail.com.

The Benefits of inclusion Novice teachers need to know about inclusive settings Huma mir

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he sustainable development goals (SDGs) are all about inclusion, and countless benefits of inclusion are evident in every sector of progressive societies. When we talk about tracking the outcomes of inclusion in education, the studies demonstrated that students with or without disabilities could benefit more in a variety of ways than a teacher can think.

The more we evaluated the information gathered from schools and families about inclusion, the more we realize that one of the biggest barriers to inclusion is the lack of training in teachers’ education programmes. It is no fault of their own that new teachers have limited information about inclusion. They are not given the knowledge, skills set or resources to teach in inclusive classrooms.

In Pakistan, we are in a situation where we ought to implement inclusion to meet the SDGs and prepare new teachers for inclusive classrooms but we are not quite there yet.

For preparing the novice teachers, here are a few things that new teachers should know about inclusive classrooms.

One of the best things about inclusive teaching is that a teacher is not expected to work alone.

Inclusive teaching is always a collaborative effort and requires the input and support of a schoolbased team. The team, generally, comprises of the classroom teacher, the special education teacher or learning specialist, the student’s family, school administrator, and community support workers.

The teacher, with the assistance of the school team, will plan and deliver services to the students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom.

When we analyse the schools’ situation in Pakistan or around the world, no general school education can be observed, because it is a universal fact that no two brains are alike. human beings develop and learn at different degrees and in different ways.

It has been a fact that no teacher can hold a class of students who learn at the same pace and in the same way. every teacher has to deal with a group of students with a wide range of ability levels that need

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to reach and teach. We have students from a wide variety of backgrounds who read at different levels, can do diverse creative writings, calculate math at different speeds, would rather draw than write, or prefer physical education over IT. In most developed societies, it has been recognized, now, that a good and effective teacher believes in inclusive teaching. The truth is that quality teaching is inclusive teaching. effective teachers practice to value students’ diversity and focus on student’s strengths rather than shortfalls. These educators use an inclusive approach to engage students in learning, provide positive educational experiences, and set realistic learning outcomes. expert teachers use highly effective teaching strategies, possess strong classroom management skills, are responsive and reflective in their teaching practice, and provide supports to their students, having result-based plans. Additionally, good teachers use research-based methods such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to provide students with different ways to connect and succeed with the curriculum. So, if a teacher is already executing most of the above-mentioned approaches, then, he or she is already an inclusive teacher and just needs to stay regulated on the same inclusive strategies.

Modifying curriculum for students who do not, yet, have an understanding of grade-level content, and has long been the sole responsibility of the special education teachers. however, the goal of inclusion is to include the students in as much of the general education environment and curriculum as possible and the educationists need to make modifications as frequently as possible across all areas of the educational programmes. Therefore, if we want to see full, reliable inclusion exists in the Pakistani school system, then modifications should be the responsibility of every teacher and extensive training should be conducted on designing effective IePs. When general education teachers take ownership of the development and delivery of lessons for their students, then we can truly begin to move towards more inclusive classrooms where students have the opportunity to experience, access, and achieve the curriculum. Unfortunately, general education teachers are very

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rarely trained on how to modify and design a lesson for a student who does not, yet, work at grade level. So, we need to train each teacher, particularly the new teachers, on making an effective and efficient individual education plan.

Three easy steps are suggested to modify a curriculum at any grade level: 1. Identify the curriculum standard(s) that need to be taught for students with and without an individual education plan. Align the grade-level goals and modified goals to the possible extent. 2. Plan a lesson that will teach both the grade-level and modified goals.

A teacher can begin with planning the grade-level lessons and then incorporate the modified goals.

This will, probably, require some changes to the lesson. There are four key areas in a lesson where changes can make modified goals achievable: n Content – Provide content to the grade-level curriculum but at a more suitable level for the student with disabilities. n Instructional Method – Provide an alternate and better-suited form of instruction. n Conceptual Difficulty – Reduce the difficulty of the concept in a lesson. n educational Goals – Adjust the learning outcomes of the lesson.

3. Use instructional strategies such as deletions, substitutions, and additions to make necessary changes to the lesson.

Numeracy and literacy rates improve when students are placed in an inclusive classroom under inclusive instructions. There are improved outcomes for students with disabilities in the areas of employment and independent living after high-schooling. Inclusive classrooms also give students so many opportunities to not only learn academics but develop their social and emotional intelligence. Students practice pro-social skills such as acceptance, patience, and empathy daily.

Pro-social behaviours help children interact with others effectively. every day children have to deal with peers, events and problems. While practicing sharing, helping, cooperating, and empathy help children to deal with day-to-day events in ways that are helpful, not harmful.

Our education sector needs to be well equipped for the requirements of inclusion where inclusive education facilitates the social and emotional growth and development of persons with disabilities, and which proves that inclusion always yielded positive results on human societies.

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Thursday, 6 February, 2020

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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Corruption in Pakistan

Implications of Trump’s flawed Mid-East policy Trump will be judged on his Mid-east policy aBdul raHman malik

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he Trump Administration has been playing with fire in the Middle east as its flawed Middle east Policy has wreaked havoc in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Palestine ever since President Donald Trump announced the moving of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, thus recoginising it as the capital of Israel.

Given this flawed and impractical policy, after the announcement of the peace plan, the Middle east is bracing for a serious crisis due to bad advice of those aiming to establish US hegemony in Iraq, Syria, Libya and support Israel in its bid to grab more land from Palestine.

Trump has so messed up policy that he is under fire both within and outside the USA, owing to his policy towards the Middle east, Africa and South Asia, especially over mediation in the Kashmir issue between nuclear neighbours India and Pakistan, and Afghanistan where the USA had to initiate dialogue with the Taliban, once branded terrorists. even the Lebanon crisis has also become critical as protests against the corrupt US-backed government continue against the new government, which protesters say is controlled by the same corrupt parties, so they cannot expect anything from them. Moreover, Russia’s involvement in the presidential election and the Ukrainian imbroglio prompted Democrats to impeach Trump for riskig US national interests. According to some Democrats, Trump’s decisions have invited severe criticism for the USA worldwide.

Advisers, especially those supported by the pro-Israel lobby, have pushed Trump to escalate tensions with Iran since Iran is a strong supporter of Palestine and her proxies are actively working in the Palestine liberation movement.

Diplomatic tensions escalated over the recent assassination of General Qassem Suleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Political pundits and the analysts termed the incident a great blunder since it brought Iran’s dissenting voices together on the same page.

The Protests compelled the Iraqi Parliament to pass a resolution against the US and Allied forces as the US drone strike had infringed upon the sovereignty of Iraq and was also a violation of international law. The recent protests confirm in Iraq that the assassination was a historical blunder that has risked US interests in Iraq.

The impeachment will make it very difficult for his re-election race this year given the allegations against him. The decisions that will cost him include his unilateral withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement that was signed when Syria was battered by civil war. ever since Syria has been in the grip of a humanitarian crisis. Trump did not end it, but like a Marathon race, the USA forwarded the baton to Turkey to carry out the blood-stained job of continuing the offensive against ISIS. Syria will take years to rebuild after the Arab Spring that devastated the very fabric of so many Arab countries.

Security and foreign policy experts believe the crisis has been caused by Middle-eastern oil

reserves, such as in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait holy city for Christians, Muslims and Jews at and Iran. The USA had entered Iraq and the same time. It cannot be controlled or domiAfghanistan for so-called regime change, and nated under the Two-State Solution. Moreover, had been there for the last 20 years but there east Jerusalem was to become the Capital of the seems to be no improvement. The situation Palestinian Territory.

While addressing the UN, Turkish Presiworsened when ISIS entered Iraq and other countries of the Middle east, making the al- dent Recep Tayyab erdogan had displayed ready fragile states face a serious security crisis. maps of ancient Palestine and how Israel gradThe USA’s announcement to provide secu- ually acquired the land by expanding its boundrity to Saudi Arabia was compromised when aries illegally.

Furthermore, the UN has also affirmed that Yemen attacked it. Trump abruptly blamed Iran, but the sensible Iranian leadership rejected US Israel has no legitimate right to control the Golan claims. even Saudi Arabian and Iranian rela- heights, annexed from Syria in 1967, or the West tions are poor as both countries have differences Bank, but Israel has been violating the internaover sectarian issues, Saudi Arabia being Sunni tional law blatantly. Trump has been under pressure from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs and Iran has a Shiite majority.

The elements are using this sectarian divide Committee) and Christian fundamentalists influto engage them in confrontation but the efforts encing his Mid-east policy that has supported Isof some pro-peace states have prevented a pos- rael’s unilateral move to occupy Jerusalem.

These policy failures are causing too much sible War between these two Muslim countries. damage to US foreign Furthermore, PresiPolicy and tarnishing the dent Trump’s sudden deimage of the US in the cision to abandon the Mid-east where protests nuclear deal with Iran and Trump may be ranked as the have begun and the dearms treaties with Russia are echoing that has been counterproducworst ever US President, but mands the USA should end its tutive as Iran has restarted his aggressive foreign multuous siege of the its uranium enrichment Middle east and withdraw plants and Russia is resetrelations still matter.

This its forces, especially from ting its footprint in the year will be decisive as Iraq, Syria and Libya, Middle east and Africa as where the US military and US forces leave Syria, Trump is facing both allies went for regime leaving a vacuum that impeachment and an change and defeating was filled by Russia and ISIS, but instead of stabiTurkey. election.

His future depends lizing these states have The Joint Compreon whether he survives the further destabilized them. hensive Plan of Action there is no gov(JCPOA) agreement was impeachment or not or gets Currently, ernment in these states. signed by US President re-elected despite his Trump has alienated Barrack Obama and Iranthe African countries. he ian President hasan perilous foreign policy did not play any role in reRouhani in 2015. Iran solving the Kashmir Dishad agreed to limit its nupute between India and clear plan, and in return, Pakistan. Despite a lockall tough economic sanctions imposed against her were to be lifted. That down of 170 days, Kashmir still awaits a global was a win-win agreement, though Iran had to response to exert pressure on India to lift over the curfew in Kashmir. Despite offering medisacrifice its bid to become a nuclear power.

Trump’s advisers came with with a plan to ation, he did nothing to de-escalate the tension escalate the situation with Iran so that the USA between the two hostile nations. Pakistan has came into conflict with Iran. Trump scrapped been frequently asked by the USA to “do more” the JCPOA, just releasing both countries to do but has done nothing for Pakistan in resolving as they wished. Iran and other countries are the Kashmir dispute and removing Pakistan waiting for this year’s presidential election out- from the FATF grey list despite Trump’s promcome to decide their future course of action ises to Pakistan’s PM, and despite a reminder in with the USA under a Democrat President if Davos.

On the other hand, Pakistan has done a lot Trump loses.

Another illogical Trump was declaring for the USA by bringing the Taliban to the neJerusalem the eternal Capital of Israel as well as gotiating table. even the recent Pakistani efforts recognizing the Golan heights as Israeli territory. for a US-Iran de-escalation are noteworthy. even Trump’s much-trumpeted Meeting They stirred serious consequences as Palestinians protested and criticized the Trump Administra- with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has also ended in smoke, since there was no breaktion for being illogical and irresponsible.

Most of the foreign policy experts are of the through or headway after three rounds of talks.

Trump may be ranked as the worst ever US view the flawed Mid-east policy is whimsical, and Trump is playing with fire that may become President, but his aggressive foreign relations a holocaust for the region, as even the recent still matter. This year will be decisive as Trump peace plan has no clear vision that may reflect the is facing both impeachment and an election. his possible solution for the Middle east or NY ef- future depends on whether he survives the imforts aimed at bringing peace in the Middle east. peachment or not or gets re-elected despite his everybody is aware that Jerusalem is the perilous foreign policy.

CORRUPTION is one of the biggest issues all over the world. Simply corruption means adopting unfair means to achieve something illegally. And it is one of the most alarming problems in Pakistan. Pakistan is ranked as the 117th least corrupt nation out of 175 countries according to the 2018 Corruption Perception Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption ranked in Pakistan average 109.04 from 1995 until 2018 reached an all time high of 144 and it can horribly increase in upcoming years.

Furthermore, in Pakistan the majority of the people are corrupt. every institution is led by corrupt people, such as education institutions are one of the most corrupt sectors in Pakistan and healthcare, hospital staff acts 25 doctors and nurse reports 13, Sport sector, taxation, etc. each and every office is mingled with this disease which has emptied the economy of the country. Until no one takes any action about the corruption, our country is going to face inflation, poverty and unemployment in a larger scale. Therefore, I request the government to take action against corruption. Due to corruption our country is backward and it will never let the country to be prosperous.

GanJi naEEM Turbat

Strays on the streets IT is a very harsh and serious matter that nowadays dogs are being dangerous and biting people commonly. It has become a common and horrifying issue that is spreading in rural and urban areas of the country. Recently in Sindh a person lost his precious lives due to dogs biting. And one of the biggest issues that is being faced by the population due to lack of dog biting vaccine. In addition one can get different diseases from dogs biting because it causes injury, it can spread germs and different microorganisms from dogs to people.

According to a report 18 percent of dog bites become infected with bacteria and it has been scientifically proven that over 60 different kinds of bacteria are found in dog mouth. People can get different diseases like rabies, capnocytophaga bacteria, pasteurella, MRSA and tetanus.

They can cause paralysis, skin, lungs, swelling in the joints and affect the brain as well. On the other hand, more than 69,000 dog bite cases were reported in Sindh by 2019 and so far 11 people have died. Last year 1500 dog bite cases were reported and most of the people died as well. The increasing population of stray dogs is increasing the number of dog-bite victims, especially children and women. It is unfortunate that children are the major victims of stray dogs. The concerned authorities should take immediate steps to control dogs biting in the country so that children and women should visit freely without any fear of dogs.

SaMEEn aBiD Turbat

PM’s message PM Imran Khan has expressed his reservations over Silence of Muslim World on Muslim genocide in different Parts of the world mainly in Kashmir. he emphasized on the need of unity among the Muslim countries to coup up with the crisis faced by Muslim Ummah. India has adopted a fanatic approach which is posing dire threat to peace and tranquility in the region. India’s Current approach will lead it to disaster.

During PM’s visit to Malaysia he once again gave the message of peace and Unity along with the oppression in Jammu and Kashmir. Muslim Countries should support him for prosperity and progress of Muslim Ummah KaMran KHaMiSo KHowaJa Sajuwal

Child abuse ChILD abuse is unfortunately a occurrence in Pakistan which tries to cover it self under the guise of religion but it is shocking and sad that pedophilia or child abuse is rampant in Pakistani society.

There are thousands of children who get abused every year. every child deserves a childhood full of happiness and love, but criminals make this impossible for them.

Many incidents of child abuse fail to get media attention as according to an NGO report, 11 cases of child abuse are reported from Pakistan on daily basis. Children who are victims of this menace lead a difficult life as they have to deal with trauma for the rest of their lives. Some are able to leave it behind and others cannot let it go which has a negative impact on their mental health affecting their way of life such as in school, workplace or in social interactions.

To deal with this horror that has grasped our society, it is important to take measures from a grass root level. Protection services need to be improved and the criminal justice system has to be reformed. Parents should never leave small children alone with domestic staff. If all of sudden your child does not want to see or greet an individual don’t force them and try to figure out the reason by communicating with the child. And lastly, listen to your child what he/she is trying to tell you about the incident. Don’t silence them by telling them to keep it secret. As parents and guardians, it’s our responsibility to ensure no one is allowed the opportunity to compromise the safety of our children and to raise our voice against the inaction of the government.

SyEDa anoSHa GiLani Karachi

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

chInA's stutterIng economy BrAces for ImpAct of deAdly vIrus BEIJING

c

AGENCIES

HINA’S struggle to contain the deadly coronavirus is deepening concerns about the impact on the world’s number-two economy, as factories stay closed and millions of consumers remain holed up at home.

The epidemic, which has killed hundreds and infected more than 24,000, has led to sweeping travel restrictions across the country as well as the closure of popular tourist attractions, businesses, schools and entertainment venues.

Central Hubei province — at the epicentre of the outbreak — has effectively been locked down since late January with other cities imposing restrictions this week in the eastern industrial belt, including the home of tech giant Alibaba.

Now, economists are warning of a bruising first quarter for the already stuttering economy — and potentially a severe hit to full-year growth — after a ruined Lunar New Year holiday, with some saying it could prove more painful that SARS. “The inopportune timing of the outbreak around Chinese New Year, a time of increased transport and economic connectivity… as well as the lockdown of affected regions all add to the equa-

tion,” said Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics.

The crisis also comes as Beijing battles to kickstart growth after a drawn-out slowdown caused by weak overseas demand and the US trade war, and there are building concerns a hit to China could have a domino effect globally.

Moody’s analysts said the virus was “a serious mounting threat to the fragile Chinese and global economies”, adding that there are “no good scenarios”.

QUIET FACTORIES: Many factories closed for the Lunar New Year break have delayed reopening — exceeding a three-day extension of the holiday that authorities imposed to prevent large public gatherings.

Manufacturing accounts for around a third of China’s economy and the auto industry is set to take a sharp blow, given that Hubei’s quarantined capital, Wuhan, is among China’s largest production bases.

A Ford spokesman told AFP production would resume around next week, but said the epidemic has already “suppressed or delayed consumer purchases to a large degree”.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation, which is based in Wuhan and is one of China’s biggest auto groups, said its reopening “will depend on the prevention and control of the epidemic”.

Ratings agency S&P has predicted the delay in opening factories could hit car production by up to two percent and warned the real impact may be larger as workers could potentially shun Hubei when called back to work.

Oxford Economics believes the virus could knock at least two percentage points off China’s growth in the first quarter before seeing an improvement in April-June.

Still, it cut its full-year outlook to 5.4 percent expansion — markedly down from its previous estimate of six percent, which was in line with 2019 and the slowest in three decades.

However, the biggest hit to the economy is likely to be from China’s army of consumers saying at home, observers said, with Moody’s analysts expecting spending on transportation, retail, tourism and entertainment to be hammered.

The 2019 Lunar New Year holiday saw retail and catering enterprises report combined sales of around $150 billion, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Domestic travel revenues clocked in at more than $73 billion, it said, as people travelled across the country to visit family, while the Forbidden City hosted nearly half a million visitors.

But this year, shopping malls, eateries, cinemas and transport hubs were

quiet, while the Forbidden City was closed.

STATE SUPPORT: Big-name highstreet titans are also feeling the strain.

Nike and clothing giant H&M have both closed half their stores in China, with the Swedish firm telling AFP a “short-term impact on sales is inevitable”.

Jewellery chain Pandora said there had been “an unprecedented decline in consumer traffic in China and Hong Kong”. Apple and Starbucks have also shut down outlets.

Passenger volumes on air, rail, road and water transport plunged more than 70 percent from a year ago.

Analysts at Allianz and Euler Hermes warned the economic impact could surpass the SARS epidemic because private consumption is now a much more important driver of economic growth than in 2003.

While authorities have stepped up to provide support — the central bank has pumped more than $200 billion into fi-

nancial markets this week — Moody’s analysts said the full benefits are “unclear” for now.

“Given the high levels of uncertainty, consumers may simply save the spending they had planned for the Lunar New Year holiday, and could spend more cautiously in general,” they said.

ING economist Iris Pang added that with the central bank having done its part to avoid “market chaos” — Shanghai equities have clawed back some of Monday’s near-eight percent rout — government fiscal stimulus is next on the cards.

Beijing has already been spending on rapidly building hospitals in Wuhan, and eased import duties and consumption tax on medical equipment.

But experts warn of a larger spillover effect on supply chains, with DBRS Morningstar noting China makes up 17 percent of global GDP, while a growing list of nations banning flights to and from the country will have a huge impact on their tourist sectors.

Huawei promises 'Made in Europe' 5G for EU BEIJING AGENCIES

Chinese telecom giant Huawei said on Tuesday it would set up manufacturing hubs in Europe, as it tries to fight off US pressure on EU nations to stop it from operating.

“Huawei is more committed to Europe than ever before,” said the company’s top executive for Europe Abraham Liu during a Chinese New Year reception in Brussels.

“That’s why we have decided we want to set up manufacturing bases in Europe — so that we can truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe.”

The announcement comes just days after the EU recommended that member states could ban telecoms operators deemed a security risk from critical parts of 5G infrastructure.

But the EU plan, which closely mirrored rules set out by Britain allowing a limited role for Huawei, stopped short of barring the company from the nextgeneration communications network

designed for near-instantaneous data transfers.

Those guidelines were the fruit of months of agonising within the EU, which has struggled to find a middle way to balance Huawei’s huge dominance in the 5G sector with security concerns pressed by Washington.

Liu in his speech acknowledged

that the tech world “is increasingly entangled with geopolitical issues, trade negotiations, and diplomatic dialogue between nations”.

“Politically motivated suspicion does not address the challenges ahead,” he added in a veiled admonishment to Washington.

He also urged Europe, the US and

China to “invest more, in political discussion, to talk about collaboration and common rules”. In Europe, a ban on Huawei will now ultimately be up to member states, but the European Commission’s middle road recommendations give cover to European capitals to resist pleas from Washington. Building factories in Europe would also help persuade EU countries to turn away from tough measures against Huawei, with all eyes on Germany which has delayed its decision on a possible ban.

According to the company, it employs over 13,000 staff and runs two regional centres and 23 research centres in 12 EU countries.

Huawei is one of the world’s leading network technology suppliers, and one of the few — along with European telecom companies Nokia and Ericsson — capable of building 5G networks.

The United States sees the company as a potential threat to cybersecurity and fears it would facilitate cyber espionage by the Chinese government, to which it is said to have close links.

Indigenous groups lose court bid to block Canada pipeline TORONTO AGENCIES

Canada’s federal court on Tuesday denied a bid by indigenous tribes to block a long-delayed expansion of an oil pipeline, dismissing their claim that they had not been adequately consulted on the project.

The decision is a win for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government in 2016 approved the project connecting the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific coast for crude shipment to new overseas markets.

It also risks, however, turning climate activists who supported Trudeau’s administration against him.

The federal court said the Coldwater Indian Band and other tribes had not proved that Ottawa “failed to meet its duty to consult and accommodate during the re-initiated consultations.”

“Although indigenous peoples can assert their uncompromising opposition to a project, they cannot tactically use the consultation process as a means to try to veto it,” said chief justice Marc Noel.

Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan said the government had held “the most comprehensive consultation ever undertaken for a major project in Canada’s history” with indigenous people.

“This project is in the public interest,” he said, pointing to its “creation of thousands of good, wellpaying jobs” and “getting more of our valuable natural resources to global markets.”

According to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney the ruling “removes the last remaining legal obstacle” to the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The tribes, however, vowed to bring their fight to the Supreme Court.

“We say this project cannot go through,” Leah George-Wilson, chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, told a nationally-televised news conference.

AUSTRALIA IS BURNING: Khelsilem Tl’akwasik’an of the Squamish Nation said further development of the oil sands made possible through the expansion of pipeline capacity would exacerbate global warming.

“We are risking unstable climate for future generations,” he said. “Australia is burning… and yet this government wants to double down on building more oil pipelines.” The Trans Mountain project would expand an existing 715-mile (1,150 kilometer) conduit to move 890,000 barrels of oil a day across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, replacing a smaller, crumbling conduit built in 1953.

Indigenous groups had argued that a second consultation with them on the project’s impacts on wildlife and the environment, mandated by law, had been inadequate. The project was delayed several years by protests and legal challenges by environmental activists and indigenous tribes. They contended that increased shipping along the Pacific coast could impede the recovery of killer whale populations, and risked contaminating the tribes’ aquifer.

In 2018, the government stepped in to buy the troubled project for Can$4.4 billion (US$3.3 billion) from Kinder Morgan.

After fresh court-ordered consultations with indigenous groups affected by its construction, the government announced in June 2019 that it was moving forward. The decision drew criticism from environmental groups that had traditionally sided with Trudeau, while supporters lamented how long the pipeline was taking to get built. Canada is the world’s fourth largest oil exporter but sells almost all of it to the US. By the end of this month, Ottawa must decide whether or not to approve another controversial oil project in Alberta, a Can$21 billion oil sands mine proposed by Teck Resources.

CMYK

google sAys glItch sent people's vIdeos to strAngers NEW YORK AGENCIES

Google on Tuesday said that a software glitch resulted in some Photo app smartphone videos being given to the wrong people. Google was notifying those who may have been affected. “We are very sorry this happened,” Google said in reply to an AFP inquiry. “We fixed the underlying issue and have conducted an in-depth analysis to help prevent this from ever happening again.” It was estimated that a small fraction of a percent of those who used a “Takeout” tool may have encountered the glitch, which affected people who used the app to export stored videos from Google Photos between November 21 and November 25 of last year. “These users may have received either an incomplete archive or videos — not photos — that were not theirs,” Google said. Google Takeout is a tool intended to make it simple for people to download copies of their data from cloud-hosted services such as email or storage of photos and videos.

Takeout was intended to provide people with an easy way to liberate their personal data from online services. In this case, however, the bug delivered videos to the wrong people.

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

business 11

PSO landS In tROuBle aS deFault RISK mOuntS

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD KARACHI: Takaful Pakistan CEO Rizwan Hussain and Hamdard University VC Dr Shabibul Hasan participate in the inaugural ceremony of Uni-Corp Career Connect 2020, held at the Expo Centre. P R E S S R E l E A S E

‘Here to stay’: FBR rejects rumours regarding Zaidi’s ouster

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Saturday clarified that the FBR chairman’s office was not vacant. In a clarification issued on Saturday, FBR spokesman and Member (IR-Policy) Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar said that FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi was currently on a medical leave and that he would assume his charge as FBR chief as soon as he gets medically fit. “The position of FBR chairman is not vacant…Nausheen Javaid Amjad (BS-22 officer) is holding the look after charge in Zaidi’s absence, as notified by an FBR notification on 31st January 2020.” In another clarification, the FBR spokesman denied giving any inputs to media regarding the ongoing talks between the government’s economic team with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation visiting Pakistan.

According to the spokesman, the talks between the two sides are ongoing for the release of the third tranche of the $6 billion bailout package. “The FBR has given no statement to media on the ongoing talks,” he said, refuting the statements run by media outlets quoting FBR officials. The first round of talks between IMF and FBR began on Tuesday.

According to media, issues pertaining to mini-budget and revenue targets were discussed during the meeting.

Illegal gateway exchange busted in Karachi The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on Wednesday claimed to have busted an illegal gateway exchange in Karachi, seizing GSM gateways and accessories from the suspects. According to a press release, a raid was carried out in Block 17 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi in association with the Federal Investigation Agency. During the raid, the officials seized two illegal GSM gateways (64 and 8 ports), 12 internet modems, two laptops, four wireless routers, two mobile handsets, internet devices and other equipment. Officials have launched further investigations. The PTA release said the ongoing successful raids against grey operators are evidence of continuous monitoring, commitment and persistent efforts of the authority in curtailing grey telephone traffic. BUSINESS DESK

t

AHMAD AHMADANI

HE Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is currently facing a default risk in its local and international payment obligations, which may hamper jet fuel supplies to defence forces and local and foreign airlines.

According to statistics available with this scribe, PSO is currently facing liquidity crunch due to mounting receivables amounting to Rs335.7 billion from the power sector, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Pakistan International Airlines and the federal government (as of Dec 15, 2019).

Owing to the devaluation of the local currency, the state-owned oil giant is also bound to pay additional Rs28 billion to the foreign banks on account of loans it had earlier obtained on the instructions of the finance ministry, triggering default risk.

Further, an overdue amount has been impairing the PSO’s ability to ensure uninterrupted energy supplies in the country.

The PSO’s board of management (BoM) chairman has already brought the matter in the notice of the finance secretary.

According to documents, the Petroleum Di-

NoN-paymeNt may hamper jet fuel supplies to defeNce forces, commercial airliNes vision informed the cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on January 8 that the Finance Division had earlier advised the oil importing companies to explore the possibility of financing long-term arrangements from the banks and financial institutions involved in their import plans.

And, in case such financing facilities require extra costs and risk to be borne by the companies, the federal government is committed to defraying such costs and risks.

Following the Finance Division’s directions, coupled with the advice of Petroleum Division, the PSO had been utilizing FE-25 loans from local and international banks operating in Pakistan since 2013.

To date, the PSO has suffered a net exchange loss of Rs28 billion on such loans due to devaluation of Pakistan rupee vis-à-vis US Dollar, the documents revealed.

The Petroleum Division had further warned

the ECC that there was a risk of default by PSO in its local and international payment obligations due to which jet fuel supplies might get hindered for defence forces and local and foreign airlines.

A delay in the reimbursement of exchange losses on FE-25 loans may further aggravate the situation.

The Petroleum Division had sought the provision of Rs28 billion to improve liquidity position of PSO and avert any untoward situation.

Sources privy to the development told this scribe that the ECC had directed the Finance Division to consider allocation of Rs28 billion in favor of PSO from the next financial year.

They said the government had advised PSO and PARCO oil refinery to obtain loan from foreign banks to ensure the import of petroleum products and crude oil.

PSO has been allowed to obtain loans from foreign banks in dollars equivalent to Rs800 billion annually to ensure the import of petroleum products, sources added.

They further said the government had granted the permission ostensibly to reduce pressure on foreign exchange reserves, adding, this loan facility, on the other hand, is now proving harmful to PSO as the petroleum and finance divisions have so far not resolved the risk of default.

SadaPay, another mobile wallet, aims to disrupt local banking LAHORE TAIMOOR HASSAN

SadaPay, a mobile wallet, is all set to launch in Pakistan with a different perspective on fees and charges, providing customers ability to open an app-based account from their phones and get a physical card that will allow them to spend anywhere in the world.

Sadapay is helmed by its chief executive officer, Miami-based Tech entrepreneur Brandon Timinsky, who led a successful oil delivery startup GasNinjas to a multi-million dollar exit in the United States (US). Brandon now plans to introduce Sadapay as a neobank in Pakistan.

In fintech, neobank is a type of a direct bank that is 100pc digital and aims to reach customers on mobile apps and computer platforms, instead of operating physical branches.

SadaPay plans to issue cards that will work on the Mastercard network in any market where Mastercard is accepted. The company says that Mastercard network represents around 210 countries at the best forex transaction rates in Pakistan, allowing for seamless transactions anywhere in the world, including online payments.

More importantly, SadaPay account would be a game changer for the freelancer community in Pakistan - dubbed to be the 4th largest in the world - as it would allow them to receive payments from international clients through digital invoices that can be paid using a credit card from anywhere in the world.

Freelancers have long decried lack of formal payment channels in Pakistan for international payments, frustrating them even more

after PayPal refused to operate in Pakistan.

Moreover, SadaPay debit card will also be accepted online on international websites like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, AliExpress, helping make secure online payments.

SadaPay accounts will also have no monthly or annual charges, with three free ATM withdrawals per month. The digital wallet will also allow free interbank fund transfers to other bank accounts and mobile wallets under Rs10,000.

To top it off, the app will also offer a range of other features such as free and instant local transfers, spending insights and card activation controls within the app. The team plans to launch many more useful products such as saving vaults, tax modules and lending.

SadaPay aims to not only disrupt the local banking industry but also bank the unbanked segment of the Pakistani population, in line with State Bank of Pakistan’s policy of financial inclusion.

As of December 2018, there were only 53.11 million bank accounts, representing the total population of 227 million people, according to SBP data. In percentage terms, that is only 24.27pc of the population that have bank accounts, or only around one in four Pakistanis holds a bank account. SBP's Access to Finance Survey, 2015 estimated that at least 53pc of the population was financially excluded, with no access to banking channels, formal or informal.

That is a huge market that SadaPay is trying to serve. The market is not free of competition either. There is EasyPaisa, Jazzcash and SimSim trying to serve the same market, and in 2019, NayaPay received its license to operate as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI).

FFC inaugurates ‘agriculture centre’ in Rahim Yar Khan Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) has formally inaugurated its non-profit 'Food Security and Agriculture Center of Excellence' at Rahim Yar Khan with the aim to address issues pertaining to national food security and farmer’s prosperity. To mark the initiation of this non-profit programme, a vibrant ceremony was held at Ahmedpur Lamma region of Rahim Yar Khan which was presided over by FFC Chief Executive & Managing Director Lt Gen (r) Tariq Khan and attended by CEOs from partner organizations, including Askari Bank, Al Khidmat Foundation, Alight Pakistan, Educate a Child, Syngenta, Tech Valley, Sealion Solar Industries etc. Renowned US-based agriculturist Dave Gerrard also attended the ceremony. The programme titled 'FACE' is an all-inclusive one-window solution for farmers and marginalized segments of the society with services including capacity building and technical support for farmers on modern lines with an introduction to climate-smart agriculture amongst rural, financial empowerment and provision of agriculture machinery to the farmers.

Speaking on the occasion, the FFC chief reaffirmed his company’s complete support and patronage towards redressal of issues faced by farmers and agriculture in Pakistan. He mentioned the impact of climate change and the notable initiatives FFC is undertaking towards mitigation of such issues. BUSINESS DESK

Oil jumps 3pc on reports of effective coronavirus drug LONDON AGENCIES

Oil prices jumped by more than 3pc on Wednesday on media reports that scientists have developed a drug against the fastspreading coronavirus that continued to weigh heavily on global economic activity.

News that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its producer allies are considering further output cuts to counter a potential squeeze on global oil demand further supported that had collapsed by more than 20pc since early January. Both Brent crude oil futures and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped by more than 3pc in morning trade. By 1220 GMT, Brent was up $1.35, or 2.5pc, at $55.31 a barrel and (WTI) was up $1.25, or 2.5pc, at $50.86.

China's Changjiang Daily, the official newspaper of the city of Wuhan where the virus outbreak began, reported on Tuesday that a team of researchers led by Zhejiang University professor Li Lanjuan have found that drugs Abidol and Darunavir can inhibit the virus in vitro cell experiments.

Separately, Sky News reported that a British scientist has made a significant breakthrough in the race for a vaccine by reducing part of the normal development time from two to three years to only 14 days.

A vaccine will be too late for the current virus but the breakthrough will be crucial if there is another outbreak, Sky said.

Thousands of passengers and crew on two cruise ships in Asian waters were placed in quarantine for China’s coronavirus on Wednesday as airlines, car

manufacturers and other global companies counted the cost of the fast-spreading outbreak.

DEMAND IMPACT: The economic slowdown resulting from the virus outbreak is expected to reduce 2020 global demand growth by 300,000-500,000 barrels per day (bpd), roughly 0.5pc of global demand, BP’s Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said on Tuesday.

“The (Chinese) economy will be weakened for some time to come as quarantines, social distancing and travel restrictions remain in place,” BNP Paribas analyst Harry Tchilinguirian told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.

“But as financial markets are anticipatory, one can see how favourable news in relation to potential medical solutions, or indications that we have reached a turning

point in the progress of the virus outbreak, are likely to be interpreted positively.”

OPEC and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, weighed the impact on global oil demand and economic growth from the coronavirus outbreak at a meeting on Tuesday, hearing from China’s envoy to the United Nations in Vienna.

GOLD NEAR TWO-WEEK LOW: Gold prices steadied after touching their lowest in two weeks on Wednesday, as reports of drug breakthroughs in treating the coronavirus lifted European shares and dented some of bullion’s safe haven appeal.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,551.97 per ounce by 1324 GMT, having fallen to its lowest since Jan. 21 at $1,546.90. US gold futures rose 0.1pc to $1,557.20.

“Investors are expecting less risk com-

ing from the virus epidemic, good measures are being taken to try to contain the virus and that is giving good optimism in the markets,” ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa said. The easing monetary policy measures from China have “calmed down the storm in the markets and investors are quite reassured by this.”

“Just the fact that nobody (in China) is going out, nobody is spending money, everything has come to a complete standstill, it’s going to be very bad for the Chinese economy at least in the short term,” MKS SA’s Nabavi said.

Among other precious metals, palladium was up 1.8pc at $2,477.30 an ounce, having touched a near two-week peak of $2,498.07 earlier in the session.

Silver rose 0.1pc to $17.59, while platinum gained 1.1pc to $973.43.

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

12 business

PaKIStan, malaYSIa agRee tO enHanCe tRade, InveStment tIeS 'Both sides will eNcourage their respective chamBers of commerce to uNdertaKe joiNt iNitiatives'

SBP sells Rs59.4bn worth of PIBs KARACHI MEIRYUM AlI

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has raised Rs59.4 billion through the sale of Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs). SBP data showed that the cut-off yields for all tenors increased, reflecting the much higher expected inflation result for January. The yields on 3-year bonds rose by 30 basis points, from 11.75pc to 12.05pc. The same on 5-year bonds also increased to 11.4pc from 11.19pc previously, while the yields on 10-year bonds increased from 10.9pc to 11pc. As per the auction result, the participation was Rs127 billion, while the target was Rs100 billion. Out of the Rs41.45 billion for 3-year PIB, SBP accepted Rs19.6 billion. For 5-year PIB, the central bank accepted Rs29.6 billion out of Rs49.2 billion, whereas it accepted Rs10.2 billion for 10-year PIB, out of Rs34.6 billion. Bids for 20year bonds were rejected. The next auction will be held on 4 March 2020. The higher yields on the PIBs reflect concerns about the inflationary pressures, due to a rise in food prices. The inflation rate had jumped up 14.56 per cent year-on-year (YoY) for the month of January, up from 12.6 in December 2019, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

P

BUSINES DESK

AKISTAN and Malaysia have agreed to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties by exploring new potential areas such as renewable energy, natural resources, aerospace and aeronautical, digital technology, artificial intelligence and e-commerce.

This was stated in a joint statement issued at the conclusion of Prime Minister Imran Khan's two-day visit to Kuala Lumpur.

According to the joint statement, both countries have firmly stressed that the question of Palestine, situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the Rohingyas issue should be resolved on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and international human rights law.

"The two sides have agreed to encourage

'pia will sooN start a New direct flight from lahore to Kuala lumpur'

their respective chambers of commerce and industry to undertake necessary initiatives to promote private sector driven bilateral trade and investment ties.

"Pakistan International Airline will soon be adding a new direct flight from Lahore to Kuala Lumpur to cater to the increasing number of Pakistani travellers to Malaysia," the statement read.

It was agreed that the relevant bodies from both countries would collaborate and share their successful practices and tools in revenue collection and taxation. They also agreed to collaborate in the heavy industry sector, halal food industry, services and consumer products.

It is pertinent to mention that PM Imran on Monday arrived in Kuala Lumpur on a two-day official visit to the country on the invitation of the Malaysian prime minister.

The premier was received by Malaysia's

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu and senior officials of the Malaysian government upon his arrival at Bunga Raya Complex, Kuala Lumpur International Airport. High Commissioner of Pakistan in Malaysia Amna Baloch and officers of the high commission were also present.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Asad Umar, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood accompanied the prime minister.

Speaking at a press conference after talks between both prime ministers, Malaysian PM Mahathir had said, "We agree on the need for regular discussions to strengthen trade relations by removing barriers in key areas and addressing the bilateral goods imbalance."

Hong Kong airline Cathay asks 27,000 staff to take unpaid leave HONG KONG AGENCIES

Hong Kong's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific is asking its 27,000 employees to take up to three weeks of unpaid leave, CEO Augustus Tang said on Wednesday, as the airline faces a crisis in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak. "I am hoping all of you will participate, from our frontline employees to our senior leaders, and share in our current challenges," Tang said in a video message posted online.

The request lays bare desperate times at Cathay, which was hammered last year by months of political chaos and protests in Hong Kong and has now been hurt further by the fallout from the virus outbreak. The coronavirus, which was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, spread over the Lunar New Year holiday, which would normally be one of the busiest times for regional airlines.

Instead dozens of international carriers have reduced or suspended flights to China in a bid to halt the pathogen's spread and as passenger numbers fall off a cliff.

'PRESERVING OUR CASH': In his video message to employees, Tang warned Cathay was experiencing "one of the most difficult Chinese New Year holidays we have ever had" because of the virus. "And we don't know how long it will last," he added. "With such an uncertain outlook, preserving our cash is now the key to protecting our business." He announced a series of measures to tackle the crisis, including asking staff to voluntarily take unpaid leave. "I realise this is difficult to hear. And we may need to take further steps ahead. But by supporting the special leave scheme, you will be helping at our time of need," he told staff. He also asked suppliers to reduce their prices and said the airline would make short-term adjustments to its capacity, including an already announced move to reduce flights to the Chinese mainland by 90pc.

ISLAMABAD: A vendor sells seasonal fruit (Kinnow) on his pushcart. ONlINE

dubai airport reports first dip in passenger numbers in 20 years DUBAI AGENCIES

The number of travellers passing through Dubai International Airport dipped last year for the first time in 20 years but the airport remained the world's busiest for international passengers, authorities said on Wednesday.

Traffic at the major transit hub dropped 3.1pc to 86.4 million passengers, down from 89.15 million passengers in 2018, Dubai Airports said.

It is the first fall in the number of passengers at Dubai International since at least 2000, according to figures from Dubai Statistics Centre, a government agency.

The airport retained its position as the top global airport serving international passengers, beating second-placed Heathrow Airport by six million passengers, the statement said. It attributed the decline in passenger numbers to a "series of challenges" including the 45-day closure of the airport's south runway to enable its refurbishment, global market conditions, as well as the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. "While customer numbers in 2019 were lower than the preceding year, the impact of the 45-day closure of the runway, the bankruptcy of Jet Airways, as well as the grounding of the Boeing's 737 MAX accounted for an estimated

3.2 million passengers over the course of the year," Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said.

Low-cost carrier Flydubai has been one of the biggest customers of the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded since March last year following two crashes that killed 346 people and opened the doors to intense scrutiny of the US manufacturer's safety practices.

India accounted for the largest number of passengers using Dubai airport, with 11.9 million.

Saudi Arabia provided the second largest, with 6.3 million, narrowly ahead of Britain's 6.2 million.

The number of flights handled by the airport also dropped last year, falling by 8.6pc to 373,261,

Dubai Airports said.

The volume of cargo handled fell by 4.8pc to 2.5 million tonnes.

Passenger arrivals in Dubai reached a record 16.73 million passengers last year, up 5.1pc on 2018 but far short of the 20 million the authorities hope to welcome this year.

For the past few years, the glitzy city state has been battling an economic slowdown led by its key real estate and tourism sectors.

Growth slowed to 1.94pc in 2018, before rebounding slightly to 2.1pc last year, according to government figures.

Dubai is pinning great hopes on the global trade fair Expo 2020 -which opens later this year for six months -- to lift the slowing economy.

‘us to review new curbs on Huawei, China in Feb meeting’ WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The Trump administration plans to meet this month to discuss further curbing technology exports to China and its flagship telecoms company Huawei, two sources said, in a bid to resolve differences within the government over the possible crackdown.

The gathering, currently scheduled for Feb 28, will bring together high level officials for talks after the US Commerce Department withdrew a rule aimed at further reducing foreign shipments to Huawei Technologies amid pushback from the Defense Department, one of the people said.

The meeting, which is expected to include cabinet-level officials including Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo, is aimed at addressing how best to approach the blacklisted Chinese company and the broader war with China over technological dominance.

Some US policymakers favor close trade ties with Beijing while others see China and Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms equipment maker, as serious threats to national security.

“The administration has to decide how to match its rhetoric on China with policies to deny China key technology and industry,” said Tim Morrison, a for-

mer senior director at the White House’s National Security Council under President Donald Trump, who favors tougher rules.

“Too many tools have not been brought to the President because the entire administration isn’t yet in the fight.

That must end,” he added.

US companies have argued the measures that have been floated would harm US business by driving customers to foreign competitors, while doing little to thwart Huawei.

The agencies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Commerce Department in May placed Huawei on a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns. That allowed

the US government to restrict sales of American-made goods to the company and a small number of items made abroad that contain US technology.

Under current regulations, key foreign supply chains remain beyond the reach of US authorities, which fueled frustration among China hawks and prompted a push to expand US authority to block more shipments to Huawei.

But a draft rule by the Commerce Department to expand its authority to block more shipments to Huawei - first reported

by Reuters in November - was stymied by opposition from the Pentagon last month over concerns about harm to US interests.

The Treasury Department also pushed back against the measure, sources said.

In an unusual move, Commerce withdrew the rule from the inter-agency review process, pending a meeting of principals to resolve differences.

The gathering comes amid a deepening tech war between the United States and China. The Trump administration is trying to keep sensitive technologies that could be used to harm American interests beyond the reach of Beijing, by cracking down on exports and limiting Chinese investment in key US sectors.

Reuters reported in December that the Commerce Department was finalizing rules to limit tech exports to adversaries while the Treasury Department has issued new rules to beef up scrutiny of foreign investment in the United States.

Zindagi Tamasha goes through another twist of fate

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

Hopscotch and Scaryammi collaborated to arrange a large scale art exhibition amongst children. More than 550 children submitted their art works on the theme of "Smog and Me"! The chosen 100 art works were displayed at the Children's Library Complex!

By Rohama Riaz Since the launch of its trailer, Zindagi Tamasha has been targetted with a lot of criticism and different fatwas have popped out in order to stop the movie from officially getting released in Pakistan.

All three Censor Boards revoked the film’s censor certificate and asked for a 3rd review and further consultation with the Council of Islamic Ideology. The review was scheduled for 3rd February as per the notice but Pakistan’s government has postponed its decision on whether to lift a ban on a movie that had offended hard-line Islamists in this Muslim-majority country.

The film revolves around the story of a conservative, religious Muslim businessman, Mohammad Rahat Khawaj, whose life takes a twist after a video of him watching a woman dance at a wedding gets viral on social media. His family is ashamed of him and he faces taunts from radical Islamists wherever he goes. The Islamists have raised the allegations of blasphemy on the plot and dialogues of the film.

“I did not make (the movie) to hurt, offend or malign anyone,” Khosat tweeted, adding that, “as an artist, the last thing I’d ever want to achieve through my artistic expression is anarchy or hatred. No! That’s not what an artist does. Or at least I don’t.”

“There is nothing offensive or malicious in the film,” he said in the letter to the president. “The space for rational and artistic thinking and expression must not be annexed by a few troublemakers for their political end but I fear this is what will happen if we buckle under this time.”

There is complete silence and a delay from the Council of Islamic Ideology and the Censor Boards. A similar situation of delay has also been witnessed in the case of “Maula Jutt” which let do a lot of financial damage to the producer Bilal Lashari.

A lot of celebrities have also come forward in support of the film. This is high time that we realized the importance of discussing such issues instead of putting a tag of blasphemy especially when there is already so much confusion and controversies pertaining to this subject in terms of law and order.

Sarmad Khoosat has also been receiving a lot of threats and hateful messages. We only wish that the concept of separation of power should be applied here and the decision regarding the release of the film should not be delayed any further keeping in mind that the balance of convenience lies in the favor of the producer.

Indiana Jones 5 Not A Reboot Confirms Kathleen Kennedy

Fantastic Four Rumored For 'Ant-Man' 3; John Krasinski and Emily Blunt Favorites

Emraan Hashmi’s son delivers inspiring speech on World Cancer Day

Indiana Jones 5 has been in the works for a while which sees LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirm its not a reboot.

While speaking recently with the BBC, Kennedy also said they are still working on the script. “We’re working away, getting the script where we want it to be and then we’ll be ready to go,” Kennedy said of the fifth Indiana Jones film.

Kennedy also confirmed Harrison Ford will be back.

“Harrison Ford will be involved… It’s not a reboot. It’s a continuation,” Kennedy said adding that the 77-year-old Ford "can’t wait" to get started on the movie.

Disney recently pushed back the release date on Indiana Jones 5 to July 9, 2021, as the flick was originally going to be released last Summer, but it has been reported the script is getting a rewrite from Jonathan Kasdan; Steven Spielberg is returning to direct. Rumors have offered that Chris Pratt may be involved which actually saw Harrison Ford address as Ford responded with a laugh when asked: "It's him or me." Spielberg has also said there is only one Indiana Jones and that it is Harrison Ford.

The Fantastic Four is rumored to make their MCU debut in Ant-Man 3 with it said John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are the favorites for the roles of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.

The rumor comes from Mikey Sutton who has been spewing rumors left and right as of late, including that Wolverine vs Hulk movie.

Regarding the MCU version of the Fantastic Four, it's claimed that the plans for the team are far different than any previous interpretations.

It's said that rather than a team of simply superheroes, the MCU Fantastic Four will be a family of explorers.

It's claimed the first solo Fantastic Four movie will feature the family traveling through strange lands, worlds, and dimensions and that Mole Man will be the villain.

According to the rumor, the FF origin will also be tweaked as they will get their powers while on a journey to the Negative Zone.

It's also said the Negative Zone in the MCU may or may not be a part of a pocket dimension within the Quantum Zone.

Emraan Hashmi’s son Ayaan Hashmi delivered a powerful speech on World Cancer Day at an event. Ayaan, a cancer survivor, was among the speakers at the Nargis Dutt Foundation event hosted by Priya Dutt and won the hearts of the audience with his words of wisdom.

Taking to the stage with confidence, Ayaan began his speech, “Yesterday was my birthday, surprisingly today is cancer day. I think it is a coincidence. So my first day I was doing this was at Tata Memorial Hospital event. That was pretty good too. But I think this one is going to be a little bit better because I am going to say something about cancer.”

Sharing details of his battle with cancer, he went on to say, “Cancer is horrible, it hurts you in every way, mentally and physically but after I survived cancer, my whole life has changed. I was strong, I was a fearless leader. For (fighting) cancer, you need to have a few qualities and that everyone over here has. You need to be strong. Everyone is strong over here.

Fearless and fighter.”

CMYK

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

14 SPORTS

Tokyo olyMpIc boSS 'ExTrEMEly worrIEd' aboUT dEadly vIrUS Tokyo

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Agencies

HE chief executive officer of the Tokyo Olympics admitted Wednesday that organisers are "extremely worried" about the possible effect of the deadly new coronavirus on this summer's Games. Toshiro Muto said he hoped the outbreak in China would be quickly contained to restore confidence in the run-up to the Olympics.

"We are extremely worried in the sense that the spread of the infectious virus could pour cold water on momentum for the Games," he said before a meeting with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

"I hope that it can be eradicated as quickly as possible. We plan to cooperate with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), the IPC, the government and the city of Tokyo to tackle the disease."

More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the pathogen, which has killed nearly 500 people and infected at

least 24,000 in mainland China.

Japan has had no reported deaths so far, but at least 10 people on a cruise ship carrying 3,711 passengers and crew quarantined off Yokohama have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Saburo Kawabuchi, the mayor of the Athletes' Village where an expected 11,000 sportsmen and women will stay, struck a sombre tone.

"I hope from my heart that we can

overcome this (virus) and have a smooth Olympics," said the former Japanese football chief.

"We will do our everything we can to protect the athletes to allow them to produce their best performances."

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike promised at the weekend to implement "thorough measures" to protect people from the coronavirus in the run-up to the Olympics.

Japan has warned citizens against non-essential travel to China and fasttracked new rules including limits on entering the country as it tries to contain the spread of the virulent new coronavirus.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed earlier this week that the country would work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure preparations for the Tokyo Olympics would not be disrupted.

He also revealed that Japan was developing rapid test kits for the virus.

"By coordinating our efforts with the WHO and other related agencies, we will take appropriate steps so that preparations to hold the events will steadily continue," Abe told a parliamentary session.

The Japanese government has chartered three flights to repatriate 565 Japanese nationals from Wuhan, the central Chinese city hardest hit by the virus.

The health scare has led to the cancellation of Olympic qualifying events in China such as boxing and badminton. The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 24 with the Paralympics starting on August 25.

French skate coach faces probe into claims of sexual abuse of minors Paris Agencies

Ighalo took pay cut to sign for 'dream club' Man Utd Manchester: Lifelong Manchester United fan Odion Ighalo said he had no hesitation in taking a pay cut to complete his dream deadline-day switch to Old Trafford, enduring a sleepless night as the deal was hammered out. United were already short in attack following the summer departures of Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku and a back injury sustained by Marcus Rashford, making a reinforcement during the January transfer window of crucial importance to the Old Trafford club. United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked at a variety of options and eventually completed a late loan deal for ex-Watford striker Ighalo, who has joined until the end of the season from Shanghai Shenhua "I'm very happy," the Nigeria forward told United's website. "First, I want say thank God for making this happen and it's just like a dream come true for me. "People that know me, even back in Nigeria, and even when I was playing at Watford, my teammates knew that I loved Man United, I support them. When I played against Man U, that emotion is there, because it is my dream. "It is a nice reality, so I'm very happy and I'm looking forward to start." Ighalo, 30, followed Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes into Old Trafford, with the forward calling his last-minute move "very dramatic", having been informed by his agent the day before of United's interest. "From 11:00 pm (2300 GMT) there was paperwork, negotiating and all that, for the loan deal and all that, so we are talking and other teams are calling them, wanting me," he said. "ButI told my agent that this is what I want. I want to come here. "He said 'you're going to get a pay cut to go to United'. I said I don't care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don't care how much is the pay cut, I know that, make it happen." Ighalo, who will be the first Nigerian to play for Manchester United, said there had been huge excitement among his family and friends. "It was crazy because, all over the news for the last few days, is about my deal to Man United," he said. "Even the street I grew up on, they are doing parties, celebrating Ighalo signing for United." Solskjaer's side are currently seventh in the Premier League table, with United a huge 38 points behind runaway leaders and arch-rivals Liverpool. Agencies

French prosecutors opened an investigation into claims of rape and sexual abuse of minors in figure skating on Tuesday as details emerged of allegations made 20 years ago against the coach at the heart of the case.

The probe, hailed as a "strong signal" by French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu and in which "the words of the victims must be heard", will focus on claims made by former world championship bronze medallist Sarah Abitbol.

In her autobiography published last week, Abitbol accused coach Gilles Beyer of raping her several times from 1990 to 1992 when she was between the ages of 15 and 17. "He (Beyer) started to do horrible things leading to sexual abuse and I was raped at 15," said Abitbol, now 44, in a video interview with L'Obs. The investigation will also "attempt to identify all the other victims who suffered... offences of the same nature", Paris-based prosecutor Remy Heitz said.

Abitbol's claims coincided with sports daily L'Equipe publishing an investigation in which three other skaters accused Beyer and two other coaches, Jean-Roland Racle and Michel Lotz, of abuse and rape when they were minors. Further allegations of underage sexual abuse emerged from former swimmers and tennis players.

On Friday, 62-year-old Beyer admitted to having had "intimate" and "inappropriate" relations with Abitbol, telling AFP he was "sincerely sorry".

"I acknowledge having had intimate relationships

with her," Beyer said in a statement.

"If my memories of the exact circumstances differ from hers, I am aware that, given my duties and her age at the time, these relationships were inappropriate." Racle has denied the accusations while Lotz has not commented. Sports Minister Maracineanu has called for the president of France's ice skating federation, Didier Gailhaguet, to resign, saying he "cannot absolve himself of his moral and personal responsibility".

But after a meeting at the federation's Paris headquarters on Tuesday, Gailhaguet said he would not make a decision on whether to step down until the investigation had concluded.

Eriksen says he was 'black sheep' at Spurs Milan Agencies

Christian Eriksen says his decision to run down his contract at Tottenham made him a "black sheep" at the Premier League club. The 27-year-old midfielder joined Inter Milan last month for a fee of around ÂŁ17 million ($22 million), ending his sixand-a-half year stay at Spurs. The Dane would have been out of contract at the end of this season and had been linked with a move away from London since revealing he was ready for a new challenge after Spurs' Champions League final defeat to Liverpool in June. That admission prompted some fans to turn on him. "I did get the blame for a lot of stuff, for being the bad guy," he told BBC Sport. "I read I was the bad person in the changing room, that ever since I said I wanted to leave, it was no good me being there." Eriksen said there was a sense of relief in starting a new chapter in Italy. "England, for the last few years, was very hectic," he added.

"After what I said in the summer, it was just about, 'When is he going to leave?'

"Every game it was, 'Is he leaving? Is he not leaving?' Of course a lot of people were speaking about it. "Even the fans you see on the street were like, 'Thank you, goodbye and good luck'. But I was still there. It was a bit weird. In my head and for my body, it is good that I am in a new place and I can start again." The Dane said speculation over his future did not affect him but that he felt he played about 30 matches that seemed like "goodbye games". "If you have a short contract, you will be black sheep. Of course, I did the interview. I was very honest. I felt I had to be honest." Eriksen confirmed there had been talks with Manchester United but said a move to Old Trafford was never likely. "It just came down to wanting to try a new challenge in a new country," he said. "Once Inter came up it really wasn't a difficult choice."

Premier League boss admits VAR needs to improve Paris Agencies

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters admits his organisation must try to improve VAR after a season marred by controversy surrounding the review technology.

A recent survey from opinion polling firm YouGov showed more than two-thirds of Premier League fans questioned believe VAR has made the game less enjoyable since it was introduced into the English top-flight.

Players, managers and fans have all complained about the way the system is used, with lengthy review delays and dubious eventual decisions causing widespread frustration.

Masters, who started his permanent role with the Premier League in December, told BBC Sport that VAR would stay in the game, but he hopes it can be improved. "I don't think VAR has been damaging but I accept it needs improvement," Masters said. "Scrapping it is not an option -- what we have to do is try and make VAR better."

VAR has been brought in to the Premier League to decide on goals,

penalties, red cards and offside decisions. Masters revealed to the BBC that the Premier League would discuss changes to VAR with the clubs in April.

"We are going to have a debate about what sort of VAR they would like next season and what improvements can be made to the system," he said.

"It's going to be a work in progress

CMYK

this season and next as we try to rebalance it so you get the positives of better decision-making and fewer of the perceived negatives about delay and sometimes confusion."

Meanwhile, in his first major media interviews, Masters said he does not believe homegrown player quotas will improve the fortunes of the Eng-

land team. The balance between homegrown and overseas players in a 25-man Premier League squad is back in the spotlight following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, which will affect the way clubs do their international transfer business once the transition period ends at the end of the year

Thursday, 6 February, 2020

SPORTS 15

Taylor TopS ShrEyaS IyEr aS NEw ZEalaNd go 1-0 Up HaMilTon

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Agencies

ATURALISED wicketkeepers. Naturalised No. 5s. Tom Latham and KL Rahul played lovely impactful innings - 69 off 48 and 88* off 64 - after walking in in the 29th over of their respective innings, but Latham had a more fluent No. 4 he was supporting as New Zealand chased down 348 to end an eight-match losing streak in international cricket. Under pressure for his inability to get New Zealand over the line in the T20Is, one of the elite ODI batsmen in the world, Ross Taylor, played a blinder, 109 not out off 84 balls.

In another similarity between the two innings, India's No. 4, Shreyas Iyer, too scored a maiden international hundred, but he was allowed to score at only a run a ball despite a late onslaught. Those middle overs when Iyer and Virat Kohli could add 102 in 20 overs might just have been the difference between the sides. You might want to criticise a pitch as too battingfriendly if it allows 348 to be chased down with consummate ease, but there was a bit in it for the bowlers. In the afternoon, there was just enough nip for Colin de Grandhomme and James Neesham to bowl 16 overs for just 93 runs and pick up one wicket. One of those was to a teasing de Grandhomme delivery that debutant Prithvi Shaw nibbled at. There might be a bit of that in the Tests too. The other debutant, Mayank Agarwal, cut fiercely, but straight to point to make it 54 for 2.

India were playing two debutant openers because both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were missing, and they wanted Rahul to take on the new role seriously. In his first audition at that station

New Zealand 348 for 6 (Taylor 109*, Nicholls 78, Latham 69, Yadav 2-84) beat India 347 for 4 (Iyer 103, Rahul 88*, Kohli 51, Southee 2-85) by four wickets

- a forced one because of an injury to Rishabh Pant - Rahul became the first India batsman since 2013 to score 50 or more from No. 5 or below at a strike rate of more than 150 when batting first. It might sound like a convoluted statistic, but India have been missing that mix of power and consistency for a long time.

Before Rahul, though, there were Virat Kohli and Iyer. New Zealand's stand-in captain, Latham, decided to delay the introduction of spin to utilise that period of slight nip even though data says you introduce legspin when Kohli is new at the crease. De Grandhomme and Neesham, though, kept India honest with Iyer in particular taking his time to get

used to the movement. He scored 15 off the first 29 balls he faced, which included two spilled half-chances. In the same time, Kohli had sauntered to 25 off 34.

By the time Latham went to legspin, Kohli had made his way to an effortless fifty. Iyer's runs at the other end were mainly through aerial hits for fours, which brought on cheers from Kohli but also carried risks. Be that as it may, both had momentum when Ish Sodhi was brought on. His fourth ball pitched on a length, on off, drawing a forward defensive from Kohli, who looked to open the face to perhaps look for a single with the spin. Except that this one spun the other way, just enough to hit his pad plumb in

front before carrying on to dislodge a bail for good measure.

At 156 for 3 in the 29th over, if New Zealand thought they had a chance of coming back into the match, it wasn't to be. Rahul had a sighter for 17 balls before unleashing with full force. Sodhi was chipped over long-off for a six before a googly next ball was smashed flat over long-on. Pretty soon, Tim Southee was getting the same dose of back-to-back sixes from Rahul. Iyer, still struggling for fluency, at 58 off 73, could use the opportunity to delay his slog. It came in due time, though, as he raced to a hundred off 101 balls. Along the way, de Grandhomme dropped him too.

Injured Farah out of London half marathon lonDon Agencies

British distance-running great Mo Farah has withdrawn from next month's Big Half race in London with an achilles injury, organisers announced on Wednesday. The four-time Olympic gold medallist, preparing for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, suffered the minor injury in training.

Farah, 36, has won the half-marathon event for the past two years and was due to take on a field featuring Ethiopia star Kenenisa Bekele on March 1.

"I was really looking forward to racing the Vitality Big Half again," said Farah in a statement issued by event organisers.

"Everyone knows how much I love racing in London, but my priority is to be fit, healthy and competitive for the summer season and for that reason I have had to make the tough decision not to race this year."

Farah will continue his Olympic preparations in Africa after changing his mind about running the marathon in Tokyo to return to the track, having won double gold over 5,000 metres and 10,000m at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.

He won the 2018 Chicago marathon in a European record time but could only manage a fifth-place finish at last year's London Marathon.

Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder, is the favourite to win marathon gold in Tokyo. Farah is set to defend his 10,000m title in Japan instead.

PSB marks Kashmir Solidarity Day islaMaBaD APP

Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr. Fehmida Mirza on Wednesday expressed unflinching and unwavering support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for right of self-determination.

Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) arranged female hockey and male football matches here at the Pakistan Sports Complex to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day. The minister who was chief guest at the occasion, condemned the illegal action of India in the Indian Occupied Kashmir including detention of youth, political leaders and communication blockade.

She also condemned the horrifying violence against women and deplored the continuing restriction on the freedom of expression in the occupied valley, describing it as grass violation of fundamental rights. Dr Fehmida Mirza called upon the UN Security Council to enforce a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with its resolution.

PSB Director General Amna Imran Khan also thanked the minister for

sparing her valuable time for the noble cause of Kashmiris. She also appreciated the sportsmen spirit of the players and participants who made human hand chain to express solidarity with the Kashmiri brethren.

The hockey match was played at fast pace, and Kashmir Eleven beat PSB Eleven by 2-1. Miss Haya and Sidra scored one goal each for Kashmir Eleven while Miss Beenish scored the

lone goal for PSB Eleven. She also declared best player of match for her good performance. The match was supervised by Wajid and Azeem.

In the Football match, PSB XI outclassed Kashmir XI by 2-1. The goals were scored by Ali Ahmed and Hussan-e-Alam for PSB XI. Afaq scored one goal for Kashmir XI. Tauqeer was the Referee and Ali Nawaz and Shamoon were the Assistant Referees.

The minister also distributed certificates and trophies to the participants. Arshad Mehmood, Senior Hockey Coach, Muhammad Asadullah, Senior Football Coach, Ex-Pakistan Football Captain, Agha Amjadullah, Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Azam Dar, Deputy DGs, Muhammad Saeed Akhtar, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Waheed Khan, Shazia Ejaz, PSB employees and others were also present on the occasion.

Missing all three of their first-choice ODI quicks, New Zealand were now under the pump in the death overs. Rahul and Kedar Jadhav had all the fun at the end, but Hamish Bennett's last three overs - six in the 45th, eight in the 47th and seven in the 50th - kept India to 347.

Cruel irony that it might be, teams set up to break such chases down to a 30over innings and a T20 in the end. They want wickets in hand, and anything under 200 is chaseable these days. Naturalised opener Henry Nicholls played his part in keeping New Zealand in the chase by the time the final 20 began. He scored a busy 78 off 82, hitting 11 fours, stitching together a partnership of 85 with Martin Guptill and then 62 with Taylor.

Both these stands came at nearly a run a ball, which meant India were desperate for wickets around the 30-over mark. Kohli saw Mohammed Shami bowl a slower offcutter that found purchase. He also saw some swing. India went double barrel, and brought Jasprit Bumrah on.

The runs slowed down, and Nicholls went for an opportunistic one only to be superbly run out by Kohli.

Bumrah troubled the new man Latham with the offcutter. He scored just three off the first 12 balls he faced. With 170 required off the last 19 overs and that much grip in the pitch, things looked difficult for New Zealand. Then Latham began to sweep Kuldeep Yadav. Taylor slogged Shardul Thakur. More sweeps.

More slogs. Everything nailed. Not content with having slogged Bumrah for a six, Taylor then went on to damage Ravindra Jadeja's figures with a slogged six and four in the 37th over. Sixty-two runs in six overs later, the required run rate was down to 6.75. As a result, India were forced to bring Bumrah back sooner than they usually do, and even he was punched away for four past point by Latham. In the 40th over, Taylor went after Thakur with a vengeance, taking 22 runs and leaving themselves 56 to get.

Latham fell soon, triggering a mini collapse - and giving fans a reminder of the events of the T20I series - but Taylor and Mitchell Santner made sure there were no further hiccups. Perhaps it helped there was no option of a Super Over.

darren lehmann to have bypass surgery after chest pains WeLLInGtOn: Darren Lehmann will undergo bypass surgery on Saturday after being taken ill on the Gold Coast on his 50th birthday. Lehmann, who was there to watch his son Jake play for the Cricket Australia XI against England Lions, suffered chest pains on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday evening he was resting in hospital ahead of his surgery in three days in Brisbane. "I would like to thank everyone in the Australian cricket family for their concern," Lehmann said in a statement put out by Cricket Australia. "I am receiving the best of medical care and am confident I'll be back on my feet soon."

Lehmann is currently coach of the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash and is due to coach the Northern Supercharges in the new Hundred competition during the English season. Agencies

bangladesh team arrives in rawalpindi for Test match IsLaMaBaD: The Bangladesh team landed here at the Islamabad International Airport on Wednesday to play the first ICC World Test Championship fixture against the hosts. Both the teams will play first test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from February 7 to 11. The teams would conduct practice sessions at the Pindi stadium on Thursday. Around mid-day, both skippers Azhar Ali and Mominul Haque, wwill hold pre-series press conferences. The toss will take place at 9:30am on Friday, while the first ball will be bowled at 10.00 am. After the end of each day’s play, squad members from both sides will hold press conferences. This is the second phase of Bangladesh’s three phase visit to Pakistan.

They played Twenty20 series last month which was won by the hosts. APP

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Thursday, 6 February, 2020

NEWS

MoRe ChIneSe CItIeS Shut down AS CoRonAvIRuS deAth toll neARS 500 WUHAN CITY

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AGENCIES

illions more people have been ordered to stay indoors as China battles to curb the spread of a new coronavirus that authorities said on Wednesday has already killed nearly 500 people.

With more than 24,000 cases in China, a growing number of cities have been imposing a range of restrictions in recent days far from central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, as authorities struggle to contain the virus. Global concerns have risen as more countries found cases that were not imported from China and 10 people tested positive for the virus on a ship — carrying 3,711 people — quarantined off the coast of Japan.

Japanese authorities on Wednesday began testing those on board after a former passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong was diagnosed with the illness. Some 56 million people in Hubei have been under virtual lockdown since last week, with its capital Wuhan at the heart of the health emergency.

In Hangzhou, some 175 kilometres southwest of Shanghai, green fences blocked streets near the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibaba as a fighter jet circled overhead.

Alibaba, one of the world’s most valuable companies, appeared shut down, while deliverymen moved in and out of the nearby fenced-in residential areas to drop off groceries. Many people were also seen going out. The firm is inside one of three districts where some three million people were told this week that only one person per household would be allowed outside every two days to buy necessities.

“Please don’t go out, don’t go out,

don’t go out!” blared a message on a loudspeaker urging people to wear masks, wash their hands regularly and report any people who are from Hubei — a common fear in other parts of the country that people from the province might infect others.

At least three other cities in eastern Zhejiang province — Taizhou, Wenzhou and parts of Ningbo — have imposed the same measures, affecting some 18 million people.

Similar policies were encouraged by authorities in two cities as far as China’s northeasternmost province, Heilongjiang, and a handful of others along the east coast.

In Henan province, which borders Hubei, a district in the city of Zhumadian decided that only one person could leave each household every five days. Residents there have been offered cash rewards for informing on people from Hubei.

GLOBAL JITTERS: The disease is believed to have emerged in December in a Wuhan market that sold wild animals, and spread rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday

Boeing 737 skids off runway in Istanbul, breaks into three

in January.

The death toll has steadily increased, rising to 490 in China after Hubei reported 65 more people had died. Most deaths have been in the province and officials have noted that the death rate, at around two percent, is below the mortality rate of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The new coronavirus is from the

Five Pakistani students have coronavirus, confirms Chinese envoy China has shifted five Pakistani students to a hospital after they were diagnosed with coronavirus, said Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing on Wednesday. “There are not four… five have been confirmed,” the Chinese ambassador told Independent Urdu. The sick students were studying in Guangzhou. “But before this illness, they visited Wuhan, the birth of coronavirus, where they contracted the disease,” Ambassador Jing said. The Chinese ambassador said that the Pakistani students were immediately isolated and shifted to a hospital after they showed symptoms of coronavirus. “The information I got yesterday is that their situation is improved… their health is progressing,” he said. “So don’t worry there won’t be any kind of bigger problem for them.” Ambassador Jing said that the Chinese government is trying to control the spread of the virus outside China. NEWS DESK

Draft UN resolution condemns Israeli annexation in Trump peace plan WASHINGTON AGENCIES

ISTANBUL AGENCIES

A plane carrying 177 people skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport, caught fire and split into three after landing in rough weather on Wednesday. Officials said that no one had lost their lives in the accident, but dozens of people were injured. Live images broadcast on Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear of the aircraft. The Boeing 737 operated by low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines had flown into Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from the Aegean port city of Izmir, NTV broadcaster reported. The plane was apparently buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain lashing Turkey’s largest city. Fiftytwo people were injured and taken to hospital, Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on Twitter, but there were no deaths. “Efforts to evacuate those affected continue,” he added.

Turkish media said the two pilots, a Turkish national and a South Korean, were seriously hurt. Private television station NTV showed images of the badly damaged plane and flames inside, which were later put out by firefighters. The plane had 171 passengers on and six crew members, the governor said.

same family of pathogens as the one that causes Sars, which killed some 800 people in 2002-2003.

The epidemic has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions, and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.

United and American Airlines said Wednesday they have added Hong Kong to their China flight suspensions.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday advised Britons to leave China “if they can”, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY: But the WHO said on Tuesday that dramatic measures taken by China offered a chance to halt transmission. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the great majority of cases are in China. “That doesn’t mean that it won’t get worse. But for sure we have a window of opportunity to act,” he said. Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand all reported new infections not imported from China on Tuesday.

A draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday condemned an Israeli plan to annex its settlements in the West Bank in a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel peace proposal.

The draft text, circulated to council members by Tunisia and Indonesia, would seemingly face a US veto, but nonetheless offered some members a dim view of the peace plan that Trump rolled out last week with great fanfare.

Diplomats said negotiations on the text would likely begin later this week. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to speak to the council next week about the plan, possibly coinciding with a vote on the draft resolution.

The resolution stresses the illegality of the annexation of any part of occupied Palestinian territories and condemns recent statements calling for annexation by Israel of these territories, according to the

draft seen by Reuters.

Trump’s plan, the product of three years effort by senior adviser Jared Kushner, would recognise Israel’s authority over the settlements and would require the Palestinians to meet a highly difficult series of conditions to be allowed to have a state, with its capital in a West Bank village east of Jerusalem.

Kushner is due to brief Security Council ambassadors on the plan on Thursday.

While the Palestinians have rejected the plan, a number of Arab governments have said it represents a starting point for a renewal of long-stalled negotiations.

The resolution stresses the need for an acceleration of international and regional efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process without exception.

A US veto at the council level would allow the Palestinians to take the draft text to the 193-member UN General Assembly, where a vote would publicly show how Trump’s peace plan has been received internationally.

Amid resource crunch, India aims to double defence exports in 5 years NEW DELHI AGENCIES

India wants to double defence exports over the next five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, as the country seeks to cut its import bill amid a funding crunch that has forced successive governments to go slow on new orders. “For several years India has been a net importer of defence products. We have taken measures to change it since 2014,” Modi said in the northern city of Lucknow, addressing the inaugural ceremony of India’s 11th defence expo. “Our aim is to increase exports of defence products to five billion dollars in five years,” Modi said, adding that India exports about 170 billion Indian rupees ($2.4 billion) of defence products. India’s defence export ambitions are soaring as Asia’s third-largest economy suffers its worst slowdown in decades with the country’s economic growth dropping to 4.5 per cent in July-September quarter – its lowest quarterly growth in six years.

Between 2013 and 2017, India was the world’s top arms importer, accounting for 12pc of total imports globally, with Russia, Israel and the United States among the top suppliers. According to government data, India’s major defence export customers include Italy, Sri Lanka, Russia and France. The exports, primarily made by government ordinance factories and private firms such as L&T, Bharat Forge and Tata group, include offshore patrol vessels, helicopters, coastal surveillance systems and spares for radar.

Russian S-400 missile delivery to India to begin by end-2021 MOSCOW AGENCIES

Russia will begin delivering S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India by the end of 2021, agency RIA Novosti on Wednesday quoted a Russian official as saying. India signed a $5 billion deal for S-400 missiles in 2018, drawing warnings from the United States that such an acquisition would trigger sanctions as part of a wider program against Russia. “The contract is being implemented on schedule. The first shipment is due by the end of 2021,” Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), Vladimir Drozhzhov, said at Defence Expo 2020 in Lucknow, India, according to RIA. In November, the same agency cited the general director of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, as saying deliveries would start in September 2021.

Trump uses State of Union address to campaign, says 'I keep my promises' WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Standing before a Congress and nation sharply divided by impeachment, US President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address on Tuesday to extol a “Great American Comeback” on his watch, just three years after he took office decrying a land of “American carnage” under his predecessor.

The partisan discord was on vivid display as the first president to campaign for reelection while facing impeachment made his case for another term: Republican legislators chanted “Four More Years” while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up her copy of Trump’s speech as he ended his address.

Facing a Democratic party stumbling from divisions and a chaotic start to the primaries, Trump strode confidently to the podium in the House of Representatives, where just last December he was impeached for abuse of office. And he laid down an immediate marker that he was in campaign mode — with little intention of placating opponents — when he broke with custom by not shaking hands with the Democratic speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

And he laid down an immediate marker that he was in campaign mode — with little intention of placating opponents — when he broke with custom by not shaking hands with the Democratic speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

WASHINGTON: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rips up President Donald Trump’s speech at conclusion of State of the Union. AGENCIES

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

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