CMYK
9 February, 2020 I 14 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 27.00 I Vol X No 221 I 88 Pages I Islamabad Edition
PM IMran Moves to curb food InflatIon g
directs economic team to Bring prices of flour, Wheat, rice, pulses and sugar Within reach of the poor
ISLAMABAD
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staff report
rime minister imran Khan on saturday directed his economic team to reduce the prices of essential commodities, including flour, wheat, rice, pulses and sugar, saying a leader had no right to govern if he cannot feel the plight of poor sections of society. chairing a high-level meeting on food inflation, pm imran said that he will provide relief to the poor people by any means necessary. “Basic commodities must be made accessible to the common man,” he said, adding that the government will provide ration to those families who can’t afford to buy food. imran directed his adviser on finance, hafeez shaikh, to ensure relief for the poor. he said that the previous government was responsible for the record inflation being faced by the masses and the situation had been further worsened by profiteers and hoarders.
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Blames previous govt, profiteers and hoarders for record inflation
the inflation rate was clocked in at 14.6 per cent in January from 12.6pc of the previous month, scaling the highest level in 12 years, the pakistan Bureau of statistics (pBs) reported. inflation, measured by the consumer price index (cpi), edged up 1.97pc over the previous month. last time, the highest inflation in the country was recorded at 17pc in the year 2007-08. the data released shows that higher food prices, particularly of wheat and flour, pulses, sugar, gurr and edible oil, were the largest driver of overall inflation in January. it was also observed that the prices of essential food items, especially vegetable and fruits, are higher in rural areas than in urban areas. in rural areas, the prices of lpg cylinders used for cooking purpose have also witnessed highest ever increase since 2013. the pass-through of exchange rate depreciation and higher international commodity prices, in addition to strong underlying demand pressures, started to reflect in higher year-on-year inflation from July 2019.
food inflation in urban areas rose by 19.5pc in January on a yearly basis and 2.7pc on a monthly basis whereas it increased by 23.8pc and 3.4pc, respectively, in rural areas. it clearly shows that food inflation is very high in rural areas where most of the population lives, which is an unprecedented phenomenon. in urban areas, the food items which saw an increase in their prices during January include: pulse moong 19.74pc, pulse gram 18.2pc, chicken 17.53pc, eggs 14.28pc, wheat 12.63pc, besan 12.09pc, fresh vegetables 11.7pc, pulse mash 10.29pc, gur 9.49pc, beans 8.09pc, wheat flour 7.42pc, pulse masoor 7.33pc, condiments and spices 7.15pc, gram whole 6.68pc, sugar 5.07pc, fresh fruits 3.93pc, mustard oil 2.87pc, wheat products 2.64pc, vegetable ghee 2.18pc, rice 1.2pc, fish 1.19pc and dry fruits 1.09pc. on the flipside, items whose prices declined in urban areas include: onion 18.37pc, tomato 8.36pc and potato 3.69pc. in rural areas the food items which saw a price hike include: pulse moong 18.7pc, chicken 17.3pc, fresh vegetables 15.39pc, pulse gram 14.21pc, eggs 12.89pc, gur 12.84pc, besan 9.97pc, wheat 9.07pc, pulse masoor 6.77pc, vegetable ghee 6.55pc, cooking oil 6.48pc, pulse mash 6.31pc, wheat flour 6.16pc, mustard oil 5.13pc, condiments and spices 4.85pc, beans 4.54pc, sugar 4.36pc, gram whole 4.22pc, dry fruits 3.54pc, butter 2.49pc, potato 1.96pc, meat 1.82pc, rice 1.77pc, wheat products 1.67pc and milk powder 1.4pc .
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
Weekly inflation up 0.21pc
File photo
Parents of APS martyrs move PHC over Taliban leader’s escape STORY ON BACK PAGE
lal masjid cleric challenges govt’s writ, again STORY ON PAGE 02
Technical negotiations between Pakistan and IMF conclude STORY ON PAGE 11
trade deficit shrinks 28.4pc in seven months
STORY ON PAGE 11
more stories
No cricket until Kashmir issue is fixed, Firdous tells India
FED not applicable on internet services, SC rules
STORY ON PAGE 02
court defers verdict in terror financing cases against hafiz saeed STORY ON PAGE 02
Dar says govt committed contempt by converting his house into Panagah STORY ON PAGE 03
pti’s interior sindh leaders getting wary of party’s top command STORY ON PAGE 03
CMYK
STORY ON PAGE 12
STORY ON PAGE 03
in today’s issue
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Sunday, 9 February, 2020
02 NEWS
LaL Masjid cLeric chaLLenges govt’s writ, again ISLAMABAD
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Staff RepoRt
HE standoff between the Islamabad administration and infamous Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz continues, with the latter being holed in the mosque for the past two weeks, claiming to be the rightful prayer leader despite a ban on his entry in the premises. The capital administration had issued a notification of his removal last year, but it failed to appoint a new prayer leader, which paved way for the cleric to enter the mosque when the administration was busy dealing with other issues. As both sides refuse to relent, the Islamabad police have surrounded the mosque and are fully
prepared to deal with any untoward situation. The police also barred unidentified people from entering the mosque, with an exception made on Friday. “Aziz wants a plot for the construction of Jamia Hafsa,” a source said, adding that the Supreme Court had cancelled a 20-kanal plot that was allotted to him for the seminary in Sector H-11 in 2012. According to a local media outlet that quoted a source in capital administration, the government cannot fulfill the demands, as cleric Aziz “wants to become the khateeb of the mosque again. He also wants Rs250 million along with a large piece of land to establish Jamia Hafsa and the possession of the adjacent old children’s library plot”. Hafiz Ehtesham, an old confidant of
Maulana Aziz, said that the cleric entered the mosque two weeks ago despite warnings that his presence would make things difficult. Further, Ehtesham said that Haroon Rasheed, Maulana Abdul Rashid’s nephew and son of slain Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, has threatened him after he warned them of the consequences. “Haroon Rasheed wants a clash,” he said. Subsequently, a case was registered on the request of Ehtesham, who also claims to be the spokesperson of the Lal Masjid Shuhdha Foundation, against Rasheed for criminal intimidation. He said Rasheed along with other armed persons had occupied the house of Lal Masjid’s naib khateeb for the last couple of days. The complainant said he had gone to the mosque to offer Asr prayers and met Maulana Abdul Aziz
on Jan 30. Maulana Aziz remained khateeb of Lal Masjid from 1998 to 2004. He was arrested during the Lal Masjid operation in 2007. Later, Maulana Abdul Ghaffar was appointed as the khateeb and Amir Siddiqui the naib khateeb on a temporary basis. In 2009, Maulana Ghaffar left the mosque after the release of Maulana Aziz and the latter started leading prayers in Lal Masjid till 2014 when a ban was imposed on him. Amir Siddiqui then led prayers and three months ago was appointed the mosque’s khateeb. An official of the capital administration acknowledged that there was no khateeb or naib khateeb at Lal Masjid after Amir Siddique was transferred two months ago.
no cricket until Kashmir issue is fixed, Firdous tells india
Man killed, woman injured in LoC firing
RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday stated that Pakistan will not host India for cricket until the Kashmir issue is resolved. Speaking to media persons at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, she said, “India has created many barriers in our path and promoted false propaganda on all forums to stop international cricket in Pakistan.” “Until India frees the people of occupied Kashmir, any matches between the countries will only pour salt on the wounds of the Kashmiris,” she said. “To ensure peace in the world and in the region, India needs to remove the curfew imposed in the valley and give the Kashmiris their rights. “Once our point of difference [on the Kashmir issue] is settled, who wouldn’t want there to be cultural exchanges between the two countries? But this will not be possible if Indian atrocities in the occupied valley continue,” she maintained. Staff RepoRt
A man was martyred and a woman sustained injuries as a result of shelling and firing by Indian troops on the civilian population in Chirikot Sector along the Line of Control (LoC) on Saturday, said the media wing of the Pakistan Army. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Indian troops “targeted the civilian population with artillery and mortar fire. An innocent citizen Mir Muhammad embraced martyrdom while a woman got injured in village Kakuta”. The injured person was evacuated to a nearby medical facility for necessary medical care while the Pakistan Army responded effectively, targeting Indian post which initiated fire. Last week, a senior diplomat from the High Commission of India was summoned to the Foreign Office
RAWALPINDI Staff RepoRt
to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in serious injuries to four innocent civilians, including two women and
a child. The incidence of ceasefire violations along the LoC has seen a surge in recent months with tensions continue to soar between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
court defers verdict in terror financing cases against hafiz saeed LAHORE: A Lahore anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday deferred its verdict against alleged mastermind of Mumbai Attacks Hafiz Saeed in two terror financing cases on his “request” and adjourned the hearing till Tuesday. ATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta last week reserved the verdict against the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief in the two terror financing cases. “The ATC judge on Saturday took up the application of Hafiz Saeed requesting the court to club all terror financing cases against him and announce the verdict after the trial is completed,” a court official said after the hearing. The official said the deputy prosecutor opposed Saeed’s plea, arguing that the trial in the two cases against him has already been completed and the court may announce the verdict under the law. The ATC, however, adjourned the hearing till February 11, issuing notices to both prosecution and defence lawyers for arguments on Saeed’s plea. He was produced before the ATC in high security. The prosecution had produced some 20 witnesses in the ATC to testify against Saeed and his close aides for their involvement in terror financing. The ATC indicted Saeed and others on December 11 in terror financing cases in day to day hearing. He has already recorded his statement before the court in two terror financing cases against him in which he pleaded “not guilty”. The cases of terror financing have been filed against him in Lahore and Gujranwala on the application of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police. The Saeedled JuD is a front organisation for the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, allegedly responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The US, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force in October decided to keep Pakistan on its “grey” list for failure to curb funnelling of funds to terror groups LeT, Jash-e-Mohammed and others.
two more polio cases surface in sindh KARACHI: The Sindh Emergency Operations Centre for Polio has confirmed two more polio cases in Sindh that took the tally to five in the province and 12 in Pakistan for this year. The two cases were reported in the Badin and Kambar districts. A 36-month-old girl from Badin was affected by polio with weakness in upper left and lower left limb, the EOC said in a statement. In Kambar, a 42-month-old girl tested positive for polio after she developed weakness in her right lower limb. The date of onset in both the cases was January 1, 2020. Authorities are striving to get polio eradication on track and reverse this trend, according to the statement. The EOC urged parents to ensure immunisation of their children both in routine as well as special campaigns during next few months. It said it was clear that the gap in campaigns last year had left a large vacuum. The EOC would regularly hold campaigns and was working round the clock to address this gap, it added. Staff RepoRt
CMYK
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
NEWS
Pti's interior sindh Leaders getting wary oF Party's toP coMMand ISLAMABAD
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Mian abRaR
HILE the allied parties of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are fuming for being ignored, the party’s leaders from interior Sindh are also getting disenchanted and may consider jumping the ship, Pakistan Today has learnt. Party sources say that former federal minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi and his younger brother Sadaqat Ali Jatoi are being contacted by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders to join the ruling Sindh party. However, the Jatois are not ready to jump the ship. Jatoi siblings are known to be political heavyweights of Sindh and command support and political strength in and around Dadu district, once a PPP heartland. Liaquat Jatoi has also served as the chief minister of Sindh. A source close to the Jatois told Pakistan Today that Liaquat Jatoi was being contacted by some provincial ministers with an attractive package, but he was reluctant to accept the offer. The
source said that the PTI leader was unhappy with the party leadership for being ignored. “But still Liauqat is reluctant to accept an offer by the PPP due to a long history of animosity between the two sides. Jatoi has been implicated by the PPP government in many [allegedly fake] cases. Sindh government has offered to provide relief to Jatois and ice is thawing,” the source said. However, Sadaqat Jatoi has refuted the claim, saying that they were baseless. “Yes, we are unhappy and rather disappointed with Prime Minister Imran Khan and the PTI leadership for ignoring the party in Interior Sindh. Yes, we are unhappy with party’s local leadership, but joining the PPP is not an option,” he said. Asked why the party in interior Sindh was unhappy with the federal government, Jatoi said that the PTI has abandoned the interior Sindh by limiting itself to Sohrab Goth. “Sindh has been left at the mercy of Governor Imran Ismail and his political adviser Ali Junejo. Both have no time or commitment to address the issues of
PM imran moves to curb food inflation CoNtINuteD fRoM PAge 01 With the arrival of crops, especially vegetables, in Punjab, it is predicted that the prices of tomato, onion and potato and other vegetables will come down in February and March. Similarly, non-food inflation in urban centres was recorded at 10.2pc year-on-year, while it was 10.5pc in rural areas. The rise in non-food inflation is mainly driven by an increase in oil prices over the past few months and a combined impact of depreciation of the exchange rate. The government passed on this increase to domestic consumers. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that the country’s inflation may rise as high as 13pc, but the government estimates that it will remain within the range of 11-13pc for the current fiscal year.The Asian Development Bank in its outlook projected annual inflation in Pakistan at 12pc.The urban CPI covers 35 cities and 356 consumer items, while the rural CPI tracks 27 rural centres and 244 items. The former grew by 13.4pc year-on-year in January, whereas the latter jumped by 16.3pc.
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THE results of the Gymkhana elections in Lahore were shocking indeed for the losing side, who had a senior former bureaucrat heading the panel. Many from the panel lost in what was turning out to be quite a colourful election, with the booze flowing and fancy dinners roaring. Apparently, whatever passes for as ‘development work’ in club politics didn’t work and led to the rout out. * * * * * * * * * THE League seems to be banking on the government being on its way out in some months’ time. There is an assured ease with the way His Khadimness struts about with his hat in London. But there doesn’t seem to be much happening to that effect. The PM is still at it, regurgitating the corruption mantra. Insiders say he’d throw them all back in if he could. Perhaps it would do the League good to be a little more proactive. Relying on the powers that be is silly, specially since they don’t care for the League all too much.
party voters in Sindh,” he said. Asked to explain, Jatoi said that the PTI had been polled 2.8 million votes in Sindh but Prime Minister Imran Khan had no time for interior Sindh. “It’s a pity that voters in interior Sindh had voted for the PTI in huge numbers but nobody even is ready to meet party leaders after elections. PTI had even polled 290,600 votes in Dadu district. Liaquat Jatoi got around 90,000 votes while I got over 48,000 votes. I lost elections by merely 400 votes. My writ petition is pending over rigging by PPP candidate for the past 15 months but not a single hearing has been held as of now,” he added. Jatoi said that neither the Sindh government is delivering goods for the people of interior Sindh nor the federal government is ready to listen to the public woes. “There are no development funds, no public hearings, and no contact. If we go to meet the governor, though he meets us, but he wants to share our issues with Ali Junejo. We are in politics for decades but we are told to meet political nobodies like Ali Junejo,” maintained Jatoi. Jatoi also accused deputy
parliamentary leader Haleem Adil Shaikh, saying that he also doesn’t have time for the party leaders. “We are not political novices. We have a legacy behind us. We have history of serving the people of Sindh. But the party’s Sindh chapter leaders have destroyed the party,” asserted Jatoi. Asked whether PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi also did not meet party’s leaders, Jatoi said that he had high respect and regard for Qureshi. “Yes, he also doesn’t meet us. But we know he is busy being the foreign minister. People are fed up with the PPP and are looking towards a replacement but there is no focus of the party and the leadership towards interior Sindh”. Asked whether he holds any party office, Jatoi said that he has been appointed President for Sindh Central region by party’s chief organizer Saifullah Niazi but his opinion is not sought in party’s reorganization. “We are not worried about our issues. I fear that the well-wishers of the party are getting disappointed. If the people would remain disappointed, people would look towards other options”.
FED not applicable on internet services, SC rules ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that internet services are exempted from the federal excise duty (FED) as it dismissed an appeal filed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) against a high court decision in this regard. Justice Maqbool Baqar of the apex court ruled that Whatsapp, Skype and other voice communication through internet does not attract FED. The bench issued verdict on an appeal moved by Islamabad’s commissioner of inland revenue against an order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). An internet company was issued a show cause notice by the FBR for non-payment of FED on account of services falling within the ambit of “telecommunication services”, and the issue was brought before a tribunal which held that since internet services were exempted from FED, voice
content transmitted through internet also enjoyed such exemption. The tribunal decision was also upheld by the IHC. The apex court in its decision over the appeal declared that although telecommunication services attract levy of FED, internet service has been exempted from payment of excise duties. The decision said the internet company was an internet service provider (ISP) and it charges for such service only. Although a customer may utilise internet facility for different purposes, such as browsing and downloading, the company has no concern with such facilities nor does it provide or control the same or charge any fee or amount. The fee or amount that an ISP collects from its customers is for internet connectivity only, the verdict interpreted. Since there is a zero charge in respect of internet service as neither any amount is paid nor any prescribed, no duty can therefore be charged, the verdict said.
PTM's Manzoor Pashteen gets bail in two of four ‘sedition’ cases PeSHAWAR Staff RepoRt
A local court in Dera Ismail Khan on Saturday granted bail to Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen in two cases of sedition while his bail applications in two other cases — also pertaining to sedition — are pending before the court. The hearings of the two pending bail applications are expected to be held on Monday, according to Pashteen’s lawyer Farhat Afridi. The Additional Sessions Court in DI Khan had reserved the verdict on Friday after hearing arguments from both the defence and prosecution. “The court announced the reserved verdict and ordered the release of Manzoor Pashteen on bail in two cases,” senior PTM leader and MNA Mohsin Dawar said, adding that after Pashteen’s arrest it had emerged that a total of four First Information
Reports (FIRs) were registered against him. He hoped that the court would also grant bail in the other two cases. Pashteen was arrested on Jan 27, from Peshawar’s Shaheen Town and sent to Peshawar Central Jail on a 14-day judicial remand by a magistrate. A day after his arrest, a Peshawar court had rejected the PTM leader’s bail plea and ordered his transfer to Dera Ismail Khan, where he is currently imprisoned. Lawyer Afridi said that the two FIRs for which bail was granted were registered at Dera Ismail Khan’s City Police Station under Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 124 (sedition), and 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolition of its sovereignty) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
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dar says Punjab govt committed contempt by converting his house into Panagah NeWS DeSk A day after the Punjab government converted former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s residence here into a Panagah [shelter home], the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader who is living in selfimposed exile in London, termed the move an “unprecedented political victimisation” against opposition leaders. On Friday, the Punjab government announced the conversion of Dar’s house into a Panagah by placing a signboard outside the residence. The district administration also put beds in all 12 rooms of the 4-kanal and 17 marla house. The shelter, which is run by the Department of Social Welfare, will be able to accommodate a total of 50 people. Reacting to the move, Dar, in a video statement posted on the party’s official Twitter handle, said, “I have just come to know that nexus of Imran Niazi [prime minister] and Punjab government has designated my residence for homeless after failing in their bid to auction the property.” The PML-N leader announced that he will file a contempt of court application against the Punjab government for violating the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) January 28 directives. The IHC had barred the officials from auctioning Dar’s Gulberg residence on his wife Tabassum Ishaq’s petition against the accountability court’s verdict. She had contended that the house was owned by her as it was given to her by Dar as Haq-e-Mahar on February 14, 1989. “I will approach the court against them because this is a contempt of court,” the former finance minister can be heard saying in the video statement. The decision to auction his house, Dar said, was taken on the basis of “flawed” court decision which declared him absconder in assets beyond means case. “Declaring me absconder was unjust. I had submitted medical reports verified by UK authorities and I have also filed an application in the Supreme Court against [accountability court] verdict which is awaiting hearing,” he added. Terming the case mala fide, the PML-N leader said the case against him is based on a Joint Investigation Team;s (JIT) findings, “falsely” accusing him of not filing tax returns of last 20 years. “I have evidence and documents and I hope that courts in Pakistan will serve me justice,” Dar said, adding that he could have also approached the international fora against the injustice being carried out against him by the incumbent government but he chose not to.
04 ISLAMABAD
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
WEATHER UPDATES SUNDAY
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InterfaIth harmony must to buIld an InclusIve socIety: moot ISLAMABAD
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STAFF REPORT
peakers at a two-day training session underlined the need for promoting interfaith harmony among people of various religions to build an inclusive society in Pakistan. The event titled ‘Empowering Civic Society through Building Bridges among Faiths in Pakistan’ was jointly organised by Christian Study Centre, Rawalpindi and Paigham-ePakistan. As part of the activity, a training session was arranged for people belonging to different religions from
Gojra, Toba Tek Singh and Nankana. The aim of the activity was to promote understanding, respect and cooperation among people of different faiths for the wellbeing of communities and promotion of peace in Pakistan. Director of Christian Study Center Jennifer Jag Jivan and Quaid-i-Azam University former professor Ms Nayyar conducted the training. In their lectures, the trainers stressed the need to promote better understanding among various religious communities at all levels to promote greater tolerance, respect and mutual understanding in the society. They called for promoting the culture of dia-
logues between and within different religions and cultures in order to help achieve the common goal of increased understanding, peaceful coexistence and expanded cooperation in addressing serious issues facing the communities. They maintained that Pakistan can be made strong and prosperous only through unity and brotherhood, adding that all religions and sects should stand together to foil the nefarious designs of the enemies. They were of the view that only a tolerant society based on the principles of interfaith harmony can ensure social inclusion by providing all citizens equal opportunities to grow irrespective of their religion or faith,
adding that interfaith harmony is the way forward towards peace and prosperity in the society in line with the spirit of Paigham-e-Pakistan initiative of the government of Pakistan. They stressed the need to review country’s educational policy, ensuring training of teachers and Ulema to encourage a culture of respecting other religions as well as their sacred places. They said members of minorities, including Hindu, Sikh, Christian and others, were as patriotic Pakistanis as anyone else and that all Pakistanis should stand united and make concerted efforts for progress and development of the country.
Mobile phones recovered from prisoners in Adyala Jail RAWALPINDI: The administration of Adyala Jail on Saturday recovered a number of prohibited devices and mobile phones from possession of several prisoners. According to Adyala jail sources, the administration of the Adyala Jail has decided to launch a search operation on the complaints of the presence of several prohibited items with the prisoners in the jail. Several cell phones were recovered from the possession of the prisoners while two accused, who were receiving cash from the heirs of the prisoners on their mobile account of various cash services, were nabbed. In a report released by Punjab prison department in July 2019, around 7,364 mobile phones were recovered from prisoners in Punjab jails. During operations in jails of Punjab, 7,346 mobile phones, 2,271 SIM cards and 1,627 chargers were recovered from the possession of inmates. The report revealed that the Lahore region had topped the list where 3,262 phones were recovered. 1,488 and 1,212 mobile phones were found in the regions of Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, respectively. From the Sargodha region, 573 phones were caught while from Multan jails, the number was 279. STAFF REPORT
flight carrying 108 passengers from china lands at Islamabad airport
Military officers from 45 countries visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib NEWS DESK
ISLAMABAD INP
Another flight from China landed at the Islamabad International airport on Saturday, carrying as many as 108 passengers. The flight No Z-6007 landed at the Islamabad airport from Ürümqi, China. Among 108 passengers, 82 were Pakistanis and 24 others were Chinese and Britain nationals. The passengers were allowed to leave the airport premises after going through scanning process amid coronavirus threat.
A National Defense University-led delegation of senior military officers from forty-five friendly countries, led by Air Vice Marshal Syed Sabahat Hassan Shah, on Saturday visited Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hassanabdal. Deputy Secretary Shrines Evacuee Trust Property Board, Imran Gondal, briefed the delegation about history and importance of Gurdwara Panja Sahib for the Sikh community in the country. The foreign military officials lauded efforts of Pakistani government for better upkeep and preservation of religious places of different religions in the country. Pakistan had in November last year inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor, a border corridor between Pakistan
and India, connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. A large number of Indian Sikhs had made historic pilgrimage the day of the inauguration, travelling visafree, to one of their religion's holiest sites under a landmark deal between the two countries. Last year, a leading British-Sikh philanthropist had also announced to commit £500 million for the Gurdwaras in Pakistan as a positive response to Pakistan's move to establish the Kartarpur Corridor. The businessperson had announced that his own charitable organisation, the Peter Virdee Foundation, would join hands with other Sikh groups to inject £500 million into hundreds of Pakistani Gurdwaras for renovation and modernisation.
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fIa Punjab Zone-1 launches probe against 16 govt officers, their wives in bIsP corruption case ISLAMABAD INP
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Punjab Zone-1 has launched an investigation against 16 government officers and their wives who allegedly fraudulently benefitted from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) assistance meant for the poor and destitute. A list of officers who will be interrogated by a special team headed by Director FIA Punjab Zone-1 includes 10 government officers of grade 17, two of grade 18, three of grade 19 and one senior officer of grade 20. Domestic and foreign accounts and assets of wives of those 16 government officers are also being investigated. According to sources, Director FIA Punjab Zone-1 has been himself monitoring the inquiry on the directives of the FIA’s director general, and the names of those officers will not be made public until completion of the investigation. Special teams are investigating into irregularities in the BISP funds between the years 2010 to 2018.
18 social media gangs operating in rawalpindi: police NEWS DESK Social media is no longer a safe place for the people of Rawalpindi. There are 18 social media gangs operating in the city, said a police report. Gangs such as Triple Three, Triple Two and Tiger Gang threaten people, rob them and are involved in several other crimes as well, according to the police. Officials say that on an average there are 35 to 40 members in each gang. The largest group is the Triple Three gang which has almost 250 members. “The members are between the ages of 18 and 25 and do not have any previous criminal record,” said the Rawlapindi CPO. “Most of them come from educated families,” he said. Most of these crimes take place in Sadiqabad and areas near the airport. “We arrest at least 30 people from these areas every month but the network keeps growing,” the CPO said. Social media is the safest place for them to hide, he added. The police have started an operation to catch these “online gangsters” as soon as possible. They have been conducting 24hour surveillance from the Police Line control room. Last December, the leader of the Triple Three, Taji Khokhar, and 25 other gang members were arrested. However, all of them got bail
Dr Malik advocates lead role of Balochs in running Gwadar Port, GDA institutions ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Former chief minister Dr. Mohammad Malik Baloch stressed the need that federal and provincial governments should prioritise inclusion of Balochistan’s local communities in all the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. He said that their interests and identities need to be protected through legislation for an economically sustainable and socially acceptable development. Speaking at a stake-holders’ roundtable on Saturday, Dr. Baloch advocated greater lead role of the locals in running institutions such as the Gwadar Port and Gwadar Development Authority (GDA). “How can you expect the local people not to be resentful if their share of jobs in provincial institutions such as GDA or the Port Authority is minimal,” asked the former chief minister, adding that share of jobs must be increased for locals (Gwadar) in particular and Baloch people in general across the province. They pointed out that Inclusive development is the spirit of China’s Belt
and Road Initiative (BRI) but we haven’t seen direct involvement of local communities in planning and execution of critical development projects in Balochistan. Political activists, provincial governments’ officials, fishermen and business representatives participated in the round-table, organised jointly by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and the Association for Integrated Development (AID), sounded frustrated with what they called the indifference of federal and provincial governments to issues such as health, education and livelihoods of the fishermen. "Is it not ironical that we are surrounded by sea but have hardly a pint of potable water, “asked local trader dealing in fish. Most of the delegates who deal in fisheries demanded subsidies or cheaper loans to further develop their business. Almost 75 percent of Gwadar’s population lives off the sea i.e. fishing but hardly has anybody access to subsidies or loans, they pointed out. Almost all participants pointed out the dismal state of public health and educational institutions.
Abul Hassan, a local political activist, asked if the CPEC agreements were state-to-state loan and grants or were purely commercial projects. He bemoaned the fact that hardly was socio-economic impact study carried out before launching development projects that concerned humans and the ecology of Gwadar. People at large sound wary of local politicians; they are ready (politicians) to spend tens of millions on their election campaign but hardly seem to care for potable water that locals so desperately need, commented a local fisherman during the stake-holders’ dialogue. Residents of Gwadar also appear discomforted with the unusually strict security measures on roads connecting the port with the city. “These security measures would come across as less imposing if the personnel on checkpoints were sensitised on how to approach locals,” said Ashraf Hussein, a local politician They demanded immediate redressal of problems that local fishermen face because of the trawlers that intrude into Balochistan’s waters from
CM YK
Sind. Most of the participants also repeatedly underscored the need for urgently setting up technical education / training centres in Gwadar so the city could produce young skilled workers for the upcoming industrial zone. Officials, speaking in their personal
capacity, did point out that several demands by the local communities were being gradually addressed, albeit at a slow pace. This obviously leads to frustration among people who feel their livelihoods and social space in Gwadar may be at risk.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
NEWS 05 LHC forms new benCH To Hear maryam’s PLea LAHORe
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Staff RepoRt
He Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday constituted a new bench to hear a petition by Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz seeking one-time permission to go abroad. The PML-N vice president wishes to visit her ailing father, party supremo Nawaz Sharif, in London.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi was hearing the petition earlier. The new division bench, constituted by LHC Chief Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh, will be presided by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi who had earlier heard this case. The second member of this bench will be Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh. The newly constituted bench will hear Maryam’s petition by February 10. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi had earlier been a part of the
PTI Lahore general secretary suspended over ignorant, offensive posters News Desk The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Saturday suspended Mian Akram Usman, the party’s general secretary of its Lahore chapter, over posters he had put all over the city featuring an insulting remark against Hindus. Mian Akram had sponsored the posters for Kashmir Day whereas the poster had also included pictures of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and the country’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah. In the show-cause noticed to Usman after his suspension, the party has noted that the words that appeared on the posters violate party policy. The notice was issued by the party’s Lahore president, Zuhair Abbas Khokhar The matter has been referred to a special committee. The politician had blamed the printer who produced the posters for ‘mistakenly’ printing an inflammatory slur targeting followers of Hinduism, adding that he had in fact instructed the printer to target Indian PM Narendra Modi. “I apologise [to] all peaceful Hindus living on both sides of the border,” Usman had said on Twitter. “All posters [were] removed immediately when they came [to] my notice. I’m not the one who [is] stuck on mistakes,” Usman tweeted after a Twitter user remarked that they did not believe his version.
UCP organises business conference Lahore:The 6th International Conference on contemporary issues in business management was organized at the University of Central Punjab Lahore. This conference was aimed at analysing what “responsible and sustainable business” means in the context of emerging markets. In addition, the said conference aimed to explore how the management community of emerging markets, could best support the development of sustainable innovation and responsible management in collaboration with policy makers, NGOs, media, and other stakeholders interested in the new roles. The conference provided a unique opportunity to network with the business community and international keynote speakers from France, Spain, Marcedonia and Australia. Realising the need to carry businesses in a responsible and sustainable fashion, ICIBM 2020 focused on key areas including International Trade and emerging Markets, Governance Issues in emerging Markets, Human Resource Management in emerging Markets, Marketing, Advertising and Branding of Innovative Products, Leadership Innovation, Decision Making and Change Management, Business education in emerging Markets, Globalization Regional Integration, Productivity and economic Growth, Financial Systems in emerging Markets, entrepreneurship in Public and Non Profit Sectors. pReSS ReleaSe
bench which was hearing Maryam’s petition requesting to remove her name from the exit Control List (eCL), but the bench was also dissolved. No substantial development occurred in the proceedings when the
new bench, headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi, was formed. Maryam was arrested by NAB on August 8, 2019, in a case regarding suspect business transactions at the Chaudhry Sugar Mills where
she is a major shareholder. On November 4, she was granted bail by the LHC which ordered her to furnish two surety bonds worth Rs20 million, and deposit an additional Rs70 million and surrender her passport to secure her release. In her petition, Maryam said that her father’s health was critical and she was under unexplainable stress because of her inability to be with him at a time when he needs extra care.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
06 WORLD VIEW
I’ve spent 20 years on the traIl of a 9/11 suspect. here’s what I’ve learned L A Times
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TERRY MCDERMOTT
first saw Khalid Shaikh Mohammed 10 years ago here in a courtroom on a remote part of this remote Navy base. He was being arraigned on charges of conspiring to murder 2,977 people. I was struck by his almost comic appearance. He had gone completely gray but for his startlingly dark eyebrows and his long bushy beard, now dyed bright orange. He wore a fancy hat. He looked more like a movie villain than the confessed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against the United States. By then, I had been chasing Mohammed’s trail for a decade. The arraignment was my first opportunity to match the flesh-and-blood man with the paper trail I had compiled. Recently, I was back in the courtroom at Guantanamo, where pretrial hearings continue to move glacially. A trial still awaits somewhere beyond the horizon. The beard’s still orange. Why chase a man for two decades? I wish I could tell you. I’m obsessive, for one. I wanted to get the story, which is almost certainly vanity. More than that, however, I simply wanted to know. To know who this guy was, and ultimately to know why men do such horrible things. I first learned Mohammed’s name in the spring of 2002 while reporting for the L.A. Times in a remote provincial capital in the Philippines, not exactly the place I imagined I would cross tracks with the man who planned 9/11. We had made the journey to Lingayen to talk to a cop named Boogie Mendoza. Boogie was obsessed with a terror plot from the mid-1990s, when he had been a lead investigator with the national police in Manila. The plot involved five men boarding as many as a dozen American jumbo jets scheduled to fly across the Pacific to the United States. On board they would assemble tiny chemical bombs and attach them to Casio watches, which would be the timers. The men would deplane at the next stop and board another flight and repeat the bomb assembly. Two of the men were tasked with boarding a third flight and placing a third bomb. All the timers were set so that the bombs would explode at roughly the same time, sending thousands of people, presumed because of their destinations to be mainly Americans, to their deaths. The plan was stopped when a fire broke out in the kitchen of the plotters’ small Manila apartment. The lead plotter fled before the fire department and police responded. To their surprise, they found the apartment had been turned into a bomb factory. They filled two police vans with bomb-making materials collected from the site. They also found a laptop, a chemical dictionary, two Bibles, two crucifixes and a manual on how to hear Roman Catholic confessions. The plotters were also making plans to assassinate the pope. The man who appeared to have led this effort, known as Ramzi Yousef, was already being sought by American police for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. After a worldwide manhunt, he was eventually caught in Pakistan, seemingly putting an end to the affair. But Boogie was obsessed with the details of the airplane plot. He was so obsessed his bosses eventually got tired of hearing about it and exiled him to Lingayen, nestled on a bay off the South China Sea, a couple of hundred kilometers north of Manila. Boogie had taken his files with him and was happy to share them with me. A thunderstorm raged outside the neocolonial police headquarters when, after introductions, the investigator pulled several file boxes out of a closet, set them on a table and let me have at them. By that time American investigators had learned that Yousef’s real name was Abdul Basit Abdul Karim, an ethnic Pakistani born and raised in Kuwait, educated in Wales, with a specialty in electronics. They had also determined he was the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, about whom virtually nothing was known. Among the materials Boogie had assembled was a dossier on Mohammed, whom investigators now routinely refer to as KSM. Journalists spend most of their time waiting. Or at least I do. Luckily, I’ve been blessed with obstinance. I’m waiting, as Bob Dylan wrote, for fortune to be kind. Maybe others are better or luckier, but for me the world reveals itself only in dribs and drabs. Many of those discoveries turn out to be wrong or, as often, irrelevant. So I knew that opportunities like the one I had that night in Lingayen were bright bits stolen from a reluctant universe. A thunderstorm raged outside as I settled in to read. At that precise moment, a bolt of lightning struck nearby, knocking out the power and, with it, the lights. Boogie opened a window to see how far the darkness extended. It seemed to be complete. Boogie sent someone to fetch candles. I resumed my reading in the candlelight. Even then, it was a struggle. The office had tall French windows; the one
FINDING TRACES OF MR MOHAMMED IN KARACHI IS LIKE LOOKING FOR MR. LEE IN SEOUL. NOT IMPOSSIBLE, BUT A CHALLENGE
Boogie opened remained ajar, allowing the wind to slice through the room. The candlelight danced with the wind; the documents rustled and were visible in brief glimpses, then gone again to darkness. I read through the materials as best as I was able and arranged to have copies made when the power returned. The dossier was filled with educated guesses, some of them pretty wide of the mark. But there was enough there for a start, enough to formulate an hypothesis I could test in some pretty bleak patches around the world. I decided I would treat the story as I would an ordinary crime story. Go find the people who knew KSM: friends, relatives, co-workers. Knock on enough doors, and one or two will open. It has always amazed me that after whatever random event ravaged a part of the world — a gruesome murder, a school shooting, a tornado or hurricane — people who lost loved ones were eager to tell their stories. I have several times sat at kitchen tables with parents who had lost a child, or with a wife whose husband turned out to be a murderer, and five minutes after I invaded the house they would be pouring out their deepest secrets and fears. Chasing Mohammed was not at all like that. Among other obstacles, there was the Million Mohammed Problem. Naming conventions being what they are, many Muslims have very similar or identical names. Finding traces of Mr. Mohammed in Karachi is like looking for Mr. Lee in Seoul. Not impossible, but a challenge. When on the happy occasion I would find someone with information I could use, most refused to talk. They often refused several times, loudly and more than once with threats. An Emirati prince dressed head to toe in Armani once gave me a telephone number for a phone registered in Bahrain. He wouldn’t tell me whose number it was, but said I would find it interesting. When I called it and identified myself, whoever was on the other end slammed his phone down. Again and again, no matter how many times I called. I carried the phone number in my wallet for years before I actually went to Bahrain to find out who it belonged to. I got off the plane and before leaving the airport stopped at a telephone company kiosk to buy a local SIM chip. I asked the kid who sold me the chip if there was any way to find out who owned a particular number. Sure, he said. He looked up the number in his computer database, then read off the name — Zahed Shaikh Mohammed, Mohammed’s older brother. Bingo! How would I find that guy, I asked. He looked back at the computer, wrote down the address and said, “It’s just up the road.” Five minutes on the ground, and I had a name and address I had been seeking for years. Now that’s reporting! It turned out to be too good to be true. My local fixer abandoned me in the middle of nowhere — too dangerous, he said — and when I eventually found the house, Zahed screamed at me and threatened to sue for invasion of privacy. On other occasions, I would persuade someone to be interviewed and they would proceed to lie vigorously for hours. So, to summarize: I couldn’t identify who I wanted to talk to; when I identified them, I couldn’t find them; when I found them they wouldn’t talk; when they talked they lied. It was a low-yield enterprise. In a decade, I would go around the world twice, once in each direction, chasing his trail. It was rarely a comfortable journey. I flew, I took trains, I got a
speeding ticket on the German autobahn, which was not supposed to be possible. I walked and ran and rode rickety taxi cabs down dusty roads, sometimes on the floor, a couple of times in the trunk. Over time, fortune favored me and I gradually accumulated information: a friend in Doha, a sister in Karachi, a teacher in Kuwait, an acolyte in Dubai, classmates in North Carolina, a teacher, a spy, a cop like Boogie. In brief, the bits and pieces I and others found yielded this narrative. Mohammed was born in 1965 and raised, the second youngest of eight children, in a Kuwaiti oil town on the road to Saudi Arabia. Many of the men who worked in the nearby oil fields and refineries were Pakistanis. Mohammed’s father, an Islamic scholar, had been recruited by the Kuwaiti government to be the imam of the mosque where the workers worshipped. They were a religious family. An uncle ran another mosque. Another was a muezzin. KSM’s father died when he was very young, and his brother Zahed became the head of the household. Zahed was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a political Islamist organization that sought to restore religion as a dominant force in a secularizing world. Khalid joined the cause. When he came of age, the older brothers sent him to a small college in North Carolina where he learned English, then to a slightly larger college where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. The years in North Carolina were difficult. Locals weren’t welcoming, pulling fraternity pranks and calling the dozens of overseas Muslim students “Abbie Dabbies.” KSM developed a persistent scorn for America. While he was away at school, his three brothers had all gone to Afghanistan to join the jihad against the Soviet Union. They were based in Peshawar, just across the Afghan border in Pakistan. KSM joined them in 1987. At training camps nearby he studied with Abdullah Azzam, a founding father of modern jihad. The next year, the Soviets, bleeding blood and money, began retreating. The U.S. had supported the war against the Russians with money and weapons. When the last Russian forces exited Afghanistan in 1989, the U.S. support ended, leaving a civil war behind. Abed, the most devout of KSM’s brothers, was then killed in a senseless battle among the competing Afghan political parties. Around the same time, Azzam was killed by a car bomb. I’ve come to believe that this sense of loss — the U.S. abandonment, the deaths of Abed and Azzam — combined with the deep religiosity of his childhood and the politics of the Muslim Brotherhood to shape KSM. As nearly as we can tell, KSM has done nothing since but conceive, plan and execute terror plots. He himself has admitted responsibility in full or part for 31 separate plots. He conspired to kill Americans, Pakistanis, Tunisians, Indonesians, Muslims, Christians and Jews, among many others. He had a job as an engineer for a while and explored some business deals — exporting palm oil, importing frozen chicken parts — but these were always in service of his larger terrorism endeavors. His record is shocking in its ferocity. There was a casual, feral quality to his plotting, as if blowing up buildings and airplanes full of people was a perfectly normal thing to do. He pitched plots like a door-to-door salesman hawking pots and pans. Some attacks, 9/11 being the most notable, were years in the planning. Others were seemingly spur of
the moment. He was a raconteur who had an affability that suggested he would make an excellent dinner companion. He flirted with women and charmed men. He used this charm cold-bloodedly. Shortly after meeting a young Pakistan American, for example, he persuaded the man to take part in a suicide bombing at his own wedding. It’s in this incarnation as a sort of Johnny Appleseed of terror that Mohammed’s character is most plainly in view. Unlike Osama bin Laden, who always seemed an aloof, distant presence, KSM thrived down in the muck of the everyday world. He was a family man — he has eight children, one of whom he has never seen — and loved Iranian dates. He argued over hotel bills and bragged of his importance. He is multilingual, fluent in Arabic, Urdu, Baluch and English, and moved easily through a globalizing world, changing identities as one might change shoes. Frank Pellegrino, an FBI special agent who has chased Mohammed way longer than I have, said after meeting him in 2007 that if he weren’t one of the worst mass murderers in history, he’d be a good guy to grab a beer with. Pellegrino met KSM here at Guantanamo, where he was sent after spending three years in the Central Intelligence Agency’s black site prisons. He was tortured in those prisons, including 183 waterboard episodes, to little apparent effect. Pellegrino was tasked with interviewing KSM and soliciting confessions. Mohammed and four other men have been charged with conspiring to kill almost 3,000 people who died in or as a result of the 9/11 attacks. The Pellegrino confession is a key part of the government case against KSM. Defense attorneys for Mohammed and his codefendants contend the confessions should not be admissible in court because the torture renders them tarnished, the fruit of the poisoned tree, as they describe it. When I first saw Mohammed in court, I was surprised by how small he was: 5-foot-4, just more than 100 pounds. One CIA report on him written shortly after he was captured in 2003 wondered if he was too obese to endure harsh interrogation. He had lost 40 or 50 pounds. I’ve returned to the war court several times as pretrial hearings drag into their ninth year. Mohammed is an engaged presence during hearings. He and his co-defendants sit in separate rows of tables, with Mohammed always in the front row, about 60 feet from the press gallery, where I sit behind a triple layer of glass. You can view the proceedings in real time, but the audio feed to the gallery is delayed by 40 seconds. It’s disorienting. Reporters are assigned specific seats and, depending on the whims of the guards, can’t sit elsewhere without the guards calling the Pentagon to get permission. I’ve “watched” several hearings from behind a post. KSM’s behavior in court has sometimes been bizarre. Once, he stood during the proceedings to sing Quranic verses. He has a tiny, high-pitched voice that could belong to a 9-year-old. After the judge repeatedly told him that he was out of order and had to stop, he blurted “OK” and immediately quit, provoking laughter throughout the courtroom. His co-defendants often look to Mohammed for guidance. When one of them, Ramzi Binalshibh, initially refused to appear before the war court at all, it was not military prosecutors or lawyers who changed his mind but Mohammed. He dresses up for court, wearing elaborate Pashtun turbans with what appear to be tails on the backs. Sometimes the tail stands straight out, like a bird dog pointing. He often wears a camouflage jacket over Kuwaiti gowns or a Pakistani shalwar kameez. He kibitzes with the other defendants and lawyers and more or less acts as though he owns the place. He has several times described himself as a soldier, once likening himself to George Washington. He’s vain. He complained once that a court sketch artist had given him too large a nose. Last fall, before court, he was sitting in his chair reading an old newspaper article I had written. In it, an intelligence officer commented that his agency knew little about Mohammed before 9/11. We didn’t even know his name, the spy said. He must have had no ego at all. Mohammed thought this was the funniest thing ever and was reading it aloud to everybody who walked by. Watching from the gallery recently, behind the smudged glass and my favorite post, my view of him is as ever imperfect. I lose sight of him entirely as lawyers and military guards move in and out of my line of vision, like prey moving through deep woods. After all this time, I still catch only glimpses of him, bright beard flashing, before he disappears again into the trees. McDermott is a former Times staff writer who is the coauthor of “The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.”
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
FOREIGN NEWS 07
New Delhi votes with MoDi’s popularity oN the liNe NEW DELHI
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AGENCIES
oTINg began for a crucial state election in India’s capital on Saturday with Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist party trying to regain power after a 22-year gap and major victories in a national vote. Residents lined up in long queues across New Delhi neighbourhoods, where a total of 14.6 million voters are registered to cast ballots. Results will be declared on Tuesday. The polls pit Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party against the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party, or common man’s party, whose pro-poor policies have focused on fixing state-run schools and providing free health care and bus fares for women during the five years in power. The BJP campaign has reopened old wounds in the Hindu-Muslim divide and treats the election as a referendum on nearly two months of protests
across India against a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims. The law fast-tracks naturalisation for non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who are living in the country illegally. Modis BJP also hopes to
British foreign secretary seeks 'ambitious' Japan-Britain trade deal LONDON: British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and his Japanese counterpart agreed Saturday to seek an “ambitious, high standard” trade accord matching Japan’s agreement with the EU. Raab is on a fournation Asian tour in his first major overseas trip since Britain left the European Union on January 31 after 47 years of membership. He arrived in Tokyo Saturday morning from Australia on a two-day visit and held talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo. “In line with our commitment to free trade, we will work quickly to make the new partnership as ambitious, high standard and mutually beneficial as the Japan-EU EPA,” the two ministers said in a joint statement. Their planned bilateral trade accord would “send a very powerful signal of our shared commitment to free, rules-based trade,” Raab told reporters. Motegi said preparations were under way for formal negotiations on a Japan-Britain free trade partnership. “We agreed that we will start and conclude the negotiations as early as possible,” he added. In 2018, Japan and the EU struck a trade deal covering more than 630 million people and economies that add up to around a third of global output. They began negotiations in 2013, two years after agreeing to start talks. Following Brexit, Britain is hoping to negotiate a new trade deal not just with Brussels but also the United States, Japan and other countries.
garner Hindu votes for ending semi-autonomy of Muslim-majority Kashmir last summer and turning the disputed region into two federally governed territories amid security lock down. Both of those actions have won him praise from supporters but little reward
at the polls. BJP lost two important state elections last year. Surveys by television news channels have predicted a clear victory for the Aam Admi Party in the 70-member state assembly. The Congress, a distant third party, has run a lacklustre campaign and is expected to fare poorly. During the campaigning, BJP members called for violence against minority Muslims by invoking the spectre of archenemy Pakistan. Critics have called the incendiary religious appeals a tactic by BJP to divert attention from the sluggish economy, which expanded at a 4.5 per cent annual pace in the last quarter, its slowest rate since mid-2018. A win would be hugely symbolic and likely to embolden Modi and his party to pursue a pro-Hindu agenda with vigour, while a loss could dent Modi’s charisma. Modi’s BJP was voted out of power in New Delhi in 1998 by the Congress party, which had run the government for 15 years.
Khamenei says Iran should increase military might to prevent war DUBAI AGENCIES
Iran should increase its military might to prevent a war, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a gathering of air force commanders on Saturday, dismissing the US sanctions on the country as “criminal act”. “We should be strong to prevent any war against the county. Being weak will encourage our enemies to attack Iran,” Khamenei, Iran’s top authority, said according to state news agency IRNA. The Islamic Republic has vowed to increase its military strength despite mounting pressure from Western countries to curtail its military capabilities, including its ballistic missile program. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have spiked since 2018 when US President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 pact between Iran and world powers under which Tehran accepted curbs to its nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions. “Since the revolution, their aim was to stop us from having a strong military and a strong air force … but look at us now. We even build
planes. We have transformed their pressure to opportunity,” Khamenei said, according to state TV. Iran is marking the 41st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, which toppled the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979. Washington has reimposed crippling sanctions aimed at halting all Iranian oil exports, saying it seeks to force Iran to negotiate to reach a wider deal. Khamenei, who dismissed the US sanctions as a “criminal act”, has banned Iranian officials from holding talks unless the United States returns to the deal and lifts all
sanctions. He said Iran should distance its economy from dependency on oil exports. Iran and the United States stormed to the edge of a war in early January when Tehran’s most prominent general, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike on his convoy in Baghdad. Tehran responded by launching missile attacks on US targets in Iraq. Iranian television said 80 “American terrorists” had been killed and US helicopters and military equipment damaged, without providing any evidence, Washington denied that there were any fatalities.
amazon deforestation for January hits record SAO PAULO AGENCIES
Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil more than doubled in January compared with the previous year, according to official data published Friday. More than 280 square kilometers (110 square miles) were cleared, an increase of 108 percent. It was the largest area cleared in the month of January since 2015, when such data started being collected, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The data was collected by the INPE’s satellite-based DETER system, which monitors deforestation in real time. In comparison, 136 square kilometers were cleared in January 2019, 183 square kilometers in 2018 and 58 square kilometers in 2017. INPE data published in mid-January found that deforestation in the Amazon in northern Brazil had soared 85 percent in 2019, clearing 9,166 square kilometers — the highest number in at least five years — versus 4,946 square kilometers cleared in 2018. The sharp increase overlapped the first year in office of President Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic who has eased restrictions on exploiting the Amazon’s vast riches. Bolsonaro made headlines in August when he attempted to minimize the resurgence of forest fires that had shocked the world. on August 2, INPE then-president Ricardo galvao was sacked by Bolsonaro’s administration, which accused him of exaggerating the extent of the deforestation. on Wednesday, Bolsonaro unveiled a sweeping plan for the Amazon rainforest that would open indigenous lands to mining, farming and hydroelectric power projects. Many Ngos said this would further increase deforestation. The bill, which has yet to be approved by Congress, is a “dream” for the far-right leader but a “nightmare” for environmentalists and tribal leaders.
Russian FM slams US sanctions on Venezuela as 'illegal' MOSCOW AGENCIES
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday slammed US sanctions against Venezuela as “illegal” during an official visit to Caracas. “These sanctions are illegal and are the main cause of the crisis in the Venezuelan economy,” said Lavrov after meeting his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza. Russia is one of the main backers of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, along with China and Cuba. US President Donald Trump has launched a new wave of sanctions against Venezuela’s economy, which has been in crisis for years, as well as against Maduro and his ministers. Among those measures, Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry last year, targeting the country’s main source of hard currency, and on Friday it hit its flag airline, Conviasa. The US administration has said the
sanctions are aimed at forcing Maduro to step down. Juan guaido, the leader of the opposition who has declared himself Venezuela’s rightful president, was a guest at the US Congress when Trump delivered his State of the Union speech earlier this week. He later met with Trump at the White House, receiving the same reception as a head of state. Washington warned Venezuela against harming guaido or attempting to block his return to the country. on Thursday, Elliott Abrams, the US administration’s pointman on Venezuela, hinted that Washington is planning to target Russia for backing Venezuela, amid reports that the US could sanction Russian state oil giant Rosneft for its increasingly close relationship with Caracas. “Russia may soon find out that their continued support of Maduro will no longer be cost-free,” Abrams said. Lavrov, on a tour of South America, did not explicitly mention the US threats
against Rosneft, but said that Russia considers “sanctions to be unacceptable, as are attempts to apply the laws of one country to another.” He met with Maduro later in the day. As Lavrov visited Venezuela, the defense minister of Colombia, the closest US military partner in the region, held talks in Washington. At a joint news conference, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper made a veiled reference to Russia as he said that Washington was “united” with Colombia. “This is especially important in an era of great power competition, as our strategic competitors seek dominance and malign influence in regions like Latin America,” Esper said. He said that Maduro’s impact on Venezuela has been “shameful.” “We see it urgent that this illegitimate, brutal, oppressive regime led by Maduro needs to move on, and we need to get back to a democracy,” Esper said.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
08 COMMENT
Dire straits
A resolution out of sync with the times
Need for a reset
Public hanging bill passed
C
HIlD abuse followed by the brutal killings of the victims is widespread in the country. In several recent cases the PTI administration has failed to trace the perpetrators or get them punished. One can therefore understand its frustration. Incidents of the sort are also reported in Europe and the USa. But the difference is that those involved in the crime are mostly traced by competent agencies using modern technology and are duly punished, though it might take years, as shown by the recent extradition of child sex offender Ikhalaq Hussain from Pakistan to the UK after four years. Successive governments in Pakistan, including the PTI administration, have displayed unconscionable negligence in enacting child protection laws. It was two years after the rape and brutal killing of Zainab in Kasur that the National assembly passed the Zainab alert Bill for recovery of missing children. The bill however had a serious limitation as its jurisdiction was confined only to Islamabad. Had the PTI government been serious it could have got the bill passed at least by three provincial governments under its influence. Unless the provincial assemblies also pass the bill, which they don’t seem inclined to, its utility will be limited. Even when child protection laws are passed, the governments fail to implement them. laws have been passed by Punjab and KP against vagrancy, envisaging welfare homes. Had they been effectively implemented, one would not have encountered children begging in the streets of lahore or Peshawar, who often fall prey to unscrupulous predators. Incompetent administrations look for snake oils instead of going for painstaking but efficient remedies. a firm and timely implementation of the existing laws can control most of the crimes against children. There are laws against rape and there are laws against murder, but what is lacking is a modern system to track the criminals, collect forensic evidence, prepare a fool-proof case and get the perpetrators sentenced. as a PTI minister put it, barbarism is not the answer to crimes but another expression of extremism. Public hangings will fail to put an end to horrendous crimes against children but provide an occasion to interested quarters to malign Pakistan in the international community.
Another repugnant cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz must be dealt with a firm hand, once and for all
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T has become somewhat of an annual event that maulana abdul aziz, the other omnipresent national nuisance, makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. Since the lal masjid operation under musharraf back in 2007, from which aziz had to famously escape from in a burqa, he has been attempting to reestablish the stronghold status of the mosque with him at the helm. It must not be forgotten that aziz refused to condemn the aPS attack for which he was removed from the lal masjid in 2014, only to be allowed to reenter three years later in 2018 and expelled yet again as khateeb (prayer leader) in June of 2019, his entry banned for three months by authorities. Due to the ineptness and failure of the government to make basic appointments in a timely manner, in the absence of a new khateeb, aziz reentered the mosque with female students last week and is now testing the authorities, making ridiculous demands. His sermon on friday stopped short of declaring state authorities as infidels working against the interests of the country. apart from the implementation of Sharia law he has demanded Rs250 million, land and will negotiate his terms with no one less senior than a cabinet minister. Such a hostage-like scenario is not new to the country. maulana Khadim Rizvi’s TlP has successfully disabled the capital for weeks, twice, once during Pml(N)’s tenure and thrn during the PTI’s, both times exposing the helplessness of the state, forcing a complete capitulation. maulana abdul aziz’s latest putsch has all the makings of turning violent, unless it is handled with delicacy but also a firm hand. although the government has taken protective measures outside the mosque to diffuse the situation, it will take a lot more to get aziz to surrender this time, now that he is controlling affairs from inside. Such zealots are more often than not created by agencies under the pretense of some ill-conceived notion of their value as on-ground assets that can be used periodically to exert pressure on those in need of it. It has become all the more essential to get rid of these enemies of the state because they adversely affect our foreign policy implementation vis-à-vis the faTf, US and Indian allegations of state-sponsored terrorism. If dealt with effectively, maulana aziz could be made a good example of a shift in strategy, if indeed there has been one.
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aRif Nizami
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fTER restructuring and reforms (read more taxes and economic hardships) during the past year, 2020 was touted as the year of consolidation and economic recovery. But ironically the very first month of the year has proved to be a harbinger of bad news and further pain for the masses. according to the government’s own statistics, inflation jumped to a whopping 14.6 percent, the highest in the past twelve years. although, some independent economists claim that, based on their research and empirical evidence, the actual figure is closer to 20 percent and even higher for food items. Shortage of flour and sugar in the market resulting in prices touching record highs was further bad news for the common man. To make matters worse, there is a whopping shortfall in the fBR’s (federal Board of Revenue) revenue targets. Collection will remain well short of the revised target of Rs 5.270 trillion. Only in January the shortfall was Rs 104 billion. The visiting Imf team currently in Islamabad has just concluded its performance review and is now engaged in policy review. fBR officials have conveyed their inability to achieve the stipulated target urging for a further reduction in targets. more bad news is the unravelling of the economic dream team drawn from former Imf apparatchiks and the private sector. Chairman fBR Shabbar Zaidi started having ‘panic attacks’ after the January figures came in. He has since proceeded on an indefinite medical leave. Notwithstanding the steep target, he had not done badly by achieving around 15 percent growth in revenue collection. But in the backdrop of a failing economy it was virtually next to impossible to achieve the whopping target. large scale and medium scale manufacturing sectors slowing down and expected shortfall in agriculture products, especially cotton; achieving a quantum increase in revenue was virtually next to impossible. Only to cite one example, the auto sector’s demand has fallen by 40 percent. Its upstream and downstream effects are bound
to hurt the economy. Current account deficit has been substantially reduced mainly owing to a recessionary economy. But this has also adversely affected the revenue stream. further bad news in January was exports taking a dip of $61 billion on year on year basis; a decline of almost 4 per cent. The advisor on commerce to the Prime minister Razak Dawood is being reportedly put on the mat to explain why it has happened. Conversely, Pakistani exports only slightly increased in 2019 on year on year basis despite a 40 per cent devaluation of the Rupee. There is no rocket science involved in finding out the reasons for the economy not picking up despite best efforts of the policy makers. Undoubtedly it is shrinking thanks partly to Imf conditionalities. Record high interest rates and double-digit inflation combined with just a bare two percent plus projected GDP (gross domestic product) is a recipe for disaster. according to eminent economist Dr. Hafeez Pasha, owing to high interest rates, the government will be barely able to service it loans. He has ominously warned that the country’s security and defence needs will have to be financed from borrowed money. Unsurprisingly the government has decided to borrow Rs 1.9 trillion by July for ostensibly financing its fiscal deficit from January to July this year. The debt acquisition limit stipulated under the fiscal Responsibility and Debt limitations act has already been grossly violated. a government that castigated the Sharif regime for miring the country in external debt has borrowed relentlessly just to remain afloat. The Imf team has patted the mof (ministry of finance) for achieving most of its stipulated targets. Nonetheless in order to get the third tranche of the lending agencies’ $6 billion Extended fund facility (Eff) the government will have to meet more of its conditionalities. Gas and electricity rates, not to mention indirect taxes are expected to be hiked further. In the process the hapless common man and even the middle classes will be further crushed. Incremental hikes in utility rates and taxation can prove to be the proverbial straw. Reportedly a mini budget is in the offing. although denied by government spokesmen, finance advisor Dr. Hafeez Sheikh indirectly confirmed the eventuality. When pressed during an interview he candidly remarked, “Economic management does not mean you give a budget
Of microbes and mullahs The coronavirus challenge beliefs as well as bodies
Rabia ahmed
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alma, a cook in one of the cities of Pakistan spent one morning cutting up strawberries and apples for jam. Her employer showed her how to sterilize bottles and their covers, and to make sure the spoon she used for stirring the jam was washed and sterilized with boiling water. Just as Selma was about to spoon the jams into the jars her employer asked her if the ladle she was using had been sterilized as well. It had not. When the employer asked why this was so, Salma protested. “You asked me to do the spoon and the jars,” she said. “Not the ladle.” Salma’s employer tried to explain the reason behind the whole exercise, but Salma threw up her hands and said, “Why do you get so worked up about such things? What difference does it make, all this boiling? Allah maalik hai, baji, kuchh nahi ho ga.” God is in control, ma’am. Nothing will happen. It has to be wondered where this attitude, so pervasive as it is all through the country will lead us, now for example, on the brink of the spread of the new coronavirus that has started in Wuhan.
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The coronavirus is used as an example because it is topical. It is not meant to scare. most of those who died as a result of this virus, about two percent of those infected, were already not in good health. Your usual ‘flu has half the infection rate but kills about 400,000 persons annually. SaRS and mERS were both varieties of coronavirus. SaRS, when it occurred in 2002, infected about 8,000 persons and killed more than 750, about 10 percent of those infected. mERS, when it struck, killed 35 percent of those infected. The repercussions of attitudes such as Salma’s lie not just in relationship to health and safety, but to almost everything. There is no doubt that “Allah Maalik hai” but nowhere does it state that allah’s creation must cease to help itself. Yet, that is the common understanding. People– such as Salma’s employer– have tried to explain the relationship between sterilization and microbes and viruses, but a rough verbal explanation is not enough. Practical demonstrations are important and must be provided. Because microbes and viruses are not visible to the eye, the usual perception is that educated persons make a fuss about such things and make life difficult for others with their new-fangled notions. It is strange in a society that firmly believes in an unseen Deity, but perhaps that space has already been taken. Of course it is a question of education, of what schools teach, and how they impart this information. But it is also a question of who else teaches out there in society, and whose teaching has the greater impact upon the public. In a country like Pakistan, teachers in most schools hold no teaching qualifications. Nor do schools aspire to anything more than marks. Schools in fact are a business with aspirations such as ‘turning out billionaires.’ Knowledge is imparted by means of rote, not by demonstration or by relating knowledge to life. Students may hear about things such as viruses from their teach-
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once a year and then you sit.” as the country faces an existential economic threat, it cannot be business as usual. a reset is badly needed. But instead Pm Imran Khan and his under-19 team are still fixated upon his oft repeated mantra: “the previous looters left a bankrupt economy”. His various spokespersons on the economy have now coined a new narrative claiming that various ‘mafias’ have ganged up against the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek e insaf) to bring it down. These so-called mafias are held responsible for a sudden hike in sugar prices and creating artificial shortages. It hardly matters that Khan is in power now for one and a half years. Hence any mafias operating in the country are on his watch. The malfeasance of the government is evident in virtually every field. The opposition’s backs to the wall; the ruling party is imploding from within. The ousted finance minister (now minister for planning) asad Umar wants to make a comeback. In the realm of palace intrigues the knives are out for Jahangir Tareen, the prime minister’s point man who Umer blames for his ouster. Relations with coalition partners are also at an all-time low. The Chaudhrys of Gujrat are livid that the fresh agreement brokered mainly by Tareen was thrown out of the window as soon as he went abroad for a brief break. They have expressed deep reservations about another committee headed by the Punjab governor to open fresh talks with them. Perhaps the only glue that is making coalition partners of the PTI stick is the ubiquitous establishment. Pm Imran Khan is presiding over a fractured state, a divided polity and an ailing economy, but wallowing in his favourite hobby horse ‘Riyasat e madina’ he refuses to wake up and smell the coffee. The prime minister of azad Kashmir Raja farooq Haider on Kashmir Day gave some sane advice to the premier that he quite expectedly refused to heed. During the aJK (azad Jammu and Kashmir) assembly special session he had implored with Khan to initiate a national reconciliation process with the opposition for the sake of Kashmir cause. Predictably the prime minister refused claiming arrogantly that ‘he will never talk to the corrupt opposition’. Unfortunately, the proverbial, “my way or the highway” attitude cannot persist for long. Some thing or the other has to give in under the sheer weight of ego-driven flawed policies. Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com. ers, but that information is not reinforced either at home or around them in society. The reason is more than a lack of education. It is because of the second source of education in this society, which is madressahs, and the people who teach there. If few schools possess qualified teachers, almost no madressah can boast of such a staff. The enrolment in madressahs is high, and students here are not taught about microbes, much less about how to combat them. They are taught in such seminaries to scorn ‘Western’ knowledge, in other words science. Yes, it is sad how far we have fallen and how utterly we have handed over the torch. In the case of the coronaviruses, people are struck by how right religion has been in providing guidelines regarding what can be eaten and what cannot, but rarely is it examined why those guidelines exist, and the science behind it. Because science and religion are considered to be mutually exclusive. and so we get directives regarding preventive measures against disease being ignored. and we get acts such as the one calling for the public hanging of offenders and murderers, which has now been passed by the National assembly, without questioning the morality of such a thing in the light of the modern world. It also results in the head of the CII (a brain-child of ayub Khan, strengthened by Zia-ul-Haq) endorsing underage marriage, because it is (mistakenly) believed that a major religious personality in Islam married an underage girl. If anyone finds the microbe vs madressah example silly, they should note that the CII in 2016 ruled that DNa evidence cannot be used as primary proof in cases of rape, but as supplementary evidence only. any debate about education in Pakistan must take into account these deficiencies in our system. It must provide training to teachers both academic and religious, it must insist on practical demonstrations, and relating education to life. and very importantly, it must combat the misconceptions against science and modern knowledge so rampant among those who claim to specialize in religion and teach it. Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabiaahmed.blogspot.com/
Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail
Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
Hindutva: an Ultraextremist Ideology ExTREmIST to the core and immensely intolerant to the people of other identities, Hindutva is an ultra-extremist ideology whose radical leitmotif is to wipe out the muslims in particular and non-Hindus of India in general. Establishing a uni-national identity—Hinduism—in India is its main agenda. Stripping muslims of Indian citizenship, lynching them, rapes, murders, mass murders, and genociding Kashmiri people are all its unmasked tactics to steer clear its way towards it sinister objectives. Brainwashed by this rabid ideology, its adherents—like modi—have become brutal beasts in India who have been preying on innocent lives there unhindered. The so-called Indian secularism and world’s largest democracy have now dwarfed before it. RIAz AHMEd SooMRo Shikarpur
The govt must perform
With vultures hovering above Staying still is not an option and remaining quiet a betrayal
Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “Moral philosophy is nothing else but the science of what is good and evil, in the conversation and society of mankind. Good and evil are names that signify our appetites and aversions which, in different tempers, customs and doctrines of men, are different.” — Thomas Hobbes
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ROm the dawn of each morning, my prime challenge these days is to sift the right from wrong, the genuine from the fake, and the beneficent from the malevolent. It’s a challenge that I am failing by a wide margin. But, in the process, I have learnt one thing without a shadow of doubt, that there is absolutely no dearth of people in this country who are so infatuated with their own advancement that they have virtually lost sight of the line separating what they should do from what would be degrading to undertake. Even more importantly, they have been denuded of the faculty to realise that what they may be pursuing to secure their selfish objectives may be dangerously detrimental to the interest of the state and the people. What bothers me is that there is not even a whiff of protest. It is like people have been drugged into eternal quietude. There is no movement. There is no response to utter and shameful disrespect shown to their needs and desires. The society, the executive, the legislatures, the judiciary and just about every institution of the state are joined in an unholy union to make life difficult for the impoverished multitudes inhabiting sprawling swathes of the country. Not a day passes when we don’t take a few more steps to ensure their complete annihilation. It is as if running the country has been sublet as a profitable venture for the exclusive benefit of a few to the extinction of the vast majority. let’s concede that governance has been perpetually afflicted with the curse of corruption. Everyone who has been anyone at any time has benefited from the largesse of the state exchequer. But, they remain innocent and are reprieved to proceed to foreign lands on the count of a personal undertaking. The emotional
drama, being sordidly orchestrated these days some weak efforts initiated by the present execjointly by the party stalwarts and the media utive for relieving governance of the conbarons, that the principal convict, Nawaz Sharif, trivances of corruption and absence of merit is refusing to undergo treatment unless his con- propelled the entire spectrum of bandits to join vict daughter, maryum Sharif, joins him in the hands to thwart it. In this, they had the full and luxurious confines of their illicit mansion in unstinted support of the institutions which have been among the beneficiary cartels, including the london, sends shudders through one’s spine. and you know what? The bulk of the peo- judiciary whose injunctions have damaged the ple are convinced that this, too, would be au- very fabric of justice by creating discrimination thenticated by the court against as flimsy a on the basis of status of the supplicants. While document as the one they ordered the last time– those who are part of the beneficiary congloma mere stamp paper of the value of Rs 50, erate are granted dutiful hearings on holidays, the signed by none other than the convict himself. weaklings have to wait a lifetime to even enter lest we forget, this was in supersession of the the courtroom. In addition to adding further to government’s insistence to at least recover in the damning weight of a controversial past, the advance the amount of fine imposed by the judiciary has erased the very concept of justice, court as part of its judgment before allowing generating a situation of anarchy in the country. I have been calling for an awareness revoNawaz Sharif to travel abroad to enjoy the benefits of his immeasurable corruption. That was lution and mustering the courage to demand turned down. But, no one budged. No one what rightfully belongs to the people. maybe that is too little and too late. protested. as albert Einmaybe, something more stein said, “The world will than that is needed. The not be destroyed by those impoverished multitudes who do evil, but by those I have been calling for an have to make a courageous who watch them without to transcend their abdoing anything”. awareness revolution and bid solute vulnerability to deEvil it is, a horrific evil, as this treachery has mustering the courage to mand their rights with resoluteness and determibeen perpetrated to the sufdemand what rightfully nation. The fact that they ferance of the poor and the have been pushed deep in destitute people. It was the belongs to the people. the pit for decades should state’s responsibility to be a deterrent in the provide the essentials of Maybe that is too little and not quest for their emergence life to them, but the rulers too late. Maybe, something as a formidable component made sure that this did not of Pakistan’s resurgence as even find a mention in the more than that is needed. a country that would take scheme of things. They are pride in its toiling people. attendants of the mighty The impoverished They are the ones who lords, only deserving ever new methods and mechamultitudes have to make a have kept it afloat in spite of countless barbarous innisms to tighten the chains courageous bid to flictions heaped upon them of captivity around their respite. Only they marginal existence. They transcend their absolute without are the ones who, as a coare to remain dependent on the throw-away morsels of vulnerability to demand their hesive and vibrant unit, can take it further in casting off the self-anointed potenrights with resoluteness the yoke of enslavement. tates. This has been their But hate and revenge lot and, unless something and determination. should not play a part in extraordinary happens, it is this task. It should be exlikely to remain so. clusively dedicated to But, then, humanity helping the country turn a cannot sustain a perpetually unequal and inequitable world. That breeds new page that would be to the benefit of all– hatred and cruelty, venom and rancour, forcing the sufferers and those who inflicted it. The each to fight the other for bare survival. If there urge to avenge countless wrongs will have to is to be a way, as there must be, it has to be a be left behind. This pioneering struggle will have to be collective effort for therein would be the strength of the people speaking through their moulded around the inimitable words of Nelson unity. I am reminded of albert Camus who once mandela– that remarkable person who traversed said that “the only way to deal with an un-free a long road to freedom: “As I walked out of the world is to become so absolutely free that your door toward the gate that would lead to my freevery existence is an act of rebellion”. That is a dom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and virtual state people will have to ultimately tran- hatred behind, I’d still be in prison”. It is time to walk out of the dungeons of sit to because staying still is no longer an opcaptivity! tion, and remaining quiet would be betrayal. Through decades of absence of governance, Raoof Hasan is a political and security the instruments of power and privilege have accumulated in the stranglehold of the oppressors strategist, and heads the Regional Peace and their charlatans. By no means, they would Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. He be willing to share their plunder with others, least can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com; of all those they consider to be their slaves. Even Twitter: @RaoofHasan
THE incumbent government must come out of its utopian world to reality. The government must realize that it is made up of humans and hence it has weaknesses. They are likely to make mistakes and there is nor harm in accepting and correcting those. The illusion that “we are beyond mistakes and errors” is what destroyed previous governments. It is further reinforced by blind followers who tend to support and defend every right or wrong decision of their leader for personal satisfaction or petty gains. according to Burke, government is a contrivance of human wisdom with the primary duty to provide basic amenities of life as well as to protect life and property of citizens. In a democratic system everyone is equal and ought to be respected without any discrimination. Victimization and bullying opponents while in power is not democratic, but hallmark of tyranny. moreover, whatever the system of government, money matters. When people are poor and start getting marginalized by the policies of government, they don’t care about loud speeches and tall claims. They want to see results. I think enough time has passed for the present government to now come out of the election mode and start performing. Just keeping making promises they can’t keep and blaming everything under the world on their opponents is not going to take them far. They have to realize that the loud speeches by lawmakers and senators to revive economy do not make much of a difference. RAJA SHAFAATuLLAH Islamabad
China’s Position on Kashmir EVEN before Indian minister for foreign affairs air-dashed to China, India’s jaundiced news channels and print media blared that Chinese foreign minister has, in a tweet, called up Pakistan to multilateralise the Kashmir issue, ‘India’s internal matter’. The media claims the USa and Russia have already shunned Pakistan. Pak media however say China supports even recourse to the Security Council. India’s draconian scrapping of article 370 and converting disputed ladakh into an Indian-Union territory impinges even China. Bilateralism did not help solve the Kashmir tangle for 70 years. Why not approach UN instead of fighting another war on Kashmir? Is the UN not a forum for peaceful resolution of disputes? SMAN JAAvEd MALIk Rawalpindi
A progressive punjab HaS Punjab really set sail towards progress and development? Different people have different opinions. Some people are of the opinion that the PTI led government has failed to provide any kind of relief to the masses while there are others who certainly believe that the government has taken many initiatives which are really meant for the welfare and wellbeing of people of the province. There is always an objective reality out there, but unfortunately we view it through the spectacles of our misbeliefs, stigmatic attitudes and self-asserted values. If we take such spectacles off then we might be able to understand what reality is! Some recent developments in different sectors have shown that Punjab is certainly heading towards progress and development. By realising the need to adopt a few measures and introduce some special initiatives, the Punjab government has really shown a very serious attitude in ensuring the betterment of its people. To provide lodging facilities to the poor, needy. and homeless citizens the government has established “Shelter Homes”. To facilitate the citizens and help protect Police records and provide secure access to the Police Station Record management System, the government has set up “mobile Police Khidmat marakaz”. To provide affordable housing facility to the low-income segments of the country, the government has started “Naya Pakistan Housing Program”. likewise, the government has launched “Punjab Ehsas Program” to provide necessary socio-economic protection to the disenfranchised sections of society. The government has launched “Sehat Insaf Cards” (health cards) to provide medical facilities to under-privileged people in a swift and dignified manner. Similarly, the government has launched “Smart Card for Registration of Vehicles”, abolishing the traditional registration books. moreover, the government has taken many initiatives to empower women and eliminate different forms of discrimination and violence against them in all its manifestations. SyEd ALI QASIM Lahore
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
10 FOREIGN NEWS
US joB creation SUrgeS in janUary, adding 225,000 poSitionS WASHINGTON
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AGENCIES
HE US economy saw an explosion of new hiring in January, possibly helped by mild weather but nonetheless getting the year off to an impressive start, according to key government data released Friday. The surprising gain will be a boon to President Donald Trump, who has emerged intact from his impeachment and trial and can now trumpet his economic record as he battles to win re-election in November. “JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!” the president tweeted following the report, using the hashtag “#PromisesMadePromisesKept.” “So jobs continue to be great. Our country continues to do great,” Trump told reporters later at the White House. Still, after more than a decade of steady growth and job gains, and with steep tariffs on many products from
China still in place, it is questionable whether the hiring pace can continue, especially since the economy is projected to slow this year. US employers added 225,000 new non-farm jobs last month, far surpassing expectations, thanks to big gains in construction and leisure and hospitality, but also health care and transportation, the Labor Department reported. The blockbuster number was a rebound from a tepid December report, but the latest gains mean the economy added an average of 211,000 jobs in the last three months. That is a healthy improvement on the 175,000 average of 2019 when the economy cooled amid Trump’s multifront trade wars that led to tariffs on huge amounts of imports and American goods sold abroad. Even with the big job gains in January, the unemployment rate ticked up by a tenth of a point to 3.6 percent. But that
can be attributed to an increase in the labour force, as more people returned to the job market, and the jobless rate still remains near a 50-year low. “Amid virus-induced fears of a sharp economic slump, strong job creation and firming wage growth in January provided reassurance that the record-long economic expansion still has room to run,” Oxford Economics analysts said. However, they said, “employers continue to face a volatile and uncertain global environment which, along with a cooling domestic backdrop, will lead them to be more cautious hiring.” MILD WEATHER BOOSTS BUILDING: The construction sector, which is highly weather-dependent, added a stunning 44,000 positions last month — nearly four times the monthly average of 2019. But the housing sector, a key driver of the US economy, continues to face a shortage of workers, making it hard to
Top hopefuls Buttigieg, Sanders under fire in Democratic debate
WASHINGTON AGENCIES
White House hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — riding neck-and-neck in the polls ahead of the next Democratic primary contest — come under sustained attack on the debate stage from rivals seeking to challenge Donald Trump in November. Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana who at 38 is a fresh face on the national stage, defended himself against charges of inexperience and, in a dig at Sanders, urged Americans to elevate a nominee who will “leave the politics of the past in the past.” The 78-year-old leftist Sanders, eyeing the moderate Buttigieg as his possible chief adversary, aimed his own shots at his far younger rival in the Manches-
ter, New Hampshire debate — casting him as the candidate of Wall Street. “I don’t have 40 billionaires, Pete, contributing to my campaign,” Sanders said. Buttigieg and Sanders finished atop the pack earlier this week in Iowa’s chaotic caucuses, and both hope to renew the performance Tuesday in New Hampshire, as the Democratic Party seeks to pick a challenger to Trump in November. But Sanders, a veteran senator calling for “political revolution,” was in the firing line from several rivals, including former vice president and fellow septuagenarian Joe Biden who branded his policies too radical to unite Americans. The 77-year-old Biden, fighting to keep his White House hopes alive after finishing an unnerving fourth
keep up with demand for new homes, with buyers drawn by low interest rates, which is pushing up prices. “America is currently short by around 5 to 6 million housing units and much more construction is needed,” said Lawrence Yun chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector jumped 21,000, bringing the total over the past six months alone to 288,000, according to the report. The manufacturing sector, which slumped into recession last year under the weight of punitive tariffs imposed in the trade confrontations, both on inputs and on exports, lost 12,000 positions in January — almost entirely due to a decline in the auto sector. Trump has justified his confrontational trade policy with promises to help US manufacturing, but industries have not seen the big boost. “Manufacturing accounts for only
in Iowa, insisted liberal policies like Sanders’s flagship universal health care plan would be too divisive, expensive and difficult to get through Congress. “How much is it going to cost?” Biden asked about Sanders’s Medicare for All bill which estimates the project would cost tens of trillions of dollars. “Who do you think is going get that passed” in Congress? Biden performed more aggressively than in previous showings, seizing a chance to argue that today’s global tensions required an experienced statesman to guide the nation out of a dark period. Despite the Iowa setback he also made plain he still views himself as best placed to mount a centrist challenge to the Republican Trump, who this week survived an impeachment trial that did little to dent his electoral support. A national unknown one year ago, Buttigieg has run an ambitious campaign that resonated with voters who appreciate his articulate explanations of policy. But rivals including Senator Amy Klobuchar argued Buttigieg is an untested novice on the world stage. “We have a newcomer in the White House, and look where it got us,” she said in a gibe at both Buttigieg and Trump. Buttigieg draws on his experience as a military veteran to cast himself as a credible commander-inchief. And he advanced his central argument for generational change as the best way to take on the nation’s tests. “The biggest risk we could take at a time like this would be to go up against the fundamentally new challenge by trying to fall back on the familiar,” Buttigieg said. TRUMP’S WORST NIGHTMARE: Also onstage in New Hampshire were Senator Elizabeth Warren, entrepreneur Andrew Yang and billionaire activist Tom Steyer. Klobuchar, a pragmatist from Minnesota, put in a forceful performance as she voiced her opposition to Sanders and Warren, arguing their liberal plans would only divide voters. “Truthfully, Donald Trump’s worst nightmare is a candidate that will bring people in from the middle,” she said.
Global warming to blame for hottest day in Argentine Antarctica BUENOS AIRES AGENCIES
Global warming is to blame for Argentine Antarctica recording its hottest day since readings began, Greenpeace said on Friday. Temperatures climbed to 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) at midday Thursday at the research station Esperanza base, the highest temperature on record since 1961, according to the National Meteorological Service. The previous record stood at 17.5 degrees on March 24, 2015. The new record is “of course shocking but unfortunately not surprising because Antarctica is warming up with the rest of the planet,” said Frida Bengtsson, marine environment specialist for Greenpeace, in a statement. At Marambio, another Argentine base in Antarctica, temperatures reached 14.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the hottest temperature for a day in February since 1971. The news comes after a decade of record temperatures on the planet and a 2019 that was the second hottest year since registers have been kept. And the new decade has begun along the same tendency, with last month the hottest January on record. The effects of global warming have already seen ocean levels rise due to melting ice caps. The two largest ice caps on the planet, in Antarctica and Greenland, have already lost an average of a
combined 430 billion tons a year since 2006. According to UN climate experts, the oceans rose 15 centimeters during the 20th century. It’s a threat to coastal towns and small islands the world over. One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is the Thwaites glacier, which is the size of Britain. Scientists say that if it melted it would raise sea levels by 65 centimeters.
“Over the last 30 years, the amount of ice melting off Thwaites and adjacent glaciers has nearly doubled,” said the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration group of scientists in a statement. Argentina has had a presence in Antarctica for the past 114 years, including several scientific research bases, and is also a signatory of the Antarctic Treaty, which came into force in June 1961 and prohibits any militarization of the continent.
8.4% of payrolls, but it punches above its weight in the eyes of the markets, media, and politicians,” said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics. And despite a trade truce signed with China last month, which left most tariffs in place, as well as the continental free trade deal with Mexico and Canada known as USMCA, industry leaders remain concerned. “What blue collar boom? Factory job growth simply hasn’t been noticeable for a year now,” Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said in a statement. “The president took a victory lap by signing the China ‘Phase 1’ and USMCA deals, but out in the real world, the manufacturing sector is still hurting.” Meanwhile, the US health care sector added another 36,000 jobs in the month, and has grown by 361,000 over the past 12 months, according to the report. The labor force participation rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 63.4 percent as more people returned to the workforce to look for jobs. Worker pay grew by seven cents to an average of $28.44 an hour last month, and has grown 3.1 percent over the past 12 months. That gain outstrips inflation and is key to helping US consumers keep buying goods and services — a force which has been shoring up economic growth in the face of headwinds from abroad and sluggish growth at home.
Botswana to start auctions of elephant hunting licences KANYE: Botswana on Friday will hold its first major auction for trophy elephant hunting quotas since controversially scrapping a hunting ban last year, a wildlife official said. President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s government in May revoked a moratorium, just a year after he succeeded Ian Khama, an avid environmentalist, who introduced a blanket ban in 2014 to reverse a decline in the population of wild animals. Masisi fended off criticism of his government’s decision, saying the move would not threaten the elephant population. The government will issue seven hunting “packages” of 10 elephants each, confined to “controlled hunting areas”, a wildlife spokeswoman Alice Mmolawa told AFP on Thursday. In a text message, she said hunting would help areas most impacted by “human wildlife conflict,” a reference to elephants roaming off game parks into communities. The 2020 hunting season is expected to open in April. Bidding is open to “companies that are either owned by Botswana citizens or are registered in Botswana,” she added. Bidders must deposit a refundable of 200,000 pula ($18,300) to participate. The lifting of the hunting ban was praised by local communities but derided by conservationists and ignited tension between the Khama and Masisi. OVERPOPULATION: Masisi has defended his decision to end the hunting ban saying Botswana has an overpopulation of elephants, and pledged to regulate the practice. His predecessor Khama was bitter. “I have been against hunting because it represents a mentality (of) those who support it, to exploit nature for self interest that has brought about the extinction of many species worldwide,” he told AFP in a phone interview. He said allowing commercial hunting could “demotivate those who are engaged in anti poaching, who are being told to save elephants from poachers but the regime is poaching the same elephant and calling it hunting”. Audrey Delsink, Africa’s wildlife director for the global conservation lobby charity Humane Society International said “the Botswanan elephant hunting auctions are deeply concerning and questionable”. “Hunting is not an effective long-term human-elephant mitigation tool or population control method,” she said. Neil Fitt, who heads Kalahari Conservation Society in Botswana, views hunting as a new source of revenue for the country, but cautioned it has to be practised “ethically and properly”.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
BUSINESS 11
TEchnical nEgoTiaTionS bETwEEn PaKiSTan and iMF conclUdE
CORPORATE CORNER
ISLAMABAD
ISLAMABAD: FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Ltd (FCEPL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Parliamentary Taskforce on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to assist the SDGs Secretariat achieve its targets. The MoU was signed by FCEPL Managing Director Ali Ahmed Khan and Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs Convener Riaz Fatyana. PRESS RElEASE
KARACHI: As a part of its drive to instill tolerance and acceptance of differently abled people within society, English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM) became the official sponsors for the recently held Special Olympics Pakistan’s Unified Marathon. P R E S S R E l E A S E
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STAFF REPORT
ECHNICAL negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded on Saturday. According to sources privy to this development, the Pakistani economic team briefed the IMF officials on the country's macroeconomic framework as well as the government's fiscal policies. Matters pertaining to the power sector, tax revenue as well as the autonomy of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were also discussed in detail, sources added. They said the IMF team questioned Pakistani officials about the second-quarter benchmarks as well as other targets. Subsequently, the Pakistan team informed them about the government's ac-
ISLAMABAD
KARACHI: Faysal Bank Limited was the lead sponsor of the 5th Special Olympics Pakistan Unified Marathon 2020, held recently at the Moin Khan Academy. The event hosted a total of 3,500 participants, which included 1,300 differently abled children and adults. PRESS RElEASE
tions with regard to SBP autonomy bill as well as NEPRA Act. Following the conclusion of technical negotiations between IMF and Pakistan, sources said, policy level negotiations would now start from Tuesday and would continue till February 13. It is pertinent to mention that the IMF had cleared Pakistan in its first-quarter review. For the second quarter, the lending organization has asked Pakistan to make SBP autonomous, ensure annual increase in gas prices, take measures to meet revenue target and approve the NEPRA ACT. Last month, IMF Resident Representative
for Pakistan Teresa Daban Sanchez had noted that Pakistan’s overall macro-economic performance remained satisfactory [during the first quarter review]. “Revenue collections have increased substantially, with improvement in the trade deficit and net foreign assets, she had said this during a conversation with relevant stakeholders at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. “There is a successful transition towards a market-based exchange rate regime by the government which helps increase foreign exchange reserves,” she had noted. “The government was also successful in controlling expenditures with the help of new public finance management law and avoids borrowing from the central bank.” However, he had said, economic activity was softening as the economy adjusts to a new stabilisation policies.
ParC directed to justify reinstatement of ‘corrupt’ official SHAHZAD PARACHA
LAHORE: Test Cricketer Wahab Riaz poses for a group photo with the management of Airlink during his visit to Airlink store. PRESS REl E A S E
POLICY LEVEL DISCUSSIONS TO COMMENCE FROM TUESDAY
The Ministry of National Food Security & Research has directed the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) to present before the Board of Governors (BoG) a case related to the reinstatement of an alleged corrupt official. According to documents available with this scribe, MoNFS&R Secretary Hashim Popalzia has asked PARC to withdraw the reinstatement of Nasir Mahmood Cheema, adding that his case should be placed in the BoG so that an appropriate decision could be taken in this regard, as desired by the Islamabad High Court. Principal Scientific Officer Nasir Mahmood Cheema was accused of alleged corruption
in a project titled 'Olive Cultivation in Pakistan'. After a proper inquiry into the matter, he was dismissed from service by a competent authority. However, Cheema was reinstated with the approval of the BoG president on 17 January 2020. Sources revealed that Cheema's reinstatement into service was hurriedly carried out by the PARC chairman and the BoG president, without taking into account the Islamabad High Court's order as well as an inquiry which was pending with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). On knowing the facts that Nasir Mahmood Cheema has been reinstated into service, the ministry had called upon the PARC Chairman on 20 January 2020 to explain the case.
However, despite a lapse of over two weeks, neither did the PARC chairman submit Cheema's personal file/case nor did he justify the reinstatement. It is pertinent to mention that Nasir Mahmood Cheema and a senior account officer Sakit Saleem were fired by the department after they were found guilty of corruption in an olive project. The project was aimed at promoting olive cultivation in the country and for this purpose, high-quality plants worth millions of rupees were imported from other countries. Talking to this scribe, PARC Chairman Dr Azeem maintained that the department was getting the legal interpretation of the contents of the [ministry's] letter so that an appropriate reply could be submitted.
Market weekly
KSE-100 drops 3.6pc amid weak investor sentiment As confusion and uncertainty surrounded the investors at Pakistan Stock Exchange, the KSE-100 Index lost 1,487 points or 3.6pc during the outgoing week, representing the highest weekly decline in recent months. During the outgoing week, a staggering sum of Rs276 billion was wiped off the market capitalisation at PSX. Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading $4.1 million worth of shares. Over the five trading sessions, the benchmark KSE-100 Index observed slight fluctuations in intraday highs and lows, but overall closed in negative territories. Investors adopted extremely cautious behaviour after more headlines of mounting deaths due to coronavirus outbreak, a plunge in global crude oil prices, unchanged main policy rate by the State Bank of Pakistan at 13.25pc for the next two months, uncertain FATF decision and political uncertainty in the country. During the week under review, the highest single day loss was witnessed on Monday, as the index dropped 1,222 points or about 3pc. BUSINESS DESK
LAHORE: Workers busy in loading cargo on a train. ONlINE
Weekly inflation up 0.21pc BUSINESS DESK The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)based weekly inflation (as on Feb 6) for the combined consumption group increased by 0.21pc as compared to the previous week. The SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 131.35 points as against 131.08 points registered in the previous week, accord-
ing to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The weekly SPI, with base year 201516=100, covered 17 urban centers and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups. The SPI for the lowest consumption group, up to Rs17,732, witnessed 0.48pc increase, from 134.06 points in the last week to 134.70 points during the week under review. As compared to the corresponding
week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 17.58pc, while for the lowest group, it increased by 16.18pc. Meanwhile, the SPI for the consumption groups from Rs17,733-Rs22,888, from Rs22,889-Rs29,517, Rs29,518Rs44,175 and above Rs44,175 per month also increased by 0.42pc, 0.35pc, 0.28pc and 0.09pc, respectively.
During the week under review, average prices of eight items registered a decrease, while that of 16 items prices increased with prices of 27 items remaining unchanged. The items that recorded a decrease in their average prices included tomatoes, eggs, potatoes, LPG cylinder, wheat flour, chicken, pulse (mash and gram). On the other hand, the items which recorded an increase in their average prices included garlic, vegetable ghee (loose), vegetable ghee (tin), cooking oil, onions, sugar, gur, pulse (moong, masoor), bananas, tea (prepared), fire-
UK seeks 'ambitious' trade deal with Japan TOKYO AGENCIES
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and his Japanese counterpart agreed on Saturday to seek an "ambitious, high standard" trade accord matching Japan's agreement with the EU. Raab is on a fournation Asian tour in his first major overseas trip since Britain left the European Union on January 31 after 47 years of membership. He arrived in Tokyo Saturday morning from Australia on a twoday visit and held talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo. "In line with our commitment to free trade, we will work quickly to make the new partnership as ambitious, high standard and mutually beneficial as the Japan-EU EPA," the two ministers said in a joint statement. Their planned bilateral trade accord would "send a very powerful signal of our shared commitment to free, rules-based trade," Raab told reporters. Motegi said preparations were under way for formal negotiations on a Japan-Britain free trade partnership. "We agreed that we will start and conclude the negotiations as early as possible," he added. In 2018, Japan and the EU struck a trade deal covering more than 630 million people and economies that add up to around a third of global output. They began negotiations in 2013, two years after agreeing to start talks. Following Brexit, Britain is hoping to negotiate a new trade deal not just with Brussels but also the United States, Japan and other countries. Raab is also heading to Singapore and Malaysia.
wood, bread, rice (Irri-6/9), mustard oil and mutton. Similarly, the prices of the commodities that observed no change in their prices during the week under review included rice (basmati broken), beef, milk (fresh), curd, milk (powdered), salt, chillies, tea (packet), cooked beef, cooked daal, cigarettes, long cloth, shirting, lawn, georgette, gents sandal, gents sponge chappal, ladies sandal, electricity charges, gas charges, energy saver, washing sop, matchbox, petrol, diesel, telephone call and toilet soap.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
12 BUSINESS Shahtaj Sugar Mills reports 119pc surge in net profit LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI
The net profit of Shahtaj Sugar Mills Limited (SHJS) increased by 119.4pc for the company's first quarter ended December 31, 2019. According to the company's unaudited financial results for the first quarter, the sugar mill registered a net profit of Rs15.354 million as compared to the net loss of Rs79.040 million during the same period of 2018. During the period under review, the company registered a turnover of Rs667.943 million, as compared to Rs479.318 million in the corresponding period of last year. As per the company’s unaudited condensed financial information for the first quarter, the cost of sales clocked in at Rs569.626 million, as compared to Rs492.299 million the year. The sugar mill made a gross profit of Rs98.317 million for the first quarter, as against the gross loss of Rs12.981 million during the same period of 2018. SHJS states that the main reason for the profit was an increase in the price of sugar and molasses. During the said period, the financial cost of SHJS was Rs13.753 million as against Rs10.931 million during the same period in 2018. This was due to high utilization of banking limits against pledge of sugar and upward adjustment in interest rates due to change of discount rates. PERFORMANCE: As per the company director's report, the crushing season 2019-20 started on 30 November 2019, and until the morning of 29 January 2020, they crushed 347,566 metric tonnes of sugarcane, producing 31,515MT of sugar at an average recovery of 9.31pc. According to the data produced above, there was an increase in production with high crushing of sugarcane due to early start of crushing season as compared to last year. Further, recovery percentages of sugar and molasses were lower than last year due to weather conditions. The Punjab government has fixed support price of sugarcane for this season at Rs190 per 40 kg, whereas last year it was Rs180 per 40 kg. Initial estimates of availability of sugarcane were less than that of last year due to lesser cultivation of crop and poor rainfall during the year 2019 but the recent increase in support price will motivate growers towards this cash crop. Sugar prices during the three-month period were better than the corresponding period of last year owing to lesser production overall in the country. Further, molasses prices during the period under review were also better as compared to the corresponding period due to low production and nonavailability of molasses stocks in the market.
FigUrE FUdging oF PricE daTa ‘noT PoSSiblE’, govT clariFiES ISLAMABAD
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STAFF REPORT
HE Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives clarified on Saturday that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) followed a transparent process to compile data regarding inflation rate and that figure fudging of price data was not possible. Rejecting a media report titled 'Understatement of the Rate of Inflation', the ministry clarified, "The estimates of different researchers regarding inflation figure was around 13pc, whereas the actual inflation compiled by PBS for the month of January 2019 is (14.6pc) more than what was estimated. This shows PBS is non-biased towards compilation and publication of price statistics." It continued, "PBS follows standing operating procedures regarding time schedule for data collection and this inflation is higher because the
prices were collected during the peak of the price surge in the mid of the month. "Furthermore, PBS clarifies that as far as the average price of wheat flour (Rs.47/kg) is concerned, it is weighted average price calculated from varying prices from Rs800 to Rs1200 in different cities as per availability of flour in the market." As per the statement, the prices in Punjab were on average Rs40 per kg while in Karachi it was highest at Rs60 per kg. City-wise prices of 51 essential items were given as annexure of the CPI on the website of PBS. The ministry observed that in Punjab, where both government-controlled and private flour was available, the wheat flour average price ranged from Rs800 to Rs942 per 20 kg. In KP, Sindh and Balochistan, the average wheat flour price ranged from Rs1000 to Rs1200 per 20 kg. Regarding 'five per cent increase in rent', as reported in the news, the ministry stated, "The
rent prices are collected on a quarterly basis and computed on the basis of weighted average approach based on the data collected from small and large housing units, which revealed that the year-on-year rent increase is 5.63 per cent for the current quarter. "This increase is aligned with the historical trend of rent increase, however, it is not essential that rent increases every month." The ministry further clarified that PBS collects the data of real-time prices on android technology equipped with GPS and monitored at different levels. "Price data collection, validation and publication are well synchronized with best global standard Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP). PBS compiles data without any political intervention or motivation and transparency is ensured regarding city-wise price data. Therefore, fudging of the data is not possible."
apple to delay reopening of retail stores in china
HyDERABAD: Sindh Livestock expo blocks highway near Hyderabad. ONlINE
Apple Inc is extending its retail store closures in China due to the coronavirus outbreak, even as it worked towards opening its corporate offices and contact centers, the iPhone maker said. The company earlier this month said it would shut all of its official stores and corporate offices in mainland China until Feb.9 due to the outbreak. “We are working toward re-opening our corporate offices and contact centers the week of February 10, and we are making preparations to reopen our retail store,” the company said in a statement. “We will continue to update our customers as opening dates are finalised.” Apple remains heavily reliant on China both for smartphone sales as well as for its supply chain and manufacturing. AGENCIES
trade deficit shrinks 28.4pc in seven months BUSINESS DESK The country's trade deficit witnessed a significant reduction during the first seven months (July-January) of the current financial year (FY20), shrinking by 28.40pc when compared with the corresponding period of last year. During the period under review, the country's exports registered about 2.14 per cent growth (recorded at $13.498 billion), whereas imports reduced by 15.95pc (recorded at $13.216 billion),
according to foreign trade statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). On a year-on-year basis, the country’s trade deficit narrowed by 15.03pc during the month of January 2020 as against the same month of last year. The deficit in January 2020 was recorded at $2.067 billion as compared to the deficit of $2.433 billion in January 2019. During the month under review, exports decreased by 3.17pc, from $2.035 billion in Janu-
ary 2019 to $1.970 million in January 2020, whereas imports receded from $4.467 million in January last year to $4.037 million in January this year. On a month-on-month basis, exports decreased by 1.15pc in January 2020 when compared with exports of $1.993 million in December 2019. Imports during the month under review witnessed no change and were recorded at $4.037 billion.
As China returns to work, it is hardly business as usual BEIJING AGENCIES
The Chinese economy will sputter towards normal on Monday after the coronavirus outbreak forced an extended holiday, although numerous stores and factories will remain shut and many white-collar employees will continue working from home. The usually week-long Lunar New Year holiday was extended by 10 days in much of China amid mounting alarm over an epidemic that as of Saturday morning had killed 722 people. Huge cities including Beijing and Shanghai seem like ghost towns, with shops and restaurants closed or empty, and as containment measures including transportation curbs are enforced in many parts of the country. Some cities are keep-
ing schools closed and restrictions on movements remain. Many employers in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen are taking precautions to prevent workers from returning in large crowds, asking those who have travelled from elsewhere to self-quarantine for up to 14 days. Calls to the hotlines of an NGO serving migrant workers in nearby city of Guangzhou have multiplied in recent days. “People are asking, ‘what if my factory hasn’t put enough safety measures in place? Will there be a notice suspending work again? How do I get in to work if roads are sealed off?’” said Ice Huang, a spokeswoman for the Inno Community Development Organisation. Apple Inc said on Friday its retail stores in China would stay closed, even as it worked toward opening its corporate
offices and contact centres. Apple supplier Foxconn plans only to “gradually” restart its factories with a view to resuming full production in late February, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. While in Shanghai, the city government said Tesla’s factory would reopen on Monday. The toll on China’s already-slowing economy has been heavy, with Goldman Sachs cutting its first quarter GDP target to 4pc from 5.6pc previously and saying an even deeper hit is possible. “It’s certainly not going to be a return to normal next week,” said Julian EvansPritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics in Singapore. “The longer this disruption continues the higher the risk it affects employment and the higher the risk of a much bigger
hit on the economy,” he said. TEMPERATURE CHECKS, HOME QUARANTINE: In Shenzhen, businesses looking to reopen were required to check the recent travel history of all staff and implement temperature checks and prevention measures such as providing masks. Similar guidelines were in place elsewhere. Some businesses told Reuters that they were not sure when they would reopen. “We’re still not sure we’ll be open on Monday,” Suki, who works in human resources for a Belgian-owned manufacturing company in Shenzhen and declined to give her surname. “We applied online to open five days ago but inspectors only visited today,” she said on Friday. Still, Sunday is set to be the peak travel day of the Lunar New Year period, an official from the Transport Ministry
said this week, as millions of Chinese return from their holidays. US confectionary and pet food maker Mars said it was advising its China staff to continue working from home until at least Feb 14 and providing masks, while apparel brand Agnes B said it had bought disinfectant to clean its offices. Major tech companies such as Hangzhou-headquartered e-commerce giant Alibaba Group have told staff to continue working from home beyond Feb 10 until further notice, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment. One engineer who works for a mobile phone manufacturer company in Shenzhen said she was told to return to work on Monday but was unsure whether to go. “It’s choosing between earning enough to live and living,” she said.
CMYK
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Sunday, 9 February, 2020
City Ballet review: History, rarity and an odd, Fascinating Solo
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S the title for a mixed bill at New York City Ballet, “Classic NYCB I” is standard. But the program that debuted on Thursday isn’t standard or classic. True, the works are by the usual suspects — George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins — along with the company’s current resident choreographer, Justin Peck, whose fresh and wonderful take on Copland’s “Rodeo” score was made in 2015. But the departed masters Balanchine and Robbins are represented by rarities, and a classic with a missing piece restored. It’s the kind of program that keeps prompting the question, “When did City Ballet last do that?” There’s enough excellence and entertainment in it to please curious first-timers, but really it’s a gift for the faithful, the completists, those who have seen everything and still want more.
The most glamorous entry is “episodes,” an ultramodernist 1959 work, set to the astringent sounds of Webern, in which Balanchine turned ballet upside down and inside out, innovating in ugly beauty. It’s a repertory staple, but without the solo in it that Balanchine made for the modern dance luminary Paul Taylor (who died last year). Now that solo is back, danced by the former Taylor company star Michael Trusnovec. There’s a lot of history here. In 1959, Taylor was a member of Martha Graham’s company. “episodes” was an unprecedented joint venture for Graham and Balanchine, the monarchs of modern dance and ballet. But because the Graham portion and Balanchine’s solo for Taylor fell away — and because the solo was restored, under Taylor’s guidance, only after Balanchine’s death, only to fall away again — there are questions of authenticity and influence.
how much Balanchine are we seeing, how much Taylor? how much of what looks like Taylor came from Balanchine? In performance, the solo is strange and fascinating. The image that has stuck to it is the one that Taylor said Balanchine gave him: a fly in a glass of milk. That’s both illuminating and obscuring. Some of the contorted poses might suggest insects; the unmarked repetitions impart the sensation of being trapped in a loop, desperation increasing. But other moments (staring at fingers, picking up a foot) flash selfawareness, self-examination, self-bewilderment, self-alienation. This is a man, not a bug. Compared with City Ballet dancers, though, Mr. Trusnovec is another species. his physicality, timing and dramatic projection are all different — brilliant, extraordinarily clear, but bracingly different. Taylor
must have stuck out even more. (The effect will likely be softened when Jovani Furlan, a terrific recruit from Miami City Ballet, takes over the role later this month.) The solo, restored to “episodes,” heightens the contrast with the final section, which is a kind of downshifting back into balletic order set to a Webern arrangement of Bach. Yet its inclusion felt to me like the reopening of a wound that long ago healed; the rest of the work seemed to repel the solo’s foreign body. That’s not bad; it’s stimulating — good for the health of a classic. The program’s other curiosities are lighter. Balanchine’s “haieff Divertimento,” from 1947, is no missing link. The music, by Alexei haieff, is decent Coplandesque Americana, and the dance’s loner theme is rather bald. But it’s fun to note the ideas and phrases that Balanchine lifted for later, now more-
familiar works. And it’s fun to see oddities he didn’t use again, like an academic circling of the leg awkwardly executed to the rear. Unity Phelan rose to the challenge of its spare lead-ballerina solo, making something out of little without doing too much. “Concertino,” which Robbins created for the 1982 Stravinsky Festival, is pleasing too, if chambersized and oddly shaped. It’s largely Robbins exploring the possibilities of two men and a woman, à la Balanchine’s Stravinsky ballet “Agon,” but in his own playful way, wittily visualizing the character of the music. Adrian Danchig-Waring, Teresa Reichlen and Mr. Furlan caught its loose grace. Seeing it doesn’t radically alter my idea of Robbins, but even the unsurpassed repertory of City Ballet need not be all masterpieces. Small gifts are still gifts. g
poetry
Reviving the Ghazal, featuring Hamza Azhar
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by AbdullAh NiAzi
he Urdu Ghazal may be dying. It is, for the lovers of the poetic form, a difficult realization to grapple with. especially since there stands a vast, rich collection of great ghazals that have not only been brought alive on paper, but have also been sung and become iconic. The history of Urdu literature can easily be put into four distinct eras all reigned over by a sovereign poet King. The founding father was Mir Taqi Mir, whose lyrical depth is unmatched and whose work established the language language as one capable of great expression, not only of love, but loss - loss of magnitude more than just romantic, but also familial, national and patriotic. After him came another great, Ghalib, whose time as the court poet and his many stinging battles with his patron Bahadur Shah Zaffar, the last Mughal King and himself a masterful urdu poet, entrenched the language as the language of the Muslims of the subcontinent. With the end of the Mughal court, there was an end to a language of court, and Urdu was frozen in time. And since then, it seems Ghalib’s position as the great ghazal writer has also been frozen in time with it. After these two inaugural greats came the poets of the mdern era, Iqbal with his soaring pan Islamist and nationalist rhetoric, and Faiz
with his socialist utopia. Both wrote ghazals, but both were different poets - Iqbal a true high minded philosopher and Faiz a true poet of the people. The ghazal waned with these two, as the nazam and more free yet still lyrical forms of poetry made way. What many today may not realise, the ghazal does in fact have some very strict rules, stricter even than sonnets which have multiple forms such as Italian, Shakespearean or Spenserian. A Ghazal must have a Matlaa containing both qaafiya and radif, which set its tone. This must be followed by a refrain word or phrase from these two established in the beginning, and then so on and so forth. While the ghazal may not have been all that the latter two great poets were known for, it was in the modern era that the form flourished, more because of the singers than the poets. Mehdi hassan and Ghulam Ali were only the leading men, and a litany of ghazal writers were making the lyrics for them. But with the end of the maestros and the poets, the ghazal seems to be dwindling. It is at a time like this that ABC will look at upcoming, budding ghazal writers looking for musicians to sing their work and bring alive this hallmark of culture. The ghazal writer being featured this week is hamza Azhar, a talented young medicine student in his third year, who has before this seen meteoric fame on social media. his contribution for ABC is Tashna dil. g
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
14 SPORTS
Serena, Kenin give US 2-0 Fed CUp lead Over latvia everett
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Agencies
EWLY minted Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams gave the United States a commanding 2-0 lead over Latvia on the opening day of their Fed Cup qualifying tie on Friday. Williams survived a late wobble to beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) in the final match of the night in Everett, Washington. Kenin had put the United States up 1-0 with a brisk 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anastasija Sevastova. Williams followed with a hardfought win over Ostapenko that improved her perfect record in Fed Cup singles to 14-0. "I'm really proud of being able to get the win for the team," said Williams, who was ousted in the third round of the Australian Open in her latest bid to match Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles. Williams needed two tiebreakers and one hour and 46 minutes to do it.
She appeared poised to finish Ostapenko off after breaking for a 6-5 lead in the second set, but she was broken herself in the next game and dropped the first two points of the ensuing tiebreaker. But Williams won five
straight points to take a 5-2 lead in the decider, and Ostapenko double-faulted to give her a match point that Williams seized. Two double-faults had been costly for Ostapenko in the first-set tiebreaker as well, giving Williams the
upper hand after an opening set in which they went toe-to-toe after an early exchange of breaks. Williams is playing in her first Fed Cup match since 2018 -- when she played doubles with her sister, Venus. She hadn't played singles in the women's nations event since 2015, but with the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon the US veteran was all-in on tennis as "a team sport now." In that vein she added thanks to her "incredible partner" Kenin. "I was so excited," Williams said of seeing Kenin capture her first Grand Slam title just six days earlier with an upset of two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza in the Australian Open final. Kenin needed only 68 minutes to get past 41st-ranked Sevastova, showing no sign of a let down after her Melbourne triumph. "I was obviously a little nervous coming in after Australia," Kenin said. "I felt tired, but I tried to get that out of my mind and just represent and do what I do best." Kenin will have a chance to seal the tie for the United States when she meets Ostapenko on Saturday, with a place in the finals in Budapest in April is on the line.
Federer, Nadal play to record crowd in Cape Town Cape town Agencies
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal attracted what organisers said was a world record crowd for a tennis match when they played an exhibition event in the Cape Town Stadium on Friday. The organisers said an audited attendance of 51,954 beat the 42,517 who watched Federer play Alexander Zverev of Germany in Mexico City last November. They also announced that the 'Match in Africa' raised $3.5-million for the Roger Federer Foundation, which supports educational and athletic programmes for children in Africa. "To have 51,954 people in attendance at a tennis match, I never thought I'd be apart of something like that," said Federer. "It's not something you dream about. Federer, who was accompanied by his South African mother, Lynette, said his first appearance in South Africa was a special occasion. "The first time here in Cape Town, in South Africa, means so much more than just tennis," he said. Federer won 6-4 3-6 6-3 in a match in which the players had to contend with cool, windy conditions in the stadium that was built for the 2010 football World Cup. The arena was packed with eager fans who sang, clapped and did the wave throughout the match. "It's an amazing crowd, an amazing stadium," said Nadal, who was making his first appearance in South Africa since playing in the country as a junior.
"It's an unforgettable evening. We will probably never play again in an atmosphere such as this one," said Nadal. "I can't thank enough the people here in Cape Town. They came here and created an unforgettable atmosphere." Earlier in the day, Federer and his doubles partner billionaire Bill Gates beat Nadal and South-African born comedian Trevor Noah in a match with more flexible rules. The ceremonial coin toss was performed by World Cup-winning Springbok rugby captain Siya Kolisi, who presented Federer with a Springbok jersey. The coin used was a commemorative 20 Swiss Francs piece minted with Federer's face. He gave it to Kolisi. Other high-profile South African sports stars in attendance included former Springbok captains John Smit and Jean de Villiers as well as Olympic swimmer Ryk Neethling. The match is the sixth edition of the event organised by the Roger Federer Foundation and is the first to take place in Africa. "There's so much anticipation that goes into it that the match itself almost gets forgotten," said Federer before the match. He said he spent childhood holidays in South Africa. "The time spent here as a kid was amazing," Federer said. "You would go on the road and you never come back for some reason because you've gotta chase that little tennis ball and you've gotta chase your dreams." Tens of thousands of fans showed up early and were ecstatic when Nadal and Federer hit practice balls into the stands.
Osaka shocked as Spain seize Fed Cup lead over Japan Santiago Agencies
A tearful Naomi Osaka followed up her Australian Open disappointment with another surprise defeat on Friday when she was beaten 6-0, 6-3 by world number 78 Sara Sorribes Tormo in the Fed Cup. Spain took an unexpected lead over Japan in the tie in Cartagena after Sorribes Tormo capitalised on a careless performance from Osaka, who made an astonishing 50 unforced errors in the 15 games. Carla Suarez Navarro then made it 2-0 to the hosts after she eased past Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-4. Sorribes Tormo enjoyed the backing of a sizeable home crowd at La Manga Club and her consistency proved too much for Osaka, who has never played her best on clay. "We knew that Sara had the game to make it very uncomfortable for Naomi," Spain captain Anabel Medina Garrigues said. "She stuck to the game plan perfectly." The winners of the eight qualifying ties will join four automatic entries, holders France, Australia, Czech Republic and hosts Hungary, in the inaugural Fed Cup Finals in Budapest in April. Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, has endured a shaky start to the year after being knocked out by 15-year-old American sensation Coco Gauff last month in Melbourne, where she had lifted the trophy in 2019. Since claiming her second consecutive major triumph, Osaka has dipped, failing to go past the fourth round in any of the four Grand Slams since. The 22-year-old, who has dropped to number 10 in the world, surrendered the first set to Sorribes Tormo in a swift 27 minutes before putting up more of a fight in the second. But after Osaka led 2-0, Sorribes Tormo came back and a break midway through proved decisive, with a clearly disappointed Osaka struggling to contain her emotions at the finish. Sorribes Tormo's second career singles win in Fed Cup gave Spain the perfect start, which was extended by Suarez Navarro's comfortable victory over Doi. Osaka will now have to beat Suarez Navarro in the reverse singles on Saturday to prevent Spain booking their place in the finals in Budapest.
No sign of engine failure in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash LoS angeLeS Agencies
Wreckage at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed NBA great Kobe Bryant and eight others showed no evidence of engine failure, a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday. Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among the nine who perished when the helicopter crashed in rugged terrain west of Los Angeles on January 26. "All significant components of the helicopter were located within the wreckage area," according to the report. "Examination of the main and tail rotor assemblies found damage consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact. "Viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure. "The No. 2 engine first-stage compressor blades exhibited tip curl in the direction opposite of rotation, consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact." Friday's report was a summary of investigators' findings so far. A final report identifying the cause of the crash is expected to take at least a year to complete. Investigators from the NTSB and
other bodies are considering what role heavy fog that Sunday morning might have played. "Our investigators have already developed a substantial amount of evidence about the circumstances of this tragic crash," NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a statement. "And we are confident that we will be able to determine its cause as well as any factors that contributed to it so we can make safety recommendations to prevent accidents like this from occurring again." In addition to 41-year-old Bryant and Gianna, those killed in the crash were her basketball teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, Alyssa's parents John and Keri Altobelli, Payton's mother Sarah Chester, basketball coach Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan. They were heading to a girls' basketball tournament at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy in suburban Thousand Oaks having departed from John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The deaths rocked the NBA and the wider sporting world as well as Los Angeles -- where Bryant won five NBA titles playing for all of his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Memorials sprang up around the city as fans left flowers, balloons, basketballs,
stuffed animals, jerseys and other memorabilia in Bryant's honor at the Lakers' Staples Center arena, the team training facility in suburban El Segundo and as close to the crash site as they could get. The Lakers honored Bryant with a pre-game ceremony less than a week after his death and a public memorial for
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Bryant and the other victims has reportedly been scheduled for February 24 at Staples Center. The report includes photographs of the crash area in the Santa Monica Mountains, including one from a witness near the site and one from a security camera that shows the helicopter flying into clouds.
It also includes comments from a witness who was on a mountain bike trail and told investigators he heard the helicopter approaching. He said he saw the blue and white helicopter emerge from the clouds, travelling forward and down, observing it for about two seconds before it crashed.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
SPORTS 15
BaBar azam, Shan maSOOd tOnS pUt paKiStan On tOp rawaLpinDi
t
Agencies
ESTS turn in one ball. For Bangladesh, that came in the third over after lunch. Just prior to the interval, they had dismissed Azhar Ali. Now, there was a gift for the taking from Babar Azam after he'd played the most unBabar like shot. A miscue after being lulled by Taijul Islam's loop and flight. Ebadat Hossain wasn't alert enough at mid-off; a clumsy run backwards to try and catch magnified his error in judgment even more. The catch went down with Babar on 3. Pakistan would've been 104 for 3. It wasn't to be. Babar went on to make 140 more and carried with him the promise of much more on Sunday, maybe even a maiden Test double. Pakistan ended the day 109 ahead; Asad Shafiq serenely batting on 60. His stand with Babar was worth 137, and with three full days still to go, you could sense where this was headed. It wasn't just Babar and Shafiq who had fun. Shan Masood continued his Test match rejuvenation by bringing up his third Test century, his second on the trot, to further deflate the visitors. Having seen Abid Ali fall early, slashing to the slips, Masood sussed up the conditions and then made merry once the bowlers lost their sting in the first half hour. Masood sat back and punched off the backfoot through cover and point, the weight transfer allowing him to pierce gaps to perfection. For a batsman who appears to not take too many risks, his half-
STUMPS: PAKISTAN 342 FOR 3 (BABAR 143*, SHAFIQ 60*, JAYED 2-66) TRAIL BANGLADESH 233 (MITHUN 63, AFRIDI 4-53) BY 27 RUNS
century off 54 balls, courtesy nine boundaries, was deceptively quick. But he didn't need to carry on batting in that gear right through, because Babar set shop after that early reprieve, batting in the kind of zone where he put not only the bad balls away but even the good ones. Like the on-drives or the whirring flick shots to length deliveries from outside off to bisect midwicket and mid-on. For Bangladesh, Taijul kept toiling, looking to bowl into the rough created
at the other end. But the surface was simply too good: little dust, no cracks, true bounce and little movement. Everything batsmen dream of while looking to set up Tests. Masood was perhaps caught in one such dream soon after getting to his century. Having concentrated long and hard, shelving the free-flowing drives that he superbly played early for the hard grind after passing fifty, he was out driving to a harmless delivery that ought to have
nasir Jamshed jailed for 17 months after admitting pSl bribery charges
been put away. He played down the wrong line, nearly yorked himself by getting into a tangle as the ball snuck through the inside edge to hit the stumps. At that stage, Pakistan were 205 for 3, behind by 28 runs. The wicket came literally out of nowhere, because until a few moments prior to his century, Bangladesh were so switched off that they didn't even appeal for a ball that Masood nicked to Liton Das, the wicketkeeper, on 86 off Rubel
Hossain. So the wicket was another opportunity for Bangladesh to try and crack open the middle order. Instead, they came out after tea and immediately allowed the game to drift by giving Shafiq easy singles that got Babar back on strike. By then, Babar gave the impression that he was toying with the bowling, especially Taijul, hitting wherever he pleased. Take for instance a flighted delivery from Taijul. A length ball outside off, to which he stepped out to negate any turn and then, as if he was simply commanding the ball, using his wrists to flick it between midwicket and mid-on. Or the back-to-back flicks to length balls outside off to the midwicket fence of Abu Jayed. This was a batsman every inch confident of what he was upto, far from the unusually ultra-aggressive self who threatened to hit out and get into trouble early in his innings. It took Babar a while to calm himself down after the reprieve, and for the Rawalpindi faithful who turned up on Saturday, it was worth the wait. In the morning session, Bangladesh struck twice, both gifts to loose shots. Fresh off back-to-back tons in his first two Tests, Abid slashed at one early on, while Azhar fell in similar fashion shortly before lunch. But the 91-run partnership established Pakistan's early advantage where they proved the biggest threat they faced was their own complacency against a toothless attack. The good passages for Bangladesh were eventually too far and few between, leaving the Test cold and quickly veering towards the prospect of there being only one winner in the Test.
Eyes on the skies as South Africa aim to keep England at bay JohanneSburg Agencies
Lahore Agencies
Nasir Jamshed, the former Pakistan batsman, has been sentenced to 17 months in prison at Manchester Crown Court, after pleading guilty in December to a conspiracy to bribe fellow cricketers in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Jamshed, 33, was given a ten-year ban by the PCB in August 2018, and had been anticipating a custodial sentence after changing his plea on the opening day of his trial. That followed the admission of his two co-defendants, Yousef Anwar, 36, and Mohammed Ijaz, 34, that they had offered financial inducements to PSL players with a view to them under-performing during matches in the tournament. Anwar was sentenced to 40 months in prison and Ijaz 30 months. In December, the case for the prosecution had told how an undercover police officer had infiltrated the trio's spot-fixing network by posing as a member of a corrupt betting syndicate. That investigation identified an attempted fix during the Bangladesh Premier League in 2016 and an actual fix in the PSL fixture between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi in Dubai on February 9. Jamshed, acting as the go-between for the PSL game, persuaded Sharjeel Khan to play out two made-to-order dot-balls off the first two balls of Islamabad's second over.
Sharjeel was later banned for five years by the PCB, as was Khalid Latif, another player whom Jamshed had recruited for a subsequent fix. The court also heard how Jamshed himself had been the intended fixer during the BPL contests, when he and Sharjeel were both playing for Rangpur Riders. However, the first attempt was called off when Jamshed did not give all the prearranged signals - which included the use of certain coloured batting grips. And a second attempt against Barisal Bulls was cancelled after he was dropped for what was the final match of the season. In a statement issued after the sentence was handed down, Jamshed's wife, Samara Afzal, told of the "pain and humiliation" that her husband's actions had caused to their family, and warned other cricketers not to be tempted by corruption in a sport where, she wrote, an international player can earn more than she does as a doctor. "Nasir could have had a bright future had he worked hard and been committed to the sport than gave him so much, but he took a short cut and lost everything, his career, status, respect and freedom," she wrote. "He would have got UK nationality and played county cricket, and he threw his chance away. "He would do anything to turn the clock back and not lose everything, especially his daughter who he is very close to, but it's too late for him. I hope all cricketers look at his example as a deterrent against corruption."
After the dampest of squibs in Durban, the three-match series concludes at the Wanderers, a ground known for its fireworks. But with another poor forecast for Sunday's pink ODI - normally a vibrant affair in support of breast cancer awareness there is unfortunately every chance of this contest fizzling out to an unsatisfactory end. The Kingsmead washout left South Africa sitting on the 1-0 lead they carved out in Cape Town, and means that Quinton de Kock will start his tenure as ODI captain with either a win or a draw against Eoin Morgan's world champions. England haven't been beaten in a multimatch bilateral series since the India tour of 2016-17, so the tourists will be hopeful of getting a game in between the thunder-showers up on the Highveld. That said, Morgan stressed after the abandonment on Friday that this series is "not about immediate results" for England, with priority given to handing experience to the young players in their party. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have sat on the sidelines so far, with Matt Parkinson entrusted as the frontline spinner, while up-and-comers such as Tom Banton, Sam Curran and, ahem, Joe Denly push their cases for middle-order/allrounder spots. The T20 World Cup in Australia later this year looms as the white-ball focal point for 2020, and that places greater emphasis on the three T20Is to come next week. For that reason alone, Morgan said, Moeen and Rashid could come into the XI in order to give them game time (both last played competitively at the Abu Dhabi T10 in November). After defeat in the Test, not to mention the disappointment of last year's World Cup, holding off England in the ODIs would provide a timely lift for South Africa. They have Dale Steyn back for the T20Is, when de Kock will continue as Faf du Plessis' stand-in as captain, and will hope for more encouraging signs from the likes of Temba Bavuma, Jon-Jon Smuts and
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Tabraiz Shamsi in Johannesburg. So long as the weather plays ball. He looked good in between the showers in the second ODI, and Reeza Hendricks would doubtless love another chance to impress his credentials as the heir apparent to Hashim Amla at the top of the order. A century on ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2018 was followed by a stop-start run of form and omission from the World Cup squad. With Bavuma and the uncapped Janneman Malan also options at opener, and the potential for du Plessis to return at some point, Hendricks will be hoping to nail down his spot alongside de Kock. With England having moved on from Liam Plunkett after the World Cup, they are in need of a middleovers partnership-breaker. Could Tom Curran be that man? He has most often been used at first or second change during his 19-ODI career, but the majority of his wickets have come during the death overs, when his variations (and chutzpah) come to the fore. A canny competitor, in good form after his time with Sydney Sixers at the Big Bash, he is a good bet to make his mark at some
stage in South Africa. Lungi Ngidi sat out the Durban "game" as he continued a staged comeback from recent injury - although his replacement, Bjorn Fortuin, didn't see much more action himself on debut. Ngidi reclaiming his place at the Wanderers is perhaps the only likely change. Given the stated aims for this series, England must weigh up the benefits of bringing back a couple of senior players ahead of the T20Is. Tom Banton has only had one opportunity with the bat so far, and isn't part of the T20I squad, so seems likely to keep his place, while in the spirit of fact-finding there could be a debut for Saqib Mahmood. Moeen, Rashid and Dawid Malan all wait in the wings. PITCH AND CONDITIONS: The ball flies at the Bullring, venue for the highest-scoring ODI in history, and this game has been sold out since the Test there a couple of weeks ago. However, the weather looks pretty ordinary, with a high chance of rain throughout the day, as well as the usual Highveld thunderstorms. Expect Duckworth-Lewis-Stern charts to be at the ready.
Sunday, 9 February, 2020
NEWS
Parents of aPs martyrs move PHC over taliban leader's esCaPe PLEA SEEKS CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ARMY CHIEF, ISI DG AMONG OTHER OFFICIALS FOR ‘FLOUTING COURT ORDERS’ PESHAWAR
a
stAff RepoRt
petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday seeking contempt of court proceedings against several government and military officials, including the army chief, in the wake of the escape of former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan from the custody of security agencies. The plea was filed by Fazal Khan Advocate –president of Shuhada APS Forum—on the behalf of parents and family members of the children who were martyred in the terrorist attack targeting Peshawar’s Army Public School in Dec 2014. It also names Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general, federal and provincial secretaries, as respondents for flouting the PHC’s orders that restricted authorities from releasing Ehsan. “Despite clear cut directions of this honourable court […], now it has come to light that [a] luxurious home [was provided to Ehsan] from which the terrorist has made his escape: a fact not denied by the respondents,” reads the petition. “The petitioner has been informed through reliable sources that clemency was in order for Ehsanullah Ehsan for his ‘full and frank disclosure’ which is not only highly deplorable but also out-
Ehsanullah Ehsan
rightly illegal and unconstitutional,” the writ petition said, adding that the respondents had earlier assured the court that Ehsan would be tried by a military court and would not be granted clemency. The PHC had in April 2018 barred the release of Ehsan, asking the government to wait until the relevant court tries him to decide his fate. The restriction on his release came as the court heard a petition, also by the APS Shuhuda Forum, challenging an alleged government plan to grant clemency to Ehsan. In the petition filed on Saturday, the APS martyrs’ parents claimed that the respondents had not taken any steps to bring Ehsan to justice even though he had confessed to the school massacre along with several other heinous crimes. “[…] Unfortunately, the demeanour of the respondents in bringing the culprits to justice is well highlighted by the fact that […] not a single step has been taken by the respondents to bring the culprits to justice…” The respondents, “through their inaction and omission have categorically flouted the orders of this court”, reads the petition. “The conduct of the respondents is
tantamount to contempt of court as even though ample time has passed, not only have they failed to do the needful but also the respondents have not even tried to abide by the directions of this honourable court and […] the respondents have not taken any steps to adhere to the judgment of this honourable court,” the petition says. The petition added that Ehsan’s escape had raised fear in the hearts of parents as he was responsible for the Peshawar APS massacre and the families of those who lost their lives in the attack still awaited justice. ‘BREAKS FREE’: On Friday, security officials had confirmed that Ehsanullah Ehsan had escaped from their custody during a “sensitive operation”. Ehsan had earlier made the announcement regarding his escape in a video clip shared on the social media on Thursday. Sources privy to the development said that Ehsan had voluntarily surrendered himself before the intelligence agencies on Feb 5, 2017. However, he started sharing sensitive information even before his arrest, they added. After initial interrogation, Ehsan
recorded his confessional statement on April 26, 2017. He revealed details pertaining to his handlers and facilitators during his captivity. He shared extremely sensitive and important information during the interrogation, which led security forces to break Jamaatul Ahrar’s national and international terror networks, they said. Several terrorists belonging to the proscribed outfit were also arrested as a result of intel provided by him, they added. Ehsanullah was to be taken to book, but extracting information to take all ongoing anti-terrorism operations to their logical conclusion was necessary. “Some operations are still underway based on information shared by Ehsanullah,” said the sources, adding that during such an operation, he escaped from his captivity. All terrorists and extremists, including Ehsanullah, would be taken to the task, said the sources. ‘SECURITY AGENCIES BROKE PROMISES’: In the video, the TTP spokesperson said that he “surrendered” before the security forces and made a signed agreement that guaranteed certain rights to him. However, the security forces allegedly didn’t keep the promises and subsequently detained his family as well. “My name is Ehsan and I am former member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaatul Ahrar. On Feb 5, 2017, I handed myself into the hands of Pakistan’s security officials under an agreement and I kept that agreement on my part but I along with my family was detained by the security officials. We faced jail at least three years with patience but we made a plan to escape and finally, we successfully escaped on Jan 11, 2020,” the former spokesperson of the terrorist organisation claimed.
Thai soldier kills at least 20 in shooting rampage BANGKOK Agencies
A Thai soldier has gunned down at least 20 people in an attack which he live streamed on Facebook. The attack in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima began late in the afternoon at an army barracks, police told AFP. Three people were killed — among them at least one soldier — when Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma opened fire. “He stole an army vehicle and drove into the town centre,” police Lieutenant-Colonel Mongkol Kuptasiri. Local media reported the gunman seized weapons from the army arsenal before embarking on a shooting spree in the centre of the town. In a fast-moving incident, authorities could not confirm local media reports the gunman had taken up to 16 hostages. There were “20 deaths, 14 wounded” late Saturday, said an unnamed spokesperson from Bangkok´s Erawan Center — the dispatch centre for emergency services across the country. Video and photos circulating online relayed pan-
icked scenes on a main road in the city – which is better known as Korat. People fled while at least one fire roared and what appeared to be the sound of automatic gunfire filled the air. The gunman also posted photos of himself and wrote several posts on his Facebook page including “should I surrender” and “no one can escape death”. In one Facebook video — since deleted — the assailant, wearing an army helmet, filmed from an open jeep saying, “I’m tired… I can’t pull my finger anymore” and making a trigger symbol with his hand. There were also photos of a man in a ski mask holding up a pistol. “The gunman used a machine gun and shot innocent victims resulting in many injured and dead,” spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen told AFP, adding that the standing toll was “more than 10.” The defence ministry said forces have sealed off the Terminal 21 shopping centre but have yet to capture the suspect. Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world but mass shootings by soldiers targeting civilians are rare. Several shootings at courthouses late last year also renewed concern about gun violence in the Southeast
Asia country. In one high-profile case, a two-year-old boy was among three people killed in Thailand when a masked gunman robbed a jewellery shop last month. Late last year two lawyers were shot dead by a clerk at a court in the east of the country during a hearing over a land dispute. Facebook said on Saturday it had removed the account of the man suspected of a mass shooting in northeast Thailand and would remove any content related to the attack that violated its policies. The man identified by police as the suspect had appeared to post messages on Facebook before and during the shooting. Police said he was still at large. “Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and the community affected by this tragedy in Thailand. There is no place on Facebook for people who commit this kind of atrocity, nor do we allow people to praise or support this attack,” a Facebook representative said in a statement. “We have removed the gunman’s accounts from our services and will work around the clock to remove any violating content related to this attack as soon as we become aware of it.”
bJP suffers major setback in delhi elections: exit polls NEW DELHI Agencies
Millions in the Indian capital voted on Saturday in a key regional election, with exit polls suggesting a big defeat for rightwing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a distant second behind the upstart Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, led by former tax inspector Arvind Kejriwal, according to exit polls released after voting ended. An average of nine exit polls showed Kejriwal’s party was likely to win 52 out of 70 seats. “We are winning by a huge margin,” tweeted Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi. Federal Home Minister Amit Shah, who had campaigned vigorously for BJP highlighting his tough stance on national security, called a meeting of party members late Saturday. Earlier in the day long lines had formed outside New Delhi polling stations amid heavy security as a weeks-old protest by women against a new citizenship law took centrestage. In an often vitriolic election campaign, Modi and other BJP leaders had slammed opponents of the law who deem it anti-Muslim. The BJP had been seeking to oust Kejriwal, the capital’s chief minister whose party took a record 67 of 70 Delhi assembly seats in 2015.
China coronavirus toll hits 722 with first foreign victim BEIJING Agencies
The death toll from China’s coronavirus outbreak soared to 722 on Saturday, including the first foreign victim, as Hong Kong imposed a mandatory quarantine on mainland arrivals to block the spread of an epidemic that has caused global panic. With 86 more people dying in mainland China — the highest one-day jump so far — the toll was closing in on the 774 killed worldwide during the SARS epidemic in 2002. A 60-year-old US citizen diagnosed with the virus died on Thursday in Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the health emergency, according to the US embassy, which did not provide more details about the person. A Japanese man in his 60s with a suspected coronavirus infection also died in hospital in Wuhan, the Japanese foreign ministry said, adding that it was “difficult” to confirm if he had the illness. The only fatalities outside the mainland were a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-yearold man in Hong Kong. Nearly 35,000 people have been infected by the new strain, which is believed to have emerged in a market selling wild animals in Wuhan last year before spreading across China. The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down cities home to tens of millions of people, as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis, especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, on a visit to quarantined Wuhan this week, instructed officials to take a “wartime” approach as they implement drastic measures that include combing the city for feverish residents. With panic spiralling around the globe — more than 320 cases have emerged in nearly 30 other countries — researchers were racing to find treatments and a vaccine to fight the virus.
Two days after his acquittal, Trump ousts two star impeachment witnesses WASHINGTON Agencies
President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday ousted the two witnesses who provided the most damaging testimony during his impeachment investigation: Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Two days after Trump was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate on charges of trying to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Vindman — the top Ukraine expert at the White House’s National Security Council — was escorted out of the building, according to his lawyer. “Vindman was asked to leave for
telling the truth,” said his lawyer, David Pressman. Hours later, Sondland said he had been fired from his post as US ambassador to the European Union. The two men served as star witnesses during the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives’ impeachment investigation last year. Vindman’s twin brother Yevgeny, who worked as a lawyer at the NSC, also was escorted out of the White House, according to Michael Volkov, who represented Vindman when he testified in the impeachment inquiry. Trump has said he is still upset with Democrats and government officials involved in the impeachment investigation, even after he was acquitted on Wednesday.
“I’m not happy with him. You think I’m supposed to be happy with him?” he said of Vindman on Friday. An NSC spokesman declined to comment. Vindman, a decorated combat veteran, testified in November that he “couldn’t believe what I was hearing” when he listened in on a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskiy that became the focus of the inquiry. Trump asked Zelenskiy to launch investigations into both Democratic rival Joe Biden and a discredited theory that Ukraine, not Russia, colluded with Democrats to harm Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. Sondland, a wealthy Republican
donor and Oregon hotelier who served as US Ambassador to the European Union, testified that he was following Trump’s orders when he pushed Ukrainian officials to carry out investigations sought by the president. “I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve,” he said. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sondland’s removal. “This is as clear a case of retribution as I’ve seen during my 27 years in the Senate,” said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. Biden’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination suffered a serious
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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setback when he came in fourth place at the Democrats’ first state contest in Iowa this week. Vindman’s two-year stint at the White House had been due to end in July. An Army spokesperson said both brothers had been reassigned to the Army, but declined to give further information “out of respect for their privacy.” Another senior White House aide who testified over impeachment, Jennifer Williams, left this week for a post at the US military’s Central Command, according to Bloomberg News. Vindman downplayed concerns that he would suffer payback for speaking out when he testified to Congress. “I will be fine for telling the truth,” he said.