Epaper – April 21 LHR 2021

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021 I 8 Ramzan-ul-Mubarak, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 293 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

PaRliamentaRy debate on fRench envoy’s fate PostPoned till fRiday g

UAE rolls over $2bn loan for another year

g

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday rolled over $1 billion loan which was due to be paid on April 19, for another year, affirming the country’s commitment to extend every possible support to Pakistan. The development occurred during Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s visit to the UAE. Qureshi and his delegation were received

by Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi, Monday evening. The loan was part of the $6.2 billion initial bailout by the UAE in late 2018, helping the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to avoid default on international debt obligations. However, the UAE only released $2 billion of the committed $6.2 billion, holding back on $3.2 billion in oil-financing facilities and $1 billion in cash disbursements.

The two foreign ministers held detailed discussions after delegation-level talks. Qureshi, while welcoming UAE’s support, said that the move symbolises the depth and strength of bilateral ties between the two Muslim countries. He appreciated the UAE’s progress and development over the last five decades and attributed this achievement to the leadership of the nation. Foreign Minister Abdullah thanked him and acknowledged the valuable role played by the Pakistani Diaspora in the UAE’s growth and prosperity. The two sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, discussing ways to enhance cooperation in diverse areas including trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, technology, tourism and manpower in addition to providing fresh impetus to existing Pakistan – UAE ties. In this regard, they agreed to facilitate ministerial-level visits from both sides. Qureshi outlined his plans for showcasing the history as well as the future potential of Pakistan-UAE cooperation at EXPO 2020 Dubai in October 2021. In addition to his official engagements, the Foreign Minister met Pakistan Business Council (PBS), members of Pakistani community, including investors and businessmen, in Dubai and interacted with local and international media during his visit.

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

766,882

LAST UPDATED AT 8:40 AM ON APRIL 20, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

137

5,445

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

667,131 16,453 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

273,466

273,566

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

107,309 AJK/GB: 15,741 / 5,191

21,000 ISLAMABAD:

70,609

Rasheed says terrorism cases against TLP workers to be withdrawn

Rizvi Released afteR tlP calls foR halt to PRotests LAHORE Staff RepoRt

ISLAMABAD

a

Staff RepoRt

RARE session of the National Assembly (NA) to decide on whether to expel the French ambassador – one of the demands made by the now-proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) – was held on Tuesday.

The debate on the matter was postponed till Friday. During the session, a resolution, presented

by PTI MNA Amjad Ali Khan, condemned the publication of blasphemous caricatures by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in September last year.

It further regretted the attitude of the French president encouraging the elements hurting the sentiments of hundreds of millions of Muslims in the name of freedom of expression. The resolution therein called for apprising all the European countries, especially France, of the gravity of this matter. In this regard, it sought detailed discussions with all the Muslim countries to take up issue jointly on international forums, and also called for the state to decide matters of international rela-

Hours after the now-proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) called off a series of nationwide violent protests on Tuesday, the authorities released its leader Saad Rizvi from Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore. In a video statement issued in the wee hours of the day, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed announced that the radical group has agreed to end protests. But parleys with the group will continue, he added.

Shortly after his release, Rizvi reached Chowk Yateem Khana neighbourhood where he is expected to address his workers and supporters gathered there for more than a week now. In his message, Rasheed said that cases registions wherein “no person, group or party can exert unnecessary illegal pressure in this regard”.

Moreover, the presented resolution called for provincial governments to allocate specific sites for protests in all districts so that citizens’ daily life is not disrupted.

Amjad also requested the formation of a special parliamentary committee to discuss the French envoy’s expulsion. Following the MNA’s request, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan presented a separate resolution for the formation of the committee.

The resolution, after a verbal vote, was de-

tered against TLP workers under the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, will also be withdrawn. The TLP responded by releasing an audio statement of its spokesman Shafiq Amini saying: “It is requested to end protests wherever they are happening across the country.” However, there was no immediate sign that crowds were dispersing at the biggest protest, in Lahore, where thousands of followers were gathered outside the group’s headquarters. Rizvi, the son of late firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was detained on April 12 ahead of a planned nationwide campaign to pressure the government into expelling the French ambassador in response to the publication of blasphemous caricatures in France last year. clared by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser as approved by the parliament, amid loud chants of objection by the opposition. At this point, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khan Abbasi called for an hour to review “insufficient” resolution. During the debate, the PML-N stalwart and former prime minister regretted that the government called an emergency session of the NA – which was originally set to take place on April 22 – whilst not having spoken to other members of the opposition about his intention to do so.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

SC seeks Justice Isa’s response on three financial questions ISLAMABAD

coRonaviRus in

Abbasi loses temper with National Assembly speaker

tLtp

While hearing a review petition of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court (SC), Justice Qazi Faez Isa, against a smaller bench’s ruling on the presidential reference against him on Tuesday, a larger bench asked him to respond to three questions in the matter.

Heading a 10-member larger bench Justice Umer Ata Bandial asked Justice Isa to respond to three questions on the next hearing. Raising these questions, the bench asked whether Justice Isa is completely indifferent to his wife's bank account; whether he had any legal connection with the money abroad to buy properties in foreign country; and whether the expenses incurred for the purchase of the property in

abroad had nothing to do with him.

During the course of hearing, Justice Isa’s wife, Sarina Isa alleged that the apex court did not set the same standards for her as it did for Prime Minister Imran Khan, thereby violating her right to a fair trial under Article 19 of the Constitution.

At the onset of the hearing, a member of the bench Justice Maqbool Baqar asked Sarina to make her arguments as brief as possible.

Whereas Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked Justice Isa’s wife to tell the bench what was wrong with the SC’s verdict given in the case on June 20, 2020.

Advancing her arguments in the matter Sarina contended that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) did not share with her a "confidential report” it had sent to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), despite the

bench's order a day earlier to do so.

She further said that her tax matters are deeply personal saying even her husband is not privy to them. She contended that the FBR report on her personal tax matters has now been read by all the judges. She was of the view that the FBR illegally submitted a report on her tax matters without her knowledge.

She complained saying that her two years of life have been a subject for talk shows, adding her private life was made public by Fawad Chaudhry, Shahzad Akbar, Firdous Ashiq Awan and TV channels.

A member of the bench Justice Munib Akhtar observed that a confidential report cannot be submitted to an individual based on an application alone.

Responding to a query of Justice Akhtar, Sarina submitted, “I came to

court because of my father”. She became overcome with emotion at the memory of her late father.

At this, Justice Baqar intervened and asked her to sit down. "I think we've heard enough," he said. To which Justice Munib Akhtar said that he had not meant to upset her.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

MORE INSIDE

Former PEMRA chairman shot outside his home

Pakistan calls for flexibility in UNSC reforms

STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pakistan to spare no effort to strengthen ties with Iran: Qureshi STORY ON PAGE 03

STORY ON BACK PAGE

PTA restores internet services in Lahore STORY ON PAGE 03

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Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

DiSgrUntlED tArEEn to MEEt PM iMrAn LAHORE

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StAff RePoRt

day after reports of disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen and his group of parliamentarians refusing to discuss with the government the cases against the former emerged, the ice between Prime Minister Imran Khan and his once close friend appears to be breaking.

Speaking to a private TV channel, PTI leader Raja Riaz confirmed that the two party leaders would hold a one-on-one meeting.

A report claimed on Tuesday that the sugar baron cancelled an Iftar dinner for more than a dozen PTI parliamentarians on Wednesday after receiving an assurance that the prime minister has expressed willingness to give the group an audience.

“We have been assured that the prime minister is ready to meet us. However, [I want to make it clear that] we will only meet Imran and not a governmental committee,”

FIA HAS BOOKED HIM, FAMILY MEMBERS IN TWO CASES OF CORPORATE FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING a local publication quoted Tareen as saying.

“During the meeting, we will present our grievances with regard to the sugar inquiry commission and the FIA’s cases [against Tareen, his family, and his JDW-Group].”

In March, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered two cases against Tareen and his son Ali Tareen on charges of corporate fraud and money laundering.

The cases were registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating of public shareholders), and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) — with sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 — on March 22.

One of the cases claims Tareen transferred Rs3.14 billion from the accounts of his JDW-Group to Faruki Pulp Mills Limited (FPML), a company said to be

ECP requested to postpone Karachi by-poll due to Covid-19 KARACHI

owned by his son and a relative. The money was then transferred to the accounts of his family members.

Likewise, the second complaint says “voluminous withdrawals amounting to at least Rs2.2 billion were fraudulently and dishonestly made through a trusted cash rider”.

Tareen had returned to Pakistan in November after ending his seven-monthlong self-imposed exile after falling out with Prime Minister Imran following an inquiry into the last year’s sugar scandal that accused several sugar producers — including him — of “underreported sales and fraud”.

At the time, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar had declared sugar-producing units

IsLAMABAD INP

The Sindh government on Tuesday filed a petition in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) requesting it to postpone the by-election in the NA249 constituency (Karachi West-II) scheduled for April 29. The government, in its request, adopted the stance that holding public gatherings and corner meetings amid increasing cases of coronavirus is dangerous. The government representative further appealed the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to defer the polling until a reduction in the intensity of the third peak. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had issued a ticket to its local leader, Amjad Afridi, whereas Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated former finance minister Miftah Ismail. The seat fell vacant after PTI leader Faisal Vawda resigned to run for the Senate.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) said on Tuesday that governments should not hold talks with outlawed groups, referring to the sitting government holding negotiations with the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

Prime Minister Imran Khan did not mention the clashes even once, Abbasi said while speaking to the media on Tuesday. “The person responsible for it is not willing to accept it,” he remarked.

He questioned why the government decided to hold talks with a group it has banned. You never see such behaviours in any democracy, he added.

We need to discuss who promise to expel the French ambassador to Pakistan, the PML-N stalwart maintained.

“This should be discussed in parliament.” He remarked that such promises should have been made in the Parliament where national issues are discussed.

“This is what happens when the National Assembly has been paralysed. The prime minister remains absent, while his ministers and advisers lie in the assemblies,” Abbasi said.

“If the prime minister had the courage, he would have addressed the parliament. There are containers in the capital, what is the fear?” he asked.

He said that the facts of what happened in Lahore have still not come to light.

“These processes do not happen in a democracy,” he said. The PML-N leader pointed out it was not known what promises were made by the government to TLP. Separately, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said that the government did not take parliament into confidence over the agreement with recently proscribed TLP. Bilawal, in a tweet, said that the government took action on the streets against the party and then banned it.

He pointed out that not only was there a loss of life, but over 500 policemen sustained injures in the protests.

Bilawal further said that the government closed down the internet services and PM Imran Khan had not made any statement in the NA, nor it was taken into confidence at any stage. Now Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wants to hide behind the NA, he added.

IsLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday wished Manmohan Singh, former Indian prime minister, a speedy recovery from Covid 19. On his twitter handle, the prime minister posted “Wishing ex Indian PM Manmohan Singh a speedy recovery from Covid 19.”

According to media reports, former Indian prime minister and senior leader of Congress, Singh, 88, was admitted to hospital after tested positive for Covid 19 on Monday.

Pakistan, UAE agree to strengthen bilateral ties ABU DHABI INP

Pakistan and United Arab Emrites (UAE) on Tuesday have agreed to exchange business delegations to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation in different fields, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO). The agreement was reached in a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the UAE Minister of State Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh in Abu Dhabi. During the talks, they discussed greater cooperation in areas of economy and trade.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi highlighted the immense investment potential Pakistan offers to the UAE, which can be best explored through business to business connect between the two countries. Foreign Minister also apprised the UAE Minister of State about gross human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Afghan Peace Process and overall security situation in the region. Moreover, FM Qureshi, in a separate meeting with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, underscored the need to “remove impediments that hamper travel between the two countries”. “He emphasised the need for nurturing and strengthening people-to-people linkages, as well as removing impediments that hamper travel between the two countries,” the FO statement said.

against me. I have always run a clean business. All Pakistan knows I always pay full price to my growers,” he had said in a tweet. “I DO NOT maintain 2 sets of Books.

I pay all my taxes diligently. I will answer every allegation and be vindicated IA.”

Democratic nations don’t negotiate with banned groups: Abbasi

INP

PM wishes Manmohan Singh speedy recovery from Covid-19

under Tareen’s JDW-Group were found guilty of “double billing” and “overinvoicing” as well as “corporate fraud”.

Tareen had rejected the findings of the Sugar Inquiry Commission. “I am shocked at the kind of false allegations levelled

GOVT DID NOT TAKE NA INTO CONFIDENCE OVER AGREEMENT WITH TLP: BILAWAL The PPP chairman said that this mess has been created by the government and asked PM Imran Khan to solve the issue or resign from the post.

The PPP has also decided to boycott session of NA which has been summoned to table a resolution on the expulsion of the French ambassador.

Meanwhile, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has said that the talks with an outlawed group have no legal standing but the dialogue is circumstantial.

“People affiliated with proscribed TLP group should realize that what they did was inappropriate. They have to understand that the steps they are demanding will be harmful for the country,” the former PPP senator said.

“If Pakistan will sends back the ambassador of France, they will send our 27 ambassadors (from the European Union)”, Aitzaz said.

“Earlier we had also witnessed banned TTP group.

The issue of Lal Masjid was also exaggerated,” the veteran lawyer said.

“A large number of Pakistani citizens are working in France to earn livelihood,” he said.

“It is required to make the outlawed TLP people realize and understand the issue,” Aitzaz stressed.

These comments from the opposition come after Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed announced that matters with the TLP have been settled after talks.

The interior minister said in a video statement on Twitter that a resolution on the expulsion of the French ambassador from Pakistan will be presented in the NA. The minister said the cases filed against TLP workers under the Fourth Schedule will be withdrawn.

Sheikh Rasheed went on to say that TLP will end sitins from across the country, including Masjid Rehmatul-lil-Aalameen, while talks between the federal government and TLP will continue.

CAA updates international travel list as third Covid19 peak intensifies KARACHI INP

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday extended its travel advisory for passengers arriving from foreign countries until April 24 in wake of the third Covid-19 peak. The CAA updated its category C for international travel and added India to the list.

South Africa, Portugal, Ireland, Netherland, Botswana, Zambia, and Brazil are already included in the list. The number of countries in category C now stands at 24. Those coming from countries in the C travel category will have to take prior permission from the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC). China, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Australia are among the A-category countries. The travelers from these 24 countries in the A category would not have to present their Covid-19 reports prior to boarding or landing in Pakistan. However, those coming from countries in the B travel category will have to prepare a negative PCR report not more than 90 hours old before boarding. The rest of Covid guidelines will remain the same and their implementation will be mandatory, the aviation regulator said. The new travel restrictions will remain in effect until April 24.

NAB opposes bail request of Asif LAHORE INP

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday opposed the bail request of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif in a wealth case.

The anti-graft body, in its response submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC), said it launched the inquiry against Asif in accordance with the law as his net worth did not match his disclosed income.

It further said that the former minister failed to give a response to charges of assets and money laundering.

The bureau pleaded with the court to reject the request as the investigation was still underway.

The accountability body accused that a bank peon in Lahore had submitted over Rs28 million to his bank account following the orders of senior officers.

It stated that a nephew of Asif, Khawaja Sultan, had submitted Rs20 million to his bank account after being told by the former minister.

Lack of funds creates issues for conducting exams in Sindh NEws DEsK Education board chairpersons in Sindh have written to the government, sharing their concerns over the lack of funds and how this would interfere in the smooth conduction of matric and intermediate exams in the province.

The letter issued by the chairpersons asked for a

further grant of Rs3 million.

The chairpersons lamented that the Sindh government is not paying the grants, citing this as the reason why the salaries of employees are pending. The letter added that there would be many hindrances in conducting the exams without the funds.

Moreover, the chairperson of the education board

in Sukkur outright said that without the aforementioned funds, the exams would be conducted on the basis of “begging”.

The Hyderabad board’s head said teachers are not ready to work with the board due to non-payment.

The board heads said the government did not revert back to them despite several attempts made for contact.

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

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FEDErAl govt not to withDrAw MUrDEr ChArgES AgAinSt tlP worKErS IsLAMABAD

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Assembly (NA). The sources said that the meeting was informed that the TLP workers charged with murder would also not released and the cases against them would remain intact.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Imran said that the entire nation is united over the issue of blasphemous caricatures.

The PM added that the objective of the TLP was right but the procedure was not.

He maintained that Pakistan had presented a strong case on caricatures and Islamophobia at the international level and the same needed wisdom as well as a comprehensive strategy.

Later, Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry told the media that those arrested on serious charges will have to face court proceedings.

“Those who have been charged under

MIAN AbRAR

HE parliamentary party of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allied parties Tuesday were informed that the federal government has decided to maintain its ban on the proscribed organization of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

According to sources in the PTI, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting, wherein Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri briefed the party on talks with banned TLP. The meeting was informed that, according to the agreement, the government would present a resolution in the National

murder charges cannot be released. We cannot forget those police officials who have been martyred,” he said.

Fawad said that if we sow seeds of hatred in history, we will not harvest love.

“PM Imran Khan’s government is determined to make Pakistan a progressive Pakistan. This is what Imran Khan dreams for,” he added.

Fawad said that the way Shahid Khaqan Abbasi hurled threats at the National Assembly (NA) speaker suggests that these people have not reached these positions on the basis of ability.

“He does not know the way to speak to the speaker at the floor of the House. We wanted to move towards reforms along with the opposition. Why do they say such things which jeopardise the sanctity of the parliament,” he concluded.

Pakistan to spare no effort to strengthen ties with Iran: Qureshi IsLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan will spare no effort to further strengthen relations with Iran.

Qureshi who had travelled to the UAE before leaving for Iran released a video message on Tuesday on the occasion of his third official visit to Iran and thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for its full support to Pakistan.

“Iran has supported us not only as a neighbour and brother of Pakistan, but always and in all circumstances also, and we appreciate Iran’s positions and support,” said Qureshi.

He noted that he will hold talks with senior Iranian officials on the latest developments in the region, diplomacy on Afghan peace, development of bilateral relations, especially the expansion of trade and border

TERMS IRAN’S PARTICIPATION IN AFGHAN PEACE PROCESS VERY IMPORTANT cooperation.

“Iran, like Pakistan, is an important player in the region in the Afghanistan issue, and participation in the peace process is very important for both countries,” he added.

Appreciating the constant support of the officials of Iran, especially the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, to the Muslims of the subcontinent and the support of the positions of the Pakistan government, he said, “The trip to Tehran will be a good opportunity for bilateral consultations and adjustment of the positions of the two brother countries on regional developments.”

“We will also talk to the Iranian officials about bilateral trade, especially the plan to build border markets, which

response sought on nAB request to close probe against Elahi LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday issued notices on a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) request seeking court permission to shelve a graft probe involving Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The court directed all the respondents to submit their responses to the application by April 26. The corruption watchdog said the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader along with other suspects was accused of making illegal appointments on BPS-16 posts during his stint as Punjab local bodies minister between 1985 and 1993. Two other suspects nominated in the inquiry, Javed Qureshi and Mushir Alam, have passed away while half the recruited people have retired from their jobs, the request said, adding then-Punjab chief minister had relaxed the relevant rules for these appointments. The agency requested the court to allow it to close the probe since the key suspects have already died. INP

the Iranian side has welcomed and will continue to do,” Qureshi noted. He added that his country will spare no effort to further strengthen relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Tuesday, announcing Qureshi’s upcoming visit to Tehran.

“Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will undertake an official visit to Iran on 20-22 April 2021 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Dr. Javad Zarif,” the statement read.

“During the visit, the Foreign Minister will have delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Zarif. He will also call on President Dr Hassan Rouhani and Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad

Bagher Ghalibaf. The Foreign Minister will also visit the city of Mashhad.”

“During the delegation-level talks, the two foreign ministers would review bilateral relations with a view to further deepening cooperation in diverse fields.

The two sides will discuss the regional security situations including the latest developments in the Afghan Peace Process and the Jammu & Kashmir dispute. They will also deliberate on strengthening regional cooperation under the umbrella of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).”

Foreign Minister Qureshi’s visit to Iran is part of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Zarif visited Pakistan in November 2020 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Qureshi, while the two foreign ministers met on 30 March 2021 on the sidelines of the 9th session of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process Ministerial Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Foreign Minister Qureshi last visited Iran in January 2020.” Qureshi’s regional tour to four countries, including Islamic Republic of Iran, began yesterday with a focus on strengthening bilateral relations and consensus to advance Afghan peace process.

LHC raps admin after people complain of long wait for sugar at Sasta Bazaars LAHORE INP

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday took the concerned authorities to task for making people stand in long queues to buy sugar at subsidised rates at Sasta Ramadan Bazaars in Punjab.

A bench of the high court expressed displeasure over the non-availability of the sweetener at local grocery stores and directed the authorities to immediately ensure that people are not made to wait in long queues at the government bazaars and utility stores. The court called for a compliance report to be submitted to it by Wednesday (tomorrow).

“People wait in long queues for five,

five hours to get one kilogram of sugar,” the LHC observed. “Let there be some self-esteem. Don’t turn the people into beggars,” the court said.

“It is up to the Punjab government to ensure availability of sugar at official rates,” the bench noted.

The court instructed the government to ensure the availability of subsidised sugar at grocery stores.

“Insulting people by making them stand in long queues is a blatant violation of the Constitution,” the bench remarked.

A government counsel said sugar is available at the grocery stores and people are not being made to stand in queues at Ramazan Bazaars but provided chairs to sit while waiting for their turn.

BRI to enhance regional connectivity: experts IsLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

International relations and foreign policy experts have said during a webinar that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will enhance regional connectivity and bring a brighter future to its members.

Speaking at the event held by the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Shafei Moiz Hali, assistant professor from the National Defense University, Islamabad said that the BRI will benefit a large population of the world that will

be better connected via different routes.

He said that China’s infrastructure investments within the BRI will usher in a new era of trade and growth for economies in Asia and beyond, and the members of the BRI will be able to rewrite their fate with the massive trade opportunities.

Farhan Khan, assistant professor from the same university, said in his comments that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI, will bring sustainable economic development to help poverty and unemployment alleviation in

Pakistan.

“CPEC will open up new vistas to job creation, economic growth, and increase in exports. It also has a local dimension in terms of economic and technological connectivity of different regions of Pakistan,” he added.

In the concluding remarks at the webinar, Islamia University of Bahawalpur Vice Chancellor Athar Mahboob said that CPEC will lead towards transformation in the economic outlook of Pakistan and bring industrial revolution in Pakistan after bringing infrastructural progress in the first phase.

PtA restores internet services in lahore LAHORE INP

Internet services were restored across Lahore after a suspension of five days, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Tuesday. The services were halted to control a series of violent protests launched by the nowproscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). The telecoms regulator announced through a statement that internet access in Chowk Yateem Khana and adjoining neighbourhoods in a radius of 10 kilometers has been restored. “We have removed the restrictions on mobile data services,” a spokesperson said. Internet and mobile networks in over 10 neighbourhoods across the city were blocked last week after supporters and activists of the militant group blocked streets and attacked police. The locations where the services were blocked included The Mall, Thokar Niaz Baig, Mozang Chungi, Data Darbar, Chauburji, Lytton Road, and Jail Road.

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Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

CAbinet deferS ConStruCtion of multi-Storey building on rAilwAyS’ lAnd ISLAMABAD

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SHAHZAD PARACHA

hE federal cabinet on Tuesday deferred the case of construction of a multi-storey building on railways’ land in the cantonment area of Nowshera.

Sources said that the ministry of railways had presented a summary pertaining to the decision taken in the cabinet meetings, held on January 12 and March 16, regarding the construction of a multi-storey building on railways’ land in Nowshera.

The cabinet had constituted a four-member committee under the supervision of Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood to examine the issue in detail and come up with recommendations for consideration of the cabinet in two weeks.

The ministry of railways stated that there

is a need to incorporate the views of the minister for railways being a member of the committee in the report.

The ministry maintained that the committee is not the appropriate forum to decide ownership of the land but one thing is clear that the ultimate owner is the federal government.

Sources said that the ministry also conceded in the meeting that the cantonment board, which has been designated by the government to oversee military lands, can regulate its use within its designated jurisdiction according to the parameters of the law and rules. hence, a NOC from the respective cantonment board is necessary for any construction in the cantonment area.

Besides, the committee felt that since the original purpose of the land allotted to railways was for communication, any other use of the land in this particular case is subject

to NOC by the cantonment board.

It is pertinent to mention that the ministry requested the cabinet to approve the re-

port of the committee as the ministry has to submit it to the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan in the light of its directives in a case.

The cabinet also held detailed discussion on the TLP protests and later approved the agreement reached with the TLP.

Afridi, Saudi ambassador vow to take friendship to new highs ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi called on Saudi Arabia Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki here on Tuesday and exchanged views on the matters of mutual interest. Afridi also congratulated the royal family of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the birth of son of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Afridi lauded the role played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in taking care of the Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia in this age of coronavirus pandemic. The Saudi ambassador expressed gratitude to Afridi and said that Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would take their bilateral relations to new highs. MIAN ABRAR

LAHORE: A biker struggles to ride amid heavy rain in the provincial capital. ZUBAIR MEHFOOZ

Sindh government, K-Electric ink MoU to automate new connection process KARACHI PR

With a vision to facilitate customers and streamline the process of acquiring new connections under the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, the K-Electric and Sindh government’s department of energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to automate the issuance of wiring test certificates for new connections.

The K-Electric has developed and launched a consolidated online portal, which connects the power util-

ity with customers and the Electric Inspectorates Karachi (EIK) to bring greater transparency and efficiency to the new connection process.

Customers applying for a connection will need to submit a proof of payments for their new connections to the KE via the portal, which will alert EIK to prepare and issue a wiring testing certificate after the inspection and testing within an agreed turnaround time of three days without requiring any customer intervention. The wiring certificate is an important pre-requisite for energising a new electricity connection by the KElectric.

The web portal is a milestone of the Ease of Doing Business reform agenda and will go a long way in further reducing the turnaround time in acquiring a new connection.

Pakistan’s ranking has improved from 136 to 108 in DB report 2020 and the country’s performance in the section of “getting electricity” has also improved by 44 points to stand at 123.

The K-Electric has been working actively to improve its services and facilitate customers through the provision of reliable electricity supply and to streamline the new connection process.

CDA uses its own resources to keep Islamabad clean ISLAMABAD PR

The Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) administration is using its own resources to keep the city clean. In this regard, a total of 3000 tons of garbage is collected from all over the city, in which 1600 tons of garbage is collected daily from the sectoral area while 1400 tons of garbage is collected and disposed from the suburbs and rural areas of the city.

According to details, the present administration of the CDA is striving to modernise and improve the sanitation

system in the city.

Sohan, Pandorian, Zia Masjid, Khanna Bridge, Lehtar Road, Tarlai, Tramri and other areas are using their resources to collect 1400 tons of garbage daily. On the other hand, the authority has 2100 labourers to control sanitation situation in the city.

At present, the authority has seven garbage compactors, nine dumpers, six buckets, two mechanical sweepers, seven skip lifters, two excavators and eight mini dumpers for different areas.

Moreover, 1200 garbage trolleys, 200 garbage skip lifters have been

placed at different places of the city to keep it clean. The sanitation department cleans streets, neighbourhoods, houses and main highways on a daily basis

while rural and suburban areas of the city are cleaned after a gap of two to three days. The CDA strives to provide modern facilities to the citizens.

Wenesday, 21 April, 2021

LAHORE

PakIStan SlIdeS to 90th rank on InCluSIve Internet Index iSLamaBad

P

LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE OWN 2G-ONLY HANDSETS

GHULAM ABBAS

AKISTAN continues to slide on “Inclusive Internet Index” to drop to 90th rank among 120 countries, according to a global report for the year 2021, a report of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reveals.

The index report commissioned by Facebook was published on April 14 this year. It represents 98 per cent of global GDP and 96 percent of global population, with stiff competition between Sweden and the United States (US) for the top two slots in the past three years.

After dropping to rank 2 in 2020, Sweden beat the US to react to the top position in the 2021 report.

The top performers in South Asia include India at 49 ranking compared to its position at 52 in 2020, while Sri

Rizvi released after TLP calls halt to protests

Lanka was at 77, Bangladesh at 82 and Nepal at 83 rank in the index report 2021. Pakistan not only remained the lowest in South Asia, but also lags behind other regional states, like Iran. Iran remains at slot 57 among the 120 countries in the index which includes overall score based on the scores of the “Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness categories”.

The Inclusive Internet Index, commissioned by Facebook and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, is published for a fourth year in 2021. The 2021 index report highlights that the overall ranking of Pakistan was 90, against 89 in 2020 and 77 out of 100 countries in the index report 2019.

The EIU has reported that at the 90th place overall,

Pakistan ranks in the bottom quartile of the index and second to last in the Asia region.

The “Gender Gap in Internet Access” between male and female was 65pc and the gap between male and female access to mobile phone was 51pc. However, the EIU has said that Pakistan ranked highest in the “Affordability” pillar due to improvements in the competitive environment and a decrease in mobile phone costs. The country ranked 67th in the “Affordability” category which examines the cost of access relative to income and the level of competition in the internet marketplace.

In the “Readiness” category, Pakistan was at 79th position, which examines the capacity to access internet, including skills, cultural acceptance, and supporting pol-

Britain reviews core banking rules in light of Brexit

Continued from page 01 In a series of talks between the group and the Punjab government, the TLP had presented four demands: the expulsion of Marc Baréty, release of Rizvi and his about 1,400 arrested supporters and workers, lifting the ban on the group and Rasheed’s dismissal. The group has waged an antiFrance campaign for months since President Emmanuel Macron defended the “right” of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly best known for vulgar irreverence, to republish blasphemous caricatures. That campaign erupted into bloody violence last week following Rizvi’s arrest. Lahore police said at least six officers had been killed, while 11 others were held hostage for several hours at a mosque where hundreds of party supporters were holed out. The TLP said several of its supporters died in clashes. In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan warned that Pakistan risked paying a price if it expelled the French envoy, as half the country’s exports are sold to the European Union (EU). “When we send the French ambassador back and break relations with them, it means we break relations with the European Union,” he said in a televised address. “Half our textile exports go to the EU, so half our textile exports would be gone.” He had further said expelling the ambassador would only cause damage to Pakistan, and diplomatic engagement between the Muslim world and the West was the only way to resolve disputes.

Relations between Paris and Islamabad have worsened since the end of last year after President Macron paid tribute to a French history teacher, Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin for showing the blasphemous caricatures in a class on freedom of speech.

London AGENCIES

Britain on Tuesday launched an independent review of capital and proprietary trading rules introduced following the global financial crisis as it seeks to bolster the City of London’s global competitiveness after Brexit.

Since the start of 2019 Britain requires HSBC, Barclays and other banks to “ringfence” the retail arms of their operations with capital to shield them from any losses in their riskier, investment banking arms after taxpayers had to bail out lenders during the financial crisis.

Proprietary trading refers to banks using their own money to take bets on stocks, bonds and other assets on their own account rather than trading on behalf of a client.

“Over the last decade, UK banks have seen significant changes to the environment in which they operate, including the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK’s exit from the EU, and wider changes in the UK financial sector,” the independent review said in its call for evidence.

The review was called for by the finance ministry and the independent panel is

chaired by City veteran Keith Skeoch. The panel includes John Flint, former CEO of HSBC. Banks also hold multiples of capital in their safety buffers compared with a decade ago, making them far more resilient in the face of shocks.

But any recommendations to ease ringfencing are likely to face resistance from the Bank of England.

The review lists a series of questions to ask people’s views on the two sets of rules.

Britain’s full departure from the European Union on Dec. 31 means it no longer has to comply with the bloc’s financial rules, freeing it up to tailor regulation to UK lenders.

“This review presents a unique opportunity to assess the observed impacts of the regulatory regimes, intended or otherwise, for financial stability, competition, competitiveness, and the balance between these in light of the changes in the UK financial sector and wider economy,” the review said.

Ring-fencing, which requires an independent board and additional compliance requirements, is applied to banks with retail deposits of more than 25 billion pounds, and banks are expected to push for a higher threshold.

NEWS

05

icy. However, Pakistan remained low at the “Relevance” category at 91st position that is the existence and extent of local language content and relevant content.

The “Availability” category examines the quality and breadth of available infrastructure required for access and levels of internet usage and Pakistan ranked 97th in this category.

Further analysis of the EIU data suggests that among the countries in the “Availability” category, Pakistan ranked low at 116th in the “Usage” class.

“Usage” measures the size of the connected population in terms of internet and mobile connectivity. The EIU index stated that percentage of households with internet was only 34pc and the fixed-line broadband subscription was 1/47 per 100 inhabitants.

Pakistan also has low internet quality and ranks at 91st position, which measures the quality of experience the connected population receives while using internet.

Pakistan was also facing infrastructure issues, including availability of public Wi-Fi by the government and private sector, unlicensed spectrum policy, and Pakistan ranked 90 due to electricity issues that too was one of the hindrance to support internet connectivity.

Meanwhile, commenting over the EIU report, industry players have said that the country needs to take radical actions at the policy level as a significant number of users still have basic, voice-only devices. They reminded that a digital revolution is difficult when a large number of people in the country own 2G-only handsets.

SC seeks Justice Isa’s response on three financial questions Continued from page 01 Earlier, while Sarina was presenting her arguments, Justice Bandial observed that the FBR had ignored questions regarding the rent she was getting from a property in the Clifton area of Karachi, as well as the income she got from a school. “You were not a party in the main case," he observed, addressing Sarina. "You appeared yourself and said you wanted to be part of the case." To which, Justice Isa stood up from his seat to interject, telling the bench that the observation was contrary to the facts. He accused Law Minister Farogh Nasim of making misleading statements in the court in this regard. Justice Umer Ata Bandial then explained to Sarina that she was appearing before the bench for the first time, which is why the court was raising questions in response to her arguments. To which Sarina submitted that she could write down the bench questions and respond to them in detail later. Then the judge posed four questions asking whether she had operated a fake bank account in another country; whether she had benefited from a trustee account in another country; if the transactions she had shown matched the value of the properties she had purchased abroad; and whether all funds transferred by her had been done through formal banking channels. "You have to provide details of the period after August 5, 2009 — when your husband became the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court," the judge explained. Whereas Justice Maqbool Baqir said that the court was examining any illegalities or unconstitutional angles in the judgement. Later, the court adjourned the hearing for two days.

Parliamentary debate on French envoy’s fate postponed till Friday Continued from page 01 “The way to go about it is that you speak to the opposition. I will say again that there is no two ways about the sanctity of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). [But] this resolution is, unfortunately, insufficient,” he remarked.

“You have presented the resolution. We will debate and include the additional provisions it should have and put them before you so that the house passes an agreed-upon resolution,” Abbasi said. He also said that the “whole house” should be considered the committee to debate the French envoy’s expulsion. “There is no need for a special committee,” he said, adding: “It should be a committee of the whole house.”

Abbasi added that, for the past three years, parliament had been left in a crippled state and was turned into a den where nothing but abuses are hurled, the sort of remarks which were then ordered expunged by the speaker. Later, in an unfortunate turn of events, a heated exchange took place between Abbasi and the speaker. It followed briefly after the resolution for the formation of a committee was declared accepted by the speaker. It cannot be concretely said what sparked Abbasi’s anger.

Abbasi was seen in footage from the session approaching the speaker and saying: “You are making it […] controversial. Have you no shame?”

“Hold your tongue,” said the speaker in response. “You always speak such things and behave in such a manner.”

As things intensified, Abbasi added: “I will take off my shoe and hit you.” “I too will do such a thing then. Please stay within your limits,” the speaker said to Abbasi, asking him to return to his seat. Meanwhile, Maulana Asad Mehmood of Jamiat Ulemae-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) regretted that the “opposition was not taken into confidence” over

the resolution.

“You wanted to call an emergency session but you did not even bother to take the Opposition into confidence,” Mehmood said. Addressing Speaker Asad Qaiser, he said: “You are not the government’s speaker, you are the speaker of the entire parliament.”

“A speaker’s conduct must be impartial,” he added. He called for the government to work with the opposition to bring forth a joint resolution. The Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Noorul Haq Qadri also addressed the parliament, saying that there is “history behind the resolution”.

He said that the banned TLP which had asked the government to table the resolution in parliament, “are citizens of Pakistan”.

Qadri said that many religious parties had indicated their support for the banned outfit. However, opposition members continued to chant loudly, objecting to the minister’s address.

The minister, in his address, also mentioned the Model Town incident in which protesters of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were killed.

He went on to speak of the Faizabad sitin by the TLP. “When 20 people died in that incident, where were you then?” he asked the PML-N, who had been in power at the time. Ahsan Iqbal objected to the resolution being presented by a private member and over the prime minister’s absence from parliament. “All members of the parliament know that a private member resolution is non-official business,” he said.

“Where is the prime minister?” Iqbal asked. “We are debating such an important matter and the prime minister is busy with something else,” he said.

“Neither did the prime minister come, nor did any minister have the guts to present this resolution.”

He demanded that Minister for Rasheed or Minister for Religious Affairs Haq Qadri

present the resolution to make it official business of the parliament. Iqbal also called for the two to give statements in the parliament regarding the events that had transpired the past week. The PML-N leader furthermore said that the prime minister must be made obligated to sit in the parliament and take part in proceedings.

Iqbal said that the agreement which took place with TLP must be discussed in parliament. “We wish to know what the state’s stance is in this matter. So you must take into confidence all of us.”

The PML-N leader called for the session to be adjourned and for the government and opposition to sit down and hold talks so a resolution that has the consent of both the government and the opposition can be brought to the parliament.

This emergency session of the NA came a day after the government and the TLP held at least three rounds of parleys to defuse tensions over republishing of blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in France and subsequent riots launched by members of the militant group that have engulfed the country for more than a week now.

In an earlier video message, the interior minister said that the group had agreed to call off protests across the country. However, talks with the party will continue, he said.

Rasheed further said that cases registered against workers and supporters of the party under the Fourth Schedule will also be withdrawn. The Fourth Schedule is a list of proscribed individuals who are suspected of terrorism and/or sectarianism under the AntiTerrorism Act (ATA), 1997. He also announced to give a detailed briefing on the development through a press conference later in the day. The minister had expressed hope on Monday that the last trouble spot in Lahore, where Rizvi’s supporters were still rallying, would soon be cleared as talks proceed.

The government opened negotiations

with the radical party on Monday after they freed 11 police abducted during a violent attack on a police station in Chowk Yateem Khana neighbourhood in Lahore.

Photographs of the police officers, with their heads, legs and arms heavily bandaged, were posted on social media by their captors.

“We believe in negotiations and reconciliation to sort out issues,” Religious Affairs Minister Qadri told the NA on Monday evening. Most main businesses, markets, shopping malls and public transport services were closed in major cities in response to a strike call by the group and Mufti Muneebur Rehman — a former Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (RHC) chairman who was removed in December following a 23-year-long stint.

The violence erupted after the government detained TLP leader Saad Hussain Rizvi on Monday last week ahead of a planned countrywide anti-France campaign to pressure the government to expel Baréty in response to the publication of blasphemous cartoons.

PPP BOYCOTTS SESSION: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had announced earlier today that it would not participate in the NA session. In a tweet, PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for “want[ing] to hide behind” the House despite not taking it into confidence at any stage of the events.

“Agreement (with the TLP) wasn’t brought to NA, Govt took action on streets, then banned, people killed, over 500 policemen injured, closed internet, PM didn’t make statement in NA, didnt take NA into confidence at any stage,” he said.

“Now PTI wants to hide behind NA. It’s your mess PM, clean up or go home.”

In a statement, PPP Information Secretary Nafisa Shah said that the government had postponed the parliament’s session for two days but then “suddenly” called it.

“Some [PPP] parliamentarians are not pres-

ent in Islamabad. At this time, the decision has been taken that PPP will not take part in the session,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) held a meeting of its parliamentary party in the office of its president and NA Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the prevailing situation in the country, its central spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement.

WHAT DOES THE TLP WANT: The group has presented four main demands in the talks with the government, officials from both sides said. They included the expulsion of the French ambassador, the release of the TLP leader and around 1,400 arrested workers, lifting the ban on the group and the dismissal of the Minister of Interior. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that expelling the French ambassador would only cause damage to Pakistan, and diplomatic engagement between the Muslim world and the West was the only way to resolve disputes.

“When we send the French ambassador back and break relations with them it means we break relations with the European Union (EU),” he said in a televised address to the nation. “Half our textile exports go to the EU, so half our textile exports would be gone.” The prime minister also vowed he would work with other Muslim countries to stop the publication of blasphemous content in the future. But he said it was unfortunate that political and religious parties in Pakistan “exploited” Islam at the expense of their own country. The West, he observed, would not mind if Pakistanis continued their infighting.

Relations between Paris and Islamabad have worsened since the end of last year after President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to a French history teacher, Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin for showing blasphemous caricatures of Holy Prophet (PBUH) in a class on freedom of speech.

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

06 COMMENT

No place for Muslims to offer prayers in India?

A confused response The government seems clueless on how to deal with the TLP

A

LTHougH there is now a ceasefire between the state and the Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) after clashes that saw deaths, injuries, hostage taking, destruction of public property and closure of entire cities, the PTI government has been left with a bloody nose. Its approach to the crisis is an excellent example of what not to do in such situations. What exactly was the federal government hoping would happen when three months back it agreed to bring the issue of the French Ambassador’s expulsion from the country for debate in the National Assembly and when the time came to make good on the promise, it arrested the leader of the TLP? During the two days of violence that ensued, the Punjab police took a beating on the streets, while Prime Minister Imran Khan, CM Punjab usman Buzdar and Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed were nowhere to be found as the country gradually descended into an all-out civil war.

Finally, when the government woke up to this reality, it banned the TLP under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a move that is four years too late, following which another day of violence and bloodshed continued. This gross mishandling of a sensitive matter has forced the government to completely capitulate as it has decided to re-engage in negotiation with an organization it banned not two days ago. It has released TLP chief Saad Rizvi, set free detained members of the party who should instead be brought to book and a National Assembly session was especially called yesterday to discuss the removal of France’s ambassador from the country, a debate that will now continue on Friday.

PM Imran Khan in his address to the nation cut a sorry figure, that of a defeated man unsure over how to deal with the TLP. He boasted how no one knew Western culture better than him, a statement that is not only demonstrably inaccurate but also unrelated to the problem at hand. The only redeeming and calming aspect about his speech was a clear denial over sending the French ambassador packing as it would only hurt Pakistan, not France. The events that transpired over the past week are a sign of things to come as others will slowly but surely adopt the TLP’s playbook and make their attempt to successfully challenge the so-called ‘writ of the state’.

Hindus lynch prayergoers using open spaces

Amjed jAAved

T

HougH India is “constitutionally” a secular country, it is practically a Hindu country. Almost all organs of government, even the judiciary, act in tandem to persecute minorities. In a recent judgment, a civil court directed the Director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India to get a “comprehensive archaeological physical survey” of the site of the gyanvapi Mosque. It added that that the department should find out if the “religious structure standing at present at the disputed site is a superimposition, alteration or addition or there is a structural overlapping of any kind, with or over, any religious structure”. The tenor and tone of the judgment is akin to the Ayodhya preliminary judgments. Hindu fanatics planted idols to corroborate the existence of a temple beneath the Babri mosque.

The courts pay no heed to provisions of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 or Articles of the Constitution that bar them from dabbling in religious matters. It appears; soon they would force the Muslim to abide a Hindu code, as a common civil code is a joint demand of the RSS and the Bharatya Janata Party.

The Worship Act calls for maintaining all places of worship as they were on 15 August 1947. After the law was passed in 1991, some communalists filed a petition about the gyanvapi mosque, claiming it was situated on a piece of land where there was a temple and that there should be an investigation.

Laws have no retrospective effect. As such the complaint was barred. The mosque committee and the uP Sunni Central Waqf Board opposed the application, which was rejected. The litigation went in appeal to the High Court. Despite this, a judge of a civil court has ordered a survey. Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahli criticised the court order. “The issue of gyanvapi mosque and Kashi Vishwanath temple being raised now is very sad. The temple and the mosque are adjoining and Hindus and Muslims worship there… And this shows the ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb of our country. I feel the two structures together should be promoted as a mark of communal harmony and should not be raised as a controversy,” he added.

Long before the Supreme Court’s judgment, the Babri Masjid had been demolished by rath yatrees, chariot pilgrims, led by LK Advani and several other BJP leaders. It appears the gyanvapi mosque may suffer a similar fate.

All the 32 accused, including LK Advani, in the Babri Masjid demolition case were acquitted by the special CBI court in Lucknow on 30 September

Occupied Kashmir and the world A long and arduous struggle

D

eSPITe unprecedented Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, the youth continue to fight for the liberation of their motherland from Indian yoke. What is significant is that India’s gross violation of human rights is being increasingly condemned by international human rights bodies, world media and parliamentarians. Recently five uN human rights experts have written to the Indian government to voice concern over its decision to revoke Kashmir’s special status and enact laws that curtail the political participation of Muslims and other minorities. Last year the uN Security Council (uNSC) held an urgent meeting to review the situation arising out of the 5 August 2019 lockdown of Kashmir by India. In January, the Labour Party’s Sarah owens urged the uK government to take a position against Kashmir’s illegal annexation. In February uS scholar Dr. gregory H. Stanton, who is founding President of genocide Watch, issued a stern warning. Saying that Kashmir is on the brink of genocide. In another move that was highly damaging for New Delhi, uS think tank Freedom House demoted India from free to partially free.

A number of Democrat Senators have recently taken India to task for atrocities in Kashmir. uS Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin was asked by Chaiman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez to raise reports of violations of human rights during his visit to India. He also emphasised that IndiauS partnership in the 21st century must be based on “adherence to democratic values”. India, he said, “has been trending away from those values”. unfortunately in matters of statecraft, the uSA tends to give preference to its strategic goals over its adherence to uS values.

Pakistan has tried to seek the support of the gulf countries over Kashmir. Having huge investments in India, these countries have shown reluctance. Pakistan’s efforts to get the oIC to pass a resolution condemning India from the oIC Foreign Ministers, forum have met resistance. Pakistan is constrained to extend only its moral and political support for Kashmir.

The people of the Indian-occupied Kashmir have themselves to play a crucial role in determining the future of the region. They have a long and arduous struggle ahead. What they can get from outside is only political and moral backing.

The Present A humanizing film

Washington Watch

W

e all owe Farah Nabulsi an enormous debt of gratitude. In a short 24minute film, The Present, she has exposed the oppressive indecency of the Israeli occupation while telling the deeply moving story of a Palestinian family.

What is especially exciting is that after winning awards at a number of international film festivals, Ms. Nabulsi has been nominated for an Academy Award for this remarkable work of art.

It’s a simple story about a complex reality: Yusef, a Palestinian man on his day off from work, takes Yasmine, his little daughter, into the city to buy his wife, Noor, an anniversary present. It ought to be simple, but it’s not, because to get to the shops they must pass through an Israeli-controlled checkpoint. And the or-

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Arif Nizami Editor Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Managing Editor

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2020, almost 28 years after the mosque was razed, showing how even the courts had become handmaidens of Hindu extremists,instead of staying aloof from extremism.

Chief Justice Ranjan gogoi was inducted into the Rajya Sabha as quid pro quo for his `services’. The court under him delivered several judgments, including one on triple divorce.. expect the Hindutva judiciary to enforce a uniform religious code for all religious communities as per the BJP agenda.

The main point of the acquittal is that the demolition incident was not pre-planned’. Actually the procession was well planned resulting in the death of 16 Muslims. If all the 32 accused were innocent then who were the culprits?

Several judgments of India’s Supreme Court pander to Hindutva sentiments. The court held that “…there can be no reason to hold that a mosque has a unique or special status higher than that of the places of worship of other religions in secular India to make it immune for acquisition by exercise of sovereign or prerogative power of the state.”

The dangerous assertion in the court’s verdict is “A mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz (prayer) by Muslims can be offered anywhere even in open.” This militates against a Muslim’s constitutional right to offer prayer.

The court formed its opinion on ‘inside-outside’ pilgrimage test. Hindus places of pilgrimage are all inside India. For Muslims, it is Mecca, Medina and the Dome of the Rock. For Christians, Jerusalem and places outside India? This test amounts to saying India is a Hindu country for the Hindu faith and that other religions (Christianity, Islam, etc) have lesser rights.

The court’s thinking was fallacious. Mansarovar temple is in China while the revered shrines of Moinuddin Chishti and Nizamuddin Auliya are inside India.

Declaring mosques as inessential is dangerous.

Already, Hindus forbid Muslims from offering prayers in the open. even the prayergoers who spill on roads during Ramadan or during Friday prayers are brutally beaten. even someone wearing a prayer cap may be picked up on a lonely street by a fanatic Hindu and beaten or killed. Haryana state has formally forbidden congregational namaz on roads or on vacant plots. Responding to the debate, the Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, a staunch RSS member, argued that although law and order should always be given priority, “there has been an increase in offering namaz in the open’’, and that “namaz should be read in mosques or idgahs rather than public spaces’’.

In stark contrast, the courts consider temples essential to Hindu religion. They allowed menstruating women to pray at Sabrimala Temple.

Hindu religion has no prophet, according to the encyclopaedia. Courts rely on Hindu myths. How could a court determine the birth of Ram millennia ago? There is no evidence about Babur constructing a mosque in Ayodhya after demolishing a temple

there. All early sources are mute. The first reference to Babri appears in a travel account by a Jesuit priest, Joseph Tiefenthaler, in 1768. The inscriptions, inside the mosque, often quoted in books on Ayodhya or Babur, were fake. The inscriptions show that the mosque was built in 1528–29 Ce (935 AH) by Mir Baqi, on orders of the Mughal emperor Babur. But these inscriptions were fixed in the mosque 280 years after its supposed construction in 1528.

Babur did visit gwalior temples. But, neither he nor his commander Mir Baqi (distinct from the Baqi of the masjid inscriptions), ever visited Ayodhya. Mir Baqi of Baburnama was never governor of Ayodhya.

L K Advani himself admitted on 30 September 1990: ‘No one can prove that it was the birthplace of Shri Rama.’ It is a matter of belief. Can this belief receive judicial sanction to the point where it can override others’ moral and legal rights?

CDetermination of title based on excavation opened up the Pandora’s Box of further excavations on flimsy grounds. Anyone may anytime complain to a court about a temple having been converted into a Masjid hundreds of years ago. BJP’s legislators have already demanded excavation of 3000 to 5000 mosques, including Delhi’s grand Mosque. MP Sakshi Maharaj even offered to be hanged if idols were not found underneath the Jamia Masjid staircase. uP BJP’s president Vinay Katiyar said, “Why should we confine (ourselves) to Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura? Why not talk of 5,000? All sites should be dug up to verify the claims on the pattern of Ram Janmabhoomi”.

Those still enamoured of secular India’s democracy should wake up. The Babri masjid verdict has threatened survival of mosques. During the British raj or Moghul period, Hindus did not question the existence of mosques. The court accepted the preposterous claim that god (Ram) was born at Babri site millennia ago. Shankaracharya’s Nyas (trust) originally owned only one acre of land near Babri site, the rest of the land (additional 42 acres of so-called undisputed land) was given to it on lease by then chief minister Kalyan Singh (an acquitted accused) in 1992 to develop a Ram Katha.

When the Quaid-e-Azam left India for Pakistan on 7 August 1947, Vallabhai Patel said, ‘As for the Muslims they have the roots, their sacred places and their centres here. I do not know what they can possibly do in Pakistan. It will not be long before they return to us’ The Babri case should make one thank the Quaid for Pakistan. All those involved in rath yatra were acquitted. emboldened by the Babri victory, fanatical Hindus now claim over 5000 temples, including Tejomahalay Shiva temple (Taj Mahal), converted into mosques by the Moghul.

deal they must endure becomes the crux of the story. ever since I first witnessed the dehumanizing and humiliating treatment meted out to Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints, I’ve tried to explain the situation to American audiences. I don’t have to try any longer.

I can just ask them to see The Present. After that first experience with the checkpoints, I wrote a piece, “Anger and Fear.” It was horrifying to witness. Young Israeli boys and girls holding weapons, shouting commands, demeaning the older Palestinians, lined up in what looked like cattle shoots, trying to get to work, go to school, shop for necessities, or visit family. “Don’t look at me.” “Keep your heads down.” “Hold up your IDs.” The Palestinians, with the heads down obeyed these commands because they had no other choice if they wanted to pass.

It was the “master/slave dialectic” playing out in front of me. The young Israelis demonstrating anger to assert their control. But without their weapons and their angry commands, they were frightened little people.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians were feigning fear. Because they had no control over their lives, they suffered the indignity in silence. But inside they were seething in anger at the humiliation they were forced to endure.

We’ve seen this play out in other settings. It’s the way occupation armies always behave. It’s also the way police forces behave in America’s inner cities.

And the consequences, in all cases, are devastating. What’s so remarkable about The Present is how much it accomplishes in such a short time. Palestinians in this film aren’t one-dimensional stick figures.

Just five minutes into the story and you’ve fallen in

love with Yusef, Noor, and Yasmine. Little gestures and telling glances bring home the obvious affection they feel for one another. Because the portraits of this little Palestinian family are so real, you care about them and want them to find happiness. Aside from the powerful story that unfolds, this is one of the film’s most important contributions.

Because Palestinians have long been reduced in the West to objects or “a problem to be solved” so that Israeli humanity can live with security and peace, elevating Palestinian humanity becomes a revolutionary act. It upends the equation that Israeli hasbarists have created and reinforced to justify their behaviors.

As powerful as the story is, it’s dramatic ending is equally rich in meaning and the message it conveys. I won’t ruin it for you because I want you to experience it for yourself. But when you do, just remember a lesson I learned from one of my mentors, Dan Berrigan, the activist Jesuit priest. He told me that in the insanity of our Kafkaesque world, just being able to affirm a simple truth like “Two plus two equals four” becomes a revolutionary act. In The Present, it’s Yasmine who affirms simple truth – the revolutionary act – and leaves the oppressors powerless.

Farah Nabulsi has truly given us a present. While watching The Present, viewers will experience a gamut of emotions: affection, anger, fear, sadness and then exhilaration. Please watch it, and cheer her to victory on April 25.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

The writer is a freelance journalist, has served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and holds degrees in economics, business administration, and law. He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail.com

Farah Nabulsi has truly given us a present. While watching The Present, viewers will experience a gamut of emotions: affection, anger, fear, sadness and then exhilaration. Please watch it, and cheer her to victory on April 25.

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

COMMENT 07 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

Asad Umar’s assessment of Pakistan’s economy

Challenging writ of state not justified Blasphemy cannot be tolerated

mAlik muhAmmAd AshrAf

N

o Muslim can ever tolerate the desecration of Holy Quran and blasphemous flak directed at prophet Muhammad (PBuH) because these are the pillars of the Islamic faith.

Therefore whenever any incident of blasphemy takes place anywhere in the world it provokes very strong reaction in the entire Muslim world. unfortunately a snow-balling tendency has been witnessed in some of the Western countries where the extremist rightist parties and groups are deliberately engaged in denigrating Islam and carrying out blasphemous actions against the personality of the Prophet (PBuH) with impunity and their actions have been tolerated in the name of freedom of expression. The publication of blasphemous caricatures of the prophet (PBuH) in France during last october and the refusal of the French President to stop their republication is the case in point. He not only described Islam as a religion in crisis but also launched an extensive with-hunt against the Muslim community and announced stricter oversight on schooling and better control over foreign funding of mosques. He made this announcement in the wake of beheading of a teacher by a local Muslim angered by the use of blasphemous cartoons.

The actions of the French President rightly sparked an outrage in the Muslim world including Pakistan which lodged a strong protest with the French government. Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the statement by the French President and was right on money to say “It is unfortunate that he has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists. Sadly, President Macron has chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, including his own citizens, through encouraging the display of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam and our Prophet (PBuH). Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings, as Mandela did, rather than dividing them. This is a time when President Macron could have put healing touch and denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarization and marginalization that inevitably leads to radicalization.” The Senate and the National Assembly also passed unanimous resolutions strongly condemning the attempt of illegal

and Islamophobic acts of republication of blasphemous sketches of the Holy Prophet (SAW) in France under the garb of freedom of expression. Foreign Ministry called the French Ambassador and lodged a strong protest against the episode. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also urged the uN to take notice and called for action against the hate-based narrative against Islam.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also wrote letters to heads of Muslim states urging them to act collectively saying “Today, we are confronting a growing concern and restlessness amongst our ummah as they see the rising tide of Islamophobia and attacks, through ridicule and mockery on our beloved Prophet (PBuH) in the Western world, especially europe. The recent statements at the leadership level and incidents of desecration of the ,Quran are a reflection of this increasing Islamophobia that is spreading in european countries where sizeable Muslim populations reside” The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), one of the principal organs of the organisation of Islamic Cooperation (oIC) also condemned the remarks of French politicians encouraging the publication of blasphemous caricatures under the guise of a distorted version of the right to freedom of expression.”

As is evident, the government of Pakistan was in the forefront of the campaign by the Muslim world in condemning the French actions. under the circumstances it was but natural for the religious entities in Pakistan, particularly the TLP, a religious group formed particularly to protect the sanctity and honour of the Prophet (PBuH), to take a strict view of the situation. It launched a protest movement demanding of the government to expel the French ambassador and to boycott French goods. It surely was their right to express their resentment over the issue.

Since then the TLP has been campaigning hard to have its demands met by the government and also staged sit-ins which sadly turned violent. The government has remained engaged with them to defuse the situation. It rightly felt that the expulsion of the ambassador will have very serious consequences for the country and the issue needed to be thoroughly deliberated in Parliament before any decision could be taken.

However, taking offence at the delay in pre-

senting the issue in the Parliament, the TLP again came out on the streets, disrupting civic life in the major cities of the country and its followers turned violent. The nation saw the ugly incidents of the personnel of the law enforcing agencies being attacked and thrashed, resulting in the martyrdom of more than six of them and injuries to hundreds. This act clearly amounted to challenging the writ of the state and no state can allow this. There is no justification for religious militancy and challenging the writ of the state. It is morally, legally constitutionally and religiously undesirable. It was therefore the duty of the state to take action to establish its writ.

While it is hard to take an issue with the cause that the TLP is agitating for, it is not possible to endorse the antics adopted by it and its followers in this regard. They need to understand that the issue of blasphemy is a challenge for the entire Muslim ummah and it was already seized of the matter through diplomatic channels, which is the right way of dealing with the issue. Pakistan on its own level is also making relentless efforts to check the rising tide of Islamophobia through diplomatic channels.

In the backdrop of the action taken by the government to ban the TLP, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called on the Western countries which have outlawed any negative comment on the ‘Holocaust’ to use the same standards to penalize those who deliberately spread a message of hate against Muslims by abusing the Holy Prophet (PBuH). He said, “Those in the West, including extreme right politicians, who deliberately indulge in such abuse and hate under guise of freedom of speech clearly lack moral sense and courage to apologize to the 1.3 billion Muslims for causing this hurt. We demand an apology from these extremists.” our religious parties like the TLP need to understand that adopting extreme steps could have very serious repercussions at the global level. Pakistan is not an island. It is a member of the global community. Punitive and harsh actions against any european country could set in a chain reaction of retaliatory measures and add intensity to acts of blasphemy instead of curbing the trend. engagement with those countries and the global community to discourage Islamophobia is the best option.

Our religious parties like the TLP need to understand that adopting extreme steps could have very serious repercussions at the global level. Pakistan is not an island. It is a member of the global community. Punitive and harsh actions against any European country could set in a chain reaction of retaliatory measures and add intensity to acts of blasphemy instead of curbing the trend. Engagement with those countries and the global community to discourage Islamophobia is the best option

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com.

PAKISTAN’S respectable Minister of Planning Development & Special Initiatives, women when he repeatedly declared yesterday ( 17th April 2021) in a television talk show that Pakistan’s economy has been improving a lot during the last two and a half years under the government Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan. I am struggling to understand how country’s economy has improved during the last two and a half years when clearly there is rampant inflation and increasing unemployment in the country. A common man does not know how make both ends meet. Inflation has messed up budget of a common man . Youth of the country is struggling to find job to help support the family. The inflationary policies of the country have damaged country economy. As if this was not enough then came covid 19 from the beginning of year 2020 which worsened the economy of the entire world but here we have Mr. Asad umar saying Pakistan economy has been improving during the last two and half years . PTI’s two and half years rule include almost 1 year and three months of Covid 19 pandemic . It is not PTI’s fault that there is covid 19 in the country. Covid 19 has engulfed the entire world and affected adversely the world’s economy including economy of Pakistan . How then Mr. Asad umar can claim that Pakistan’s economy has been improving during the last two and half years?.If current account deficit is shrinking that does not necessarily mean economy is improving . on the contrary, the shrinking of current account deficit could be due to reduced imports because people are consuming less. If cars sales are increasing that might be due to pent up demand of cars which did not materialise due covid 19 situation . The cars sales for 9MFY 21 increased by 31% as compared to car sales of F9MFY 2020 . I shall not be very excited for this increase because we are comparing this year car sales with a low base . The shrinkage of current account balance or increase in car sales do not help a common man’s budget. I believe what helps a common man and his family is price stability and improvement in jobs market. The primary mandate of a government is to bring price stability and create steady job growth so that masses may benefit . In my opinion ,this has not been happening during last two a half years, partly due to inflationary policies of the government of PTI and partly due to Covid 19 pandemic . Therefore, the respectable minister should consider to review his claim that Pakistan economy has been improving during the last two and half years .

Ejaz ahmad magoon LahorE

Nothing is impossible HISToRY stands witness nothing is Impossible in the world which can not be achieved by man. Many charming personalities with their untiring efforts made impossible possible.

A charming personality Thomas edison, while making the lightbulb, failed nine hundred and ninety nine times but didn’t lose his courage in the long run he carried the day. He said well, He was not failed he try nine hundred ninety nine ways to make blub. The word ‘Impossible’ itself spells, i ‘m possible, Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked, that word impossible is found in the dictionary of a fool.

To accomplish the most difficult tasks, one needs to put his or her great efforts, extra perseverance and concentration on a sole goal. Keep patience and do the best leave the rest on Allah Almighty. Moreover, Doing something one can face hurdles it is very clear that no one can get success with ease for achieving success countless hurdles are to come but one has to go with difficulties and gain desired objective.

To attain a desired goal, one has to laugh at his or her troubles and has to forget them. If someone laughs at his or her troubles he or she will be contented and happy whatever has come his or her paths will be forgotten forever. A saying goes, A room wasn’t built in a day, It is as clear as ABC from mentioned saying that if someone works hard day and night success is sure to come one day at any rate. Believe yourself, Believing yourself is one of the the best manner to achieve the hardest goals. The more you believe yourself, the more you reach your desired objects.

Don’t get afraid of failure, Failure is the way to find multiple routes to success. It is one of the most secret behind success. In short, nothing is Impossible which can’t be chalked out by man in the world. If man tries anything with his heart or with great intentions even though impossible becomes possible. muhammad zarif QuEtta

Indian occupied Kashmir INDIA occupied Kashmir in connivance with Mahraja Hari Singh against the will of the people of the valley. India and Pakistan fought wars over the issue, and it has been pending at the uN for ages. Sheikh Abdullah, the founder of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, did not object or resist the accession of Kashmir to India. He rather decided to participate in the election to become the first elected Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after its accession. However, he later wrote in his book that he made a huge mistake at the time to accept the Indian occupation of Kashmir. Poet Muzaffar Razmi captured this beautifully: “Yeh jabr bhi dekha hai tarekh ki nazron ney Lamhon ney khata ki thi sadion ney saza pai” It is true that a decision in the moment of time has become a curse for the people of Kashmir forever. Had Sheikh Abdullah resisted the annexation of Kashmir by India, the fate of the people of the valley might have been different. I am afraid our leaders are repeating the same kind of momentary weaknesses. Their lack of strength and unified stance against India has emboldened it to end the special status of Kashmir. The misery of the people of the valley is on the rise and our leaders are busy in an ugly fight of power grab and mudslinging. raja ShafaatuLLah iSLamabad

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

Who WIll conTrol The 21sT cenTury?

nEwswEEk

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JoEl KoTKIn And MArShAll ToplAnSKy

T’S impossible to predict the future. But one thing you can be sure of: Few things will be of more important to the lives of our children than who wins the emerging, epoch-defining struggle for control of space.

This is a battle just beginning over who will control the communication satellites so central to our economy as well as the vast resources of other planets. But ultimately, the new space battle represents a war over opportunities for colonization, for an increasingly resource-stretched and crowded earth.

This may sound like apocalyptic sci-fi. But space is already becoming big business, and it’s certain to get much bigger. Boosted by a huge surge of investment, space-industry global revenues are up more than twofold since the early 2000s, from $175 billion in 2005 to almost $424billion in 2019. By 2040, morgan Stanley projects annual global space-industry revenues to reach $1.2 trillion.

Today the big money—$271 billion of it—is in communications satellites and launch services. Soon enough, there may be a market for things like space tourism, manufacturing in space and even, eventually, the old dream of colonization.

But in the long run, the key struggle will be over military applications and, perhaps even more critical, control of valuable resources. The monetary potential in mining key resources like lithium, cobalt and gold has been estimated to be as high as 27 quintillion dollars.

But the space war is not just about money. it’s also about power. and america faces a challenge on the galactic front from China, Russia, the european Union, Japan, and even israel, all of whom pose a challenge. and as Brandon Weichert notes in his book Winning Space: How america Remains a Superpower, america’s claim to being the world’s superpower rests to a large degree on winning the space front.

Right now, military advantage clearly remains a prime motivator. Control of satellites are crucial to any future conflict, as militaries depend on satellite communications for both surveillance and battlefield operations.

The winner of future “star wars” will be those who can control access to space. Unfortunately for the U.S., China is very aware of this. Ye Penjiang, the head of its moon program, views space from an imperial perspective, comparing it to the islands China is occupying or creating in the south seas. Penjiang has gone so far as to suggest that China’s “descendants” would never forgive them for giving up this new realm.

So it’s not surprising that Chinese young people now dream of being astronauts, like americans in the 1960s, while most of our young people seem more interested in becoming social media influencers, more like Justin Bieber than Buzz aldrin as Weichert archly put it.

Still, despite these challenges, america remains the leading player, in large part due to our burgeoning array of private space companies. in 2018, Chinese companies raised some $516 million—compared to the 2.2 billion raised by american firms. Some of these are backed by such moguls as elon musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, but they control only a portion of the more than the US’s 150 space-related companies. it’s far more than any country, and at least 30 times more than China or Russia.

These firms are engaged in everything from launch facilities and launch-service provision to reusable-rocket production and moon and mars landers and vehicles.

Right now, the space entrepreneurs are keeping the United States well in the lead technologically. The U.S.

WHOEVER CONTROLS SPACE represents over 40 percent of world’s launch services industry, taking market share from both the european Union and Russia. and while a decade ago, americans were dependent on French or former Soviet launch sites and even vehicles, today the biggest players in the launch services business include private firms like Space X, United Launch alliance (ULa), Boeing and northrup grumman.

The state that gave the world “governor moonbeam” remains without question the central heartland of the space industry. Though tech and other high-end employment are dispersing at a rapid pace from areas like Silicon Valley, the unique nature of the space industry—its dependence on accessing rare skills and technical networks, for example—favor California’s continuing leadership. The talent pool, developed over the past eighty years, is still critical.

Local universities like USC, UCLa, UC Berkeley and Caltech have ongoing R&D efforts to support the aerospace talent pool and technology development.

California has a 19 percent share of the overall global space industry, as well as 40 percent of the U.S. industry sites. But there are other states— notably Florida and Texas—working to knock California off its perch. if state authorities are not worried by the recent decision of elon musk to move to Texas and Space X to build its new spaceships not in San Pedro but in Florida, they should be.

Other states, for example, Washington, Oklahoma, and michigan, are targeting the industry with tax, real estate and worker-training deals. Texas, with its boundless space and ambition, has the “second-most attractive” aerospace market in the nation, with naSa’s Johnson Space Center, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed, L3 and a host of geographically important resources such as launch sites, historic rocket testing locations, and production facilities.

Texas is already the site for the bulk of rocket test and certification flights. SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have large test facilities in Van Horn and Brownsville, respectively. in addition, Texas has two spaceports, one in midland and one in Houston. and it has two spaceports, midland international air and Space Port and Houston Spaceport, which has enjoyed state support since 2013.

But america may not be top space dog forever. This will take attention and investment. History generally favors countries and places who risk the most and work along the cutting edge. Right now, we can expect governments to fund much of the innovation effort, particularly on the military side. But we might find that modern adventurers, like their counterparts in the age of sailing ships, will be the ones pushing the envelope technologically, whether in reducing launch costs, using three-D printing for making rocket parts or accommodating space tourists.

To be sure, government backing will matter. President Trump was arguably the first strongly pro-space President since Reagan, while the Biden administration’s plan to increase naSa’s budget by over six percent next year may have a salutary effect. it remains an issue of overwhelming national interest whether the space industry ends up concentrated in Long Beach or south Texas, the indian Ocean, Kazakhstan or in China’s rugged interior. Right now, the U.S., and particularly California, has the lead. But the future does not always belong to the early leader, which is why we speak english rather than Portuguese. The future remains a domain that is not yet determined but should not be squandered.

Marshall Toplansky is Clinical Assistant Professor of Management Science at the Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University. Joel Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and executive director of the Urban Reform Institute.

Microsoft’s $20 billion AI deal The myth of Muslim appeasement in West Bengal DATA REVEALS UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF MUSLIMS will shake up how we work IN THE PROFESSIONAL SPHERE AND PUBLIC LIFE IndIan ExpREss

SAbIr AhAMEd & Md ZAKArIA SIddIquI

TOO MANY BIG DEALS MAY DRAW THE ATTENTION OF REGULATORS, WHO MAY EVENTUALLY WONDER IF THE SAME ANTITRUST SCRUTINY NOW GIVEN TO GIANTS SUCH AS FACEBOOK INC. AND ALPHABET INC. SHOULD PERTAIN TO MICROSOFT AS WELL

BLOOMBERG

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TAE KIM

magine the workplace of the future, where computers powered by artificial intelligence take care of the most tedious administrative tasks, making employees happier and more productive. microsoft Corp. wants to be at the forefront of that future — and its deal for voice-recognition and ai specialist nuance Communications inc. shows it’s willing to spend a lot of money to do it. microsoft just recently said that it had agreed to buy nuance Communications inc. for about $56 a share, or almost $20 billion including debt. at first glance, it may seem like a strange candidate for what would become microsoft’s second-largest acquisition after its $26 billion deal for Linkedin Corp. For much of the last decade, nuance’s sales have stagnated as the early pioneer of speech-recognition products wasn’t able to innovate fast enough. But that has changed. given the impressive technology and potential inside its latest ai solution for health care, a purchase of nuance makes sense.

The game-changing product is the nuance Dragon ambient eXperience, or DaX, which was released in February 2020. While prior offerings forced doctors to use devices to transcribe notes and then spend hours at the end of the day to file paperwork, DaX takes the administrative burden off their plate. During each visit, the system records voice conversations between doctors and patients, then leverages ai to find the proper context for the discussions and automatically creates detailed clinical documentation for review. all the doctor has to do is sign off. at least for physicians, it seems as if the ai-powered panacea is now here.

Hospitals love it. They get happier doctors,

who can see more patients, and there’s a reduced risk of clinical mistakes. Citing a survey, nuance notes the percentage of doctors feeling burnout and fatigue dropped to 17% from 72% with the use of DaX. Physicians say it also enables higher quality care because they can focus on treating patients instead of doing data entry. The excitement has reached investors.

During nuance’s most recent earnings call, nearly every question from Wall Street touched upon DaX’s prospects. While the use of DaX is still in the early stages, the financial future looks bright. earlier this year, nuance said revenue from DaX could rise to as much as $250 million by 2023 from an estimated $15 million or so this year, and it was seeing rising interest from current and new customers. a microsoft-nuance combination increases the opportunity for growth, with microsoft’s heft allowing for a larger rollout. There are other synergies. DaX, which already uses microsoft’s cloud-computing service azure and benefits from its ai technologies under a strategic partnership signed in 2019, can be further integrated into the technology giant’s services to create an even more powerful offering. most critically, microsoft will learn all the intimate details on how to best develop advanced ai solutions for the workplace that it can apply to other industries.

On one front, however, microsoft should tread carefully. no other technology company has been as active shopping for large companies. in late march, Bloomberg reported microsoft was in talks to buy gaming chat community Discord inc. for more than $10 billion. This, after the company completed its $7.5 billion acquisition of video-game publisher Zenimax and reportedly considered Pinterest inc. in recent months. and of course, microsoft made an attempt to buy the U.S. operations of TikTok last year. Too many big deals may draw the attention of regulators, who may eventually wonder if the same antitrust scrutiny now given to giants such as Facebook inc. and alphabet inc. should pertain to microsoft as well. in the meantime, if microsoft can get a nuance deal done without causing too much trouble for itself, it will add the essential expertise it needs to lead the next big disruptive wave of innovation. it’s a worthy pursuit.

Tae Kim is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology.

T

He Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)— the key contender in the ongoing West Bengal assembly election— availed every opportunity to showcase Chief minister mamata Banerjee’s “muslim appeasement policy” to polarise the electorate.

The much-publicised appeasement policy includes remunerations to imams and muezzins or prayer callers by the State auqaf Board (stipends for imams), hosting of allegedly expensive iftar parties by the government and extensive temporary residential arrangements for Hajis in the state capital.

The issue of muslim appeasement was extensively promoted recently by one of Banerjee’s erstwhile associates, Subhendu adhikari, who has joined the BJP. in a series of campaign speeches, adhikari has accused Banerjee of muslim appeasement and addressed her as “mumtaz” or/and “Begum”, indicating her “close association” with the community. adhikari said that “if begum comes back to power, the state will turn into a mini Pakistan”.

The key question is if the policies to “appease” minorities have impacted the lives of muslims in West Bengal in the last 10 years of Trinamool Congress (TmC) rule. Does the claim of minority appeasement hold?

While discussing the question of muslim appeasement we must take the cognisance that muslims constitute about 27 per cent (2011) of the state’s population — nearly double of the national average of 14 per cent. There have indeed been a few symbolic initiatives addressing the minority community. it is also equally true that the development of minorities in the state is very slow.

However, a recent article (‘State of turmoil’, ie, april 16), based on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2018, has shown that there has been a significant increase (17 per cent in 2018) of muslims in government and public sector jobs. The authors have argued that the expansion of muslim representation is at the expense of the Hindus.

The source of PLFS data is a sample survey by the nSS. its primary objective is not to estimate the participation of social groups in government jobs and thus the figures mentioned in the article could be misleading. These estimates have a very high margin of error as the number of observations pertaining to people having government jobs in the surveyed data is very low. For example, the sample size for the government employees in West Bengal

were 773 in PLFS 1 and 739 in PLFS 2.

Our own calculations underscore that estimates for the share of social groups in government jobs vary widely from one survey to another. Let us consider one more example. The share of muslims in government jobs in West Bengal in 201718 as per PLFS 1 is nearly 17 per cent.

However, the same estimate when done from PLFS 2 (2018-19), throws up an entirely different number: 10.8 per cent, which implies a reduction in government jobs for muslims by more than six percentage points. Such a reduction within one year is implausible. This is purely because estimates are based on very thin samples.

The definition of government jobs is based on a variable provided by PLFS data — enterprise type of the workers. So, people working for government bodies, public sector enterprises and autonomous bodies are considered as having government and public sector jobs.

Staff Census data, on the government employment, published by the government of West Bengal, show a marginal increase (less than 1 percentage point) in the representation of muslims in the government jobs from 2008 to 2016. as per the Staff Census data (2008), only 5.19 per cent of the total 3,47,798 state government employees were from the muslim community. in 2015-16, a marginal uptick was recorded — it went up to 6.08 per cent.

These numbers should be viewed in relation to the population share of muslims in the state — 27 per cent. Compared to other social groups, muslims are far behind in public sector jobs. Scheduled Tribes (STs) share in government jobs in Bengal is 5.07 per cent with a population share of 6 per cent. For Scheduled Castes (SCs), it is 17.66 per cent. SCs make up 23 per cent of the state’s population.

The authors have also indicated that the social space for muslims has significantly increased, symbolised by the first muslim mayor of Kolkata in independent india in 2018. a deep dive into the employment data reveals a gross under-representation of muslims in civic bodies. an RTi application by one of the authors reveals that till 2019, the percentage of muslims in the Kolkata municipal Corporation (KmC) was 5.2 per cent (1,123 out of 21,285 were muslims), up from 4.5 per cent in 2008. With no fresh requirement and more reliance on outsourcing of the municipal services, the absolute number of muslims in civic

services has dipped from 1,555 in 2008 to 1,126 in 2019. in Kolkata Police, there are only 2,897 (11.14 per cent) muslims while the total strength is 25,999, the RTi data reveals.

During the Left Front rule (2008), muslims constituted 9.13 per cent of the force. muslim presence in the force increased by just 2.01 percentage points between 2008 and 2019. The government data clearly indicate that there has been a minimal increase in the representation of muslims in government jobs and fewer muslims are employed in absolute numbers in important institutions like Kolkata Police and the KmC. The pace at which representation in government jobs is increasing, it would take over half a century for muslims to be at par with the population share in the state.

The resounding victory of mamata Banerjee in 2011 can be attributed to overwhelming support from the minority community. Besides the nandigram and Singur protests, the publication of the 2006 Sachar Committee Report highlighted the lack of muslim representation in formal employment. even a cursory look at the data tells us about the underrepresentation of muslims in the sphere of professional and public life. Certainly, there has been a significant increase in the number of muslim lawmakers in the state assembly. Of 294 members, 20 per cent are muslims in the present assembly.

Of the 44 ministers, about five were included in the Cabinet.

However, barring urban development and municipal affairs, muslim ministers were not given charge of any important portfolios. The representation of muslims is likely to reduce with the rise of BJP in the state and the incumbent has fielded fewer muslim candidates in the ongoing election. muslims are more than one-fourth of the total population and have lived a life largely free from communal violence.

Yet, their representation in the upper echelons of society is still minimal. But a change — in a very limited way — can be noticed. a new education movement evolved in the state due to the setting up of the community’s own residential schools in various districts. more muslims are enrolling for higher education.

This is creating some ripples in society.

Sabir Ahamed is National Research Coordinator at Pratichi Institute and Zakaria Siddiqui is Associate Professor at Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation.

Wednesday, 21 april, 2021

Business 09

LaHoRe CORPORATE CORNER

GovT To ESTABLISH cENTrALISEd dATABASE oF ESSENTIAL Food ITEmS ISLAMABAD

T

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE federal government has decided to establish a centralised database for collecting data related to essential food commodities. Sources said that the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) has asked the federal cabinet to approve a legislation for

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a centralised database with the mandate to collect information related to essential food commodities in this regard.

The ministry has maintained that it is important that a central database along with a dashboard is established at the federal level in order to monitor and regulate the production, supply, demand and prices of food items.

“The primary objective is to access relevant action and take timely deci-

KARACHI

Faysal Bank Limited conducts corporate briefing session KARACHI PRESS RELEASE

Faysal Bank Limited recently conducted a virtual corporate briefing session wherein Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Syed Majid Ali briefed the analyst community and shareholders about the bank’s business strategy, financial performance and its outlook. The bank has made significant progress on its strategy of conversion to an Islamic bank. 87pc of the bank’s branches are now offering dedicated sharia compliant financial solutions. During 2020, despite wide ranging business and operational challenges posed by Covid-19, the bank converted 65 branches to Islamic. In terms of financial performance, FABL posted profit after tax of Rs6.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020, as compared to Rs6.0 billion last year.

Islamic banking business contributed 40pc share of profit. The bank’s net advances portfolio stood at Rs318 billion as at December 31, 2020 out of which 60pc of the portfolio is Islamic. The deposit closed at Rs541 billion registering a healthy annual growth of 18.1pc.

NBP Funds announces launch of NBP Funds Health Takaful Plan KARACHI PRESS RELEASE

NBP Funds on Tuesday announced the launch of NBP Funds Health Takaful Plan that gives you the opportunity to avail Health Takaful Hospitaliaation Coverage on your investment. The plan helps you meet your financial goals while covering your hospitalisation expenses in unforeseen circumstances from a wide range of reputable hospitals nationwide.

Gulf Air resumes direct flights to Istanbul

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) on Tuesday declared a consolidated profit before tax of Rs14.5 billion for the quarter ended March 31, more than double that for the same period last year.

Profit after tax recorded a growth of 108 per cent over Q1FY20 to Rs8.6 billion. The bank’s earnings per share increased from Rs2.79 to Rs5.68 in Q1FY21. Along with the results, the bank declared a dividend of Rs1.75 per share (17.5pc). Helped by the strong profitability, the bank’s Tier 1 CAR rose to 13.9pc, with total CAR increasing to 17.9pc.

The bank’s total deposit base closed at Rs2.8 trillion, with robust CA and CASA ratios of 35.1pc and 83.1pc respectively. Average domestic deposits increased by a multi-year high of nearly 20pc over Q1FY20, with average current accounts rising by more than Rs120 billion. This led to a nearly Rs500 billion expansion in the bank’s average balance sheet in Q1FY21. Consequently, despite a much lower interest rate environment, net interest income rose to Rs32.5 billion, a 16pc growth over Q1FY20.

HBL’s market-leading consumer business continues to outperform in multiple aspects, with loans growing to nearly Rs85 billion; total advances of the bank were maintained at Dec 2020 levels of Rs1.2 trillion. Total non-fund income of the bank has grown by 42pc over Q1FY20 to Rs8.2 billion. Fees and commissions continued to accelerate, increasing by 25pc over Q1FY20 to Rs5.9 billion.

Expenses remain well contained despite the bank’s continued investments in people and technology. The bank reduced its administrative expenses by 7pc over Q1FY20 as the cost to income ratio, excluding capital gains, improved to 58.4pc in Q1FY21 from 81.4pc in Q1FY20. Total NPLs of the bank declined

by Rs0.7 billion over Dec 2020, with the infection ratio remaining stable at a record low of 6.3pc. The bank’s total coverage improved to over 100pc, with the specific coverage at 86pc.

HBL retained its #1 position in consumer finance.

The bank came first in credit cards, debit cards, merchant acquiring, personal loans and second in auto loans. Personal loans at Rs38.7 billion, delivered a growth of 16pc over the same period last year. Auto finance recorded an increase of Rs3 billion, 57pc over the same period last year. Credit and debit cards business recorded the highest ever usage generated on any card in Pakistan.

Through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA), a special investment account created for overseas Pakistanis, since its launch over 21,000 Pakistanis from 130 countries have set up RDA accounts and remitted more than $130 million in a short span of three months.

HBL’s Islamic Banking, with the addition of a dedicated HBL Islamic Commercial Centre, Trade Hub and Branch in Karachi, now provides Shariah compliant financial services from over 911 branches nationwide. Supporting the government’s vision of providing affordable housing units to underserved segments of society through the Naya Pakistan Hous-

ing and Development Authority (NPHDA), HBL also became the first bank in Pakistan to enter a partnership with Akhuwat Foundation.

HBL maintained its position as the lead private sector financier of the agriculture sector, with a 30pc market share. The bank’s Development Finance Group (DFG) has successfully launched pilots on major food crops involving optimised agronomy advisory for each farmer by agronomists employed by HBL. HBL continues to retain its leadership position in the corporate and investment banking space in Pakistan. In Q1FY21 the Bank successfully concluded several transactions across various sectors including oil and gas, real estate and renewable power generation, maintaining momentum by securing several advisory and arrangement mandates.

HBL maintains its lead in the market in adopting environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.

In Q1 2021, HBL extended its international footprint by becoming the first Pakistani bank to open a branch in Beijing, China. HBL Beijing has become HBL’s second branch and its managing branch in China; both branches in Beijing and Urumqi are equipped with foreign exchange and RMB license to better facilitate customers’ requirements in multiple currencies.

During Q1FY21, HBL won the 2021 Asiamoney Award for Best Domestic Bank, the Best Customer Franchise award, Best Bank for SMEs and also Best Investment Banking award by the Pakistan Banking

MCB unconsolidated profit increases to Rs6.8bn in Q1FY21 LAHORE PRESS RELEASE

The MCB Bank Limited (MCB) Board of Directors (BoD) in its meeting under the chairmanship of Mian Mohammad Mansha, on April 20, reviewed the performance of the bank and approved the condensed interim financial statements for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

The board has declared first interim cash dividend of Rs4.5 per share, continuing with its highest dividend payout trend.

During the period under review, MCB continued with its strategic focus on generating sustainable stakeholder value, while proactively monitoring the resurgence in Covid-19 outbreak and its potential ramifications on the macroeconomic and op-

erating environment.

MCB’s unconsolidated Profit After Tax (PAT) for the three month period ended March 31, 2021 increased to Rs6.79 billion; translating into an Earning Per Share (EPS) of Rs5.73 against an EPS of Rs5.50 in corresponding period last year. Net interest income reported at Rs15.24 billion with a drop of 6.5 per cent on account of decreased earning margins due to the expansionary monetary policy regime adopted by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to combat the downside risks emanating from Covid-19 outbreak.

Non-markup income registered an increase of 22pc to reach Rs4.75 billion as the improving transactional volumes and surging business activities supplemented a growth of 17pc in fee income while dividend income in-

creased by 86pc over corresponding period last year.

On the operating expenses side, excluding pension fund reversal, despite sustained inflationary pressures, expansion in branch outreach, continued investment in technological infrastructure and regular performance and merit adjustments of the human capital, the bank’s focus of balancing short term tactical cost reductions with long term cost initiatives assisted in containing the growth in administrative expenses to 5pc.

On the provision front, the bank reversed provision on disposal of equity scrips, resulting in a net reversal of Rs570 million for the first quarter 2021. Based on the objective and subjective downgrades, net provision amounting to Rs444 was made against advances.

MANAMA PRESS RELEASE

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, announces that it will resume its direct operations to Istanbul Airport in Turkey with 2 weekly flights starting from May 11. The airline will also boost its services and frequencies to its current network as follows: • Cairo: From 6 weekly flights to daily flights • Dammam: From 6 weekly flights to double daily flights • Riyadh: From 5 weekly flights to daily flights • Jeddah: From 4 weekly flights to daily lights • Medina: from 3 to 5 weekly flights • Sialkot: Resumed with 3 weekly flights • Multan: Resumed with 3 weekly flights • Athens: From 2 to 3 weekly flights • Casablanca: From 1 to 2 weekly flights • Faisalabad: Resumed with 2 weekly flights • Manila: From 6 weekly flights to daily flights • Dubai: From 18 to 21 weekly flights

provincial governments work in harmony and share real-time data with each other in order to achieve the above-stated objective, the ministry emphasised. The ministry lamented that adequate legal and institutional framework which binds federal and provincial governments and organisations working under their control to share data essential to ensure food security in the country is not available.

HBL posts double Q1FY21 profit at Rs14.5bn PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: EFU Life becomes first insurance company to sign agreement with NIFT ePay for enabling digital payments for policy holders through their bank accounts or wallets on EFU Life’s website.

sions to prevent shortages, hoarding, profiteering market distortions and ensure smooth supply of essential commodities to the masses,” sources added.

The federal government is responsible to ensure the inter-provincial flow of essential food commodities, fix support or indicative price of essential food commodities and minimise food deficiency and malnutrition.

It is imperative that the federal and

China’s market regulator investigates Alibaba-Minmetals JV BEIJING AGENCIES

China’s market regulator is investigating a joint venture between e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Minmetals Development, Minmetals said on Monday, amid a broad antitrust clampdown on internet firms.

Minmetals said in a statement that it received a notice from the State Administration for Market Regulation in recent days about an investigation into the joint venture formed in 2015, in which Alibaba transferred its 44 per cent stake to an unrelated firm in 2019.

Alibaba declined to comment.

The investigation follows the record US$2.75 billion antitrust fine imposed on Alibaba earlier this month.

On Tuesday, Minmetals said in a statement that according to its “preliminary understanding”, the company’s e-commerce cooperation “did not involve any violation of the anti-monopoly law, and there was no damage to the interests of customers, consumers, and investments”.

The company added that it does not expect the regulator’s investigation will have an adverse material impact on its business operations.

Easypaisa and BISE Swat partner to digitise fee payments LAHORE: Easypaisa has inked an agreement with the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Saidu Sharif, Swat to bring convenient fee payment solutions to students of the region. This service will simplify fee payments including but not limited to secondary school certificate and higher secondary school certificate exams, gazette, certificate/DMC verification, and miscellaneous fees. Under the accord, students from far-flung areas of District Swat, Shangla, and Buner will be able to make payments digitally without having to physically visit bank branches. These improvements will open new horizons as well as create more opportunities for locals to embrace digital payments.PRESS RELEASE

YouTube celebrates success of content creators in Pakistan KARACHI: Youtube on Tuesday celebrated Mubashir Saddique and his very popular and fast-growing channel Village Food Secrets by featuring his story on YouTube through an inspiring video, released globally. The video shares the journey of Mubashir who hails from a remote village in Punjab, Shahpur, who used to live in Sialkot, where he worked at a football factory and would return home for the weekends. That's when he would cook for his family - an activity he enjoyed so much that it turned into content for his YouTube channel, Village Food Secrets. After four years he has amassed over 2.84 million subscribers coming from different parts of the world. Mubashir joined YouTube in January of 2017 when there were no proper internet facilities in Shahpur.PR

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

LAHORE

ChAd PrESidENt idriSS dEby kiLLEd oN froNtLiNE, SoN to tAkE ovEr N’DJAMENA

C

AGENCIES

HAD’S President Idriss Deby, who ruled his country for more than 30 years and was an important Western ally in the fight against militants in Africa, has been killed on the frontline against rebels in the north.

Deby’s son, Mahamat Kaka, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers, spokesman Azem Bermendao Agouna said in a broadcast on state television.

Deby, 68, came to power in a rebellion in 1990 and was one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders, surviving numerous coup attempts and rebellions.

His death was announced the day after

he was declared the winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in office. Most of the opposition, which had long complained of his repressive rule, boycotted the vote.

Deby — who often joined soldiers on the battlefront in his military fatigues — visited troops on the frontline on Monday after rebels based across the northern frontier in Libya advanced hundreds of km (miles) south toward the capital N’Djamena.

“Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, as he did each time that the institutions of the republic were gravely threatened, took control of operations during the heroic combat led against the terrorist from Libya.

He was wounded during the fighting and died once repatriated to N’Djamena,” Bermendao said.

The government and National Assembly

have been dissolved and a nationwide curfew imposed from 6:00 pm to 5:00 am.

“The National Council of Transition reassures the Chadian people that all measures have been taken to guarantee peace, security and the republican order,” Bermendao said.

Deby had pushed through a new constitution in 2018 that would have allowed him to stay in power until 2033 — even as it reinstated term limits.

He took the title of Marshal last year and said before last week’s election: “I know in advance that I will win, as I have done for the last 30 years.”

He was dealing with mounting public discontent over his management of Chad’s oil wealth and crackdowns on opponents.

But in the election results announced on Monday, Deby was credited with 79 percent of the vote, handing him a sixth term in of-

fice. Several leading opposition figures boycotted the poll.

Western countries have seen Deby as an ally in the fight against groups, including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al Qaeda and the IS in the Sahel.

His death is a blow to former colonial power France, which had based its Sahel counter-terrorism operations in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena. Chad had announced in February the deployment of 1,200 troops to complement 5,100 French soldiers in the area.

SEIZED POWER: The rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), which is based across the northern frontier with Libya, attacked a border post on election day and then advanced hundreds of kilometres (miles) south.

IEA ISSUES 'DIRE WARNING' ON CO2 EMISSIONS AS IT PREDICTS 5PC RISE LONDON: Global CO2 emissions from energy are seen rising nearly 5 per cent this year, suggesting the economic rebound from Covid-19 could be "anything but sustainable" for the climate, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The IEA's Global Energy Review 2021 predicted carbon dioxide emissions would rise to 33 billion tonnes this year, up 1.5 billion tonnes from 2020 levels in the largest single increase in more than a decade. "This is a dire warning that the economic recovery from the Covid crisis is currently anything but sustainable for our climate," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. This year's rise will likely be driven by a resurgence in coal use in the power sector, Birol added, which the report forecast to be particularly strong in Asia. It should also put pressure on governments to act on climate change. US President Joe Biden will hold a virtual summit for dozens of world leaders this week to discuss the issue ahead of global talks in Scotland later this year. AGENCIES

ASEAN calls summit on Myanmar as EU widens sanctions JAKARTA AGENCIES

Southeast Asian countries will discuss the crisis in Myanmar at a summit in Jakarta on Saturday, but some are choosing to send ministers rather than heads of government. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to guide Myanmar, a member, out of the bloody turmoil triggered by the military overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on February 1. But the group's principles of consensus and non-interference have restricted its ability to overcome members' divergent views on how to respond to the army's killing of hundreds of civilians. Domestic media said at least six villagers had been killed on Tuesday by the junta's security forces. After ASEAN's secretariat announced the summit, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he would be represented by his deputy, Don Pramudwinai, who is also foreign minister. "Some other countries will also send their foreign ministers," Mr Prayuth, a former army chief who led a coup in Thailand in 2014, told reporters. A Thai government official said on Saturday that Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing would go to Jakarta, although the Myanmar government has not commented. However, in previous periods of military rule, Myanmar has usually been represented at regional meetings by a prime minister or foreign minister. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore have all tried to put pressure on the junta. Thailand, Myanmar's neighbour, has said it is "gravely concerned" about escalating bloodshed, but close military ties and fears of a flood of refugees mean it is unlikely to go further.

Laschet wins battle to lead Merkel's party into German election BERLIN AGENCIES

Armin Laschet, the governor of Germany’s most populous state, on Tuesday won a bruising power struggle to become the candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right bloc for chancellor in the September election. Laschet, 60, now faces another big battle: to connect with voters and win over frustrated fellow conservatives who backed his more popular rival, Markus Soeder. Their Union bloc is the last major political force to nominate a candidate for chancellor in the September 26 parliamentary election, in which Merkel is not seeking a fifth term after nearly 16 years in power. The race turned into a heated duel after both Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and Soeder, who leads its smaller Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, declared their interest in succeeding Merkel. “The die is cast: Armin Laschet will be the chancellor candidate of the Union,” Soeder said on Tuesday. “We will support him with all our strength, without a grudge."

But the Chadian military appeared to have slowed its advance about 300 km (185 miles) from N’Djamena.

The rebels acknowledged on Monday that they suffered losses on Saturday but said they were back on the move on Sunday and Monday.

Déby had joined the army in the 1970s when Chad was going through a long-running civil war. He received military training in France and returned to Chad in 1978, throwing his support behind President Hissène Habré and eventually becoming commander in chief of the armed forces.

He seized power in 1990, leading a rebel army swathed in desert headgear in a three-week offensive launched from neighbouring Sudan to topple Habre, a man accused of instigating tens of thousands of political murders.

Wednesday, 21 April, 2021

SPORTS 11

LAHORE

PAkISTAN, ZIMbAbwE cLASH IN FIrST T20I TodAy HARARE

P

AGENCIES

AKISTAN'S southern Africa adventure has moved to Zimbabwe, where they will play three T20Is and two Tests, seemingly under less pressure than they were across the border. Zimbabwe have not qualified for the T20 World Cup, neither are they part of the World Test Championship. They are, as Pakistan's head coach Misbah-ul-Haq put it, a side that has "nothing to lose", which transfers the pressure onto the so-called stronger opposition, who are expected to win.

Certainly, in T20Is, that has been the case. Pakistan have a 100 per cent record against Zimbabwe with victories in all 14 matches they have played against each other.

The most recent was in a series in November last year where Pakistan were dominant in chasing targets in all three matches.

They have become even better at that, achieving their highest and second-highest successful targets in the recently concluded series in South Africa. So Zimbabwe will need to have a plan to stop a prolific top order and their captain Sean Williams is confident they can, with a crop of youngsters that he called "generation next" of Zimbabwe cricket.

Zimbabwe have three uncapped players in their squad - batter Tadiwanashe Marumani , fast bowler Tanaka Chivanga and spinner Tapiwa Mufudza . The Zimbabwe players have also recently played in a domestic T20 competition, ensuring formatspecific game time going into this series. In fact, Marumani and Mufudza were among the top performers in the tournament.

But there is a much bigger cause for Zimbabwe than that of a smaller nation making a statement against a bigger one or any attempt to rebuild. Their cricket community is still reeling from news of their former captain and coach Heath Streak being handed an eightyear ban for breaching the ICC's anti-corruption code and will want to change the narrative around the game in their country.

That means they have everything to play for and Pakistan will be wary of an outfit that could see its very reputation as being at stake. in tHe SpotliGHt: Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor missed out on Zimbabwe's trip to the UAE to play Afghanistan for health-related reasons but are back and in form for this series. The pair enjoyed successful runs in the recently completed domestic T20 competition finishing as the highest and third-highest run-scorer respectively, both with strike rates above 165.

Where Zimbabwe lacked in big-hitting in the

UAE, they'll hope that can be made up here, not to mention the experience both players bring. Williams called their inclusion "massive for the team".

Because of the success of their top three, Pakistan's middle order was largely untested in South Africa and Misbah identified it as the area he would like to see improvement on this trip. The focus will be on Pakistan's most experienced batter Mohammad Hafeez and least experienced Haider Ali. Neither had a particularly profitable tour of South Africa - Hafeez scored 55 runs in three innings and Haidar 29. Hafeez has the recent form to call on, though. He had a solid run against New Zealand last December but Haidar has to go further back. His last notable T20I knock was an undefeated 66 against Zimbabwe, so perhaps the familiar opposition will spur him on.

Taylor will return to the top of the order with Ervine slotting in the top four. After being dropped from the final match against Afghanistan, Wesley Madhevere could have the opportunity to play his first T20I at home. It would be amiss not to include a specialist spinner. The choices are Wellington Masakadza and offspinner Mufudza, who could earn his first international cap.

There's no good reason for Pakistan to deviate from the XI that beat South Africa in

Centurion apart from trying to create a spot for Usman Qadir, especially given Zimbabwe's struggle against Rashid Khan. To do that, Pakistan may have to go in with a seamer or a batter short which could see Haris Rauf or Asif Ali miss out.

There has been no international cricket in Harare since January 2020 and no T20Is since July 2018. Pakistan played in that match and successfully chased down 184 against Australia. If conditions are similar, we can expect runs to flow, though perhaps not at the same rate as on the Highveld. Misbah expects the bounce to be lower and there may even be some assistance for spinners.

The weather in Harare is set to be balmy, with the temperature around 26 degree Celsius.

Leeds United hold Liverpool amid furious response to ESL

SQUADS ZimbAbwe (probAble): Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams (captain), Craig Ervine, Wesley Madhevere, Regis Chakabva, Ryan Burl, Donald Tiripano, Wellington Masakadza/Tapiwa Mufudza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava. pAkiStAn (probAble): Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf/Usman Qadir.

Tottenham Hotspur replaces Mourinho with Mason as interim head coach LONDON AGENCIES

Tottenham Hotspur confirmed on Tuesday that former midfielder Ryan Mason would be in caretaker charge until the end of the season following the sacking of Jose Mourinho. Mourinho was dismissed on Monday following a disappointing run of form that has left Spurs struggling to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Former Spurs and Hull player Mason, who was forced to retire from playing in 2018, steps up from his role as head of player development at the club. Chris Powell and Nigel Gibbs will help him, while Ledley King stays on as a first-team coach and former goalkeeper Michel Vorm returns to the club as a goalkeeping coach. Mason’s first game in charge is a Premier League match with Southampton on Wednesday, while he will also lead his boyhood club out at Wembley on Sunday in the League Cup final against Manchester City. Chairman Daniel Levy said on the club’s official website: “We have great belief in this squad of talented players. “We have a cup final and six Premier League games ahead of us and we shall now focus all our energies on achieving a strong finish to the season.”

No doubt whatsoever of disapproval for European Super League: FIFA chief ZÜRICH AGENCIES

LONDON AGENCIES

Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw away to Leeds United on Monday in a match overshadowed by the furious response to the Merseysiders’ planned involvement in a breakaway European Super League (ESL).

A draw left sixth-placed Liverpool two points adrift of fourth-placed West Ham in the Premier League. The Reds opened the scoring before the interval through Sadio Mane only for Diego Llorente to equalise with his first Leeds goal, a header from a corner, three minutes from time.

The top four in the Premier League come the end of the season are usually the four English clubs guaranteed a place in next term’s UEFA Champions League. But even if six-times European champions Liverpool finish in the top four, they may well be banned from the tournament given they are on a collision course with UEFA, the continent’s football governing body, after emerging as one of 12 teams who have established plans to form the ESL. Under the proposals, 15 founder members would compete in the 20-team tournament every year without having to qualify.

Supporters from both Leeds and Liverpool

protested outside Elland Road prior to kick-off, while a banner in the stand said: “Earn it on the pitch. Football is for the fans.”

Leeds players also wore T-shirts before the game carrying similar messages, while a plane flew overhead trailing the message “#SayNoToSuperLeague”. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who had previously spoken out against the creation of a Super League, struggled to justify the his club’s participation in the proposed new competition during a pre-match interview with Sky Sports.

“One thing I understand and that people think is not right is the competitiveness, I get that,” he said. Significantly, no clubs from Klopp’s native Germany are involved, with European giants Bayern Munich making clear Monday they were happy with football’s “current structure”.

Klopp appeared to have more in common with Bayern than his own employers when he added: “I like the fact that West Ham might play Champions League next year. I don’t want them to, because I want us to be there, but I like that they have the chance.” Six Premier League teams – Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur – joined forces with Spanish giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico

Madrid and Italian trio Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan to launch the competition. Their plans sparked an angry reaction from governments, governing bodies, players and fans alike. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin slammed the plan, calling it a “disgraceful self-serving proposal from a select few clubs purely fuelled by greed”.

Meanwhile the UK government’s culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, said the English clubs involved could find themselves subject to a formal review under British anti-trust law, which prevents the formation of monopolies or corporate cartels.

“We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening,” Dowden said, promising a “very robust response”.

At Elland Road, Klopp recalled Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota, with star striker Mohamed Salah on the bench. Jota was involved as Liverpool broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, picking out the run of Trent Alexander-Arnold before the fullback volleyed a first-time ball across the edge of the box for Mane to ease into Leeds’ net.

Only a superb block from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson denied Patrick Bamford but Leeds had their equaliser when Llorente headed in Jack Harrison’s in-swinging corner in the 87th minute.

CMYK

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Tuesday there is “no doubt whatsoever” that football’s world governing body “disapproves” of the proposed European Super League and that clubs involved could face “consequences”.

Twelve major clubs launched plans on Monday for a new breakaway league which would drastically change the landscape of the world’s most popular sport.

“At FIFA we can only and strongly disapprove the creation of the Super League, of a Super League who is a closed shop, a breakaway from the current institutions, from the leagues, from the associations, from UEFA, and from FIFA,” Infantino told a UEFA congress in Switzerland.

“There is no doubt whatsoever of FIFA’s disapproval for this.”

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are the six English clubs involved, together with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid from Spain and Italian trio Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

UEFA has said the teams would be banned from domestic and other European competitions, including the Champions League.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the head of the new ESL, has insisted that would be “impossible”, but Infantino threatened action as FIFA took a stronger stance than it did with its initial statement when the news first broke.

“It is our task to protect the European sport model, so if some elect to go their own way then they must live with the consequences of their choices,” said Infantino.

“They are responsible for their choices. Either you’re in or you’re out. You can’t be half in and half out. Think of it, this has to be absolutely, absolutely clear.”

wednesday, 21 April, 2021

prAyer tiMings

NewS

Former PemrA chAirmAn shoT ouTside his home

s

BEIJING

Full-scale negotiations to reform the UNSC began in the General Assembly in 2009 on five key areas — the categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with the General Assembly.

Despite a general agreement on enlarging the council, as part of the UN reform process, member states remain divided over the details.

The G4 countries have shown no flexibility in their push for expanding the Council by 10 seats, with six additional permanent and four non-permanent members.

On the other hand, the UfC group has proposed a new category of members — not permanent members — with a longer duration in terms and a possibility of re-election.

The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US — and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years.

In his remarks, Akram underscored the need for consensus among the membership of the General Assembly in order to have the ability to affect the Charter amendment, which is required to be adopted by the large majority as well as by all permanent members of the Security Council, to accomplish the reform.

On its part, the ambassador said, the UfC, had demonstrated considerable flexibility, pointing out that the group had presented proposals and offered ideas to achieve consensus.

“Unfortunately,”, he said, “we have not seen a similar spirit of flexibility on behalf of certain other groups.”

“The UfC has displayed and will continue to work in a spirit of compromise and consensus.”

Amid the existing divergences in the approach to reshaping the Security Council, Akram urged IGN cochairs — ambassadors of Poland and Qatar — to broaden the areas of convergence.

In this regard, he noted considerable convergence in two issues — the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly and the size and working methods of the Security Council.

He said that there was also agreement on equitably enhancing the representation of under-represented regions — especially from Africa, Asia, and Latin America — and for enhancing transparency and inclusiveness in the Security Council’s work and decision-making.

In addition, he said that there was a convergence that the size of an enlarged Council should be around 25 members, with no opposition to its expansion in the non-permanent category.

“All these are important building blocks towards a comprehensive consensus on Security Council Reform,” the ambassador said.

He hoped these convergences would be reflected in an updated paper from the co-chairs, saying: “This is the text we are looking forward to.”

ENLARGEMENT NEEDED: The Security Council’s composition largely reflects the balance of power shortly after World War Two, and most members agree it needs enlarging to reflect present-day realities.

But regional rivalries and the big powers’ desire to avoid dilution of their preeminence are making agreement on change difficult.

The council — which has the power to impose sanctions and deploy peacekeeping forces — has five permanent members, plus 10 members elected on a regional basis for two-year terms and which have no veto. Numerous plans have been put forward in the past, differing over how many new council seats should be added, who should have them, whether they should be permanent, semi-permanent, or time-limited, and which if any new states should get the veto.

Any reform must be approved by two-thirds of the UN’s 192 members, including all five permanent Security Council members.

'THE WORLD WANTS JUSTICE, NOT HEGEMONY,' XI SAYS

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for a rejection of hegemonic power structures in global governance, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over a widening range of issues including alleged human rights abuses.

Speaking at the annual Boao Forum for Asia, Xi criticised efforts by some countries to “build barriers” and “decouple”, which he said would harm others and benefit no one.

China has long called for reforms of the global governance system to better reflect a more diverse range of perspectives and values from the international community, including its own, instead of those of a few major nations.

It has also repeatedly clashed with the biggest stakeholders in world governance, particularly the United States, over a range of issues from human rights to China’s economic influence over other countries.

“The world wants justice, not hegemony,” Xi said in remarks broadcast to the forum.

“A big country should look like a big country by showing that it is shouldering more responsibility,” he said.

While Xi did not identify any country in his remarks, Chinese officials have in recent times referred to US “hegemony” in public criticisms of Washington’s global projection

`8:02

Pakistan on Monday urged the Taliban to remain engaged in the Afghan peace process after the armed group said it would now shun summits about Afghanistan until all foreign forces leave. The decision was taken after the United States said last week it would withdraw all troops by September 11 this year, later than a May 1 deadline set out by the previous administration. “They take their own decisions but we will do whatever we can to convince them that it is in their national interest to remain engaged,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said of the Taliban in an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi.

The refusal has thrown the peace process into disarray with Turkey scheduled for Saturday to host a summit that diplomats had hoped could create new momentum towards a political settlement between the Taliban and Afghan government. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 when they were ousted by US-led forces, but they still control wide areas. Qureshi said that withdrawal delays were always a possibility due to logistics but that the Taliban had largely succeeded in their objective for foreign troops to withdraw and so should show flexibility towards the new September 11 deadline. “The troops will be out and a date has been given and the process starts on the 1st of May and goes on until the 11th of September so there is a definite time frame,” Qureshi said. Sources have told Reuters Pakistan was putting pressure on the militants to come back to the table.

Qureshi said that he believed the Taliban would benefit from staying involved but said he had no contact with the group. Pakistan, which helped facilitate USTaliban negotiations in Doha that resulted in the initial May 1 withdrawal deal, wields considerable influence with the Taliban. Qureshi said that he feared violence could escalate if the peace process remains deadlocked, plunging Afghanistan into civil war and leading to an exodus of Afghans. Pakistan, which hosts close to 3 million Afghan refugees and economic migrants, has built 90 percent of a fence along its disputed 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) border with Afghanistan and would hopefully be completed by September, he said. He also said that Pakistan was ready to engage in direct dialogue with arch-rival India once occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood was restored, which New Delhi in 2019 split into territories. “We are two atomic powers that cannot, should not go into a direct conflict. It would be suicidal,” Qureshi said. But he said that he had no plans to meet with his Indian counterpart who is also in the United Arab Emirates this week. Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, sources have told Reuters.

China’s Xi calls for fairer world order as rivalry with US deepens Agencies

6:35

Monitoring report

Pakistan calls for flexibility in UNSC reforms Pakistan called for flexibility to achieve the required consensus among all United Nations member states to break the impasse in the long-running negotiations to restructure the Security Council.

“The principle and the single most important requirement is flexibility on part of all groups and all member states, to try to accommodate each others’ positions,” Pakistan ambassador at UN Munir Akram said as the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) — a group states working to reform the UNSC — resumed on Monday.

“It is only by building consensus that we can breathe new life in the IGN process,” Akram told delegates, amid a continuing campaign by the Group of four — India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan — for permanent seats at the permanent body.

The ambassador said that Pakistan, which is a member of the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group, remains opposed to additional members in an enlarged Security Council but seeks expansion in the two-year non-permanent category.

“We do not believe in enlarging the ‘centres of privilege’ through the permanent membership of the Security Council, which was the subject of objection by many members,” he said, noting that they had caused a major impediment to efficient functioning and decision-making in the council.

“Expansion in the permanent membership would not be a solution to the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Security Council,” the Pakistan envoy said. “As we have said before, the problem cannot be the solution.”

The UfC group, he added, was committed to an equitable enlargement of the Security Council, in particular to enlarging the representation of those regions, which are underrepresented and have been historically discriminated against during the course of history.

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA 4:42

ABU DHABI

ENIOR journalist and ex-chairman for Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Absar Alam Haider was reportedly shot outside his home on Tuesday, it emerged. A video shared on Twitter shows the senior journalist after the purported attack. According to Haider, he was out for a walk when someone shot at him and hit him in the stomach.

Sending a message to those that shot him, Haider said that he is not the type to lose hope this easily. “I am not about to give up,” he said in the video, “nor am I about to be scared of these things.

The Islamabad police confirmed that the veteran journalist was attacked when he was in F-11 Park for evening walk, adding that he received bullet in his abdomen.

There have been no leads reported on the gunmen so far.

Haider was shifted to the hospital and is reportedly not in any danger. Moreover, Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmed Rasheed has taken note of the incident and has ordered a probe into the matter.

Similarly, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman said on Twitter: “Shocked to hear of this terrible attack! Must be credibly investigated. Praying for @AbsarAlamHaider’s speedy recovery.” Various citizens and journalists have taken to Twitter to send their wishes and prayers to the ex-PEMRA chairman.

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ZUHR 12:01

5:28

Pakistan urges Taliban to stay engaged in Afghan peace process

NEWs DEsK

NEW YORK

FAJR SUNRISE 4:02

of power in trade and geopolitics.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden held his first face-to-face White House summit since taking office, in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in which China topped the agenda.

Both leaders said they “share serious concerns” about the human rights situation in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang region, where Washington has claimed Beijing is perpetrating genocide against Uighurs.

China has denied abuses.

In a display of economic cooperation to the exclusion of China, Biden said Japan and the United States would jointly invest in

areas such as 5G technology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, genomics, and semiconductor supply chains.

As the Biden administration rallies other democratic allies to harden their stance on China, Beijing is seeking to strengthen ties with its autocratic partners and economically dependent neighbours in Southeast Asia.

Chinese speakers at the Boao Forum, Asia’s answer to Davos, also affirmed Beijing’s commitment to global free trade.

China’s trade practices were a focus of an intense tariff war between Beijing and Washington under the Trump administration, with the United States accusing Beijing of unfair

subsidiaries that give Chinese companies unfair advantage abroad and forced transfers of technology and intellectual property.

“The biggest experience that China’s accession to the World Trade Organization 20 years ago is that we Chinese are not afraid of competition,” Long Yongtu，China’s former chief negotiator for the China’s WTO entry in 2001, told the forum on Monday.

SHARED INTERESTS: However, despite the persistent confrontation between the US administration and China, both sides have rediscovered a common interest in battling climate change, after bilateral talks on fighting greenhouse emissions fizzled out during the Trump era. Last week, US climate envoy John Kerry flew to Shanghai to meet with his Chinese counterpart in the first high-level visit to China by a Biden administration official. Both agreed on concrete actions “in the 2020s” to reduce emissions.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk