Issuu

CMYK

23 August, 2020 I 3 Muharram, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 54 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

naB deCides to Bring BaCk 'aBsConder' nawaz g

SHAzAD AKBAR SAyS FORMeR PM FAILeD TO FULFIL ANy CONDITION RATIFIeD By HIM PRIOR TO HIS DePARTURe

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

He National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to approach an accountability court to declare former prime minister Nawaz Sharif a “proclaimed offender” in a reference accusing him of receiving luxury vehicles and gifts from Toshakhana, it emerged on Saturday. According to ARy News, NAB officials have said that the bail granted to the former premier has become ineffective, and he was apparently an absconder now. Sharif has been residing in London since November last year after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended for eight weeks his sentence in Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference and granted him permission to fly abroad for medical treatment. while any extension in the duration of his stay abroad was subject to a review of his latest medical reports, Sharif, the government claims, failed to update authori-

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

292,566

LAST UPDATED AT 9:53 AM ON AUGUST 22, 2020 DAY'S DEATH TOLL: NEW CASES:

586

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

275,317

6,234

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

96,057

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

35,720

FAwAD CHAUDHRy SAyS NAwAz SHARIF’S STAy IN LONDON DeNTINg PTI’S NARRATIve

ties on his health. Multiple reports suggest the bureau has also decided to inform the IHC that PML-N supreme leader is absconding. The agency will file an appeal in IHC for implementation on Nawaz’s sentence in the Al-Azizia case. According to APP, the watchdog will also approach the United Kingdom government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the deportation of former prime minister. The accountability court of Islamabad had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sharif over his failure to attend the trial proceeding in the Toshakhana reference and had also initiated the process to declare him a proclaimed offender. Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz on Thursday said that the government will bring back former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan. ‘NO CONDITIONS MET’: Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant on accountability Shahzad Akbar said on Saturday that Nawaz Sharif had left the coun-

Coronavirus in

127,965

12,473

2,241/2,638 15,472

try for treatment on certain conditions and that none of these have yet been fulfilled. Akbar said that Nawaz was permitted to get medical treatment from abroad on the condition to return within the stipulated time frame. He added that the former premier was bound to submit his medical reports and updates on his treatment periodically to the court, and the Punjab government. Akbar claimed that Nawaz had not submitted any “such report” to the concerned authorities. Reviewing the rulings of that time, Akbar said that on October 29, 2019, the former premier was granted bail by the IHC for eight weeks on medical grounds, in the Al Azizia case. “The bail was given on the condition that after eight weeks, in case he does not recover, the Punjab government will take up the matter under CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) and conduct a proper hearing,” Akbar said. On November 16, Shehbaz Sharif filed an undertaking in Lahore High Court that Nawaz will return to Pakistan once the required medical procedures are completed, he recalled. Later, on December 23, after the expiry of the eight-week, Nawaz appealed to the Punjab government for an extension in his bail, Akbar said. “Because the bail was granted on medical grounds, the Punjab government constituted another medical board. The board demanded fresh reports of Nawaz’s treatment in London,” he told the media, adding that the board was not satisfied with the reports as the PML-N supremo had “not even been administered an injection” over there. The medical board had then suggested that he should not be given an extension in bail.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Rescue work underway as rains inundate Karachi streets KARACHI TLTP

Pakistan Army's rescue teams are working along with the civil administration in the areas affected by the monsoon rains in the port city after roads and streets turned into rivers and nullahs owing to the latest spell of monsoon downpour. The process of water drainage is underway in the low-lying areas of the city where rainwater has entered the house. The rescue teams recovered bodies of two people who were drowned in Karachi’s gujjar Nullah on Friday night. At least three people drowned in the gujjar Nullah on Friday and on Saturday morning. The rescue officials have retrieved two bodies while a search for the remaining person is underway. The victims have been identified as Nasir and Bilal. According to rescue officials, three people, Nasir, his son Bilal and brother Adnan were swept into the drain by strong water currents as the area flooded due to heavy rain on Friday. The fifth spell of monsoon rains in Karachi has submerged many areas of the metropolis, damaging houses and vehicles in low-lying areas. A dilapidated water drainage system in the port city is said to be a major cause of the flooding in the metropolis during rainfall. Unplanned

Int’l publications skeptical over Pakistan’s ‘mysterious’ Covid-19 recovery NEWS DESK International publications have expressed skepticism regarding a sharp decline in Covid-19 cases in the country despite a lax following of coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by the population. During June 2020, the daily death toll due to the virus had hit almost 150, with hospitals reporting lack of space and resources to accommodate further coronavirus patients. Since then the daily death toll has fallen to approximately around 20. The cause of the drastic fall however, remains uncertain. As per a report published in The Telegraph, the fall in the Covid-19 cases initially coincided with a fall in testing with people alleging that the government had reduced testing in order to hide the prevalence of the disease. However, other indicators like hospital admissions and proportion of positive tests have also seen a drastic drop which negates the theory that the government had purposefully reduced Covid-19 tests. As of mid August, a number of hospitals in Lahore which had been filled in excess of their capacity, have now closed special

land conversions for commercial gains, the rise of informal settlements, many situated dangerously on the edge of nullahs, and lack of proper planning played havoc with the urban infrastructure, including the storm-water drains in Karachi. People in Surjani Town’s Sector 4-B are trapped inside their houses as the authorities failed to drain out the rainwater. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) weather report, Surjani area received a maximum 186 millimetres of rainfall, in Karachi on Friday. According to rain figures, North Karachi received 106.4 millimetres of rainfall, North Nazimabad, 106 mm; gulshan-e-Hadeed, 84 mm, Masroor Base, 54 mm; Saadi Town, 37mm; University Road, 28mm; Landhi, 25mm; Faisal Base, 22 mm; Jinnah Terminal, 21mm; Saddar 20 mm; Old Airport, 14 mm; and Keamari, 12mm. Meanwhile, the district council on Saturday imposed a ban on bathing in Malir river after overflow of water at Malir spillway. Chairman District Council Salman Abdullah Murad visited the spillway with a team of experts to inspect the damage to the structure. The engineers team inspected the damage and started a survey for filling in the breach at Malir Spillway.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

Nawaz went abroad for treatment on Punjab govt’s request: Marriyum STORY ON PAGE 02

Centre agrees to give 40pc of gas revenue to Balochistan STORY ON PAGE 03 wards built specifically to cater to Covid-19 patients. Those hospitals that still have such wards or quarantine centers are reporting a decrease in the number of patients. Moreover, the report suggests that stigma and the prospect of forced quarantine attached to the disease has meant that a large number of people do not get themselves tested despite having symptoms of the disease. This keeps the total number of reported cases low despite possible death occurring from the virus. According to a report published by BBC, during June 2020, Miani Sahib, which is the biggest graveyard in the city, re-

ceived 1,176 burials compared to 696 in June 2019. However, only 46 of the 1,176 bodies buried belonged to reported Covid-19 patients. Such a drastic increase in burials could have been linked to unreported Covid-19 cases. However, since June burials rates have fallen back to normal levels. Similarly, reports further suggest that Pakistan’s relatively young population might have played a major role in bringing Covid-19 cases down since young people are less likely to be severely affected and have stronger immunity.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Pakistan urges world to prosecute Indian personnel for state terrorism in IOK STORY ON PAGE 02

13 of 15-member UNSC oppose US push for Iran embargo STORY ON BACK PAGE

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

NEWS

Nawaz weNt abROad FOR tReatmeNt ON PUNjab gOvt’S ReqUeSt: maRRIyUm ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

ML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Augranzeb said on Saturday that the PTI government is desperately trying to shift focus away from their deplorable two-year performance with a new onslaught against PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif because Imran Khan's political existence “has no roots and cannot survive without using the former PM’s name”. Talking to media in Islamabad, Marriyum said, “Imran had to use Nawaz's name to come into power and cannot stay in power for a single day without demonising the PML-N leader because the selected PM could not even lay a brick of development work as opposed to billions worth of projects completed by Nawaz Sharif.” Slamming the statements regarding setting an example by bringing Nawaz back to Pakistan through legal ac-

‘ARREST, INVESTIGATE, PROSECUTE GOVT OFFICIALS WHO RECOMMENDED NAWAZ'S TREATMENT ABROAD’ tion, she said the PTI government should start by arresting, investigating and prosecuting Punjab Health Minister Yasmeen Rashid, doctors belonging to the Board of Government as well as the Punjab government, which clearly stated that Nawaz's treatment was not possible in Pakistan and had to be moved abroad to save his life. She said Imran should set an example by bringing back money launderers and taking to task sugar money looters “who he conveniently helped elope the country on a chartered plane”. The former information minister said this new wave

of hoopla against Nawaz is because the “Imran-led mafia government” knows it has destroyed every sector of Pakistan from its economy, industry, businesses, jeopardised national defence to security. She said Imran's corruption and corruption-led decisions have plummeted national growth from 5.8pc to minus 0.4pc, while the price of sugar has reached Rs110 from Rs52, flour from Rs32 to Rs78, medicines have become unaffordable because of PTI's 500pc price hike, petrol has hit the roof with unprecedented price hike and inflation has skyrocketed from 3 to 13pc. Marriyum said Imran shamelessly inaugurates Nawaz Sharif's initiated projects and then alleges corruption in the same projects. “Why hasn't he shut down any of these projects if they were marred by corruption?” she questioned. She said the NAB-Niazi alliance is not just called out and criticised by the opposition but the Supreme Court of Pakistan and international rights bodies have

also slammed it as an instrument of political engineering and persecution of opposition. She stressed that PMLN will stand strong against any law that hampers national growth and progress, adding that those who embezzled Rs13,000 billion in loans, Rs120 billion in Peshawar BRT, trillions in sugar, wheat, flour and petrol corruption and are now busy laundering that money. Marriyum told the “government's rented mouthpieces” like Shahzad Akbar to go read the letter written by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi lauding and appreciating the opposition's role in FATF-related legislation before doing a presser filled with lies. The PMLN leader warned the PTI government to stop politicisation of matters relating to national security such as FATF as it will have devastating long-term consequences. “Stop telling PMLN what to do regarding FATF legislation because it has more knowledge and experience of such matters than PTI,” she said. She once again challenged Imran to file a case in the court and name those who demand an NRO. She lambasted that the selected PM neither has the power nor the mandate to give anyone any NRO other than his mafia friends who loot the country. "Imran Khan has intentionally taken every action to destroy every sector and institutions of the country with a well-planned agenda motivated by the money of those 23 illegal and undeclared accounts for which he refused to answer", she said.

Pakistan urges world to prosecute Indian personnel for state terrorism in IOK

Opp in no position to start any movement against government: Sheikh Rashid

NEW YORK: Pakistan has urged the world community to prosecute Indian civil and military personnel for the worst form of state terrorism perpetrated against the oppressed people of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). In a statement, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations Munir Akram said over 100,000 Kashmiris have lost their lives, 22,000 women widowed and molested and hundreds of thousands of children martyred by India. The Pakistani envoy condemned India for imprisoning political leaders, abducting and torturing 13,000 Kashmiri youth, brutally suppressing peaceful protestors; inflicting collective punishments and killings in extrajudicial encounters. Meanwhile, a report issued on Saturday on the occasion of International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, pointed out that atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and India continue to surface. The report said that demographic change in IOK is proof that India targets people because of their faith. TLTP

Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday called out the opposition again calling them “dead and tired”, saying that it was in no position to start any movement against the government. “The opposition has so far been unable to organise their All Parties Conference (APC) and with Muharram going on it would be impossible to hold it,” Rashid briefed the media at the Railways Headquarters on Saturday. The railways minister further criticised the opposition saying that the (Shehbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazl) do not trust each other. “Fazl wants a written statement from PML-N and PPP, but the PML-N will never give him anything in writing,”

NEWS DESK

Rashid said. He added, “Shehbaz Sharif will make speeches but will never give anything in writing.” “I assure you that no matter what Maulana [Fazl] does, he will not be able get what he wants from PPP and PMLN, the railways minister said. “Both the parties are in search of an NRO, but I can tell you Imran Khan will never give them an NRO,” he restated. Commenting on Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan, Rashid said that it will not be an easy task as they could not even bring Ishaq Dar and Suleman Shehbaz back to the country. “We are trying to bring him [Nawaz] back so he could face his trial,” Rashid added. He added that, under the leadership of Imran Khan, the government will complete its constitutional tenure and that the opposition is not in any position to start a movement against the government.

FO rejects media reports over SROs regarding sanctions under UN lists ISLAMABAD: The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saturday has clarified that the ministry had issued two consolidated statutory orders (SROs) on August 18, reflecting the current status of the UN, Taliban, Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL-Da'esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions list. These lists contain names of individuals and entities designated under the two sanction regimes established pursuant to the UN Security Council resolutions. “The consolidated SROs are issued periodically as a routine matter. Similar SROs have been issued, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the past, as per statutory requirements and to meet our international obligations. Last such SROs were issued in 2019,” it added. According to spokesperson, the SROs reflected information contained in the list entry of UN designated individuals/entities. APP

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

NEWS

gOvt cONSIdeRINg OUtSOURcINg OF majOR aIRPORtS tO FOReIgN cOmPaNIeS ISLAMABAD

AHMAD AHMADANI

HE federal government has been paving the path to outsource major airports of the country to foreign companies and a committee led by Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has submitted a report to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in this regard. According to sources, considering the sensitivity of the operation and involvement of strategic assets the cabinet committee headed Razak Dawood in a report titled “Report on Outsourcing of Major Airports of

Pakistan” has recommended the establishment of two separate authorities namely Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) and Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). According to the report, PCAA would be entrusted with regulatory functions and PAA would look after the commercial aspects of the airports. Sources said that the functional separation of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would be performed after obtaining approval from the CAA board. They further said that the process for outsourcing of airports would be undertaken in two phases. In the first phase the airports would be corporatized as per decision of the government in order to at-

centre agrees to give 40pc of gas revenue to balochistan

tract private investors and in the second phase the transaction would take place through the Privatisation Commission by hiring a financial adviser or an investment banking firm. Furthermore, the committee also recommended that airports should not be outsourced to foreign nationals originating from countries like India or Israel. According to documents, a committee comprising of adviser to prime minister on commerce and investment, minister for aviation, adviser to prime minister on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, adviser to the prime minister on parliamentary affairs, Board of Investment chairman

and the Aviation Division secretary was constituted to evaluate various options for outsourcing major airports of the country. This committee has so far convened six meetings including meetings with the Ministry of Defence and other stakeholders and has submitted a report of its findings to the prime minister. As per documents, the Civil Aviation Ordinance, 1960 will be replaced with the new Civil Aviation Bill, 2020 while the Civil Aviation Authority Ordinance, 1982 will be amended to exclude the function of airport services and air navigation services. Similarly, after approval of the proposal for the establishment of PAA, the PAA Bill 2020 will be prepared for improving the services efficiency of the airports. This bill will have enabling provisions for incorporation of subsidiaries under the Companies Act, 2017. Furthermore, airports and air navigation assets will be transferred from the existing authority to the newly established authority by law.

Dr Maha committed suicide: Police KARACHI TLTP

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the federal government has agreed to give 40pc of gas revenue to Balochistan. According to the details, the province will get around Rs6 billion per annum as gas revenue after approving the proposal. Officials of the power department said that Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Balochistan government will ink an accord in this regard soon. The provincial government will be given 40 per cent revenue of the gas produced from Sui gas field. PPL will also pay Rs20 billion arrears to Balochistan government after the agreement, said the officials. Earlier on April 26, in a major development, the federal government had decided to revisit the National Finance Commission (NFC) award as well as the 18th amendment. The federal government had contacted several political parties in this regard, who had assured support to the centre for the changes in the NFC award and the 18th amendment. TLTP

Pharma companies decide not to raise medicine prices till Sept 30 Pharmaceutical companies across the country will not be bumping up prices of medicines till September 30, the health ministry said on Saturday. The ministry’s spokesperson said that the companies will not hike prices in the current financial year’s first quarter. The decision was made to bring relief to the public amid the coronavirus outbreak. According to the drug policy of April 2018, pharmaceuticals can raise prices between seven and 10pc. The spokesperson said that the companies can raise the prices under the annual Consumer Price Index, lauding the decision by the pharmaceuticals against the price hike. Punjab Chemists and Drugs Association Chairman Zahid Bakhtawari said that they had asked the government not to raise the prices, to which it concurred. “The citizens are in the grips of the coronavirus (that’s why) we gave it due consideration,” he said. Earlier, in July, it emerged that the government had decided to abolish all sections of the drug pricing policy taking away the powers of pharmaceutical companies to increase drug prices on their own. In line with the directives from Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government abolished all the sections of the policy, which clearly negates the Drugs Act, 1976. PM Imran had ordered a review of the pricing policy after the prices rose in the last 10 months. NEWS DESK

Karachi police on Saturday said that a female doctor who allegedly shot herself at a bungalow in an upscale Karachi neighbourhood earlier this week, died by suicide as she was "suffering from depression". “Twenty-four-year-old Dr Maha Ali was under severe depression when she returned from duty on Wednesday last and ended her life,” SSP South Sheraz Nazir said while sharing the details of the investigations carried out so far. Nazir said the deceased's sister and father were at home when the incident took place, and they discovered her body. The police official said that the circumstances and evidence collected so far concluded that she died

by suicide. He added the police have arrested two people who allegedly provided her with the weapon which she used to end her life. Police said Dr Maha Ali was under "severe mental stress" and spoke about suicide. According to a police source, she was driven to the act due to alleged torture from a friend. Originally from Mirpurkhas, Dr Maha Ali rented a house in the Defence Housing Authority's Phase IV area a few days ago and moved there along with her father and sisters. She was working at a private hospital in the upscale Clifton area. On Wednesday, she was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre around 11:30pm with a critical injury where she succumbed to her injury.

627,995 tourists throng KP in nine days PESHAWAR TLTP

Tourists throng picnic spots in upper districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), as around 627,995 tourists visited the province between August 13 and August 21. According to figures released by Khyber Pakhunkhwa’s Tourism Department, out of a total of 627,995 tourists, 356,400 visitors reached Swat, 65,350 visited Mansehra, 9,800 tourists reached Lower Chittral and 3,460 visited picnic points in Lower Dir to refresh themselves. The government allowed all major tourist spots to open after easing restrictions imposed due to coronavirus disease pandemic. In an effort to promote tourism in the province, the KP government on Friday last decided to transform five small dams into picnic points. According to details, Kundar Dam in Swabi, Jalozai Dam in Nowshera, Thand Dam in Kohat, Chattri Dam in Haripur and Jhangra Dam in Abbottabad are being made as picnic points. The government

has begun to transform five dams into picnic points to boost the tourism industry in the country. Facilities of parking, restaurants, open cooking, solar system, spot fishing and others will be provided to the visitors at the aforementioned sites. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the country needs to divert attention towards tourism and bring forward its real potential. “We have to improve the situation at tourists spots across the country,” he said, adding that these places would promote the culture and traditions of the country locally and internationally. “We will be providing improved facilities to tourists at these spots,” the Prime Minister said as such activity would improve economic activity and generate employment opportunities for locals. The Prime Minister also directed the concerned authorities to properly utilize government infrastructure for promoting tourism in the country and stressed upon the need to effectively utilize historical places, governor houses and guesthouses for the purpose.

HEC approves Rs10.3m grant for Covid-19 research project NEWS DESK The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved Rs10.3 million research grant for a -year-long project of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) that is directed towards tracing “immunological, viral and genetic basis of Covid-19 in local patients”. The approved funding is a part of the Rapid Research Grant Initiative, initiated by HEC under a partnership with the World Bank. Dr Shah Jahan, the principle investigator of the project, said that besides other things, his team aims to find out whether genetics act as a determining factor on the severity of Covid-19 symptoms on a human body. “Genetics can explain why some Covid19 patients fare worse than others,” he said, adding that his project would mainly focus on immune pattern and genetics of local patients.

He further said that many factors were involved in the pathogenesis of Covid-19 in Pakistan, including host immunity and genetic response to viral infection. UHS Immunology Department head Prof Nadeem Afzal, who is one of the investigators, elaborated that the immune system could react to viruses, partially because of specific genes that helped cells spot unfamiliar bugs when they entered the body. The genes, known as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, contained instructions to build proteins that bind to bits of a pathogen; those proteins serve as warning flags to alert immune cells. The immune cells once trained to recognise these bits, jumpstart the process of building antibodies to target and destroy the invasive germ. “If someone was previously exposed to a virus and had the right HLA types then it is

theoretically possible that they could also generate an earlier immune response against the novel Sars-CoV-2,” Prof Afzal said. Dr Jahan said the immunological changes, antibodies level in different patients groups with HLA typing, Cytokines level and expression of genes involved in immunity would be studied in Covid-19 patients with mild and severe symptoms, who were hospitalised or otherwise, as compared to a normal, healthy population to find therapeutic targets and immune modulators that were important in coronavirus infection. Dr Shah Jahan called UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Javed Akram the real impetus behind the project, adding that the research would involve sequencing of Sars-CoV2 strains and host genes from different infection clusters in Punjab, including Islamabad, Peshawar Karachi, Lahore, Gujrat, Jehlum, Rawalpindi and Multan.

According to sources, land ownership will remain under state control which will be given on lease while air navigation and flight operation will also remain under state control. Sources further said that the PM has been informed regarding Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision pertaining to outsourcing of airports in which the court had limited the scope of outsourcing of airports to provision of airport services like car parking. They further said that the Supreme Court in a decision dated February 19. 2020 had also directed that no land around the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi will be used for any commercial exploitation. Sources said that the federal government has advised the Aviation Division to clear the reservation of courts and inform them that airports will be outsourced under international standards. The prime minister also directed that the matter should be presented before the law committee of the cabinet.

sunday, 23 August, 2020

news

RemovAL of enCRoAChmenT on mAjoR nuLLAhs fRom 24Th: AsAD umAR KARACHI

TLTP

EDERAL Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has reassured that the Federal government will do its best for the revival and up-gradation of Karachi’s infrastructure in cooperation with Sindh Government and other stakeholders. He was speaking at a reception arranged for him by Vanthali Memon Association, here, Saturday evening. Asad Umar said that in a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah today it was decided that encroachment on major nullahs of the city would be removed from Monday. Gujar nullah,

Lyari River, and Korangi nullah were included. National Disaster Management Authority had been tasked with the cleaning of the main nullahs to ensure proper drainage of rainwater in the future. Upgradation of the city’s infrastructure would need hundreds of billions of Rupees, however, Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf government was ready to share the burden to the maximum possible level. But he asserted that the Sindh Government must be present on the ground. “We as a team shall do this task,” he pledged. In response to the speech from Chairman of Association of Boulders and Developers, Mohsin Sheikhani, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development

said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was personally taking interest to promote the construction and housing industry and was regularly monitoring the progress. “The prime minister holds regular weekly meetings of the Coordination Committee on Housing to get an update from all stakeholders,” he said. After his continuous pursuance, the Prime Minister succeeded in getting concessions/support from the International Monetary Fund during a hard economic situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He acknowledged that the housing and construction industry could play a big role in strengthening the economy. He praised the Memon community’s charity and social services in different fields mainly education and health. Chairman

ABAD Mohsin Sheikhani lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team for extending unprecedented support and facilitation to the housing and construction industry. He assured that his association’s members would extend full cooperation to the government and help Imran Khan transform his dream of constructing five million low-cost housing units into reality. He called upon the government to engage the private sector in the building of Karachi. Vanthali Memon Association Patronin-Chief Mansoor Memon, President of the association Haroon Qasim, Memon Professional Forum President Ibrahim Qasim and All Pakistan Memon Federation President Hanif Motlani also spoke on the occasion.

Curbs on inflation among top govt priorities: CM Buzdar LAHORE TLTP

Punjab decides to impose ‘micro smart lockdown’ LAHORE TLTP

The Punjab government on Saturday decided to impose ‘micro smart lockdown’ in several areas of the province for a period of two months to prevent the resurgence of deadly coronavirus which has played havoc across the world. Under micro smart lockdown, small localities such as one building with multiple units or small neighbourhoods would be sealed. It must be noted that micro smart lockdown is being implemented in streets and small localities as per instructions of the federal government. Meanwhile, Punjab reported 99 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases across the province to 96,057. According to official figures released by Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department on Saturday, no death related to the contagion was reported during the last 24 hours. The number of people who have succumbed to the disease in the province stands at 2,188. As many as 857,216 samples have been tested in the province to detect Covid-19 infection so far, whereas the number of people recovered from the infection has surged to 91,134. The Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department requested people to continue taking precautionary measures to keep the virus at bay until it is completed weeded out.

District admin seals 10 hotels in Kaghan after confirmation of Covid-19 cases KAGHAN APP

After confirmation of 47 new Covid-19 cases in a hotel of Kaghan, including the entire staff and tourists, the administration has sealed 10 hotels in the valley. According to the Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) officials, during the last one week, 800 samples were collected from Kaghan where the entire staff of a hotel was found Covid-19 positive while the total number of cases found in the area was 47. KDA officials confirmed that 10 hotels of Kaghan were sealed after the new wave of Coronavirus positive cases. Health department officials said that hotels staff sample collections are yet to complete, after confirmation of the samples department would recommend closure of more hotels in the region. The hotels of Kaghan were allowed to open following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) but unfortunately, hotel owners, staff and moreover tourists are not adhering to the orders for their own safety which is a major cause of the new wave of Covid-19.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that controlling inflation is the foremost priority of his government. The chief minister said in his statement on Saturday that he assumed charge in a difficult situation but remained determined. “There are challenges but we will go to people after solving all the problems,” he said. Buzdar said circumstances are improving and there is nothing to be worried about. Punjab is changing and good news has started coming for people, he said while adding that it is his mission to take the province to the pinnacle of progress. Earlier, Buzdar launched LDA Insaf Web Portal and Mobile App to facilitate citizens to register their complaints or submit applications online without any hassle of having to visit the office of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). Speaking at the launching ceremony of the LDA Insaf Portal, he termed this initiative an important step for redressal of citizens’ complaints without any impediment.

Besides, he elaborated, an online appointment can also be secured for visiting the LDA office with its help. The chief minister had said the online portal will also facilitate online submission of various sorts of applications as well as court orders as citizens can also have their queries answered through it.

Power outages in Karachi as 600 K-Electric feeders trip NEWS DESK Karachi was plunged into darkness after heavy rains caused at least 600 electricity feeders to trip, leading to power outages in several areas of the metropolis. The areas that had experienced power outages include Surjani Town, Orangi Town, North Karachi, New Karachi, Liaquatabad, Jamshed Quarters, FC Area, Khamosh Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Ahsanabad, Shadman Town, Safoora Goth, FB Area, Power House, parts of Clifton, among others. According to reports, FB Area's block nine has been facing a power outage from the past five hours causing an outcry among the residents. Meanwhile, the director Meteorological Department said that a system of clouds has started moving towards

the port city from the east. The rain bearing system is currently looming over Karachi's southeast district, he added. Moreover, a tree had fallen near the Ayesha Bawani academy on Shahrah-e-Faisal causing a disruption in traffic. KE WARNS CITIZENS: In light of rains, Karachi Electric, the city's sole power provider, has warned citizens to stay away from broken wires, electricity poles, and PMTs. "Unsafe use of electrical appliances in rain and accumulated water can lead to accidents," KE added. Yesterday, at least five people were killed in the metropolis in rain-related incidents, rescue services officials said. Two teenagers died when they were hit by lightning in Memon Goth, while two others were electrocuted and one teenager was swept away by the ferocious currents of the surging Lyari River.

Medium-level flooding in Chenab feared NEWS DESK Local authorities feared medium-level flooding in River Chenab on Saturday as the water level is soaring in the river at Head Marala. Deputy Commissioner Chiniot has directed concerned departments and the settlements along the river to take precautionary measures in view of likely flooding in Chenab. The River Chenab flow coming from Head Marala will pass through Chiniot on Sunday, the deputy commissioner said in a statement. According to officials, the river water level at Head Marala has reached 100,000 cusecs due to discharge of water in the river from India without prior intimation. India has released 100,000 cusecs of water from its Salal Dam into Chenab and the floodwater is expected to reach Head Marala in Pakistan. The water discharged in Chenab could enhance the water level in the river to

220,000 cusecs. The authorities have apprehensions of medium-level flood at Head Marala point, while Sialkot, Gujranwala, Hafizabad and Gujrat districts could also be affected by the floodwater. The areas of Chiniot and Jhang could also be affected by the flooding in Chenab. Earlier, Sialkot Deputy Commissioner said that all departments concerned had been alerted to deal with any emergency situation. He said that the district administration is keeping round-the-clock check and monitoring flood situation in River Chenab at Head Marala-Sialkot. The Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) Lahore earlier predicted medium to high floods in the nullahs of Rivers Chenab and Ravi, River Jhelum at Mangla (upstream) and flash flooding in the local nullahs/streams of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir, besides urban flooding in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Lahore divisions during the next three days.

Young girl killed after alleged rape in Lahore LAHORE: A 14-year-old girl was killed after allegedly being raped in the Manawan area of the provincial capital, police said on Saturday. The heirs of the deceased tried to bury the body of the girl without bringing the incident into notice of police. However, police arrived at the scene and shifted the body to hospital for autopsy. According to police sources, the girl was strangled to death and torture marks were visible on her neck. “More facts would be revealed after the autopsy report and investigation”, said the local police. LAst month, a Lahore girl was allegedly gang-raped by three men including her ‘friend’ with whom she came into contact through the popular TikTok video-sharing app. In her police complaint, the girl had stated that she befriended a boy, Shiraz, through TikTok app 20 days ago and later she reached Samanabad area over being called by him. She added that Shiraz asked her to sit in his car where two men were also sitting there. The girl claimed that she was gang-raped by all three men at gunpoint inside the vehicle. TLTP

Traders call for strict security on Ashura RAWALPINDI: Markazi Anjuman Tajran President Sharjeel Mir has urged the government to take stringent security measures for ensuring peace and security in the city during the holy month of Muharram. Talking to APP, he said the city administration must take extraordinary measures by intensifying snap checking and patrolling, effective monitoring of the city’s entry and exit points, deployment of additional police force and Rangers, installation and repair of CCTV cameras and other security steps so that all processions and other religious activities culminate peacefully. Recalling the disaster suffered by local traders of Madina Market and Al-Umer plaza in 2013 on Ashura day in Raja Bazar, he said, “We cannot afford any further loss of life and property as it takes years to recover and restore businesses which was put on fire by the angry mob on November 15, 2013." Mir called for taking the business community into confidence regarding the security plan devised for various routes of Muharram processions so that traders could adhere to the security plan and schedule their business activities accordingly. When contacted, City Police Officer Muhammad Ahsan Younas assured that foolproof security arrangements were being made to provide security to mourners as well as traders to feel a sense of security. APP

Balochistan gets first-ever mobile police station QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal has said that the provincial government has launched its first-ever mobile police station in Quetta. “First mobile police station equipped with internet and other necessities has been launched in Quetta in the first phase,” announced CM Jam Kamal in a tweet. The mobile station was set up in Quetta on a trial basis. “The purpose of establishing a police station is to ensure immediate registration of public complaints and subsequent government action on them,” said the chief minister. He added the move would help to build the public’s trust on police. TLTP

2 Karachi madrassa teachers arrested for torturing students NEWS DESK Two teachers were arrested for torturing students at a madrassa in Karachi’s Mominabad on Friday, according to the police. A video of one of the suspects, identified as Qari Fareed [a qari is a person who memorises the Quran and recites it], had gone viral on social media a few days earlier. It showed the suspect beating up a girl. Following this, the District South police began searching for him and arrested him. Further investigations revealed that the video was of the Khalid Bin Waleed madrassa located near Orangi Town and was shot one and a half years ago. It was further revealed that another teacher, Qari Ali Syed had tortured a six-yearold boy on August 19, 2020 leaving marks on his back. He taught at the same madrassa.

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

NEWS

PAkistAN sigNs AgreemeNts with other couNtries for lABourers: Zulfi BukhAri iSLaMaBad

APP

PECIAL Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Saturday said that the government was signing agreements with other countries for Pakistani labourers, and agreements were also being signed with Kuwait in that regard. Talking to a private news channel, he

said that the government was removing hurdles for foreign investments and making policies in that regard. He said that the government had acquired a vast land of overseas Pakistanis from illegal occupation, adding that the government was making efforts to remove the issues form the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the institution was improving its recoveries. He further said that the government had increased in the pensions of the OldAge Benefits Institution (EOBI) from Rs

Int’l publications skeptical over Pakistan’s ‘mysterious’ Covid-19 recovery continued on page 01 Other possible reasons suggested for the drop in Covid cases include smaller social circles in Pakistan compared to the Western countries, a hotter weather in which the virus finds harder to thrive and the government’s smart lockdown policy which saw localised areas being sealed if cases rose to a certain level rather than a generalised nationwide lockdown.

5,250 to Rs 8,500 and it would be further increased to Rs 15,000 in the future. Zulfi Bukhari said almost 400,000 Pakistanis had returned during the coronavirus pandemic, out of which 200,000 were only students who were studying in different countries. He said those who came from United Arab Emirates (UAE) during coronavirus pandemic, would be called and sent back on their jobs gradually as UAE was the first country that invited him (SAPM) after decreasing the ratio of the deadly virus.

Replying to a question, he said Prime Minister, Imran Khan would soon inaugurate the Digital Overseas Banking system and it would be a remarkable success and helpful for opening the bank accounts in a short period and bringing foreign investment. The government wanted to bring foreign investments as it was trying to resolve the issues regarding it and they were signing agreements with local and foreign investors for bringing investment in the country, he added. He said that there were a lot of opportunities to invest in the tourism sector and Pakistan as it had rich potential in the sector. Kohistan and northern areas were full of natural beauty so more attention would be paid for promoting this industry. He said the tourism industry could be boosted through public and private partisanship.

Rescue work underway as rains inundate Karachi streets continued on page 01 The chairman district council also contacted the deputy commissioner Malir, who imposed an immediate ban over bathing at the spillway. The district council chief also met with the cultivators of Malir and sought details about the incident. It is to be mentioned here that recent spell of monsoon rainfall has caused flooding in Malir River and rising level of the water swept away the filter wall of the spillway. The breach in the dyke and flood-

ing posed a threat to the Korangi industrial area and the adjacent population. A spokesperson of the Traffic Police has said that Korangi Causeway has been closed for traffic due to the rising water level. “The vehicular traffic from Mehmoodabad is being diverted towards Qayyumabad, while the traffic flow from Godown Chowrangi is being guided to Jam Sadiq bridge,” traffic police said. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has more rains in Karachi and other parts of Sindh during the next 24 hours.

CMYK

According to the Met office, strong monsoon currents are expected to penetrate in Sindh from Friday to Monday. Under the influence of this system, rain/wind-thundershower, with few moderate to isolated heavy falls, are expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, Umar Kot, Sanghar, Sukkur, Larkana, Lasbela, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Zhob, Musa Khel, Loralai, Kohlu and Sibbi from Friday to Monday.

NAB decides to bring back 'absconder' Nawaz continued on page 01 After that, three hearings took place this year, on February 19, 20, and 21, where his lawyer, doctor, and members of his party, submitted documents validating Nawaz’s health condition. On February 27, the Punjab home department passed a decision rejecting the extension in bail, demanding Nawaz’s return to Pakistan immediately and that he should surrender himself to the authorities. Emphasizing on the significance of the home department’s decision, he said that Nawaz, through his counsel, had filed an application in the Islamabad High Court claiming that he had not received the government’s decision. Akbar said that the PMLN had, in fact, received the decision. “I have brought this order with me so that someone may send it to him.” The order has also been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the direction that a letter be sent to the British government. The letter was then sent on March 2 stating that Nawaz’s bail had expired and that he should be repatriated. Akbar further said that recently, on August 18, the IHC declared Nawaz “an absconder” as his bail had expired. “The federal government has decided to take matters forward with the help of NAB,” the current premier’s aide said. “This dual standard of accountability cannot take place in Pakistan as common people who hardly get parole, return [to serve their sentence] and Nawaz — who has been disqualified for life by the Supreme Court and found guilty in two cases — is enjoying his life in London.”

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

06 COMMENT

A flawed mantra

A recurring pattern over decades

The President’s lacklustre address

China-Pakistan entente

T a time when fresh attempt are on to encircle china, Pakistan stands by Beijing. Similarly, as Pakistan confronts india on Kashmir in a David-versusGoliath situation besides facing economic downturn, china lends it a helping hand. The second strategic dialogue meeting between china and Pakistan proved fruitful for both the countries as they supported unreservedly each other’s core concerns: Kashmir, the cPEc, covid-19 and a terrorism-infested afghanistan in the case of Pakistan, and Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong in the case of china. china endorsed Pakistan’s position on Kashmir, while opposing any unilateral action that complicates the situation. it is now for Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue through imaginative methods instead of confining it to a few black days aimed only at educating Pakistanis about indian atrocities. The decisions taken regarding faster movement on the cPEc was overdue. The launch of two hydel power projects in quick succession in azad Kashmir and a special economic zone (SEZ) in Faisalabad last month are early signs of the rejuvenation of the multi-billion-dollar programme. To ensure employment for millions of people rendered jobless due to a contracting economy and the covid-19 pandemic, the government needs to play an effective role that guarantees in-time completion of under-construction projects, improving the ease of doing business and providing incentives for investment. it is in Pakistan’s interest to complete the cPEc at the earliest while maintaining amicable relations with the West, to which china has no objection. Taking note of Pakistan’s need for good relations with the USa, its penchant for democracy and adherence to a free-market economy, Beijing supports islamabad choosing a development path based on its national requirements. The two countries also agreed to continue to jointly fight the pandemic and cooperate in developing a vaccine to defeat the virus. They also vowed to work together to help commence intra-afghan negotiations at the earliest. china welcomed the second conference of the cPEc Political Parties Joint consultation Mechanism held in islamabad a day before Pakistan’s delegation reached china. after the earlier reservations about the cPEc on the part of the Western lobby in PTi’s cabinet, the Mechanism comprising all major opposition parties, besides the ruling PTi, was badly needed.

aRif Nizami

Wo years of the PTi (Pakistan Tehreek-einsaf) being in power was celebrated by selflaudatory claims by the prime minister and his dream team. But President arif alvi’s address to the joint sitting of the parliament that coincidentally fell two days after PTi’s second anniversary in power was the icing on the cake. as per the norm of the ruling party, the Mr. alvi, in his endeavour to please his masters did not even make a pretence of sounding non-partisan. after the opposition’s walkout from the parliament the he was simply addressing his party. in any case, the constitutionally mandatory address of the Head of State to the parliament is no great shakes in a parliamentary system where the head of the state is merely a figurehead. The speech is typically prepared by some mid-level officer in the prime minister office. and the president simply parrots it. However, a president with some knowledge of the parliamentary system can improve the draft. No one forbids him to add his input to the speech. But alvi, a former dentist from Karachi, neither has the capability nor any intention to tinker with the officially sanctioned draft. But even from a technical point of view the speech was a disaster. For example, President alvi, during the course of his speech simply omitted iran while thanking those countries that had supported the Kashmir cause. However, he corrected himself after the speaker asad Qaiser sent him a reminder to in-

Pushing the opposition over the edge

clude Tehran in the list. He also bungled the current account deficit which the PTi government rightly takes much credit for reducing it. initially alvi erroneously claimed that the current account deficit had been reduced to $8 billion but after being pointed out by some ministers he gave the correct figures that it had been reduced to $3 billion from $ 20 billion dollars. Such faux pas by the highest level of the state at the country’s apical democratic forum betrays either a totally laid-back attitude both in the president’s office and the prime minister’s secretariat or a complete lack of interest. amongst the attendees, the coaS general Qamar Javed Bajwa was conscious by his absence. President alvi’s lacklustre performance betrayed the same sycophantic and self-congratulatory attitude that has permeated the echelons of power. in the three days post the government’s second anniversary, most of the federal ministers held media briefings narrating what a fantastic job they had done in their respective ministries. Dams, highways, power projects, bullet trains and a bustling economy were all on the cards and according to them great strides had already been made. cricketing analogies were used with abandon by the ministers to please their boss. according to asad Umar the worst was already over and Khan was firmly entrenched at the crease poised to play a long innings. it doesn’t matter that Khan was a specialist bowler and somewhat of an all-rounder. and if the cricket analogy is taken too far it can work both ways. For example, a captain or for that matter a bowler or a batsman who consistently does not perform is eventually sent packing by the selectors. Unlike politics cricket has neutral umpires. The prevalent system in Pakistan is generally termed as a hybrid one. it is neither completely civilian nor military. Many matters of the state have been simply out-sourced to the military with a fig leaf of civilian oversight. Nonetheless, it would be grossly unfair not to give credit to the government where it is due. There are divergent theories and conjectures on why covid19 cases have miraculously dropped in a matter of a few weeks. Undoubtedly the Ncoc (National command and operation centre) and leading health experts have done a commendable job. This can be singled out as a major achievement of the government. on the economic front some brownie points should be given to our economic managers for bringing a semblance of macroeconomic stability

Nevertheless, the overall situation leaves little room for complacency. according to latest figures the PTi government added Rs. 11.35 trillion of public debt in two years of its rule. This was more than what the much maligned PMl-N government had borrowed in five years of its rule. Resultantly, Pakistan’s overall public debt has ballooned to Rs 36.3 trillion. another indication of the dire straits is the record high rate of inflation in the country, especially in the food sector. Pakistan’s July inflation rate was at a four-month high of 9.3 percent, up from 8.6 percent the preceding month. inflation on the ground is much higher by all accounts, sharply cutting into the common man’s budget. Ever rising fuel prices, electricity charges and rising unemployment does not paint a rosy picture of the Pakistani economy. But various government spokespersons, instead of acknowledging the tough times the nation is going through, keep on parroting the ‘sab acha hai’(all is well) mantra. it seems that the people of Pakistan live in a different Pakistan from their leadership. The simple question to ask is: are you better off today than two years ago? one does not have to be Einstein to know the answer. Blaming it all on the past governments' corruption and maleficence is an oft repeated excuse proffered by various government spokesmen. No doubt, neither the PPP regime nor PMl-N were paragons of virtue. and admittedly the present government is bereft of any major scandal or scams. But it is high time the government, instead of making excuses- that have become a broken recordfor its poor performance starts delivering in major areas of governance. Hounding opposition figures through mostly politically motivated NaB (National accountability Bureau) cases that rarely reach any logical conclusion leaves the anti-corruption watchdog with little credibility. The higher courts, the political opposition and what is left of a free media have been urging the government to usher in a more even handed and equitable accountability law. The ruling party shamefacedly claims that it was the opposition that did not scrap the NaB law. Zardari and Sharif had consensually appointed the current NaB chairman. Perhaps all true. But this does not give the government a carte blanche to blatantly engage in politics of vendetta. The apex court declared recently that NaB was being used as a tool for political engineering. The PTi government urgently needs a course resetting that it is obstinately unwilling to do. Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk

A reaction was inevitable

Innocent until proven guilty

RiME Minister imran Khan, while addressing a meeting of party spokespersons and some key ministers, lamented that the opposition had attempted to secure an ‘NRo’ from him by not supporting the Treasury’s legislation. The fact that so far all crucial FaTF bills that have been presented in both the lower and upper Houses of Parliament have passed with practically no attempt by opposition parties to create unnecessary obstacles seems to escape Mr Khan. His assertion therefore, that an attempt to blackmail the government had been made by opposition parties who wanted to ‘hide their theft’, is just another display of the severe distrust and contempt that is felt for the latter. Federal Minister for information Shibli Faraz has now pointed his guns towards PMl(N) supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif, who until recently had been in relative seclusion from active politics but has now started engaging other opposition leaders to unite against the ruling party. Mr Faraz has alleged that Mr Sharif ‘fled abroad feigning his illness’ although it was the Punjab government’s doctors that confirmed his medical condition as being untreatable in Pakistan and the Federal government that removed his name from the Ecl to allow him to fly to london. in the absence of an extradition treaty with the UK, Pakistan approaching its government for Mr Sharif’s return, will simply not work as has been proven in the case of MQM supremo altaf Hussain and PMl(N) leader ishaq Dar. it was the recent showdown between PMl(N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and the Punjab Police outside NaB headquarters in lahore that finally ignited some form of retaliation on part of the father-daughter duo, with the latter alleging the incident was pre-planned to physically hurt her and the former breaking his silence. This was perhaps an eventuality as the PTi government through NaB has been relentless in pursuing multiple cases against opposition leaders while resisting any move to find common ground. The PTi must be reminded that in any normally functioning democracy it is the core responsibility of the opposition to criticize the government and its policies. it is a shamelessly hypocritical position for the PTi to maintain that on one hand, while it was in the opposition, pursued an unforgivingly aggressive putsch against the PMl(N) government and now in power, it is using every possible tool at its disposal to silence whoever challenges it inside and outside Parliament. This is an untenable equation that is bound to create problems only for the government. The sooner the PM and his party realize this, the better.

Sexual harassers should have this rule applied to them

ocial media─ informative, wide-ranging, crossing boundaries: both national and social; influential, entertaining, fast moving─ social media has brought about a change which little else aside from science can match. We now have instant access to every kind of information from every part of the world and this information influences our opinions and impacts our choices, political and social. We can communicate freely with the people of other countries, we can laugh in the midst of disaster at the antics of ‘covidiots’ or anything else that makes us laugh. Yet the flipside is that this information we obtain may be unproven or even false, often enough. it may be manipulated and that too it often is either because the one who places the information online has not attempted to verify it, or because the incorrect information plays into the hands of the person who provides it. The jokes on social media may be funny and lighten the mood, but they may also be cruel and hurtful to a group of persons. choices based on information provided by social media therefore stand a good chance of being flawed─ on the other hand they may not. information provided by social media is no different to that disseminated by publications, but it is much more readily available, even for those who cannot read. We have yet to come up with talking newspapers outside of Harry Potter, but audio clips and videos on social media speak even to those unable or unwilling to read for whatever reason. information or misinformation, we now have the ability to pass it on it at the touch of a button, and oh man, does it get passed on… far and wide into places it would never have penetrated before. The information is simply there, right or wrong, which means that

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

Rabia ahmed

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

what would normally not have left the suburb, the city or at most the country is now available to anyone anywhere. Everyone knows a great deal now about the american President for example, down to his shower-head preferences. We know about the best horror books and movies from around the world, and the fact that a 76 year old teacher from Malakand is looking to pursue higher studies. This huge cache of information has its own positive and negative side effects. let’s take a look at one kind of information. Geoffrey Rush was one of the luckier ones. The australian actor, one of the few actors to have won an academy, an Emmy and a Tony was accused by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch, of sexual harassment, of ‘behaving inappropriately towards a former theatre co-star.’ Following a case that declared Mr. Rush not guilty, he was awarded a defamation payout worth 2.9 million australian dollars in recompense. on the other hand the actor Jeremy Piven, one of the stars of the television show Entourage, was unable to withstand similar accusations which still hang over him. Piven took lie detector tests which did not indicate he was lying. There was no case which proved him guilty, or otherwise. Social media has given rise to movements such as ‘Me Too’ which is a dynamic and forceful effort against sexual harassment and sexual abuse ‘where people publicise allegations of sex crimes committed by power or prominent men.’ Piven has said about the ‘Me Too’ movement that it "puts lives in jeopardy without a hearing, due process or evidence". Writing about this comment, the British journalist Brendan o’Neill suggests that the presumption of innocence is being weakened by this movement. So what is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty? This presumption is written into the constitution of almost all civilized nations today. it is also included in Talmudical and islamic law, and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 11 which states that “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.” if one looks at the ‘Me Too’ Movement in this light it shows a few flaws. While it is a laudable effort and an empowering movement the fact remains that it accuses but does not attempt to prove. This column is not about believing the accuser or

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the accused. it is about understanding that an accusation that is never proven remains just that: an accusation, and as such it hurts both the accuser and the accused. in Piven’s case, following the unproven accusations against him cBS ‘pulled the plug on Piven’s series Wisdom of the crowd and the only jobs he tends to get are as a stand-up comedian. Being the victim of sexual harassment is a terrible matter. Not to be able to speak of it, not to be able to defend oneself against it, the mere memory of it tears at the victim to the point of driving some to suicide. Yet, society that fails to support women also fails them when they are victims of harassment. Unless it is a case of rape in which case there might be DNa evidence, plain sexual harassment is hardly ever provable, not unless there are video records or public misogynistic statements by the accused. or perhaps he might have a previous proven record, which still does not prove that he was at fault in another case but at least it indicates a predilection. as for the victim, to accuse takes immense courage and is admirable, anywhere but particularly in this society where women face harassment as a matter of course, almost every day of their lives. Yet an unproven accusation can rebound upon the accuser. You question the need for such an accusation when the accuser is aware that there is no proof. There is at present the case of ali Zafar and the accusations of sexual harassment made against him by several women. He is a man without a history of such behaviour or any incriminatory statements on record. The accusation remains what it is, an accusation. and he has just been awarded the Pride of Performance for his musical performance. if this award is withheld because of the accusation made against him─ which women’s rights activists are urging should be done─ it would be an injustice, and against the presumption of innocence under the law. There are instances of awards being taken away after being conferred. This can always ben done if necessary. Meantime, congratulations Mr. Zafar. Please remember what was said above that this is not about believing the accuser or the accused. at the end of the day it comes down to what the English jurist William Blackstone is quoted as saying, that “it is better than ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer.” it is therefore the responsibility of the State to ensure that attitudes toward women change, that they are much more respectful than they are. Pakistan lags far behind in this matter. For the State to ensure that it is possible for everyone including women to stand up for their rights, and to point out injustice when it is done to them. But above it is important that the law considers everyone innocent until proven guilty. Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

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

Govt IPP deal THE Government is patting itself for getting MoUs signed with iPP's by claiming various technical details. But the people of Pakistan were told that the iPP's have taken extra payments and everyone was expecting a return of this 'cheated' amount. With the MoUs it seems that the current Government is legalizing the extra payments for a measly reduction in future payments. ironically the iPP's were constructed when US dollar rate was low, but with the new MoU's the dollar rate is considered at current rates. Since the capacity payments were made to cover the cost of the power plant over many years. The Government should simply calculate which iPP's initial costs have been completed and than take over the Power plant under a new law. if the iPP's have been cheating us than that can also be a reason for nationalizing them. in any case i for one am not satisfied with the current Government-iPP deal. Shahryar Khan BaSEEr PEShawar,

Voice for justice

Mountains crossed, many a mile to go A gruesome outlook gradually giving way to hope and promise

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs evil. The only crime is pride.” –Sophocles: ‘Antigone’

HE PTi government has completed two years in power. These have been difficult times with some monumental challenges encompassing a possible default looming, the scourge of corruption having penetrated all echelons of power, rampaging incompetence of institutions and a broadly-orchestrated subversive propaganda against Prime Minister Khan’s agenda of change. The extent of the problem was so gruesome that it could not be sorted out by administering cosmetic changes alone. The malady required multiple surgical procedures with each raising the prospect of collapse. The entire governmental edifice stood on wobbly foundations, reducing Pakistan to a haunting skeleton compared to what it used to be a few decades ago. The immediate challenge was not only to raise the benchmark of governance, but to make it people-centric because the criminal indulgences of the former ruling elite had resulted in woeful deprivations inflicted upon a vast majority of the vulnerable communities. Prime Minister Khan inherited a bankrupt country which had been skinned to its bones by vast varieties of parasitical configurations wearing deceptive apparels. Huge amounts were due to be paid in lieu of interest on loans taken by the country, with the total debt outlay doubling during a mere ten years of the Sharif and Zardari rules. With the entire structure virtually collapsing, the path to recovery was full of pitfalls. in spite of this, there has been a steady but considerable progress. in addition to paying off huge debts on a regular basis with a staggering $15 billion cleared in the first year of incumbency alone, a concerted effort for reform was launched. Significant reduction in expenses has been recorded. Simultaneously, tax filers have increased by 30 percent, tax collection went up by 17 percent and current account deficit came down by 79 percent. Foreign direct investment (FDi) increased to a record $2.1 billion. There was stability recorded in State Bank reserves and the government successfully refrained from borrowing any money from the institution. With the stock market flourishing, the international indicators were encouraging with Moody’s and

Fitch’s reaffirming Pakistan’s stable eco- in his environment protection initiative with his million-tree tsunami commanding international nomic outlook. The country recorded phenomenal success headlines. Pakistan’s ranking as the top destinain its fight against covid-19. Prime Minister tion among 20 leading tourism places in 2020 is Khan’s policy of smart lockdown, in preference a matter of pride which reflects the transition to a complete shutdown, paid massive dividends that it has made after a wave of terrorism that in the end so much so that he is being interna- swept across for a whole decade. The one front where the government has tionally referred to as the leader in battling the deadly scourge. The Prime Minister was resolute been found wanting has been its inability to conin his compassionate approach towards the poor trol the prices of essential commodities. in spite in spite of a vile and venomous campaign of strenuous efforts, these prices have continued launched by the parties of the opposition against to rise in the last many months reflecting the him, led by the PPP in Sindh. Simultaneously, hold of the criminal mafias and cartels which the government launched the largest ever relief have mushroomed in the country owing to operation in the history of the country with Rs. decades of patronage from the former ruling 1,200 billion distributed among 16 million fam- elite. in spite of the fact that a key institution of ilies from the poorest and marginalised commu- the state has raised obstacles impacting quick nities throughout Pakistan – a programme which progress, Khan remains resolute in dismantling has been widely acclaimed throughout the world the vicious stranglehold which these illicit fabfor its transparency and effectiveness. Relief was rications administer. it may take a while, but also provided in gas and electricity bills as well these blood-sucking parasites will be eliminated. The most important change which has ocas in debt repayment. Multiple other programmes were launched curred in the last two years is the acute awareunder the Ehsaas umbrella to bring relief to the ness and sensitivity which people have people. introducing Shelter Homes and Health developed regarding how mercilessly this couninsurance Policy are huge steps for the welfare try has been ravaged by the beneficiary elite and of the poor. Most importantly, the component of how remorselessly their rights have been tramcompassion has been made integral to every pled upon by the self-serving gangs masqueradproject which is conceived in the country. This ing as ‘democratic’ rulers. The veil they were reflects a sea change from the past when policies hiding behind is cast off. Their antics and were tailored to promote the interests of the ben- wicked machinations have been laid bare. What has been absolutely disappointing is eficiary elite alone which, inevitably, mauled the the role which the oppolegitimate interests of sition conglomerate has those in need. played in its effort to after a gap of alsabotage the change. most five decades, It takes immense courage, With their brand of polmajor hydel power genitics surviving on lifeeration projects have unwavering dedication and support system, they been launched to proresolute perseverance to bring exude desperation in vide affordable electricity to the consumers. about change– qualities which continually injecting doses of venom The iPPs were a source are now embedded in the policy high into the political realm. of minting mammoth The government may commissions by the making paradigm. A have to change course to leaders of PPP and comprehensive reform comprehensively expose PMl(N). in the process, the horrendous crimes deals were signed renprogramme is underway to of these political charladering the state hostage transport the country into new tans. By engaging them in the power producers’ to conduct essential leggrip. it speaks volumes vistas of progress islative business, the of the grit and commitgovernment has ‘digniment of the Prime Minfied’ these criminal ister that, after gangs who first damprolonged negotiations lasting one-and-a-half year, an MoU has been aged the state by looting it, and are now damagsigned with the iPPs which would greatly alter ing it by trying to save their illicit graft. Their 34-point agenda for securing an NRo is public the nature of these one-sided contracts. The foreign policy front has been a diffi- knowledge now. The government should not be cult one with acute challenges emerging after blackmailed. instead, it should expose the entire the unilateral actions in the indian occupied sickening repertoire of their crimes and hold Kashmir. Prime Minister Khan announced them accountable. it takes immense courage, unwavering dedearly on that he would be the ambassador of the Kashmiri people. He has lived up to that ication and resolute perseverance to bring about promise by raising the issue at every conceiv- change– qualities which are now embedded in able forum including his groundbreaking ad- the policy making paradigm. a comprehensive dress before the UNGa. He has spoken to the reform programme is underway to transport the world leaders about the gross human rights vi- country into new vistas of progress. Yes, Pakistan is changing and its scent imolations inflicted upon the beleaguered Kashmiri people who are being systematically bibed by every breathing soul: “Wafting through the morning air, subjected to humiliation, torture and death. From whence echo the spring songs clear?” opening up to other emerging countries and stakeholders in the international arena as well The writer is a political and security strateas accessing new friends in the Muslim world has generated appetising prospects for forging gist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – new partnerships and helping Pakistan gain an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: further strategic depth. Prime Minister Khan has also taken the lead @RaoofHasan

a Baloch from Turbat, Hayat Mirza Baloch was killed by a Fc personal, after a blast in absor, despite being innocent. Now the question is how many parents have to lose their hayats like this? it was called a mistake but the young man was shooted eight bullets that clearly shows it wasn’t a mistake. He lost his life with the dream of being a cSS officer and serve his country. None of us can imagine the heartbreaking scenario of his parents as he was gunned down in front of them. Undoubtedly, Hayat cannot be back but raising our voice is necessary to give him justice. arSlan Khan Karachi

UAE peace deal oN 13 august, UaE signed a peace deal with israel, under the leadership of President Trump. The peace deal leads to full normalization of diplomatic relations between both states. Donald Trump said in the agreement of 13 august, "our version is peace, security, and prosperity _ in this world". Everyone knows how unpredictable Mr Trump is, attacking iran was also a way of peace according to him. Muslim countries are against this deal seeing it as a betrayal caused in arab world. This act by UaE is really disheartening for Plastaniens. our religion taught us that Muslims are brothers and UaE's deal with israel is the deal of accepting brutality and deaths of her own brothers in the hands of israel. Mahnaz MuShtaq turBat

Tribute to Hasil Bizenjo RENoWNED politician Hasil Bizenjo Son of stalwart figure Mir Ghous bux bijenzo passed away at the age of 62 after fighting long with cancer. He inherited progressive politics from his father and always remained a sturdy voice of Balochistan,s Rights. He started his political career from student politics and he was among the founding members of Baloch Students organization. His strong participation in Movement of Restoration of Democracy (MRD) during the dictatorial regime groomed his political skills and made him a vital persona of mainstream politics in Pakistan. in 1990 after the death of his father he was elected member of the National assembly and was elected again in 1997. He founded Balochistan National Democratic Party which then made alliance with Balochistan National movement, and as a result of that alliance Balochistan National Party was formed. Mr Bizenjo served as the federal minister for Maritime affairs and also as a senator where he shortly served as leader of the house. in his relatively brief political career he proved himself as a man of his own precept who never compromised on the rights of his land. With his death an era of peaceful political struggle in Balochistan has ended. We will now hear even less from the province from where a strange silence prevails KaMran KhaMiSo Khowaja (K.K) huSSain aBad :Sujawal

Sepco mafia iT is a matter of great concern that, over the last many decades, the humble citizens of sukkur have been facing myriad of hurdles. loadshedding is the most serious issue which has remained unresolved. owing to long loadshedding, people can not achieve their desired goals. From shopkeeper to students, all got interrupted in their work. Sukkur Electric Power company ( Sepco) is only held responsible for the power outages. it has some corrupt line men who deliberately ensure long power interruption and take bribe. Despite installing new electric meters and power cable system, the issue is unresolved. Though sepco has reduced power outages from many of it's feeders, yet ahmad Nagar feeder experience upto 12 hours of loadshedding a day. in the age of science and technology, the masses of sukkur city still live in dark age. it is requested to all the authorities concerned to take necessary measures to resolve the issue and take action against Sepco Mafia. FarooquE Panhwar SuKKur

Water crisis WaTER crisis includes difficulty in obtaining fresh water .in Pakistan we face an acute water scarcity which further increases day by day.With the disastrous construction going on in most of the busy cities. The water transporting canal systems and sewage systems have been highly affected. Furthermore, climate changes in Pakistan as instants the low rate of rainfall, increasing demands because of over population and overuse of fresh and clean water result in water deprivation. Government should first focus on the storage of water and try to resolve it by building dams to fulfill people’s requirements.also, landscaping irrigation systems should be implemented to provide enough water to farmers for land irrigation in the dry season. overuse of water has sucked up life from rivers and lakes and have diminished the supply.People should be educated and aware as to prevent water shortage and follow ‘WaTER iS liFE, SaVE iT’.as the globe grows, so does the need for water and so does the resources shrank. according to experts, if we don’t overcome water scarcity in the near future, We will have to face scarcity of water. Moiz ahMEd Siddiqui Karachi

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Imran Khan Isn’t goIng anywhere PAKISTAN’S PRIME MINISTER MIGHT JUST BECOME THE FIRST EVER TO COMPLETE A FULL TERM KHAN MAY BE DOWN. BUT DESPITE HIS TRAVAILS, THERE’S NO REASON TO BELIEVE HE’S ON HIS WAY OUT Foreign Policy

MICHAEL KUGELMAN

HIS past April, a Pakistani columnist named SuhailWarraich boldly predicted that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government could fall in June—less than two years after it took office—if it didn’t make major improvements.June came and went, and the government remained in place. But Warraich is just one of many observers speculating in recent months that Khan’s days as premier could be numbered as his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party confronts internal turmoil, damaging political scandals, and overwhelming public policy challenges it has struggled to fix. Some believe “a political storm … will eventually sweep away” the government. Others claim it already finds itself “on the edge of collapse.” Still others speak of the possibility of a parliamentary initiative that ousts the government and replaces it with an interim administration. It’s understandable that observers are questioning Khan’s survivability. No prime minister in Pakistan’s history has served out his or her full term—thanks mostly to a powerful military that, even when it isn’t ruling the country directly, is prone to meddling in politics. Khan may be vulnerable, but the fate of his predecessors doesn’t doom him. In fact, he stands a strong chance of becoming the first Pakistani premier to complete a full term—thanks to the limitations of the opposition, some personal and policy success stories, and above all a military that has his back.

To be sure, Khan is feeling the heat. Long-standing reports of internal PTI rifts were seemingly confirmed in late June, when Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry went on television to detail arguments between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Asad Umar, and senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen. Chaudhry’s disclosure reportedly prompted Qureshi and Umar to ask Khan to fire Chaudhry. He did not. These revelations of internal turmoil came amid two major scandals. In June, Pakistan’s aviation minister admitted that almost one-third of the nearly 900 active pilots in Pakistan—including many with Pakistan International Airlines, the flagship national carrier—have fake licenses and aren’t qualified to fly. To be sure, Khan’s supporters may contend this is an old problem that long predates his term. But the disclosure came on the heels of a more directly damaging revelation. In May, a government report released by the Federal Investigative Agency’s Sugar Inquiry Commission alleged that sugar mills owned by Tareen and several non-PTI leaders in the ruling coalition had resorted to corrupt and fraudulent practices. The optics of these scandals would be dreadful for any political leader. They’re especially problematic for Khan, who has built his political image on being a relentless anticorruption crusader. All of this comes against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and a serious economic crisis projected to bring Pakistan’s gross-domestic-product growth down to less than 1 percent (compared to nearly 6 percent in 2018, when Khan took office)—complex policy emergencies for a ruling party that never held national power until 2018. Its inexperience in the face of such immense chal-

lenges has fueled perceptions of Islamabad being in over its head—indecisive and incapable of crafting effective responses, and therefore amenable to help from the military. During a trip to Pakistan in February, I was struck how so many people—including diehard PTI supporters—used the term “incompetent” to describe Khan’s handling of the economic crisis. Even back in late 2019, polling revealed majorities of Pakistanis describing government ministers the same way. And yet, the policy challenges have only grown since then. To its credit, Islamabad has sought to address the inexperience problem by appointing a large number of topqualified special assistants. However, several have become embroiled in controversy over the issue of dual nationality, and two resigned on July 29. Ominously, the PTI is losing allies. In mid-June, a key coalition partner withdrew from the governing alliance. Later in the month, another refused to attend a dinner organized by Khan to smooth out tensions within his coalition. Khan may be down. But despite his travails, there’s no reason to believe he’s on his way out.Pakistan’s political opposition may be emboldened by Khan’s struggles, but it lacks the capacity and desire to mount a mass movement resulting in his ouster. It is divided—tensions are rife between the two main opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party. Pakistani analysts offer several reasons why the opposition will be hesitant to mobilize en masse to agitate for Khan’s removal. These include an unwillingness to overly antagonize a government pursuing corruption investigations against senior opposition leaders, and a preference to let Khan stay in power and struggle, so

that the military—which many opposition figures believe helped bring Khan to power in the 2018 election—will recognize that it banked on the wrong leader. Accordingly, an announcement made on July 27 by an opposition leader, MaulanaFazlurRehman, that the opposition will soon release a strategy outlining plans to oust the government is likely more a symbolic hope than a reflection of reality. Incidentally, Rehman led a large anti-government march into Islamabad last fall. That protest, which failed to unite the entire opposition and only lasted two weeks, was likely driven more by a long-standing vendetta harbored by Rehman against Khan than by a strong and universal desire within the opposition to oust the premier. And while Khan may be indecisive and inexperienced, he remains the military’s favorite son. In a country where the army’s endorsement is a virtual sine qua non for holding power, that’s nothing to sneeze at. Tellingly, Khan has not resisted the army’s ever-increasing influence over public policy, including the domestic-policy sphere typically managed by the civilian leadership. This is in marked contrast to what happened during the government led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the PML-N, when Sharif and the military embarked on a collision course over policy that resulted in Sharif being disqualified from office by Pakistan’s Supreme Court in 2017. On one level, Khan’s lack of pushback against the military’s deepening impact on policy can be read as an acknowledgement that his government is inexperienced and can use all the help it can get at a moment when Pakistan confronts some of its most serious policy challenges in years. His deference can also be viewed as an indication of his alignment with the military’s views. Khan, unlike Sharif, largely sees eye to eye with the armed forces on policy. And he has made adjustments in the few areas of potential disagreement. Khan, for example, has toned down his support for the grievances of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, a civil society organization harshly critical of the military. He expressed such support more emphatically prior to taking office. Khan has further endeared himself to the military by helping improve, albeit

modestly, Pakistan’s troubled image abroad—no small matter for a military keen to shift global perceptions of the country. Khan is arguably the most charismatic Pakistani civilian leader since the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Like Bhutto, he is well schooled in the ways of the world, and especially the West, thanks to his globegirdling cricket-star days. The effusive public praise he garnered from influential leaders in Washington during a visit last July most certainly went down well with the military. So did the international media and policy analyses highlighting Khan’s “conciliatory” role during a crisis with India in February 2019, and more recently the endorsements he received from multiple capitals for a plan he proposed that offers debt forgiveness for developing countries during the coronavirus pandemic. Khan’s performance abroad helps blunt the impact of image-damaging developments at home. These include continued capitulations to powerful religious hard-liners that prevent more tolerant policies, and harsh crackdowns on dissent. Furthermore, Khan has helped his cause at home in recent days following the release of new data showing decreasing numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths. Pakistan is now being hailed as a pandemic response success story by Bill Gates and U.N. officials. Khan may be flawed, but he’s still the safest bet for the military. There is no logical replacement—neither from within the PTI, a party long dominated by Khan and bereft of logical prime minister candidates, nor from within the ranks of the opposition, where there is bad blood with the military. To be sure, the prime minister isn’t out of the woods. Three years remain in his term—an eternity, given the volatility of Pakistani politics. There’s plenty of time for his fortunes to go south. But for now, the military has things right where it wants them. It wields deep influence over policy without being burdened with the responsibility of holding power directly. And it boasts a like-minded civilian partner who is willing to defer to the generals—and who can shoulder blame when things go wrong. Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

The decline of the West—new and improved IF YOU LIKED THE 1930S, YOU WILL LOVE THE 2020S. AGAIN, IT IS CRISIS-OVERLOAD: COVID, ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE, THE ASSAULT ON FREE TRADE, AND THE RISE OF ILLIBERALISM ON THE LEFT AND ON THE RIGHT. WITH THE UNITED STATES ABDICATING, WHO WILL ANSWER THE 911 CALLS? AmericAn interest JOSEF JOFFE

Let’s dance the Oswald Spengler, whose Decline of the West sold millions after it came out a hundred years ago. Is the doomster back in business? “Example is not proof,” teaches the Talmud. Neither is historical analogy. Still, there are some nasty parallels between then and now. Here is the short-list. Item 1: the pandemic. First, the better news: COVID is not the Spanish Flu, which claimed some 50 million lives after invading the planet in 1918. Raging for two years, the Flu did not strangle the world economy. Actually, the Dow Jones increased by 30 percent in 1919—just as it did in 2020. In the Roaring Twenties, the pandemic was quickly forgotten. But beware: the real thing—the Great Depression—hit in the Thirties and lasted a decade. Now, the worse news: today, the causal link between disease and depression operates almost instantaneously. In Q2 of 2020, a few months into the pandemic, the U.S. economy shrank by 32 percent, the worst single-quarter since systematic data were being collected. The eurozone economy suffered the deepest contraction on record. By comparison, the so-called Great Recession of 2008 was a blip. As one COVID wave segues into the next, no sane observer would wager on a speedy recovery. You don’t have to engage in Spenglerian metaphysics, nor claim clairvoyance, to predict the convulsions to come, whichever way COVID breaks, vaccine or not. Unless the Deity intervenes by erasing two-hundred years of economic theory and experience, trillions of stimulus cash plus astronomic in-

fusions of liquidity are bound to unleash a deluge of inflation. At this point, Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman’s “What, me worry?” is like Valium—relief without rescue. Item 2, A look backward at the dire fate of globalization, the engine of planetary growth since the mid-19thcentury, which has been stalling bit by bit in our days. World War I marked the end of the First Globalization. The previous decades had been transformed by revolutionary technologies. Steamships raised the speed and lowered the price of transportation. Telegraphy and telephony did the same to communication. A message from London to New York suddenly took minutes, not weeks.Beginning in the 1860s, liberalization became the watchword. Bismarck’s rising Germany, soon to grow into an industrial behemoth, cut tariffs to zero until the 1890s. The U.S. was a lot less virtuous in the 19th century, maintaining average tariffs of 40 percent. Still, world trade soared fourfold, and wealth grew paripassu. The First Globalization collapsed on the eve of the “Great War.” It would not rise again until the 1970s, again propelled by technology: jet planes, container shipping and digitalization. The price of communication plunged toward zero. In the second wave, world trade grew five-fold. Multilateralism was the order of the day. Why did both waves end—though the second one by creep rather than design? For the same reason: politics. Politics, pace Marx, is mightier than economics. World War I killed the First Globalization as autarky and protectionism swooped down to stay. At the tail end of the Second, the world was dividing into trading blocs, with bilateralism as the new norm. In response to domestic pressure, one-world trade is being done in by punitive tariffs and tit-for-tat. “America first”—a zerosum game, where your losses are my gains—

rules Trumpist policy. “Globalism” is victimization, runs the indictment. Once more, as in 1914, domestic interests speak more loudly than economic rationality. Naturally, global welfare does not increase. Worse, trade battles compound strategic conflicts, especially between the United States and China. We have seen this before. After 1890, German protectionism helped to drive Tsarist Russia into the Franco-British Entente—the beginning of the end of the Wilhelmine Reich. Item 3: Add to the mix a new feature, which I define as “defensive nationalism.”This side of China and Russia, which obey the traditional expansionist kind, the West is emulating hedgehogs that roll up in a ball when threatened. It is no longer the lure of glory and booty that animates Western nations. Instead of “manifest destiny,” it is “leave us alone.” Stop the invasion of people and products—recall “Polish plumbers” in London, behold the Mexican Wall. Nativism and mercantilism are raising ramparts everywhere, rending the fabric of globalization and sharpening great-power rivalries. Self-encapsulation, driven to unprecedented heights by COVID, comes with familiar costs, making nations poorer, not richer. Undone by retaliation, gains are illusionary. Tariff walls raise domestic prices and thus lower real income. Lastly, “everyone for himself” blunts cooperation, be it economic or diplomatic. Stifling trade, nations at loggerheads sacrifice the benefits of coalition-building as a tool of global order. How could Mr. Trump corral Berlin and Paris when he treats them as economic enemies? Once more, globalization is falling prey to re-nationalization even among friends. The “West,” previously a community, is dwindling into a geographic concept. Item 4: America is abdicating just as

crises are piling up.The dreary lessons of the post-WWI era are coming back to haunt us. Consider the key point. As after WWI, the Liberal International Order (LIO) needs a housekeeper—a power mightier than the rest and dedicated to the job. When the United States gave notice in 1919, it triggered not only economic but also political catastrophe: beggar-thy-neighbor, the triumph of totalitarianism, and the slide into World War II. Open trade and strategic stability degenerated in tandem.The United States heeded that nasty lesson after WW II by executing a 180-degree turn. No need to retrace the path that led from Yalta to NATO, from closed to open markets. Suffice it to stress that America shouldered the burden and built a magnificent LIO based on cold-eyed self-interest as well as on moral commitment to “The West.” Today, this Golden Age of U.S. diplomacy is yielding to MAGA, and damn the rest. If Trump stays, he will finish the demolition job. But it is not foreordained that a Biden-led America will gather the pieces and glue them together. Item 5: America’s grinding internal tectonics do not strengthen U.S. leadership and legitimacy.The deficit is compounded by the embarrassing failure to defeat COVID-19. The country is caught in an ideological civil war that saps its purpose and power. It is the Stalinist Woke vs. the embittered Deplorables, as Hillary Clinton labeled them, folks who cling to guns and religion, as Obama had it. It is a pitiless Kulturkampf, and it keeps escalating. America’s universities, still the best in the world, confuse education with indoctrination. Its media equate journalism with agitprop – left or right. Self-righteousness rules the land, breeding mutual fear and contempt. Pitting the better-off and highly educated against the hoi-polloi, cultural and street warfare weak-

ens America’s standing in the world—and its capacity to rein in disorder. Though hailing from opposite directions, Left and Right share a common conviction: Come home, America! Nor is retrenchment due just to Trumpism and Wokism. It was Barack Obama who kept urging: “It’s time for a little nation-building at home.” Back in 1863, Lincoln orated: “We are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived can long endure.” It did, overcoming world wars and the Great Depression, while resisting the lure of illiberal ideologies. Nativism came and went. William Jenning Bryan’s populism was safely enveloped in the Democratic Party. Joseph McCarthy was censured by the Senate. As Bismarck quipped: “God protects children, drunkards, and Americans.” Would that he is right again. Today, America is retracting from global responsibility just as the world needs an anchor power as much as it did in the darkest days of the 20th century. The risk of pileups in the planet’s traffic system keeps growing. Yet America is absconding again, caught in self-absorption and a civil war that defies the idea of e pluribus unum. As an aside, it is a testimony to American clout that the culture war was invented here and then spread to the rest of the West, the American vocabulary included. The housekeeper is off on an extended vacation. Who is going to mind the building, also known as the tottering LIO? As the world’s second-largest economy, the European Union might, but lacking a global vocation, it won’t. China would love to go to the top, replacing the U.S.-built architecture with a tribute system centered on the Middle Kingdom. America-on-furlough (or on the way out?) is no blessing for a convulsing world that evokes memories of the Thirties. It is bad for the world and bad for the country. Go back to an America not yet born. Ignore the religious vernacular and listen to John Winthrop as he reminds his Pilgrim flock in 1630 to heed their obligations to God, also known as their “best interests”. If not, he warned, “we shall open the mouths of our enemies to speak evil [of us]. We shall be made a by-word throughout the world.”Sonorous stuff, but good advice.

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

BUSINESS 09

NumBeR oF IT compaNIes INcReases By 592 IN Two yeaRs: RepoRT ISLAMABAD

FBR to issue long-pending income tax refunds ISLAMABAD TLTP

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Saturday decided to issue long-pending income tax refunds in order to facilitate the business community amid the Covid-19 induced economic slowdown. According to a spokesperson of FBR, the revenue authority has informed all the taxpayers to immediately approach their respective regional tax offices to fulfil all legal requirements for the issuance of refunds. The contact details of all the regional tax offices are available on the official website of FBR, said the spokesperson.

Rice exporters vow better working conditions for growers

SYEDA MASOOMA

HE Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications released its twoyear performance report on Saturday which showed that the number of IT companies in Pakistan increased by 592 to 2,354 by the end of June 2020, as compared to 1,762 IT companies as of June 2018. The performance report further said that the IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer services and call centres were expected to reach $1.2 billion by the end of FY 2019-20, as compared to $831.35 million achieved in FY 2018-19. The report outlined the initiatives taken by the IT ministry for the realisation of the telecommunication objectives in the past two years which include National Incubation Centers (NIC) Programmes, National ICT Grassroots Initiative, DigiSkills.pk, SEED Funded Projects, Universal Service Fund (USF) Projects, Special Com-

IT MINISTRY’S TWO-YEAR PERFORMANCE REPORT SAYS NATIONAL INCUBATION CENTRES CREATED 16,174 JOBS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS munication Organisation (SCO) Contributions, Technology Park Islamabad, and the Telecom Foundation. The NIC programmes offer budding entrepreneurs guidance from mentors along with rent-free office space, highspeed broadband internet, fintech labs, design thinking labs, Artificial Intelligence Research and Development (R&D) centres and other related facilities. During the past two years, NICs have created 16,174 jobs, according to the data provided by the IT ministry. Likewise, the Grassroots Initiative of the IT ministry provides financial assistance to final year undergraduate students of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) related disciplines. The project was launched on January 6, 2020, and within 40 days 2,832 applications were

received out of which 1,040 applications received funding in the first half of FY 2020-21, the report said. According to the performance report, the DigiSkills programme of the ministry has imparted more than 1.28 million trainings since August 2018 against the initial target of one million trainings. The report further said that SEED Funded Projects of the ministry spanned across several disciplines and fields and included startups like Pakistan’s first peritoneal kidney dialysis machine, a 5G Air-Interface testbed, blockchain implementation in the financial sector, augmented reality-based advertising and applications like Bakhabar Kissan. The ministry also said that three cellular mobile operators licenses – for Jazz, Zong and Telenor – were up for

renewal by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in 2019, and the policy directive for the same was issued on May 9, 2019, after extensive consultation and approval by the committees formed by the prime minister. Partial payment of $687.8 million (50 per cent) was deposited by the telecom operators, the report informed. The proposed projects by the IT ministry for the future include Right of Way (ROW) Policy Directive, Personal Data Protection Bill and Policy Directive for Satellite Services in Pakistan. The ministry said that the satellite services project has the potential to raise $600 to $700 million for the National Space Programme till 2030 in addition to indirect benefits related to the advancement of indigenous space technology. Other planned projects of the IT ministry include Spectrum Auction for which the process has been initiated, and an incentive package has been proposed by the ministry which also includes a policy for smartphone manufacturing.

Approval of building plans being deliberately delayed by MCL: sources

ISLAMABAD

LAHORE

APP

SHAHAB OMER

Rice exporters on Saturday, vowed to promote decent working conditions and improve livelihoods of small farmers, farm labor and families of rice transplanters in the entire rice value chain of Southern Punjab in order to better equip them to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have trained 150 families in Southern Punjab who are associated with rice farming regarding Covid-19 safety measures and also provided them decent working conditions, food packets, shelter, Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs), first aid boxes, solar systems, fans, water cooler, desert cooler and stationary items for their kids,” said Rice Partners Limited (RPL) Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Muhammad Ali Tariq. He said RPL wants to provide a decent working environment to the labor involved in the plantation of rice adding that RPL has established mother community centres for the children of rice transplanters with the support of Mars Foods which helps keep children away from farms during the transplantation season while keeping them involved in learning activities. He said that during the current year, RPL has established childcare facilities at both the farm and community level. Such child care facilities take care of the children of rice transplanters while their parents work at the farm. .Muhammad Ali Tariq said that RPL which was established in 2011, is a social impact business that works with thousands of growers of basmati rice in Punjab in order to help them enhance their production yields adding that more than 100,000 families in Southern Punjab benefit from RPL. Manager Sustainability Zafar Iqbal said that the women involved in the growing of rice play a key role in its cultivation and contribute towards food security. He said that rice transplanting is carried out every year from mid-June till the start of August when temperature remains between 37 degrees centigrade to 45 degrees centigrade adding that usually all members of the families take part in the work of transplantation. He further said that conditions on the farm are highly hazardous and expose children to several risks of insect bites, injuries, infections, exposure to extreme heat and pesticides adding that RPL is working to ensure a safer environment for such kids.

A total of 610 residential, commercial and industrial building plans have been awaiting approval from the Municipal Corporation Lahore (MCL) for the last two years. According to sources, MCL officials have been deliberately delaying the approval of the plans which is causing difficulty for the builders and people in general. However, an MCL official said that citizens earlier used to submit building plans in MCL controlled zones which has been banned since last month. “Now the residential, commercial and industrial building plans pertaining to areas under MCL’s control can be submitted only to the MCL headquarters, ARFA Tower and Lahore Development Authority’s (LDA) office under the e-portal system which will expedite the approval of maps,” he said According to documents, MCL had earned a revenue of Rs99,577,846 during FY 2018-19 by approving maps of commercial and residential buildings. According to MCL’s performance report for the fiscal years 2018-19, 184 residential and 97 commercial building plans pertaining to Data Ganj Bakhsh Zone were submitted out of which 123 residential and 48 commercial plans were approved while the remaining 110 residential and commercial plans are still under process. Similarly, a total of 1,309 applications were received for the Allama Iqbal Zone out of which 1,178 were for residential building plans, 103 were for commercial building plans and 28 were for industrial building plans. However, out of the total 1,309 applications, 1164 residential, 99 commercial and 14 industrial building plans were approved while 30 plans were rejected. Two plans pertaining to the Allama Iqbal Zone are still awaiting approval of MCL. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs20,129,509 for approving building plans in the Allama Iqbal Zone. Moreover, a total of 457 applications for building plans pertaining to Aziz Bhatti Zone were received out of which 421 were for residential and 36 for commercial buildings. However, 147 residential and only

one commercial plan were approved while all other plans are still awaiting approval. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs8,532,475 for approving building plans in the Aziz Bhatti Zone. Furthermore, during FY 2018-19, a total of 154 applications for residential and commercial building plans were received for the Gulberg Zone, out of which 103 plans were approved and 47 were rejected. Four building plans pertaining to the Gulberg Zone still await MCL’s approval. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs2,493,943 for approving building plans in the Gulberg Zone. Similarly, a total of 458 applications were received for approval of residential and commercial building plans in Nishtar Zone out of which 404 applications were approved while the remaining 54 applications are still under process. During FY 2018-19, MCL received Rs23,548,542 for approving building plans in the Nishtar Zone. A total of 155 residential, commercial and industrial building plans were received for buildings in the Ravi Zone, out of which 69 plans were approved while all the others were rejected. However, out of 61 applications received for industrial building plans, only one building plan was approved. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs5,468,858 for approving building plans in the Ravi Zone. During FY 2018-19, a total of 217 applications for building plans for residential and commercial buildings pertaining to the Samanabad Zone were submitted out of which 170 were approved, 14 were rejected and 33 are still in process. MCL collected Rs4,700,189 for approving building plans in the Samanabad zone. A total of 141 building plans were also submitted for approval in the Shalimar zone out of which 90 were approved, 47 were rejected while four plans are still under process while a fee of Rs10,355,646 was collected by MCL for the approval of the said plans. Similarly, 339 plans for residential, commercial and industrial buildings pertaining to the Wagha Zone were submitted out of which 245 were approved and the rest are under process. MCL collected Rs5,136,915 for approving building plans in the Wagha Zone.

Govt plans to adopt environmentfriendly fuel, might face resistance from refineries NEWS DESK The government is looking to upgrade fuel used in Pakistan to a more environment friendly Euro-5 standard in a bid to counter air pollution, despite resistance from oil refineries. According to a report published by a local media outlet, oil refineries will have to upgrade their plants in order to supply the lower emission producing Euro-5 fuel. Earlier the government had directed Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to import Euro-5 standard fuel. Euro-5 standard petrol will be imported from September 1 while Euro-5 diesel will be imported from January 1. Out of the 3,500 pumps owned by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) across the country, 56 are already supplying Euro-5 standard fuel which is offered at approximately Rs20 higher than normal fuel. The Euro-5 fuel does not only produce lower emissions but also improves engine performance. According to the report, one of the factors causing the seasonal smog in Punjab has been the use of lower standard fuel and the increasing population of vehicles. The report suggested a move towards Euro-5 as a possible solution to the pollution woes of the country. However, if the government is able to implement its plan regarding the upgradation of fuel, refineries will still need three years to upgrade their production units.

Signs of recovery? US business activity and home sales surge In signs an economic recovery may be picking up speed, US home sales rose at a record rate for a second straight month in July, and purchasing managers in both the manufacturing and services sectors report business activity has accelerated at a brisker-than-expected pace this month. With mortgage rates holding near record lows and a work-from-home trend apparently enticing many Americans to move further from city centers, the National Association of Realtors said on Friday sales of existing homes rose 24.7pc to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million units last month from 4.7 million in June. Home prices also shot to a record $304,100, and a shortage of inventory is making competition for houses fierce. The average time on the market fell to 22 days in

July, a record low, from 24 in June, and nearly 70pc sold in less than a month. Combined with June’s 20.2pc gain, home sales have mushroomed by nearly 50pc in two months to fully retrace the cratering in residential real estate activity in the spring after the Covid-19 pandemic started spreading across the country. July’s sales rate was the fastest since December 2006, when the country was in the latter stages of the sub-prime mortgage housing boom. “The housing market is well past the recovery phase and is now booming with higher home sales compared to the pre-pandemic days,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “With the sizable shift in remote work, current homeowners are looking for larger homes and this will lead to a secondary level of demand even into 2021.”

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales rising 14.7pc to a rate of 5.38 million units in July. Existing home sales, which make up about 85pc of US home sales, rose in all four regions and were up 8.7pc nationally from a year earlier. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is at an average of 2.99pc, hovering near levels last seen in the early 1970s, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. Data earlier this week showed homebuilding accelerating by the most in nearly four years in July. Housing has been a bright spot in the economy even as other sectors suffer amid widespread coronavirus infections that have slowed commerce and kept unemployment high. More than 28 million people were collecting jobless benefits under all programs at

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the end of July. The pandemic tipped the economy into recession in February, ending a record-long expansion that had brought US unemployment to a 50-year low. BACK TO BUSINESS? Meanwhile, a purchasing managers’ survey showed US business activity snapped back to the highest since early 2019 in August as companies in both the manufacturing and services sectors saw a resurgence in new orders even as new Covid-19 cases remain stubbornly high across the country. Data firm IHS Markit said its flash US Composite PMI Index rose to a reading of 54.7 this month - the highest since February 2019 - from 50.3 in July. Its flash - or preliminary - indicator for the manufacturing sector stood at its highest since January 2019

and for the services sector it was the highest since March 2019. A reading above 50 indicates growth in private sector output. “Driving the overall upturn in output was stronger client demand,” Markit said in its report. “Total new business rose for the first time since February and at a solid rate. Manufacturing firms registered a steeper expansion in new order inflows than in July, while service providers signaled a renewed increase in sales.” The survey’s flash composite new orders index climbed to 54 in August - the highest since March 2019 - from a final reading of 49.7 in July. Foreign sales increased at the fastest rate since September 2014, it said, as more non-US markets reopened their economies. AGENCIES

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS Ambani on shopping spree to expand retail footprint in India NEW DELHI

BATTErEd By dEmS, TrUmp fIrES BACk AgAInST ‘TOTAl AnArChy, mAdnESS, ChAOS’ WASHINGTON

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Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man who spent the first few months of the pandemic raising more than $20 billion by selling stakes in his technology venture, is now on a shopping spree. The Indian billionaire is looking to acquire several local online retailers to help expand product offerings, as he races to build his e-commerce platform and compete against Amazon. Reliance Industries, Ambani’s oil, retail and telecommunications conglomerate, is in various stages of negotiations to either buy out or purchase stakes in Urban Ladder, an online furniture seller, Zivame, a lingerie maker, and Netmeds, which delivers medicine. The 63-year-old tycoon is seeking to widen his retail footprint in a market that’s become a hot spot for global giants such as Amazon as well as many local rivals, all chasing a billion-plus consumers. The business mogul last month outlined plans to rope in investors for Reliance Retail, days after selling a combined 33 per cent stake in digital services holding company Jio Platforms to partners including Facebook and Google. Reliance could pay $160 million for Zivame, according to media reports. The Urban Ladder deal could be pegged at about $30m, while Netmeds at $120m, local media have reported. Milkbasket, a milk delivery company, is also one of the targets, the Times of India reported. Ambani’s latest hunt for deals follows a wave of similar acquisitions that started in 2017. Since then, his group has purchased British toy store chain Hamleys, a local music streaming app called Saavn, logistics operation Grab a Grub Services and the Haptik artificial intelligence chatbot. Reliance is also closing in on a deal for stakes in some units of Indian retailer Future Group, sources said in June. Late last year, Ambani unveiled his shopping portal JioMart, which is now delivering to about 200 cities and towns. The talks are part of the intensifying war to win over Indian consumers – both online and in physical stores. Amazon has pledged to invest $5.5bn in the country, while Walmart spent $16bn to buy local e-commerce leader Flipkart Online Services in 2018.

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FTER being accused by Democrats of being a chaotic and dishonest leader, President Donald Trump countered on Friday that Democrats, not he, would bring chaos to the United States if Joe Biden wins the White House in November. “If our opponents prevail no one will be safe in our country,” Trump told conservative activists in his first speech since the Democratic National Convention ended late on Thursday. “I’m the only thing standing between the American dream and total anarchy, madness and chaos,” Trump said. In a preview of what Republicans will argue at their own convention next week, Trump hammered at the law-and-order theme he has embraced in response to anti-racism and police brutality protests in US cities including Portland, Oregon. He said police had been weakened in “Democrat-run” cities and cited a spike in murders in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York and Philadelphia. He urged Americans to turn back “radical left socialists and Marxists.” He called protesters in Portland “crazy.” “So the future of our country and indeed our civilization is at stake on Nov 3,” he said in the speech in Arlington, Virginia, to the 2020 Council for National Policy. Biden and his running mate, US Senator Kamala

Harris, accepted their party’s nomination at the four-day Democratic convention, where speaker after speaker characterised Trump’s four years in office as chaotic. The convention, held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, showcased scathing criticism of Trump’s character and his handling of the health crisis, in which more than 170,000 people in the United States have died. Democrats sought to present a diverse, united front with the integrity and faith they said Trump lacks. Biden opened his acceptance speech on Thursday night by saying, “The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.” In his speech on Friday, Trump called it “the darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in American history.” He also suggested, without providing any explanation or evidence, that the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives could become president if the results of the Nov 3 election were not clear by the end of the year. “I don’t think you’ll know two weeks later. I don’t think you’ll know four weeks later,” he said. “There’s a theory that if you don’t have it by the end of the year, crazy Nancy Pelosi would become president,” he said. Trump has sought to cast early doubt on the integrity of the election, and bringing up Pelosi, who is deeply unpopular with many Republicans, appeared aimed at motivating his base to vote.

ECONOMY AND LAW & ORDER: Vice President Mike Pence, who gave a round of television interviews on Friday morning, outlined what he said would be the thrust of their four-day convention starting on Monday, appropriating a line from Biden’s speech that character, decency, science and democracy “are all on the ballot.” “The economy is on the ballot. Law and order is on the ballot, and the American people know it,” Pence said. Pence deflected criticism over the coronavirus response. “We lost 22 million jobs in the course of this coronavirus pandemic. But because of the solid foundation that President Trump poured of fewer taxes, less regulation, more American energy, more free and fair trade, we’ve seen 9 million Americans already go back to work,” Pence told CBS “This Morning.” Biden’s vice presidential selection of Harris confirmed that the Democratic Party had been taken over by “the radical left,” Pence told Fox Business Network, describing her as a “California liberal.” Biden’s long tenure in politics, as a US senator and two terms as President Barack Obama’s vice president, will count against him, Pence said. “Joe Biden has been in Washington for 47 years and the speech he gave last night was just more of the same talk that we’ve heard from him and other liberal Democrat politicians for the decades,” he said. Trump echoed the critique in a campaign video on Twitter, saying: “After 47 years of failure, we’ve had more than enough.”

Kremlin critic Navalny is flown to German hospital; in 'worrying' condition

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Walmart CEO hopes for collaborative ties between US, China NEW YORK TLTP

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon has said he hopes the United States and China will build a "collaborative" relationship amid worsening bilateral relations. "It's obviously a very important relationship, the relationship between the United States and China. China still plays an important role in our supply chain. We also have stores and clubs and ecommerce investment in China," Doug McMillon said while talking to Fox News. "It is our hope that these countries will work together, this administration and in years to come, to find ways to have a collaborative relationship," he added. "We want to be able to do business in China. I know a lot of American businesses and farmers and others want to as well." Despite the decrease in unemployment, a slow job growth and further spread of COVID-19 have cast shadows on US recovery pace. Walmart has hired roughly 500,000 people since mid-March,

TikTok to challenge US order banning transactions with video app

BERLIN AGENCIES

Gravely ill Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was evacuated to Germany for medical treatment on Saturday, flown out of the Siberian city of Omsk in an ambulance aircraft and taken to a hospital in Berlin. There was no word yet from the Charite hospital on his condition but the founder of the activist group that arranged the flight called Navalny’s health condition “very worrying”. A long-time opponent of President Vladimir Putin and campaigner against corruption, Navalny collapsed on a plane on Thursday after drinking tea that his allies believe was laced

with poison. Medical staff at the hospital in Omsk said on Friday evening, after clearing Navalny to be flown out, that he was in an induced coma and his life was not in immediate danger. The air ambulance, arranged by the Cinema for Peace Foundation, flew to Berlin’s Tegel airport early on Saturday and Navalny, 44, was rushed to the Charite hospital complex. The hospital said in a statement it would provide an update about his condition and further treatment once tests have been completed and after consulting with his family. It added this could take some time. “His health condition is very worrying,” Cinema for Peace founder Jaka

Bizilj told reporters outside the hospital. “We got a very clear message from the doctors that if there had not been an emergency landing in Omsk, he would have died,” said Bizilj, adding that it would be up to doctors and Navalny’s family to provide further information on his condition. Bizilj, a Slovenian-born activist and filmmaker, was earlier quoted by Bild tabloid as saying Navalny’s condition was stable during the flight and after landing. Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman, said on Twitter that “This is another proof that nothing was preventing Navalny from being transported, and it was necessary to do so as early as possible.”

TikTok is preparing to mount a legal challenge as early as Monday to President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting transactions with the popular short video app and its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 14 that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest the US operations of TikTok. ByteDance has been making progress in talks with potential acquirers, including Microsoft Corp and Oracle. Some of ByteDance’s US investors could also join the winning bid. TikTok’s legal challenge pertains to an earlier executive order, which Trump issued on Aug. 6, the sources said. That order directed the Secretary of Commerce to come up with a list of transactions involving ByteDance and its holdings that should be banned after 45 days. TikTok plans to argue that the Aug. 6 executive order’s reliance on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act deprives it of due process, according to the sources. TikTok will also contest its classification by the White House as a national security threat, the sources added. It was not immediately clear which court TikTok plans to use to file its lawsuit. The company had previously said it was exploring its legal options, and its employees were also preparing their own lawsuit. While TikTok is best known for its anodyne videos of people dancing and going viral among teenagers, US officials have expressed concerns that information on users could be passed on to China’s communist government. The sources requested anonymity ahead of the lawsuit’s filing. ByteDance declined to comment. A White House spokesman declined to comment. TikTok’s legal challenge would not shield ByteDance from having to divest the app. This is because it does not pertain to the Aug 14 order on the sale of TikTok, which is not subject to judicial review.

California governor calls wildfires 'deadly moment,' urges residents to flee Hundreds of wildfires burning across Central and Northern California that have already killed six people more than doubled in size on Friday, becoming some of the largest in state history and threatening small towns in the path of the flames. The conflagrations, which broke out over the last week, have blackened an area larger than the US state of Rhode Island and destroyed more than 500 homes and other structures. In addition to the fatalities, 43 firefighters and civilians have been hurt. California Governor Gavin Newsom said crews were fighting 560 fires across the state, many of them sparked by light-

ning storms, straining resources to the breaking point as he seeks reinforcements from as far away as Canada and Australia. “We are not naive by any stretch about how deadly this moment is and why it is essential ... that you heed evacuation orders and that you take them seriously,” Newsom, a Democrat, told Californians at a news briefing. The state has been hit by its worst dry-lightning storms in nearly two decades as close to 12,000 strikes here have sent flames racing through lands left parched by a recent heat wave. Some 175,000 people have been told to leave

their homes. In Santa Cruz, a city of around 65,000 people on California’s central coast, residents were told to prepare “go bags” as bulldozers cut fire lines and flames came within a mile of the University of California Santa Cruz campus. Video footage posted on social media showed giant Redwood trees, some more than 2,000 years old, standing largely unscathed among the torched ruins of buildings in and around Big Basin Redwoods State Park. A complex of blazes east of Palo Alto and another in wine country south of

Sacramento are the seventh and tenth largest wildfires in state history, respectively, according to CalFire, and the agency warned that more dry-lightning storms were expected as early as Sunday. ‘SEND IN THE NATIONAL GUARD’: With up to 20 separate blazes burning in some lightning-fire complexes, firefighters and locals pleaded for more support. “We’re still understaffed for a fire of this size,” said Daniel Potter, a CalFire spokesman, in reference to the Santa Cruz blaze where crews are working 72-hour shifts to save homes in towns such as Ben Lomond.

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

SPORTS 11

England strEngthEn grip in third tEst against pakistan p

AGENCIES

AkISTAN were all at sea at close of the second day’s play in the third Test against England in Southampton. The Green Caps were 24-3 at close of play in reply to England’s mammoth first innings total of 583-8 declared. The visitors trail by 559 runs and still need to score 360 runs in first innings to avoid follow on. Skipper Azhar Ali is not out at four. James Anderson was the star performer for the home team with the ball in hand after claimed wickets of Shan Masood, Abid Ali and Babar Azam. The hosts declared their first innings at the score of 583-8. They added 93 runs to their total in the third session at the expense of three wickets. Buttler went on to score a brilliant 152 for the hosts which included 13 boundaries and two sixes. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fawad Alam and Yasir Shah finished with two wickets each. Joe Root’s side were 490-5 at tea with Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes not out respectively at 140 and two.

Zak Crawley departed after playing a fine knock of 267 runs with the help of 34 boundaries and a six. The Lions went for lunch at the score of 373-4 at lunch with Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler unbeaten at 186 and 113 respectively. The morning session was interrupted twice due to rain. 2ND BEST FOR ENGLAND Zak Crawley's score of 267 was the second-highest maiden century by an England batsman and the seventh-highest overall. Only Tip Foster's 287 is a higher maiden hundred by an England player than Crawley's. karun Nair's 303 not out is the only higher maiden century in the last 25 years. Meanwhile, he has also find a place among the few who scored a 250-plus score in Tests at a younger age than Crawley, who was 22 years, 200 days at the start of this match. The four batsmen are Garry Sobers, Don Bradman, Len Hutton and Graeme Smith. Bradman and Smith had made two 250-plus scores before turning 23. Also, Crawley is the third-youngest England batsman to score a Test double century.

India have been regularly talking to me about ‘the Hundred’: outgoing ECB chief AGENCIES If the words of Colin Graves are any indication, then the Hundred may have caught the BCCI’s fancy, with the England and Wales Cricket Board’s outgoing chairman claiming his Indian counterparts have been “regularly asking me” about the tournament. The ECB’s brainchild, the Hundred is a necessary tool to increase cricket’s reach and appeal, according to Graves. The new 100-ball tournament will begin in 2021, a year later than originally planned, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I know that some of the countries abroad, India in particular, are looking at their own,” Graves told Sky Sports. “They have been talking to me

about it for the last year on a regular basis. So around the world it has created a lot of excitement.” However, even if the BCCI eventually decides to organise a tournament modelled on the Hundred, it will not be able to do so before 2023. In an FTP (Future Tour Programme) cycle badly affected by the pandemic, there is no window for such an experiment for the next coupe of years. The next FTP cycle will run from 2023 to 2028. The BCCI has in the past explored possibilities to introduce a mini-IPL but could not do so due to a crowded calendar. Getting the tournament up and running has been one of the top priorities for Graves, who is now eyeing the post of ICC chairman. He called it the “biggest challenge” of his five-year tenure.

“I think the biggest challenge was getting The Hundred off the ground. We had all the pushback initially but I think people are now starting to see the advantages of it. “I think it is the right thing to be doing and will be a valuable asset to the ECB going forward, both from a profit perspective and playing point of view. “I think people, certainly in cricket, don’t like change. I don’t think they realised we are trying to attract a new audience - women, children and families, which we never really had coming to cricket.” The ECB signed a 1.2billion pound broadcast deal with Sky Sports and the BBC in 2017, which runs between 2020 and 2024 and includes live cricket returning to the BBC for the first time in 21 years.

Djokovic Irked by exclusion of Guido Pella, Hugo Dellien from relocated Cincinnati Masters AGENCIES World number one Novak Djokovic is among the ATP players critical of a decision to bar Guido Pella and Hugo Dellien from the relocated Cincinnati Masters after their fitness trainer tested positive for COVID-19, ESPN reported Friday. Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray of Britain also spoke out, saying players hadn't been given clear enough guidelines for such situations. Neither Argentina's Pella or Bolivian Dellien has tested positive for coronavirus since their fitness trainer Juan Manuel Galvan tested positive on Monday. But officials from the tournament, which is being held at Flushing Meadows in New York as a warm-up for the US Open there, consulted US Open medical staff and the New York City Department of Health and sent the pair into quarantine. "On a Zoom call a few weeks ago we got information from the chief medical doctor of the USTA that if a player is not sharing a room with his coach, or his physio, or anyone from his team that is infected, and his (own) results are negative, he can still compete in the tournament," ESPN quoted Djokovic as saying in a video news conference with reporters covering the event. The Serb star said the call, attended by dozens of ATP players, was supposed to inform them of the health and safety protocols and procedures that would apply over the two-event period. He said players asked multiple times about the protocol if team members tested positive "and that's what was communicated to us. "That's why a lot of the players were -- are -- upset, including myself, when I see that Pell and Dellien are treated in this way."

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Djokovic did note that the advice given was contrary to what was spelled out in a waiver players competing in New York had to sign -- which said New York state health officials would initiate contact tracing in the event of a positive test. USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier told ESPN that the exclusion of Pella and Dellien was in line with advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which "defines close contact as spending 15 minutes or more within six feet of another individual." He said contact tracing confirmed that the players had "multiple instances" of close contact without protective face masks. "Simply put, the individuals in close contact with the infected individual must quarantine for 14 days. This is not a discretionary decision," Widmaier said. Murray said in his news conference that those rules were not made clear to players.

Sunday, 23 August, 2020

PrAyEr TImINGS

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13 of 15-membeR UNSC oppoSe US pUSh foR IRaN embaRGo NEW YORK

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HE United States was further isolated on Friday over its bid to reimpose international sanctions on Iran with 13 countries on the 15-member UN Security Council expressing their opposition, arguing that Washington’s move is void given it is using a process agreed under a nuclear deal that it quit two years ago. In the 24 hours since US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he triggered a 30-day countdown to a return of UN sanctions on Iran, including an arms embargo, long-time allies Britain, France, Germany and Belgium as well as China, Russia, Vietnam, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa, Indonesia, Estonia and Tunisia have already written letters in opposition, seen by Reuters. The United States has accused Iran of breaching a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief. But President Donald Trump described it as the “worst deal ever” and quit in 2018. Diplomats said Russia, China and many other countries are unlikely to reimpose the sanctions on Iran. Pompeo again warned Russia and China against that on Friday, threatening US action if they refuse to reimpose the UN measures on Iran.

The United States acted on Thursday after the Security Council resoundingly rejected its bid last week to extend an arms embargo on Iran beyond its expiration in October. Only the Dominican Republic joined Washington in voting yes. The Dominican Republic has not yet written to the council to state its position on the sanctions snapback push. Under the process Washington says it has triggered, it appears all UN sanctions should be reimposed at midnight GMT (8 pm New York time) on Sept 19 — just days before Trump is due to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly, the annual meeting that will be largely virtual because of the coron-

Remdesivir disappoints in Covid-19 study A new study is raising fresh questions about the efficacy of Gilead Sciences’ anti-viral medication remdesivir in Covid-19 patients. A randomized, controlled trial of remdesivir in 584 moderately ill Covid-19 patients hospitalized with pneumonia yielded disappointing results in research published on Friday in JAMA. Compared to standard care without remdesivir, a 10-day course of the drug did not show a statistically significant effect on disease course at 11 days after treatment started, the study found. A five-day remdesivir course did make a statistically significant difference, but one so small that the researchers are not sure it really matters. Several other gold-standard trials are still underway, but as of now important questions remain regarding remdesivir’s efficacy, Erin McCreary and Derek Angus of the University of Pittsburgh wrote in an editorial published alongside the study. They raised questions about whether some patients get more benefit from remdesivir than others and whether it matters if patients receive remdesivir and steroids together. It is still possible that remdesivir could improve recovery for millions of patients hospitalized with Covid-19, they added, but more research is needed before that becomes clear. Remdesivir is currently sold under an emergency-use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for treating patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Gilead has filed an application seeking full FDA approval. AGENCIES

avirus pandemic. WHAT NOW? A 2015 Security Council resolution enshrining the nuclear deal states that if no council member has put forward a draft resolution to extend sanctions relief on Iran within 10 days of a non-compliance complaint, then the body’s president shall do so within the remaining 20 days. The United States would be able to veto this, giving it a cleaner argument that sanctions on Iran have to be reimposed. However, the 2015 resolution also says the council would “take into account the views of the states involved.” Given the strong opposition, some diplomats say the council president — Indonesia for Au-

gust and Niger for September — would not have to put up a draft text. “Faced with this very strong view of a majority of Security Council members that the snapback process has not been triggered, as the presidency, they are not bound to introduce the draft resolution,” said a UN Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Pompeo and outgoing US Iran envoy Brian Hook signaled that Washington expects Indonesia or Niger to put a text to a vote. Another US option is to put forward the draft itself or ask the Dominican Republic to do so. The United States argues that it can trigger the sanctions snapback process because the 2015 Security Council resolution still names it as a nuclear deal participant. However, in a joint letter to the Security Council on Thursday hours after the US submitted its complaint, Britain, Germany and France said: “Any decisions and actions which would be taken based on this procedure or on its possible outcome would also be devoid of any legal effect.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres distanced himself from the showdown in the Security Council. “Security Council members will need to interpret their own resolution,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. “It’s not the Secretary-General.”

Moderna says more than 40pc of participants enrolled for Covid-19 vaccine trial

Drug developer Moderna Inc on Friday said it has so far enrolled 13,194 participants in the ongoing late-stage 30,000-volunteer U.S. trial testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. In a tweet, the company also said that 18% of the participants currently enrolled are Black, Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, groups among the hardest hit by the coronavirus virus pandemic. Moderna began the study of its vaccine candidate in July and expects to complete enrollment in September. The 30,000 subject U.S. trial is

among the first late-stage studies supported by the Trump administration’s effort to speed development of measures against the novel coronavirus, adding to hope that an effective vaccine will help end the pandemic. Last week, the company entered a supply agreement with the U.S. government to provide 100 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for around $1.5 billion. Moderna, which has never brought a vaccine to market, had earlier received nearly $1 billion from the U.S. government, which is helping bankroll

several vaccine candidates under its Operation Warp Speed program. Black and Latino Americans are infected with COVID-19 at more than twice the rate of white Americans, with Native Americans infected at even higher rates, research has shown. The groups are historically underrepresented in clinical trials. A top executive of Pfizer told Reuters that about 19% of the 11,000 people enrolled so far in a 30,000-volunteer U.S. trial of its COVID-19 vaccine with German partner BioNTech are Black or Latino. AGENCIES

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Gaza fighting sparks stepped up mediation efforts GAZA TLTP

Gaza militants fired rockets towards Israel, which responded with air strikes overnight, the Israeli military has said, in the most serious escalation of cross-border violence in months, prompting mediators to step up de-escalation efforts. There were no reports of injuries on either side. An Israeli military spokeswoman said its Iron Dome system intercepted nine of 12 rockets. Anticipating Israeli retaliation, Hamas, which rules Gaza, routinely evacuates personnel from its sites. Hamas has been trying to pressure Israel to ease its blockade of Gaza and allow more investment, in part by permitting Palestinians to launch helium balloons carrying incendiary material that have torched tracts of Israeli farmland in recent weeks. "The Egyptians, the Qataris and [UN Middle East envoy] Nickolay Mladenov have stepped up their efforts in order to restore calm, but calm can only come if Israel agrees to demands presented by Hamas and other factions," a Palestinian official said. With tensions high, Israel has closed its only commercial crossing with Gaza, banned sea access and halted fuel imports into the coastal strip, causing its only power plant to shut down earlier this week. Egyptian mediators held talks in Gaza on Monday to restore calm but left without striking an agreement, Palestinian political sources said. Gaza's Joint Command of armed factions, of which Hamas is a part, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire overnight, saying it would "respond to every attack by the enemy against its positions and against our people". Buildings and vehicles in the southern Israeli city of Sderot were damaged, police said, and some Gaza commercial buildings and homes near the sites of Israeli air strikes on Hamas facilities were damaged. Later on Friday, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said the military "will attack the attackers in turn, inflicting serious damage". "The people of Gaza suffer because of Hamas and we will continue to protect the residents of the south and the citizens of Israel," Gantz said following a meeting with military chiefs. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel of tightening restrictions on Gaza, which Israel has blockaded since 2007 citing security concerns from Hamas. Israel "undermines the life of [Gaza's] people and bombs resistance positions, and therefore they have to bear responsibility and pay the price", Barhoum said.

Global coronavirus death toll tops 800,000 PARIS: The number of deaths from the new coronavirus has surpassed 800,000 around the world, according to an AFP tally based on official sources at around 1100 GMT on Saturday. In total, 800,004 fatalities have been recorded globally, out of 23,003,079 declared infections. Latin America and the Caribbean is the region the most affected with 254,897 deaths. More than half of global fatalities have been reported in four countries: the United States with 175,416, Brazil with 113,358, Mexico 59,610 and India 55,794. AGENCIES

Erdogan announces biggest Turkish gas find in Black Sea ISTANBUL AGENCIES

Turkey announced its biggest natural gas discovery on Friday, a 320 billion cubic metre (11.3 trillion cubic feet) Black Sea field which President Tayyip Erdogan said was part of even bigger reserves and could come onstream as soon as 2023. If the gas can be commercially extracted, the discovery could transform Turkey’s dependence on Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan for energy imports. Erdogan said his country was determined ultimately to become a net energy exporter. “Turkey has realised the biggest natural gas find of its history in the Black Sea,” he said in a widely anticipated televised address from an Ottoman palace in Istanbul, linked by video to a drillship in the western Black Sea.

The ship made the discovery about 100 nautical miles north of the Turkish coast. “This reserve is actually part of a much bigger source. God willing, much more will come,” Erdogan said. “There will be no stopping until we become a net exporter in energy.” Analysts said it was not clear whether the 320 billion cubic metres he announced referred to total gas estimates or amounts that could be extracted, but that either way it represented a major discovery. “This is Turkey’s biggest-ever find by a wide margin, and one of the largest global discoveries of 2020,” said Thomas Purdie of consultancy Wood Mackenzie. ECONOMIC BOOST: Any reduction in Turkey’s energy import bill, which stood at $41 billion last year, would boost government finances and help ease a chronic current account deficit which has helped drive

the lira to record lows against the dollar. “We will remove the current account deficit from the agenda of our country,” Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said, speaking from the deck of the Fatih drill ship. The lira TRYTOM=3 has strengthened since Erdogan first told energy executives on Wednesday that he had “good news” to announce. It slid as he detailed the find and was down 0.6% at 1500 GMT. Many officials and analysts have cautioned that it could take up to a decade for gas from the Black Sea find to come online, and would need billions of dollars of investment to build up the infrastructure for production and supply. But Sohbet Karbuz, director of hydrocarbons at the Paris-based Mediterranean Observatory for Energy, said Turkey may move ahead swiftly with investment decisions.

PAKISTAN FELICITATES TURKEY ON BLACK SEA GAS DISCOVERY ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has congratulated the Turkish leadership and people as the country announced making the biggest natural gas discovery in the Black Sea. The amount of gas reserves in the discovered field could meet Turkey’s total gas consumption for seven to eight years without any additional gas imports. In the felicitation message, the President said Pakistan must congratulate their friends, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the people of Turkey, on their biggest natural gas discovery in the Black Sea. He said friends revel and rejoice in the happiness and prosperity of friends. President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey discovered its biggest-ever natural gas field holding 320 billion cubic metres (11.3 trillion cubic feet) in the Black Sea, and more could be found as the country works to provide it by as soon as 2023. If the gas can be commercially extracted, the discovery could help Ankara cut its current dependence on imports – from countries such as Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan – for a substantial amount of its energy needs. “Turkey has realised the biggest natural gas find of its history in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey aims to become a net energy exporter. TLTP

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