Epaper – August 7 ISB 2020

Friday, 7 August, 2020 I 16 Dhul-Hijjah, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 38 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Govt allows Cinemas, restaurants to reoPen from monday g

eduCAtiONAl iNstitutiONs ANd mARRiAge HAlls Will ReOPeN fROm sePtemBeR 15

ISLAMABAD staff report

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He federal government on thursday announced that it was easing coronavirus-related restrictions on different sectors, as Covid-19 cases continue to decline across the country. According to the latest figures released by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 727 confirmed Covid-19 cases diagnosed were in 24 hours and 21 more deaths were reported due to the disease.

Active coronavirus cases in the country stand at 19,770. 256,058 patients have recovered from the disease whereas the nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,035.

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

282,249

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

727

256,058 6,040 122,759

93,847

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

34,359

NCOC deCides tO iNteNsify PuBliC AWAReNess CAmPAigN tO eNsuRe AdHeReNCe tO sOPs

Addressing a press conference, federal minister for Planning and development Asad umar said that the coronavirus outbreak in the country has been brought under control because of the effective strategy of government institutions, the untiring efforts of doctors and paramedical staff, and the cooperation of the people of Pakistan. talking about the decisions taken during the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting, he said that educational institutions across the country would be allowed to reopen on september 15 after a final review by the education ministry on september 7. He also said that cinema halls and hospitality sector, including hotels and restaurants, would also be allowed to resume operations from August 10, while the

Coronavirus in

21

g

11,793

2,116/2,234 15,141

tourism sector would start functioning from August 8. He added that outdoor and indoor non-contact games would also be allowed from August 10. the minister said that marriage halls would be allowed to operate from september 15 while beauty parlours would be allowed to reopen from August 10.

He said that restrictions on trains and airlines which were already operational would be lifted in October. similarly, the road transport would be allowed to operate from August 10 but passengers would not be allowed to travel by standing in metro buses, he added.

Asad said that the smart lockdown strategy adopted by Pakistan has been appreciated by the other countries and they are also learning from Pakistan’s experience.

INTENSIFYING PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN: meanwhile, the National Command Operation Center (NCOC) decided to intensify public awareness campaign at a large scale to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic across the country. the decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of NCOC, chaired by the planning minister in islamabad. the meeting was attended by federal ministers, fakhar imam, ijaz shah and sAPm on Health dr faisal sultan. speaking on the occasion, Asad said that coronavirus has not been completely eliminated from Pakistan, yet and urged the masses to continue adopting the standard operating procedures (sOPs). the forum was informed that despite a significant reduction in the spread of coronavirus, the pubic is not following the sOPs strictly.

SC rebukes Islamabad IG over report on journalist’s abduction ISLAMABAD staff report

the supreme Court on thursday expressed scolded islamabad inspector general of Police (igP) Amir Zulfikar Khan for a report his department submitted regarding the purported abduction of journalist matiullah Jan last month.

A three-judge bench, headed

by Chief Justice of Pakistan gulzar Ahmed, had taken up the police report as it resumed hearing a contempt of court case against Jan. Jan was briefly abducted on July 22 by men in police uniforms from outside a school in islamabad. the abduction had come just a day before the journalist was supposed to appear before the supreme Court after it had taken suo motu notice of his “contemptuous” tweets against the judiciary, calling them “tout judges”. the capital police in its report had conceded that they were still waiting for replies from different departments, the assistance of which they had sought to unearth the journalist’s kidnapping.

“But efforts are underway to trace the culprits involved in the incident and in this regard, the reports of various departments [are] awaited to carry out further investigations,” stated the 52-page re-

HRW asks Pakistan to put NAB on leash ISLAMABAD

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

Court indicts Shahbaz, Hamza in Ramzan Sugar Mills reference

staff report

the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Pakistan to stop using the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as a tool for political witch-hunt in the light of a recent supreme Court decision which termed the anti-graft agency’s conduct as a manifestation of “utter disregard to the law, fair play, equity and propriety”. in a statement issued on thursday, the international rights watchdog, while citing the July 20 verdict issued on the bail petition of Pakistan muslim leagueNawaz (Pml-N) mP Khawaja saad Rafique in Paragon Housing reference, urged the government to “investigate and prosecute” bureau’s officials purportedly responsible for “unlawful arrests and other abuses”. the apex court in its stronglyworded verdict had called the case against the former minister as “a classic example of [the] trampling of fundamental rights, unlawful deprivation of freedom, and liberty and the complete disregard for human dignity as guaranteed by the Constitution”. the judgment is “just the latest indictment of the NAB’s unlawful behavior,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Pakistani authorities should stop

port furnished before the top court on Wednesday by the deputy inspector general (operations) on behalf of ig Khan.

As ig Khan appeared on the rostrum during the hearing on thursday, Justice Ahmed inquired why the police had failed to gather information in the case.

“What kind of report has been submitted?” the top judge asked while addressing the capital police chief. “ig sahib, what age are you living in [that] you are writing letters like a police babu (clerk)?” the top judge stressed that time is of crucial importance during an investigation and evidence can be destroyed even if 10 minutes have lapsed after an incident.

He told ig Khan that he was apparently “unaware” of how investigations work. “Officers are not there to [only] warm their chairs.”

Also expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of the dig operations, the chief justice directed him to “go sit in the department from which you want information”. “you can no longer just write letters. Officers have to move actively,” the top judge said, ordering police to submit a detailed report regarding the abduction.

STORY ON PAGE 03

using a dictatorship-era body, possessing draconian and arbitrary powers, to intimidate and harass opponents.” the body also asked the government to reform the accountability watchdog through parliament to transform it into an “independent” organisation. the HRW observed the supreme Court decision had also “expressed concern about the use” of the bureau “as an instrument to target government opponents”. “the court cited a february report by the european Commission which criticised the NAB for bias, noting that ‘very few cases of the ruling party ministers and politicians have been pursued since the 2018 elections, which is considered to be a reflection of NAB’s partiality’.” the rights body noticed that

the bar associations including the supreme Court Bar Association (sCBA) and Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) endorsed the apex court’s ruling. the body also condemned what it called the bureau’s arbitrary use of powers of arrest, saying that an arrest “has to be justified”. in this regard, it cited the arrest of mir shakeelur Rehman, the editor-in-Chief of Jang group, who was arrested by the bureau in march this year in a 34-year-old property purchase case.

“Pakistani authorities should uphold the government’s human rights obligations,” Adams said, adding: “Pakistan’s parliament should amend or repeal the NAB ordinance to ensure that the principles of [a] fair trial, due process, and transparency are not compromised on the pretext of accountability.”

NAB summons maryam Nawaz over 'illegal' transfer of 200-acre land STORY ON PAGE 03

Domestic, special flights resume countrywide STORY ON PAGE 02

Pakistan once again asks india to appoint lawyer for Kulbhushan Jadhav STORY ON BACK PAGE

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Friday, 7 August, 2020

NEWS

CCI APPRoves AlteRnAtIve & RenewAble eneRgy PolICy ISLAMABAD

t

TLTP

HE Council of Common Interests (CCI) has unanimously approved Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy, 2019. The approval was given in the 42nd CCI meeting which was held on Thursday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar gave a detailed presentation to CCI on the annual demand and supply situation of gas with

special reference to future requirements and dwindling domestic gas reserves.

The meeting was informed that data regarding gas production, consumption and transmission from various provinces suggests that the country would face major gas shortage by winter 2021-2022 and to avoid impending crisis it was recommended that a national consensus needs to be built for exploration, production and conservation of domestic gas and rationalisation of price mechanisms.

The meeting considered amendment in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority

KP demands Rs1,000 per barrel royalty on oil from centre PESHAWAR

Ordinance 2002, proposed by the government of Sindh.

Agreeing to the proposal of Punjab government regarding control of lower portion of Chashma Right Bank Canal from Ministry of Water Resources to the government of the Punjab, the CCI constituted a committee comprising of representatives of IRSA, Government of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to work out modalities and finalise bilateral agreement between the two provinces.

The CCI decided, in principle, to transfer the existing National Commission

for Human Development and Basic Education Community Schools, teachers and students from the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to education departments of respective provinces.

The meeting appreciated the strategy adopted by the government to combat Covid-19 pandemic.

The CCI meeting also decided that 50 percent of revenue collected under the head windfall levy on crude oil, condensate and natural gas under Petroleum Policy, 2012, will be shared with the concerned province.

Discussing recommendations of attorney general of Pakistan on Water Accord, 1991, the CCI was informed that a committee comprising technical experts of federal and provincial governments has been notified to look into the issue of fair distribution of water among provinces.

The CCI directed the committee to complete its work in one month.

ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Thursday demanded the federal government to pay Rs1,000 per barrel royalty on oil being extracted from the province’s oil fields. The demand was put forward by the KP government during the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Currently, around 50,000 barrels of oil are being extracted on a daily basis from KP’s oil fields.

According to sources, the federal government currently pays royalty to KP on gas but pays no royalty on oil, despite the extraction of a large quantity of oil from the province’s oil fields everyday. During CCI’s meeting KP was represented by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan who submitted KP’s demands pertaining to gas, electricity and oil before the council. The KP government has also demanded timely payment of net hydel profit from the federal government. During the last two fiscal years, the province was supposed to receive Rs121 billion in total from the federal government as payment for net hydel profit. However, the centre has so far released around Rs34.5 billion. According to sources, the provincial government had earlier failed to make a strong case regarding royalty on oil due lack of experienced officials in the oil and gas department. Sources further alleged that the appointments of officials in the oil and gas department were not made on merit and unnecessary people have been recruited which have become a burden on the department. Profit also tried to contact KP government spokesman and Adviser for Information and Local Government Kamran Bangash and Adviser to Chief Minister for Power and Energy Hamitaullah Khan, but failed to get a response regarding the story.

Earlier on in the meeting, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) also directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to explore the possibility of providing a suitable mechanism through which provinces may provide their inputs to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Thursday directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to explore the possibility of providing a suitable mechanism through which provinces may provide their inputs to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

The meeting of the CCI chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan considered proposed amendment in the OGRA Ordinance, 2002, as suggested by Government of Sindh. According to documents, the Sindh government has proposed amendments in sub-section 3, 5, 6,7,8,10,12 of Section 3 of OGRA Ordinance 2002.

The proposed amendments envisage provincial representations in OGRA, with one member coming from each province. Under present legislation, the appointment of members of the authority is made on the basis of a stringent criteria mentioned under Section 3 of the OGRA Ordinance 2002. Moreover, hiring of top management is done through a strenuous exercise of sifting

through candidates after advertising the position to ensure transparency.

Earlier in 2015, Senator Sassui Palijo had moved a similar private members bill titled “The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2015” proposing amendments in Section 3 and Section 9 of the OGRA Ordinance, 2002.

The bill had sought representation for provinces in OGRA with one member coming from each province. At that time, the Cabinet Division had not supported the bill on the grounds that OGRA is a highly technical authority and its members have specialised qualifications and experience in relevant fields. The former prime minister had approved the Cabinet Division’s proposal to oppose the bill.

After the 18th Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, the provinces have been vested a joint and equal role, responsibility and function in the executive and regulatory domain in matters related to mineral oil and natural resources. However, this can only be made possible if any regulatory mechanism provides equal representation to all the provinces.

Discussion on Kashmir at UNSC meeting another diplomatic success for Pakistan: FM ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that discussion on Kashmir issue at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting is another diplomatic success for Pakistan.

In a statement on Thursday, he said the issue of India taking unilateral illegal steps about the status of Jammu and Kashmir last year was de-

bated on August 5.

He said never before had the Kashmir issue been debated at the UNSC for the third time in a year.

Qureshi said that he had written a letter to the UNSC President informing him that the human rights situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) has fast been deteriorating, and the issue needs to be debated by the council.

He said that he is thankful that

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to resume domestic flight operations from all except a few airports from Aug 6, confirmed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday. The announcement, however, excludes Turbat, Pangjur, Dalbadin, Zhob, Pasni, Moenjodaro, Nawabshah, and Bahawalpur airports.

“All operators will be required to implement the established guidelines, SOPs, and to seek prior schedule approval from the Competent Authority,” said authority through a tweet. “Moreover, Cargo, Special flights and Private Aircraft Operations will also be available for all Airports subjected to compliance with relevant SOPs,” it added. Last month, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had announced a further reduction in fares for domestic flights. STAFF REPORT

Army recruits long jumper Asif Magsi

CCI directs Petroleum Ministry to explore possibility of provincial input in OGRA

AZIZ BUNERI

Domestic, special flights resume countrywide

not only the issue was included in the agenda of the UNSC meeting within 72 hours of his request but it was also debated at length while 14 out of 15 members of the council took part in the debate.

The minister said that India did its best to prevent this discussion but failed, adding that Indian attempts to build an impression that Kashmir is its internal matter or bilateral issue have also failed.

The foreign minister also thanked the entire nation for expressing solidarity with the Kashmiris by taking out rallies across the country on Youm-e-Istehsal on Wednesday.

LAHORE: Pakistan Army has decided to recruit and train Asif Magsi, who became a social media sensation after his long jump video went viral. Asif can be seen jumping over 11 bikes in a viral video that got immense attention. In another video, Asif jumped over a lake covering a handsome distance with a Pakistani flag in his hand. According to sources, the Pakistan Army will recruit the long jumper Muhammad Asif along with providing necessary training and assistance to him to further improve his talent. “He will now join the Army Athletics Team rather than joining the Lahore team,” the sources said. Commenting on the development, President Pakistan Athletics Federation termed recruitment of Asif by Pakistan Army as a positive development and said that it would further embolden his talent.

On July 04, Asif Magsi got a call from Pakistan Athletics Federation after his video went viral. In a video message, President Pakistan Athletics Federation Major General Akram Sahi assured that Asif will be facilitated with all available resources. TLTP

Iqbal slams FM’s ‘irresponsible’ statement Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday strongly condemned Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s “irresponsible statement” regarding Pakistan’s brotherly country, Saudi Arabia. He said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share historic and strategic relations. Saudi Arabia has always stood with Pakistan in times of need, he added. Iqbal said that such irresponsible public statements about a brotherly country are very irresponsible and a bad example of diplomacy. “The immature and incapable government is playing with Pakistan’s vital interests”, he added. NEWS DESK

Govt's policies bearing fruit as Imran stays determined to stabilise economy ISLAMABAD APP

A close analysis of the government’s economic policies reveals that since forming its government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has been burning the midnight oil during the last two years to steer the country out of multiple challenges like economic recession, debt retirement, current account deficit, money laundering, power generation and deficiency of housing units.

A number of initiatives were started at micro and macro levels through an overall reforms agenda in agriculture, manufacturing and services, taxation and other sectors with special focus on mega water projects, power generation, construction of houses for poor, Ehsaas programme and austerity drive. There are some noticeable successes in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and some early signs of spring in an otherwise harsh economic environment. The situation to which the newly elected government came across in 2018 was rampant corruption that was hindering in the way of economic progress in the country.

The PTI government decided to take the bull by horns and diligently pursued the agenda of accountability to cleanse society of the corrupt elements.

When the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) government concluded a $6.64 billion EFF programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2013, Christian Legarde, the managing director of IMF, had advised PML-N “to continue strengthening resilience by building fiscal and external cushions to be adequately prepared for future economic shocks.” Unfortunately, the government then eyeing upcoming elections was in no mood to follow the IMF’s advice and instead went on a spending binge whose bills, the country is still struggling to pay.

Therefore, on August 18, 2018, when Imran Khan

was sworn in as the prime minister, he was confronted with a Hobson’s choice of either immediate default or go for another IMF programme designed to stabilise the external hemorrhaging. This was a very hard pill to swallow for the new government and for almost a year it tried to raise the needed cash to avoid an economic crash. But in spite of massive support from Pakistan’s friends and stringent home-grown measures, the country still needed an IMF package.

After the start of the IMF programme, Pakistan has met the quarterly performance targets set by the IMF. It has been able to slash the current account deficit to a negligible level, weathered a tsunami of inflation, stabilized the rupee at around 164 rupees to the dollar.

Exports have started their long journey towards growth, reserves are building up, interest rates have peaked and recently been slashed, investment is recovering. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has moved into a new phase that comprises investments in the agriculture, manufacturing, and services sector. Longdelayed mega water projects have been started. A very favorable Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been signed with China which gives Pakistan unprecedented access into the vast Chinese market. Trade relations with the European Union and the United States have been strengthened and the economy has started moving back from the edge towards recovery with investment opportunities for both export promotion and import substitution.

The real challenge is progress on the economic reforms at the micro-level. These long-delayed reforms are critical for Pakistan’s economic development and prosperity but are intrinsically intertwined with the accountability process and hence very difficult to implement. Fierce political resistance from the status quo forces slows down the accountability process and hurt the credibility of the reform effort.

Friday, 7 August, 2020

NEWS

CouRt InDICts shAhbAz, hAMzA In RAMzAn sugAR MIlls ReFeRenCe LAHORE

A

STAFF REPORT

N accountability court in Lahore on Thursday indicted National Assembly Opposition Leader and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz in Ramzan Sugar Mills reference.

NAB accuses Shahbaz of approving the construction of a drain in Chiniot with a cost of Rs360 million only to benefit the sugar mill owned by his sons, Hamza and Salman. According to the bureau, the approval for the construction was given on a fake application filed by

then MPA Maulana Rehmatullah to paint the drain as a public project. But, it adds, public funds were misused for the benefit of the family business of the suspects.

During the hearing, presided over by Justice Amjad Nazir Chaudhry, the accused pleaded not guilty. The judge also rejected a request seeking more time to prepare the case.

Terming the reference as fake, the former Punjab chief minister said he was being unfairly dragged into the case as he always worked with honesty and served the province for ten years.

“I didn’t take a salary and petrol money during my tenure. I brought in foreign investment for economic stability,” he said.

nAb summons buzdar in illegal liquor licence case

Subsequently, the accountability court summoned the witnesses in the next

NAB summons Maryam Nawaz over 'illegal' transfer of 200-acre land

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Aug 12 in a case pertaining to illegal awarding of liquor licence, it emerged on Thursday. According to APP, the provincial chief executive has been directed to appear at the agency’s headquarter in Lahore for interrogation into awarding of license to a private hotel. According to law, only the Excise director general can issue a liquor license. Punjab Excise DG Hafiz Ziaul Mustafa had on May 24, in view of the threat of sale/purchase of poisonous alcohol on Eidul Fitr, issued a letter to stop the illegal sale/purchase. The letter had directed for vigilance to stop the sale of poisonous alcohol during Eid and added special attention should be paid to liquor license holders.

Abbasi demands disbanding of nAb ISLAMABAD TLTP

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has demanded that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should be disbanded. He addressed the media after appearing before the court in connection with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) case on Thursday. Earlier, the hearing of the LNG case against Abbasi was adjourned without any proceedings till September 7 due to the unavailability of Accountability Court Judge Azam Khan. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart told the media that despite the passage of 13 months, he has not been provided with a copy of the reference. Khaqan also thanked the NAB for inducting him in the list of billionaires. Replying to a question, the former prime minister ruled out allegations of money laundering and stated that he and his son paid all the taxes, and money in their accounts is legitimate. Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, ex-PSO MD Imranul Haq, and others are facing charges of corruption over awarding a LNG import contract allegedly at exorbitant rates in 2015, which caused a big loss to the national exchequer. According to NAB, in 2013 Abbasi had awarded a LNG import and distribution contract to the Elengy Terminal in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.

hearing and directed the parties to record their arguments in the next hearing.

RAWALPINDI INP

Soon after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz were indicted in a reference pertaining to money laundering through Ramzan Sugar Mills, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday directed PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz to appear in person to respond to accusations of illegally transferring 200 acres of Jati Umra land in her name.

This is not the first allegation Maryam is facing as

she has already been accused of money laundering and possessing assets beyond means in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

In August 2019, she was arrested in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case while she was visiting her incarcerated father in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail. Before being shifted to the Kot Lakhpat jail, she also spent some time in NAB’s detention, after the anti-graft body had obtained her physical remand from an accountability court. Later, in December, the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted her bail and she was released from prison.

Earlier this month, NAB had arrested Muhammad Usman – the chief financial officer of the Sharif Group of Companies, and got a 14-day physical remand from an accountability court in Lahore.

On Thursday, Shehbaz told a court before his indictment that he might be a sinful person, but he did not leave any stone unturned for serving the people. “I have served the people of Punjab for 10 years,” added the PML-N president.

“The prosecution can say whatever they want to but they know in their hearts what the reality is,” remarked Shehbaz who said he had visited all parts of Punjab for serving the masses but did not claim any traveling allowance and dearness allowance (TA/DA) for his vehicle which amounted to millions of rupees.

Shehbaz told the court that he launched projects and brought investment worth trillions of rupees and even saved a total amount of Rs100 billion in the Orange Line project.

The PML-N president said that he had been accused of corruption through the construction of a drain costing Rs200 million and questioned why he would do such a thing when he had not even claimed TA/DA.

Finance Division suspicious over 'exorbitant rise' in ex-FATA expenditures ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

While the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) hardly spent Rs18 billion during the first 11 months of financial year 2019-20, it had spent at least Rs17 billion in the last month of the FY20.

According to reliable sources, the finance department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has shown an expenditure of around Rs17 billion in erstwhile FATA during June 2020, the last month of financial year 2019-20, despite the fact that it had hardly spent Rs18 billion in the first 11 months.

The expenditure of such a huge amount in a month has surprised the Ministry of Finance, which, according to the sources, has written a letter to the provincial government, seeking explanation on the development.

“Keeping in view the pace of expenditures in 11MFY20, the huge expenditure in one month is not understandable. The Finance Department of KP must have transferred the allocated fund to some other account in order to keep the releases from the centre intact,” an of-

ficial said on the condition of anonymity.

“The expenditure of development budget has been an issue in erstwhile FATA despite the allocation of huge amounts under a 10-year FATA development plan,” he said, adding that the KP government was not able to spend the allocated development within the given timeframe. In the last financial year, an amount of Rs152 billion was allocated for erstwhile FATA. There was already a 10-year development programme being implemented in merged FATA with the allocation of Rs1 trillion with the estimated expenditure of Rs100 billion every year.

“Since the development projects and related activities needed various documentations, approvals from relevant institutions etc, the provincial government was not able to fully implement the 10-year development programme,” the official said.

In this fiscal year, the KP government, out of its “tax-free” budget of Rs923 billion, Rs184 billion were allocated for the merged areas of erstwhile FATA in order to bring the neglected area at par with developed districts of the province.

03

uhs plans Covid-19 vaccine trial in 2 weeks LAHORE: The Punjab University of Health Sciences (UHS), in collaboration with Australia’s Flinders University, has begun preparations for a coronavirus vaccine trial in Pakistan to combat the novel coronavirus. According to UHS Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Javed, the preliminary clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine produced by Australia will begin in two weeks in Pakistan. Giving details about the pilot project in a video link session held in UHS, Lahore, Dr Javed said that 25 people will be given the vaccine. “If the vaccine produced promising results, the trial will be expanded to more people,” he added. Karachi’s Jinnah Sindh Medical University will also be made part of the project. Dr Javed said that the vaccine will reach Pakistan in the coming days and clinical trials will begin after approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). He further said that commercial scale manufacturing of vaccines is likely to start in the next three months. The vaccine, known as Covax-19, was developed by Flinders University and Australian firm Vaxine Pty Ltd and has produced promising results in trials in Australia. All participants developed antibodies to the new coronavirus. Phase I clinical trials for the vaccine started on July 2 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia. It must be noted that countries around the world are engaged in efforts to develop an effective vaccine against the contagious disease, but so far scientists have not been able to achieve complete triumph in this regard. TLTP

CDwP approves four projects worth Rs16.1bn ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Thursday approved four projects worth Rs16.112 billion and recommended two projects worth Rs44.172 billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for consideration. During the CDWP meeting, which was chaired by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, projects related to energy, culture, sports & tourism, transport & communication, food & agriculture and governance were discussed. Planning & Development Additional Secretary Humair Karem, senior officials from the Planning Commission and federal ministries/divisions were also present on the occasion, while representatives from provincial governments participated via video link. A project related to energy titled 'Establishment of 48MW Jagran Hydropower Station Phase-11, District Neelum, AJK', worth Rs11.37 billion, was referred to ECNEC for approval. The proposed project envisages construction of 48MW Jagran Hydropower Station. The project is a run-off river type and located in District Neelum. Meanwhile, a project related to culture, sports and tourism, namely 'Heritage & Urban Regeneration in Lahore Tourism Development -- Lahore Fort and its buffer zone', worth Rs3.65 billion, was approved in the meeting. The project envisages restoration and preservation of various components of Lahore Fort along with rehabilitation, reconnection of the fort with Walled City and up-gradation of outskirts. Three projects related to transport & communication were approved in the meeting. These included 'Rehabilitation of Pasni Fish Harbor Project' (Rs1.45 billion), 'Infrastructure up-gradation of Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Ltd' (Rs7.78 billion) and 'Construction of Road from Zeyara to Dabori, District Orakzai' (Rs3.21 billion). STAFF REPORT

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Friday, 7 August, 2020

NEWS

KArAchI PrePAreS To fAce fourTh SPell of MonSoon rAInS KARACHI

S

TLTP

INDH Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has issued monsoon advisory of Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and constituted a rain emergency team. The Sindh CM has also assigned the duties to all elected members of the provincial assembly, special assistants, and ministers. He has directed them to show their presence in their areas till the 9th of this month and resolve the issues. Provincial minister for local bodies will be the head of the rain emergency.

The PMD said that the fourth spell of monsoon is likely to enter Karachi from Thursday evening. As per details, a lowpressure system from the Bay of Bengal was likely to approach Sindh on Thursday.

“Under the influence of this weather system, strong monsoon currents are expected to penetrate Sindh, south Punjab and eastern Balochistan from Thursday (evening/night) to Saturday.”

The department added that widespread rain and thunderstorms were expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas during this period. The PMD has also issued an urban flooding warning for Karachi and

Boy found dead from Quetta QUETTA: The police found a tortured dead body of a boy from Khorotabad area of the provincial capital on Thursday. According to police, tortured dead body of a five-year-old boy namely Naseer Ahmed S/O Noor Ahmed was found in Kharotabad. Dead body was shifted to Sandeman Provincial Hospital Quetta.

Further investigation is in progress. PPI

Woman suffocated to death by brother-in-law BAKSHAPUR: A man killed his sister-in-law near Bakshapur on Thursday. Accused Abdullah Golo suffocated to death his sister-in-law Zameeran, aged 22, over a domestic issue in village Punhal Golo. The accused fled to unknown destination after committing the crime. Police shifted the body to a local hospital for medico-legal formalities and later handed over to the heirs. Police have started a probe into the incident.

No arrest could be made till filing this report. PPI

Anti-polio drive starts from 15th in Punjab LAHORE: A polio vaccination campaign will be carried out in different cities of Punjab province from August 15 to 19, according to the Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department. Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department Secretary Captain (r) Muhammad Usman has written a letter to security coordination committee seeking security for polio vaccination teams. Personal protective equipment (PPE), hand gloves and surgical masks will be provided to the polio team for vaccination drive. It is pertinent to mention here that the government of Pakistan resumed polio vaccination activities on July 20 with a campaign in selected districts after a fourmonth suspension of all vaccination activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hyderabad due to heavy downpour.

Meanwhile, arrangements to address an emergency situation and tackle the strong winds during the rough weather at the Jinnah International airport have been completed.

“Arrangements are in place to tackle any emergency situation”, said the airport manager referring to heavy downpour in Karachi by the Met Office.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued instructions for adding surplus weight with fixed wing small aircraft and rotary wing (helicopters), the airport manager also said. Few have been moved towards hangers to ensure no wear and tear

to the aircraft, he added.

The CAA additional director has also issued a notification with regard to precautions during the rough weather. The CAA has also instructed for transfer of light equipment at the airport to a place of safety in case of bad weather.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) continued to clean sewerage drains ahead of the fourth monsoon spell in the port city.

The NDMA was tasked to clean the sewerage drains in Karachi by Prime Minister Imran Khan last week.

According to NDMA spokesperson, FWO is cleaning three biggest sewerage drains of Karachi, Gujjar Nullah, Korangi and Mawach Goth Nullahs. Till now 35 choked points out of 45 have been cleared.

“Gujjar Nullah, 89pc, Korangi Nullah, 85pc and 75pc of Mawach Goth Nullah have been cleared”, said the NDMA spokesperson.

Unjustified increase in prices of sugar, flour irks Buzdar PUNJAB CM DIRECTS EARLY COMPLETION OF FLOOD-RELATED ARRANGEMENTS LAHORE TLTP

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has expressed strong indignation over artificial increases in the rates of sugar and flour and directed the administration and food department to take action against hoarders and illegal profiteers.

He has also directed to improve the supply of sugar and flour along with their availability in open markets at fixed rates, said a press statement

issued on Thursday. Any delay in the availability of sugar and flour will not be tolerated and permission will not be granted to sell sugar and flour at exorbitant rates, he added.

The CM has also directed Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, in a letter, to review the stocks, supply and rates of sugar and flour by visiting divisional headquarters and weekly reports be submitted to the CM Office.

Meanwhile, CM Buzdar has directed the secretary irrigation that necessary steps be taken, according to

the approved plan, to deal with possible floods and necessary arrangements should be given final shape immediately.

The irrigation department should ensure taking necessary arrangements in an organized manner and implementation on flood-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) be ensured, he said. Similarly, availability of human resources and necessary machinery be ensured, he added.

The CM made it clear that any negligence in the arrangements for dealing with the possible floods will not be tolerated. Organised steps should be taken for safety from financial and human losses in areas where floods are expected, he added.

Mills involved in smuggling subsidised flour to be sealed: Aleem LAHORE TLTP

Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has ordered the immediate sealing of the flour mills which are buying wheat at low rates from the government and after grinding, selling flour in other provinces at high prices.

The provincial food minister said that official wheat quota of such flour mills should be stopped immediately, adding irrespective of how influential someone is, no concession should be made, as well as, strict disciplinary action taken against the administration of such flour mills.

He stated that it was after detailed consultation with the flour mills that the price of a 20kg bag of flour was fixed at Rs860, among other important decisions; hence, after these steps, there is no justification left to illegally transfer this low-cost flour to another province or city for illicit profit.

Aleem, during his visit to Bahawalpur and Multan districts, also directed the food department officials

to adopt a joint strategy along with local administration to take immediate action and identify the violating flour mills. He clarified that the relief of billions of rupees’ subsidy must reach the common man and any hindrance in this regard will be taken into account and the matter will be dealt with swiftly.

Khan also said that at present 95 per cent of the areas had a 20kg bag of flour at Rs860 and 10kg bag at Rs430 in abundance and the sale of this flour is obligatory on every shopkeeper as well.

He said that there should be stern action against hoarders and they will be dealt with iron fists on illegitimate profiteering. He instructed the food officers to go out in the field themselves and inspect the working of the flour mills on the spot. He declared that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given clear instructions in this regard that there should be no hurdles in providing basic necessities like flour to the common man.

The provincial minister said that he himself has decided to visit different districts to review the exact situa-

tion and that he will also tour Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot in the next phase.

The food minister was also given a detailed briefing on the situation of wheat and flour by the divisional administration and food department in Bahawalpur and Multan and was apprised of the current situation.

Meanwhile, talking to the media, Aleem said that supply of 20kg bags of flour at Rs860 is successfully underway in most of the areas. He expressed that he has also appealed to the chief minister of Sindh that, like Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), they should also start supplying subsidised wheat to flour mills so that a uniform price of flour could be fixed across the country.

The artificial shortage is related to price fluctuations, and, as soon as a truck of flour enters Sindh from Rahim Yar Khan, its price increases significantly. He told the media that instructions have been issued to balance the ex-mill price of sugar along with flour and that they will try to fix the price of sugar by consulting with all involved parties.

Two killed, 17 injured in Kohistan road mishap KOHISTAN: At least two people were killed and 17 others injured when a passenger van plunged into hundreds of feet deep ravine on Thursday. According to details, a passenger Hiace skidded off road after it got out of control due to careless driving, overloading and fell into a deep gorge at Pattan Road in Kohistan.

Two people Muhammad Aslam and Saiful Malook died on the spot in the accident while 17 others were injured. The injured were shifted to Pattan Hospital where they were referred to Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad. INP

Man injured in JI rally blast succumbs to injuries KARACHI: A man injured during Wednesday cracker attack on the Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Kashmir solidarity rally in Karachi’s Gulshane-Iqbal succumbed to his injuries on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as Rafiq Tanoli, a resident of Malir’s Quaidabad. He was admitted at Liaquat National Hospital.

Dozens of people were injured in a grenade blast near Bait-ul-Mukarrum Masjid located in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area when the JI activists gathered in a Kashmir rally. The Sindh health department confirmed that 33 people sustained injuries in the Karachi blast. Seven wounded persons were brought to Jinnah Hospital, 11 to Aga Khan University Hospital, 10 to Liaquat National Hospital and five to AlMustafa Hospital. According to the senior superintendent police (SSP), some unidentified motorcyclists hurled a grenade at the participants of JI’s Kashmir solidarity rally. The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) officials were summoned at the scene to ascertain the genre of the explosion. JI Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman strongly condemned the explosion and announced to give next strategy after the conclusion of the Kashmir rally. He vowed that the political party will fight for the self-determination right of Kashmiris on every platform and such tactics of India will not push back the nation from its stance regarding the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). INP

Shopping malls, markets to remain closed in Punjab LAHORE TLTP

Dismissing reports about reopening of Punjab’s shopping malls and markets as fake, the provincial government on Thursday clarified that the bazaars will remain closed till further orders. According to a spokesperson for the Primary and Secondary Healthcare department, a ‘fake’ notification is doing the rounds on social media claiming that the government has allowed the shopping malls and markets to operate 24 hours a day. He advised the traders to turn a deaf ear to rumors and contact 1033 or follow their official accounts on Facebook and Twitter for confirmation of any news. Earlier on August 2, Punjab government had decided to lift lockdown restrictions in the province after the coronavirus cases had witnessed a declining trend. The provincial government had decided to lift restrictions under smart lockdown in the province from August 3 rather than August 5.

Govt, UNHCR pay tribute to refugee student for earning distinction ISLAMABAD INP

The government and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, paid tribute to an Afghan refugee student who secured second position in the matriculation exam carried out by the Mardan board, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The 16-year-old Mehboobur Rehman obtained 1090 out of 1100 marks. Rehman lives with his family at Manzlara refugee village in Nowshera. His father sells fruit at a local market to make ends meet.

"Mehboobur Rehman deserves to be praised for this outstanding performance.

We are proud of bright students like him who are passionate about achieving their dreams," said government officials from

the SAFRON Ministry at a ceremony held in Islamabad in honour of the refugee student.

The ceremony was also attended by the UNHCR Representative in Pakistan Noriko Yoshida, School Principal Mohammad Israr, and family members of Rehman. The government officials expressed appreciation for the young student's hard work and dedication and said this great achievement will prove a significant step in his future success. "The people and government wish you a successful life ahead," they added. The officials said that the government has been committed to imparting quality education to all Afghan students for the last forty years.

"We have provided full access to Afghan students as every child is entitled

to a quality education regardless of their race, religion and nationality," they noted, adding that such practices are also in line with the government's pledge to support the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (SDA), which advocates for quality education for all.

They said that the local teachers in Pakistan also deserve appreciation for making special efforts in providing quality education to Afghan students.

"The government and the people of Pakistan equally celebrate and feel proud of both Afghan and Pakistani students' achievement and success," they said.

Rehman expressed his dream of becoming a doctor someday. "I will continue my studies, and I hope that I will achieve my dream," he said.

Speaking at the occasion, the UNHCR representative in Pakistan congratulated the student for securing the second highest position. "Students like Mehboobur Rehman are a symbol of hope, inspiring many people, especially refugee communities," she said.

She noted that one of the UNHCR's priorities in Pakistan is youth empowerment through investments in education and skills development, as over 60 per cent of Afghan refugees are below the age of 25.

"Educated youth are the future of Afghanistan and will play a vital role in rebuilding their country," she added.

The young refugee student was rewarded with a laptop and a cash prize at the occasion.

Friday, 7 August, 2020

NEWS

SC rebukes Islamabad IG over report on journalist’s abduction coNtINueD oN PAge 01 The hearing of the case was adjourned for four weeks.

ISLAMABAD POLICE REPORT: In its last order issued on July 22, the three-judge SC bench had ordered recording by the relevant police station of the statement of Matiullah Jan about the kidnapping incident. In its report, the Islamabad police stated that a five-member special investigation team (SIT) headed by the superintendent police (investigations) was probing the abduction incident, adding that police had soon after the kidnapping of the journalist approached the Ministry of Defence with a request to ascertain his whereabouts from the Intelligence Bureau, Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence so that the investigation could be concluded on merits. Besides detailing the police communication with various police stations and hospitals to gather information, the report explained that a written request was sent to the director of the Safe City Project for the provision of CCTV footage of the place of occurrence, which was still under process. It said the CCTV footage of the alleged kidnappers was also sent to the National Database and Registration Authority on July 24 for matching of the suspects or their particulars, which was still under process. It said verbal directives as well as written orders had also been issued to the SIT members to peruse the FIR and case file to ensure the apprehension of the culprits involved in the crime without further delay. The report stated that the police department and SIT members were in close contact with the victim and other relevant departments and every effort would be made to take the case to its logical end.

TPB to rationalise textile sector tariffs

05

WahaB CondemnS RS63Bn ReduCTIon In SIndh’S fInanCIal ShaRe KARACHI

B

STAFF REPORT

ARRIsteR Murtaza Wahab, the spokesperson of the sindh government, on thursday reacted to the federal government’s cut in sindh’s financial share, calling it unconstitutional.

He said that the claims of the federal government were one thing and the work was another. the Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf (PtI) government is only acting on claims, he added. the provincial government spokesperson said that under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award NFC, financial resources are distributed to the provinces every month.

“PtI claims that they had improved the economy. the federal government was claiming to meet revenue targets in July. they said that it received more revenue than the target in July and if this claim of the federal government was true, then why was the financial share of sindh reduced by Rs63 billion despite the revenue?” he asked. He further said that sindh had received less than Rs28 billion from the federation in the month of July alone. the sindh government spokesperson asked how the expenses would be met if the financial share of the provincial government was cut every month. “How will the provincial government achieve its development goals?” he asked.

He said that the federal government needed to do house in order

and if the federal government had improved the economy, then the effects of this claim should also be seen. “the federal government is incompetent or has no intention of working. We leave the decision to the people,” he concluded. earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had written to sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali shah guaranteeing that the federal government would go into the National Finance Commission (NFC) meeting with an open mind and with the spirit of mutual respect.

PM Imran had replied to CM Murad’s letter dated July 23 stating that NFC is the only body to carefully engage “as to how the costs/expense incurred or to be incurred in the discharge of such new obligations and national projects based in the provinces are to be shared between the federation and the provinces.” “this necessarily entails an adjustment in the distribution of taxes between the federation and the provinces that is to be made under Article 160,” the PM had written.

NFC’s core duty is to allocate financial resources between the federal and provincial governments, and the distribution of taxes collected by the federal government under the federal divisible pool.

Article 160 of the constitution states that the president constitutes the NFC after every five years, for a period of five years. After a consensus is reached regarding the formula to distribute the finances, it is implemented for the next five years.

the 10th NFC was formed by the Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf (PtI) government on May 12 to announce the new award. the PM had mentioned in his letter that Articles 78-83 and Articles 118-123 have no relevance to the sharing of taxes as the tax share stood determined in term of Article 160 of the Constitution.

“It is also stated that the purpose of 10th NFC is to evolve and agree upon revised criteria keeping in view of the development since the last award, which would form the basis of equitable distribution of taxes between the federation and the provinces. We shall have ample opportunity to deliberate upon all relevant considerations during the meetings of the NFC but let me briefly address clauses No 2 (d) to (f) of the notification which you have described as unconstitutional in your letter,” he had said. the letter had stated that prior to the abolition of the concurrent list in 4th schedule to the Constitution, the federation as well as the provinces shared a number of subjects. He had said that with its abolition, all such subjects devolved to the provinces.

“However, it emerged that in spite of the devolution it was not possible for many such subjects to be dealt with the provinces alone. this is particularly so when the issue transcended the territorial limits of the respective provinces,” the premier had said. the letter had highlighted that to deal with such issues, the Pakistan

People’s Party (PPP)-led federal government established the concept of ‘trans-provincial’ matters and instituted a federal law, the Industrial Relations Act 2012, on labor welfare which had otherwise been delegated to the provinces. the letter had stated that this law was contested on grounds of usurpation of provincial legislative power by the federation in different high courts.

“Ultimately, the supreme Court decided the case in the sui southern Gas Limited in 2018 and the legislative competence and the obligation of federation in such matters was upheld,” it had added. the PM had also mentioned another sC judgment in which three hospitals situated in Karachi were transferred to federal government. “It is also stated that though health fully devolved in the provinces but there are obligations on federation in view of sC judgment,” he had said. the letter had further mentioned the sC suo motu case related to coronavirus wherein certain directions were passed to federal government related to the health issue.

Otherwise, this is a provincial subject, it had added. “the federal government does not have an option to ignore or optout of the obligations on the ground that the subject stood devolved to the provinces as all these matters directly relate to and affect the fundamental rights of the citizens as well as obligations under Article 151 of the Constitution,” the letter had read.

Parliament passes Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters) Bill, 2020 ISLAMABAD APP

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Tariff Policy Board (TPB) on Thursday decided to rationalise tariff structure for the textile sector.

According to reports the rationalisation of tariffs will have a special focus on raw materials. On Thursday a meeting of the TPB chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood was held which issued an official statement that the Tariff Policy Centre (TPC) would conduct a detailed study on the tariff structure of the textile sector and would give recommendations to the board for its decision. The Ministry of Commerce (MoC), in consultation with the TPC, presented a future roadmap of tariff rationalisation before the TPB for consideration and feedback. The board also discussed different proposals, received from different sectors, regarding tariff rationalisation. Razak Dawood stated that tariff rationalisation is a complicated exercise and that it would take time to implement the National Tariff Policy 2019-24. He added that a three years plan for tariff rationalisation, after analysing the value chain of the priority sectors, should be finalised as early as possible. He underscored that tariff related measures should promote equitable development and competitiveness of the local industry, resulting in an export-led growth for Pakistan.

The parliament on Thursday passed the Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters) Bill, 2020, aiming to provide legal support and to strengthen coordination mechanisms between countries combating crime across borders.

The government initiated the bill in the National Assembly (NA) on September 13, 2019, and it was passed there on January 6, 2020. However, it was not passed by the Senate within 90 days and tabled in the joint session of parliament.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Agha Rafi Ullah and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha withdrew their amendments in the bill. The government agreed to consider and accommodate their proposed amendments in the bill.

All the amendments in 24 clauses moved by the Minister for Law and Justice Faroogh Naseem were passed by the house. Two new clauses 27 and 28 were inserted in the bill which was passed by the house.

As per one of the amendments in Clause 2, the definition of central authority means the office of the secretary of the ministry of interior and power of such office shall be exercised by an executive committee comprising the secretary to the ministry of interior, the secretary of the ministry of law and justice, the secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs, and the home secretaries of all the four provinces, namely Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Punjab, and Sindh, while the secretary of the ministry of interior, shall be its convener.

The amendments in Clause 3 have been also made.

As per major amendments in this clause, for the words

“basis of a reciprocal agreement or arrangement” in the Sub-Clause (2), the words “principle of reciprocity reduced in writing” shall be substituted. For Sub-Clause (4) the following shall be substituted namely; “(4) this act shall not be applicable to any offense of a political nature unless directly linked to a criminal matter."

The bill also suggests to substitute Sub-Clauses (2), for paragraphs (a) and (b) of the clause 4 with following: “(a) make a request, on behalf of Pakistan, to an appropriate authority of a foreign country for mutual legal assistance to a criminal offense in which any investigation has commenced or proceedings instituted within Pakistan or outside Pakistan; (b) receive an deal with the request from any appropriate authority of a foreign country for mutual legal assistance in relation to a crim-

inal offense in which any investigation has commenced or proceedings instituted, within Pakistan or outside Pakistan, or where there are reasonable grounds or suspecting that a criminal offense has been committed within or outside Pakistan."

It also substituted the clause 6 with the following, "Form and manner of request - The Central authority may initiate or receive a request for mutual legal assistance, to or from foreign countries, as the case may be, in accordance with the form, manner, and conditions as may be prescribed."

The bill also proposed to insert clause 28 with heading Parliamentary Oversight. It says, “After every six months the central authority shall lay, in the form and manner as prescribed, before the National Assembly, the statistics pertaining to mutual legal assistance undertaken by the central authority”.

The law proposes an exchange of information and criminals with countries to meet a requirement of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

According to the statement of Objects and Reasons for this act, an increase in transnational organised crime has made it imperative for the international community including Pakistan to improve the effectiveness of legal instruments. “Lack of uniformity in law and weak coordination mechanisms between countries affect the combating of crime across borders. To overcome these challenges, the legal cover is essentially required,” it read.

International cooperation in criminal matters through mutual legal assistance is intended to bridge existing gaps in respective countries towards effective law enforcement. The requested state will provide legal support to the requesting state by executing necessary actions on its territory in criminal cases warranting shared assistance.

President stresses need for moving towards value addition RAWALPINDI TLTP

President Dr Arif Alvi has stressed the need for moving towards value addition to earn more profit.

In a video link address to the Virtual International Rawal Expo, organised by Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), President Alvi said that exports can be increased through product value addition and Pakistan has the potential to increase its GDP by $36 billion through value addition.

He said that Pakistan is a major exporter

of rice. He further said that domestically produced garments can increase the country's foreign exchange.

He said, Pakistan is a lucky country where the situation has not worsened due to Covid-19, adding, “By the grace of God, we have fewer cases in comparison with other countries. This is an important opportunity for us to be ready and take advantage of the situation.”

The president said that the government will ensure that business is smooth and barriers to bureaucracy are removed.

Earlier, President RCCI Saboor Malik said in his remarks that this is the first expo

in the history of Pakistan which is taking place on an online platform. The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown have affected business in Pakistan, he added.

However, the chamber turned the given difficult situation into an opportunity and organised many events, training seminars, business conferences and trade forums on online platforms.

Group leader Sohail Altaf said it is welcome news that the coronavirus epidemic is coming under control in Pakistan and the number of cases is also decreasing daily.

He said that unveiling ceremony of Rawal Expo by the President Alvi was an

CMYK

honor and confidence building for the business community as well as a sign of the seriousness of the government. E-commerce and virtual platforms are the reality of today.

Rawal Expo Chairman Nasir Mirza said that the special thing about the virtual platform is that there is no time constraint for participating in the exhibition. The expo will continue till August 16.

Azerbaijan Ambassador Ali Alizade said that Pakistan is an attractive country for foreign investment. Congratulating the RCCI, he said that this is the first time that any chamber has organized a virtual expo in Pakistan.

Friday, 7 August, 2020

06 COMMENT

How not to pick a team

Pakistan, India and the Gulf The myth of Muslim Ummah

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AKIstAN’s influence in the Gulf has waned over time. Last year, India’s Foreign Minister was invited as guest of honour to address the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting despite Pakistan’s protests. Fifty years earlier India was denied entry in the OIC’s inaugural session despite fierce lobbying because Pakistan had objected.

India is seen by the Gulf rulers as a stable and industrially advanced country where their investments would not only be safe but also bring high returns. the ruling families of saudi Arabia and UAE have preferred to stake billions in India. New Delhi has played upon the Gulf rulers’ fears of internal dissent, equating it with terrorism. Four years back India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and saudi Arabia’s King salman agreed to strengthen their cooperation in fighting ‘terrorism’ and to facilitate investments. A similar understanding was reached with the UAE. the Gulf rulers were told that Kashmiri freedom fighters were terrorists. While even a section of the influential western media condemned atrocities in Kashmir, the UAE Ambassador to India expressed hope that abrogating Article 370 would help improve the social and economic conditions in Jammu and Kashmir.

While India is seen in the Gulf as a dependable business partner, Pakistan is looked at as a country perennially in need of credit and oil on deferred payments.

Pakistan‘s rulers have tried to develop personal relations with the visiting Gulf dignitaries by personally driving them from place to place. they make fools of themselves when trying to act as mediators in the Gulf disputes. three days after Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke about mediation between Iran and saudi Arabia making progress, Foreign Minister Qureshi told the saudi-led OIC to stop foot-dragging on convening its Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) on Kashmir. Mr Qureshi even threatened to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris. Whatever the incitement, the strong reaction cannot be helpful.

Instead of fiery reactions, there is a need for a robust but well-thought-out foreign policy. the Gulf countries are among Pakistan’s oldest allies. the government must take Parliament into confidence over the situation and the way it wants to change it to Pakistan’s favour.

Team selection is not one of Imran’s strengths at Penpoint M a NiaZi

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HE resignations of two of the Prime Minister’s special Assistants, on the ground that they were taking flak over their dual nationality, was a rather desultory effort to cover the fact that the sAPMs had been sacked for sins of omission and commission, because they were only two of the seven sAPMs who had dual nationality or permanent resident’s status abroad, and yet were the only ones who were sacked. seekers of conspiracy theories would have noticed that the revelation of who had dual nationality among the special assistants and advisers had only recently been revealed, apparently without any motive beyond the now-familiar chest-beating over how transparent the government was. the main defence against this is that the revelations did not just expose the ousted duo nut also those sAPMs and Advisers who still enjoy the confidence of the Prime Minister.

It should be remembered that the position of sAPM or PM’s Adviser can only be obtained with the PM’s pleasure. It is possible to force one’s way into the Cabinet by virtue of one’s rivalry with the Prime Minister. there are not many Pakistani examples available, because PMs are usually undisputed heads of their party. However, the phenomenon of an MNA or senator being made a minister because of the backing of a group (of MNAs, senators or even MPAs) is familiar. the members of the group would deny any disloyalty to the party leader, but no party leader is likely to deny such a group. A government such as the present one, which has a thin majority, is particularly vulnerable to such pressures. the sAPM or Adviser route has always been followed, but it has also been accompanied by that of finding the ‘man of business’ a seat. there are precious few safe seats in the National Assembly, especially party seats. safe seats for certain individuals or families are more likely, and in that case party affiliation is not important. When a safe seat was found for shaukat Aziz in 2004 so that he could enter the National Assembly and become Prime Minister, it was not selected because it was considered safe for his party, the PML (Q), but because it had repeatedly proven safe for the Arbab family, one of whom, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, was then sindh Chief Minister. Another, unspoken, advantage was that the holder was ready to vacate the seat. shaukat Aziz is a good example. Before becoming PM, he had been Finance Minister. For that, he

Keeping it on the rails There must be no delays in such a useful project

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HE Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved a Rs 1.137 trillion project for the improvement of the ML-1 railway track between Karachi and Peshawar, which will be mainly financed by loans from Chinese banks, though the government will put up 10 percent, or Rs 113.7 billion, of its own. the project will upgrade 2655 km of track, so that train speeds can be increased from 65 km per hour to 110-165 km per hour, which would mean revolutionizing travelling times on all routes, not to forget increasing the number of trains from 37 per day to 137/171. Rail is already more attractive for both passengers and goods because of its cheapness and safety.

Upgrading the main line will increase that attractiveness by eliminating, or at least severely reducing the time advantage presently enjoyed by road transport.

It is worth noting that the project was initially $9.2 billion, but that has been substantially reduced to $7.2 billion. the UsA and the IMF had objections because of the higher cost, and the IMF had a veto because of the EFF package it had given. the latter’s objections have been removed. the project is to be executed in three phases, and the Railways Minister, sh Rashid Ahmad, had wanted the sequence of execution reversed. Under the current plan, his constituency is in the final phase, which will not be complete by the time of the next election, and thus he will not be able to show his constituents the benefit he has brought them. However, the original sequence was maintained in a display of responsibility and merit.

It will only be through such displays of honesty of purpose that the project can be made to give its benefits to those for whom it is intended, the travelling public and those sending goods by rail. this might be a CPEC project, but it should not be forgotten that it is beneficial for the people. the government has yet to negotiate the terms and conditions of the Chinese bank loans. Not only must it do that in a way that shows due diligence, but it must also ensure that its own contribution to the financing is ready when needed.

India’s bleeding wound Rabia Javed Kashmir is the real theatre of unspeakable violence and moral corrosion that can spin us into violence and nuclear war at any moment. To prevent that from happening, the conflict in Kashmir has to be addressed and resolved. That can only be done if Kashmiris are given a chance to freely and fearlessly tell the world what they are fighting for and what they really want. —Arundhati Roy

I

t’s been a year since, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked Kashmir’s special status under Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution and divided the state into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on 5 August 2019, the most far-reaching political move on the disputed region in nearly 70 years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonstrated to the world that Kashmir is potentially the most dangerous place on earth as he stripped Jammu and Kashmir of statehood and along with its special status, and residents’ rights. the decision to scrap the legal entity of the state also leads to the abrogation of section 35A. the section secured the erstwhile state residents’ privileges to seven million Kashmiris, but gets dissolved.

Due to this blood-drenched saga, Indian Muslims became the most vulnerable people on earth who have been left without political representation and without a voice.

However, New Delhi’s decision was widely criticised, as tensions prevail over the constitutional autonomy of the disputed region. Once again the BJP managed to unleash its unique brand of cruelty. so far there has been strong opposition by Kashmiris who have refused to accept this new normalcy been cooked in the BJP’s kitchen. seven million Kashmiris were barricaded in their homes. Kashmiri voices are ignored by mainstream media and channels, and blatantly suppressed by Indian right wing groups who spread a gospel of hatred that is both antiMuslim and anti-Kashmiri.

In the lead-up to the move, Kashmir is one of the most or perhaps the most densely militarized zone in the world. What India has done in Kashmir over the last 30 years is unforgivable. An estimated 70,000 peo-

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sponsored negative narrative that equates the Kashmiri struggle with terrorism, whereas the Kashmiri people’s struggle was and will remain a legitimate struggle under international law for their right of self-determination against illegal occupation by Indian forces.

Moreover, human rights courts should examine the ple, civilians, militants and security forces have been BJP government’s “disastrous” policies in the wake of killed in the conflict. thousands have been “disap- the unconstitutional dismantling of Kashmir’s special peared,” hundreds of teenagers have been blinded by status. these episodes of violence and massacres the use of pellet-firing shotguns and tens of thousands against the Muslims are nothing new. the 2002 Gujrat have passed through torture chambers. the most cruel pogrom slaughtering Muslims in broad daylight coneffects of an occupation that has lasted decades are im- tinued for months, when Modi was Chief Minister of that state. He has ridden to power on that legacy. possible to describe in an account as short as this. sadly, these mass human rights violations do not the BJP government is forgetting the fact that Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint and the move to ab- end here. During the pandemic that hit all the world rogate Articles 370 and 35A was in total disregard of Muslims again came under the mischief of BJP torinternational norms. Indian PM Narendra Modi not ture. they were branded on twitter trends like #CoronaJihad and as “human bombs”. Muslims were only endangered the imdehumanized and were mediate neighbourhood, denied admission to hosbut also raised the ante pitals and boycotted. for the entire world. Also, such horror shows still with the obliteration of The path taken by the BJP to link go on, which has a simiArticle 370 and blacking Kashmir with India is beyond any larity to the tactics used out the communication in during the rise of the the Valley, the Indian justification and is not going to third Reich, when Nazis government risked a accused Jews of being high-intensity insurgency work in any way.

Especially since spreaders of disease and in an already volatile state of Indian-Occupied BJP came into power in 2014 with carriers of typhus.

It’s ironic that to beJammu and Kashmir. an expansionist agenda, it is come a superpower in the Undoubtedly, the anregion or to be its policenihilation of Kashmir’s actively involved in different man, Modi has been sucspecial status laid out in the Indian Constitution is crimes and has often violated the cessful in hiding the injustice. the Indian a paradigm shift. sadly, sovereignty of many states. The government’s rejection the ground realities in Inof the 2019 UN report on dian-Occupied Kashmir World must react to the Hindutva human rights in Kashmir now are a lot graver than a shows it is unwilling to year before. Modi’s move terror before it is too late. confront its own human is consistent with his Hinrights failures. dutva-driven fascist polithough India claims cies that target Muslims to be the “Largest and other minorities, with the ultimate aim of achieving the Hindu Rashtriya of the Democracy in the World”, it failed to maintain harmony among diverse ethnicity and various religious Rss– a state meant only for Hindus.

Not surprisingly, such actions by the BJP violate groups. the path taken by the BJP to link Kashmir with the UN security Council resolutions which mandate the India is beyond any justification and is not going to exercise of the right of self-determination of the Kash- work in any way. Especially since BJP came into miri people under UN auspices to enable them to decide power in 2014 with an expansionist agenda, it is acwhether to accede to Pakistan or India. the flames of tively involved in different crimes and has often viohate that arose out of Modi’s fascist agenda have not lated the sovereignty of many states. the World must only engulfed India but its relations with Pakistan may react to the Hindutva terror before it is too late. also get into troubled waters. such actions also fall Rabia Javed is a freelance columnist under the fundamental objective to change the Indian-

Modi only showed the world how dangerous Kashmir is

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

an immensely successful PM might be able to influence his party towards selecting someone, it is unlikely to be a relative. In the UK, the only example is when the Marquess of salisbury was succeeded by his nephew A.J. Balfour (and not a son) in 1902. However, in Pakistan, the succession becomes important. the PPP was founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was succeeded by his wife, then his daughter, and now had been found a seat in the senate. However, this his son-in-law, while his maternal grandson waits in Government has not bothered finding anyone a seat the wings. the PML(N) has a succession struggle in the senate, perhaps because it cannot. the only even while founder Mian Nawaz sharif lives, between Provincial Assembly where it could, that of KPK, the his daughter Maryam and his nephew Hamza. It is members would not like to resign, evidence, if more perhaps premature to talk of a PtI succession, as was needed, that senators paid good money at elec- Imran Khan is 67, and healthy for his age. However, tion time, and do not look on membership of the he has two sons from his first wife and a second famUpper House as something received from the party, ily of stepchildren from his present (third) wife. and which the party can demand at any time. the case of tania Aidrus seems typical: she did Membership of Parliament had kept Cabinet mem- have the qualifications, but that is not what got her bership free of dual nationality, because the supreme made an sAPM. It was the interest shown by a Court had not disqualified dual nationals from cabinet favourite, Jehangir tareen. He no longer remained a membership, but from Parliament. If a way could be favourite after the sugar shortage scandal, and so she found of escaping the need for ministers to be MPs, fell; not because she had done badly, or well. then dual nationals could the case of Dr Zafar attend Cabinet. And the Mira is even more differPtI found a way. ent, and points up a probBut that way has pitlem in functioning that has Ministers should be picked from falls. though it was supbecome all the more cruposed to provide a cial because of the coronmembers of a defined body like method for the PM to seavirus pandemic. the first Parliament, or from the best lect a Cabinet of All the Minister of Health servtalents, it encouraged ices Imran picked, Amir available talent, not because they fly-by-night operators Mehmood Kiani, was and carpetbaggers. As a sacked in April 2019. An are ‘good fellows’ or because ‘Somatter of fact, they are MNA, he made way for a the sort of people who technocrat, who had been and-so thinks he’s a good guy.’ congregate around miliheadhunted from the Word-of-mouth only has a place in World Health Organisatary regimes.

It should be rememtion, where he had been a royal courts. bered that military director in the regional ofregimes provide an opfice for the Eastern portunity to the un-elecMediterranean. His retable to enter politics. placement, Dr Faisal sulAgain, shaukat Aziz is an apposite example. Gen Per- tan, really shows the need to have caught the PM’s eye: vez Musharraf made him Finance Minister, plucking he is the Chief Executive Officer of the shaukat from a career which had taken him abroad, and ulti- Khanum Hospital, the cancer hospital which is one of mately made him Prime Minister. While shaukat Aziz Imran’s achievements convincing many of his leaderwas no doubt the possessor of many qualities, elec- ship skills. Kiani and Mirza both were sacked over table he was not. that might have been more a com- drug prices. If Dr sultan gets mired in a drug price conment on the type of politics in Pakistan, but there it is. troversy, Imran will need to work out the problem.

Both departing sAPMs fall into the category of Generally, one of the PtI’s pre-election boasts was people who do not have electoral roots. to be fair to that Imran was good at team selection. the latest them, the same can be said about those who have re- episode is just an example of the kind of ham-handedmained, and who continue to enjoy the favour of the ness that had boasted of Asad Umar as Finance MinisPrime Minister. the advantage of Cabinet government ter, and which insists on keeping Ghulam sarwar Khan is supposed to be the fact that it is supposed to be the as Aviation Minister and Usman Buzdar as Punjab CM. creature of a party. However, parties, and thus govMinisters should be picked from members of a ernments, are about individuals, rather than ideas. this defined body like Parliament, or from the best availencourages the phenomenon where the Prime Minis- able talent, not because they are ‘good fellows’ or beter’s Office is more like a court, than a democratic cause ‘so-and-so thinks he’s a good guy.’ government. the monarchical model does more to ex- Word-of-mouth only has a place in royal courts. plain reality than that of cabinet government.

One glaring example is that of succession. While The writer is a member of staff.

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Friday, 7 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

Pakistan’s environmental challenge

August 5—Ram Mandir bhoomipoojan or Yaum-e-Istehsal?

The BJP is ruthlessly exploiting religion for political ends

SultaN M Hali The ominous date of August 5, 2019, Narendra Modi and his fascist regime illegally annexed Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and Ladakh and converted it into Indian Union Territories, is being celebrated as Ram Mandir bhoomi-poojan where a Ram Temple is set to be constructed in Ayodhya.

Readers may recall that in 1992, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) parcharaks (activists) including LK Advani, Narendra Modi, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, along with RSS Karsevaks (workers) members of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, had demolished the historic Babri Masjid.

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ERE a word or two are required to briefly explain what is Ram Janmabhoomi? Literally translated, it means “Rama’s birthplace” and is the name given to the site that many Hindus believe to be the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. Lord Rama is a mythical character from the epic Ramayana, which states that the location of Rama’s birthplace is on the banks of the sarayu River in the city of Ayodhya. A section of Hindus claim that the exact site of Rama’s birthplace is where the Babri Masjid once stood in the present-day Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. the mosque is believed to have been constructed during 1528-29 by a certain ‘Mir Baqi’ (possibly Baqi tashqandi), who was a commander of the Mughal Emperor Babur. However, the historical evidence for these beliefs is scant. According to this theory, the Mughals demolished a Hindu shrine that marked the spot and constructed a mosque in its place. People opposed to this theory state that such claims arose only in the 18th century, and that there is no evidence for the spot being the birthplace of Rama.

In 1611, an English traveler, William Finch, visited Ayodhya and recorded the “ruins of the Ranichand [Ramachand] castle and houses”. He

made no mention of a mosque. In 1634, thomas Herbert described a “pretty old castle of Ranichand [Ramachand]” which he described as an antique monument that was “especially memorable”. However, by 1672, the appearance of a mosque at the site can be inferred because Lal Das’s Awadh-Vilasa describes the location of the birthplace without mentioning a temple. In 1717, the Mughal Rajput noble Jai singh II purchased land surrounding the site and his documents show a mosque. the Jesuit missionary Joseph tiefenthaler, who visited the site during 1766-1771, wrote that either Aurangzeb or Babur had demolished the Ramkot fortress, including the house that was considered the birthplace of Rama by Hindus. He further stated that a mosque was constructed in its place, but the Hindus continued to offer prayers at a mud platform that marked the birthplace of Rama. In 1810, Francis Buchanan visited the site, and stated that the structure destroyed was a temple dedicated to Rama, not a house. Many subsequent sources claim that the mosque was constructed after demolishing a temple. the political, historical and socio-religious debate over the history and location of the Babri Mosque, and whether a previous temple was demolished or modified to create it, is known as the Ayodhya Dispute. In 1992, the demolition of the Babri Masjid by Hindu extremists triggered widespread Hindu-Muslim violence. several other sites, including places in other parts of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal, have been proposed as birthplaces of Rama.

Ironically, two Hindu researchers, Krishna Jha and Dhirendra K. Jha, in their 2012 exposé, Ayodhya The Dark Night, based on intrepid research and first-hand interviews of eyewitnesses, reveal in a chilling disclosure that after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, on 22 December 1949, an idol of Ram was planted in the Babri Masjid. A little-known sadhu, Abhiram Das, and his followers surreptitiously entered the Babri Masjid and planted an idol of Rama inside it. While it is known that the Hindu Mahasabha had a role in placing the idol in the mosque, the larger plot and the chain of events that led to that act have never been subject to rigorous scrutiny but are now being brought to light.

It was on 6 December 6, 1992 India witnessed communal frenzy through the country. the Rss chief was a quiet man, Rajendra singh, popularly known as Raju Bhayya. During this period, the position of the BJP and the Rss was consolidated. they became an alternative to the Congress in national politics and formed the coalition Government at the centre headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, the plight of the poor and the oppressed became worse than ever before. two hundred and forty million youth were unemployed, millions were illiterate, and millions were suffering from malnutrition. A deep-rooted economic crisis was staring in the face of Indians. the only way the Sangh Parivar could think of was to create religious enemies, by intensifying the Hindutva onslaught. the unemployed youth could be very dangerous to the ruling establishment if they were to focus on demanding their rights. the Sangh Parivar thinktank decided to use religious manipulation as a

strategy to keep the youth busy and divert their attention from the real issues confronting them and the nation. More and more organizations were formed under the guidance of the mother organization, the Rss, to engage them. thousands of shakhas (Hindu theological schools) were opened all over India to instil in them religious overtones. the NDA government under Vajpayee was a boost to the Sangh to consolidate its position with political patronage. It experimented its hidden agenda at various levels in some selected states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the North and Karnataka in the south.

In the contemporary era, India is facing its worst economic crisis. All the tall talk of India becoming an economic giant proved to be false. the poor are becoming poorer and their miseries are mounting high. Hindutva also changed its strategy to become even more fanatical. Word is that water is being sourced from rivers of religious significance for performing the abhishek and there are also plans to bury a time capsule at the site with history and ‘facts’ related to the Ram Janmabhoomi purportedly to prevent future disputes. Karsevaks carrying bricks to donate for the construction of the temple have already started walking towards Ayodhya. the mood is festive, not much unlike what it was in the run-up to the Babri Masjid demolition.

However, it is the timing of the ceremony that has minorities, civil society and human rights groups on the edge. the August 5 date has been seared into the collective memory of all Indians as the date on which Article 370, that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated. It was on this day in 2019 that India’s only Muslim-majority state was split into two union territories. to pick this date for laying the foundation stone for the Ram temple in Ayodhya doesn’t appear to be a mere coincidence.

Modi is bent upon trampling over the sentiments of Muslims and promoting his Hindutva philosophy but he remains oblivious to a current development. According to Hindu mythology, Lord shiva, one of the principal deities of Hinduism, resides in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya, atop Mount Kailash.

Geographically, the Kailash Parvat lies in the tibet region of China and is the source of Asia’s four important rivers, Indus. sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali. Instead of demanding the residence of its living deity shiva from China, Modi was celebrating Janmabhoomi Poojan for a lesser deity, Ram, long dead. Pakistan on the other hand was observing August 5 as Yaum-eIstehsal, the day Kashmiris’ suffering deepened. the Government of Pakistan has issued a new political map showing Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as a disputed territory whose fate should be resolved only through implementation of the United Nations security Council resolutions, guaranteeing the Kashmiris their right to self-determination.

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

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

tHE majority of Pakistan industrial sectors for example fishing and agriculture , which count for more than one for of the output and two fifth of employment in Pakistan are highly dependent on country natural resources. Hence in order to sustain economic growth there is a high demand on already scarce resources. However it is ironic that what the country depends on for growth is also what threats the future welfare and success of the country. the World Bank report in 2013 started in Pakistan top environmental issues air pollutions inadequate supply of uncontaminated drinking water noise pollution and the health detritions of urban and rural populations due to pollutions. these environmental concems not only harm Pakistani citizens but also pose a serious threat to the country economy. the report also state that the increase in industrialization, urbanizations and motorization will inevitably worsen this problem. Pakistan is classified as a water stressed nation by the world bank there are seven main river that enter Pakistan from upper riparian states including the Kabul River that enters from Afghanistan and the Indus river, Jhelum river, Chenab river and sutlej river that enter from India. Among these Ravi and sutlej and diverted in upstream India, for which consumptive use was awarded to India under the Indus water treaty. the magnetic of Pakistan such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi face the issue of noise pollutions. the main source of this pollution is the traffic noise caused by busses, cars, trucks, rickshaws and water tankers. A study showed that on one Karachi main roads the average noise level around 90 dB and was capable of reaching about 110dB. this high level of noise pollution can cause auditory and non- auditory health issues. Auditory issue include the loss of auditory sensory cell, non-auditory health issues include sleep disturbance noise and cardiovascular disease.

ShEhzAdi hASAn Ali KARAchi

Salute our doctors tHROUGH the columns of your esteemed newspapers, I would like to draw the kind attention to the duty of our doctor. We know that entire world is facing corona virus and Pakistan is also including. We should salute to our doctor that how they are there to helping corona patients. All the people are self-quarantine at their homes and these doctors are out of the house for us to help and to look after the coronas patients. these doctors do treatment of these patients. But still some people don’t follow the rules and they are out of their house. Doctors give advice to all the people that please stay at homes we are here for you. But still people don’t follow them.as we hear the news two doctors who were there in hospital and were treating coronas patients and had died. In Pakistan there are still some people who don’t believe in this virus. Kindly please those who don’t take this seriously please take it seriously. Our doctors are our heroes, they are there to help us .We should follow our doctors. they say that to sanitize your hands every time, wash your hands regularly,dettol spray on your door handles, and use a mask if you are sick. social distance also at your homes, avoid yourself to go in public places, stay 1 meter away from a other people if u are outside .We should follow these which our doctor says because day by day coronas patients are increasing .if the situation would be like this so the doctor had told if the situation didn’t control so then we will treat patients at roads please stay at your homes.

FATIMA GuL Islamabad

Beirut bleeds ONCE again a most heart breaking news — the massive blast in Beirut capital city of Lebanon which pushed 100 people to death, 4,000 people are heavily injured and more than 100 are missing. the main reason told by government that the small blast which turned the plate was because of hazardous ammonium nitrate kept in a warehouse dangerously for last six (6) years. Prior to bang, Lebanon was facing economic crisis and this blast increased it’s rate up to 50 percent. Blast left so many citizens homeless. the impact of explosion can be seen throughout the half of the city with the damage of 3 billion dollars. Hospitals, hotels, shops everything tasted the sour. Injured patients were treated on the road because the nearby hospitals called st. George Hospital and other were cracked down. Lets pray for the betterment and revival of the city. Pakistan prays and shows its condolences to beirut, Lebanon SuhAil SAEEd Tunio lARKAnA

Moonsoon destruction tHE term moonsoon is used to refer the rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern. It’s effects are visible in such a way that it causes wet and dry season throughout the year. Moonsoon is likely to be start on July to september vanishing most important parts of country with the adequate rainfall. It has been active in most parts of Karachi now seeing the roads flooded and causes of unhiegenic environment .

It is to be consider a fact that every find rain destruction is hitting Pakistan very hardly especially the monsoon heavy rain and urban flooding. Karachi was the most affected city of Pakistan receiving monsoon ràin and the problems of sewerage hurts the residents very much. there is seen the mixture of rain water and sewerage making the situation harsh. Now we are taught to be alert by a moonsoon warning and tropical storm in majority parts of sindh and areas of Balochistan. Consequentl the rain situation has created bundle of issues. From the 1st of July weather system is likely to interact with monsoon . the meteorological department has issued an alert for thunderstorms in more than a dozen . so therefore government should maintain the preparations of monsoon this time and the problem of citizens too.

BARKATullAh TuRBAT

Friday, 7 August, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

IndIa and the emergIng world Times of india

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S JaiShankar

F you had believed the best minds of our times, this was not supposed to happen. But for two decades, China had been winning without fighting, while the US was fighting without winning. Something had to give and it did, in the 2016 American presidential election.

The world faces an extraordinary prospect of its two leading players doing what it takes to win, and then some more. In the ultimate analysis, the ability of major powers to reach accommodation will shape our times. When ‘black swans’ meet ‘grey rhinos’, the very nature of the habitat undergoes transformation.

The US-China relationship that currently holds global attention has gone on for four decades, not a short span in modern times.

Who benefited more in this period is a question to which we may get a different answer today than two decades ago. But because it was long enough to be taken as a given by two generations, we attribute to it a sense of being natural. We ask why it is under stress now, when we could wonder equally easily why it lasted that long.

Many of the discomforts today arise from differences on key issues like the relationship between the state, politics, society, business, faith and the markets. It is expressed in matters of personal freedoms and institutional firewalls. Sociology matters, especially once it assumes global pro-

THIS IS AN EXTRACT FROM HIS FORTHCOMING BOOK ‘THE INDIA WAY: STRATEGIES FOR AN UNCERTAIN WORLD’, PUBLISHED BY HARPERCOLLINS, INDIA portions. This is at the heart of the predicament the world faces today. And creating common ground is, therefore, the hardest diplomatic challenge.

The rise of a new global power was never going to be easy, and an order waiting to happen will look like chaos till it does. In an interdependent and constrained world, it can only unfold through tensions and negotiations, adjustments and transactions. In this process, much will depend on what is allowed to take root.

The impact on the global order of these developments is likely to be visible over the next generation. That would have many dimensions, each of them in itself a source of potential instability. The most obvious one is that the world will be increasingly multipolar as distribution of power broadens and alliance discipline dilutes. A more nationalistic approach to international relations will undeniably weaken multilateral rules in many domains. This will be particularly sharp in respect of economic interests and sovereignty concerns.

This prospect of multipolarity with less multilateralism suggests a more difficult future even for the near term. This does not mean giving up on the latter. On the contrary, it requires a new energy to be poured into re-

formed multilateralism. The current anachronistic order must be pushed to change, along with its outdated agenda. The emerging world is also likely to fall back on balance of power as its operating principle, rather than collective security or a broader consensus. History has demonstrated that this approach usually produces unstable equilibriums. World affairs will also see a proliferation of frenemies. They will emerge from allies who criticise each other or competitors compelled to make common cause.

The really uncharted territory that US-

China frictions will take us into is that of coping with parallel universes. They may have existed before, most recently during the Cold War. But not with interdependence and interpenetration of the globalised era. As a result, divergent choices and competing alternatives in many spheres will rest on partially shared foundations. This dilemma will be evident in a growing number of domains, from technology, commerce and finance to connectivity, institutions and activities. The key players will themselves struggle with the dichotomy of such parallel existence. Those

who have to manage both, as most of us will, may then find themselves really tested.

Even if ties between China and the West take on a more adversarial character, it is difficult to return to a strongly bipolar world.

The primary reason for that is the landscape has now changed irreversibly. Other nations are independently on the move, including India. Half of the 20 largest economies of the world are non-Western now.

Diffusion of technology and demographic differentials will also contribute to the broader spread of influence. We see forces at play that reflect the relative primacy of local equations when the global construct is less overbearing. The reality is that the US may have weakened, but China’s rise is still far from maturing. And together, the two processes have freed up room for others.

If division within alliances was one evolution, reaching beyond them was another.

As the world moved in the direction of greater plurilateralism, result-oriented cooperation started to look more attractive. They were better focussed and could be reconciled with contrary commitments. The growing imperative of sharing responsibilities was combined with an appreciation of influences beyond formal structures. Asia has been a particular focus for such initiatives, as regional architecture is the least developed there. India today has emerged as an industry leader of such plurilateral groups, because it occupies both the hedging and the emerging space at the same time.

Because global fluidity is so pervasive, India must address this challenge of forging more contemporary ties on every major account. Achieving an overall equilibrium will depend on how it fares on the individual ones.

Why nothing can challenge the Secular fundamentalism in a time of bhoomi pujan “A SECULAR INDIA ALONE IS AN INDIA THAT CAN SURVIVE. power of Apple, Amazon and Google

BloomBerg aLEX WEBB

Europe has the motivation, but not the means, to break up Big Tech. For the U.S., the inverse is true. That’s bad news for anyone hoping for a full regulatory reckoning with Silicon Valley’s and Seattle’s giants over their monopolistic tendencies.

Washington lawmakers see their job as protecting the consumer first and foremost, while Brussels wants to make sure other companies are allowed to compete with the incumbents. Sadly for Europe, the Americans have all the power but their approach is unlikely to produce radical change.

That isn’t to say the European Union is wasting its time in leading the charge against Big Tech. Congress’s grilling last week of the chief executives of Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. showed that the “Brussels Effect” is in full force. The EU plays an outsized role when it comes to regulation because other regions — even the Americans — tend to follow its lead. Up to a point, at least.

As U.S. lawmakers made the case against the West Coast giants, time and again their arguments echoed efforts already well underway in Europe. When the Democratic Representative David Cicilline tackled the way Google displays news snippets in search results without reimbursing the publishers, he evoked new copyright laws proposed by the EU last year.

For two years Brussels has been looking at whether Amazon uses its marketplace data to compete unfairly with the sellers on its website; that’s now a hot topic on Capitol Hill too. The market power of Apple’s App Store and of virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa, both of which are the subject of new EU investigations, were also on Congress’s agenda.

When people ask Margrethe Vestager and other European trustbusters what power they really have to moderate the behavior of trillion dollar U.S. companies, this is often their answer: When Brussels uncovers bad corporate behavior, it lays out a road map for Washington D.C. to follow.

Tackling companies with combined annual revenue of $782 billion, more than

EU WANTS TO MAKE SURE OTHER COMPANIES ARE ALLOWED TO COMPETE WITH THESE INCUMBENTS BUT AMERICAN ANTITRUST LAW FOCUSES ON THE INTERESTS OF THE CONSUMER the gross domestic product of Switzerland, is a huge challenge, meaning competition authorities benefit from the work that’s already been done elsewhere. Even the British Competition and Markets Authority’s study of the digital-advertising market got a shout out from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who cited the agency’s findings on Google’s dominant market share.

The European Commission does have the legal authority to try to break companies up, but no one thinks it would ever try this on a U.S. company. The political blowback would be too severe. The Americans could themselves seek breakups, and would have the power to do so, but their antitrust regime has different priorities.

While the problems — and the levels of exasperation at the cavalier behavior of the companies — might be the same, the types of punishment that lawmakers have in mind are different, according to Nicolas Petit, the joint chair in competition law at the European University Institute.

That’s because American antitrust law focuses on the interests of the consumer — primarily around pricing — while Europe considers the broader market dynamics and effect on competition. While Vestager probably wants to foster the creation of a company that could counterbalance Google and Facebook’s might in search and social media, her U.S. peers only worry if the impact of their dominance is detrimental to consumers.

That narrower American focus limits the likelihood of far-reaching action, says Tommaso Valletti, the head of Imperial College London’s Department of Economics and Public Policy, and a former chief competition economist at the European Commission. “The U.S. has, de facto, abdicated any enforcement for 20 years in this area,” he told me.

In her submission to the House of Representatives’ antitrust subcommittee, Vestager called for “common” policy responses, according to a document obtained by the website Euractiv. It’s an admirable goal and should be the logical conclusion of investigations tackling many of the same topics. It’s also a pipe dream.

PERHAPS AN INDIA THAT IS NOT SECULAR DOES NOT DESERVE TO SURVIVE”

Hindu Mani Shankar aiyar

I joined the Congress party when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister. The party then was in steep decline. As expected, he was defeated. My political life began when future prospects for the Congress were bleak. Why then did I join? Principally because the Congress alone was the contemporary embodiment of the Idea of India bequeathed to us by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and exemplified by the opening lines of the Prime Minster in a debate he had himself initiated in the Lok Sabha: “A secular India alone is an India that can survive. Perhaps an India that is not secular does not deserve to survive.” That India faced the most serious challenge mounted till then to secularism as we had understood it for four decades. I wanted to be part of the response.

A MISSING WORD: Yet today, when more than ever before in independent India’s history, it is necessary to reiterate our unflinching commitment to secularism, the word that is absent from the party’s vocabulary. We are falling over ourselves celebrating the event, pushing to one side the fact that the bhoomi pujan ceremony at Ayodhya was conducted at the site of the sacrilege committed in destroying a place of worship of the minority community. We say we are only observing, as we have always said we would, the judgment of the Supreme Court of India, but seem to have forgotten that the judgment also described the demolition of the masjid as barbaric. It is that barbaric act which opened the way to the bhoomi pujan. We cannot, and must not, forget the thousands of innocent Indians butchered in the wake of L.K. Advani’s chariot of fire and in the aftermath of the razing of the Babri Masjid.

AN ALTERNATIVE ‘IDEA OF INDIA’: The event is a celebration of an alternative Idea of India, a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, that the Congress has always opposed on the same grounds that it denied Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s two-nation theory. When Pakistan was created, we insisted that even if Pakistan were to declare itself an Islamic state, we would not validate Jinnah’s contention by becoming a Hindu nation. We would proudly proclaim

our secular values. We considered ourselves equally the inheritors of “The Wonder that was India” as of all that had become part of India over millennia, including our Islamic inheritance. That is why Jawaharlal Nehru, as the Prime Minister of a secular nation, refused to involve his government in the rebuilding of the Somnath temple despite the championing of that cause by his indispensable companion, Sardar Vallabhai Patel. He also refused permission to President Rajendra Prasad to attend the opening of the rebuilt temple as the Head of a secular State.

Now, we have the spectacle of the Prime Minister of a still allegedly secular India attending the bhoomi pujan and are afraid of raising our voice, as a secular party, against this blatantly partisan sectarian act. Indeed, we have not even suggested that Gandhiji’s favourite Ram dhun be sung on the occasion, “Ishwar Allah tero naam/sabko sanmati de Bhagwan”. Let us also remember that at the height of the rioting in Delhi, Gandhiji insisted that all occupied masjids be returned to the Muslim community. We have drifted so far from what we believed in because we seem no longer to believe in it.

We now have Congress leaders boasting that Rajiv Gandhi opened the locks of the Masjid at Ayodhya. He did not. This was done by sleight of hand without his knowledge by leaning on the local judiciary to pass an order that was implemented with undue haste within half-an-hour of the order being passed. The Prime Minister was informed only when it was already a judicially ordained fait accompli. His main concern was to put a status quo in place and ensure that the monument was protected from vandalism. I was with him when during the Lok Sabha campaign, he urged Congress candidates in the vicinity of Ayodhya to bus leaders of the Muslim community to Ayodhya to see for themselves that — notwithstanding the ill-advised shilanyas — the Masjid was still standing. The only one to do so was Kalpnath Rai. He was also the only Congressman to win between Amethi and Calcutta.

WHAT THE TOP COURT ALSO SAID: To respect the Supreme Court’s judgment does not mean to celebrate the outrage of the Masjid’s destruction. We must also remind everyone that the same Supreme Court urged the expeditious completion of the trial of those indicted for that destruction by, among others, the Liberhan Commission. We must also ask whether the Prime Minister will demonstrate the nation’s secular belief in sarva dharma sambhava by attending the foundation

stone laying ceremony of the masjid that has been decreed by the Supreme Court.

Thus far, he has delighted in being photographed in every conceivable headgear — except the Muslim skullcap that he declined to wear even at an Eid milan.

As Congressmen and women, we must also remind all concerned that Rajiv Gandhi permitted the shilanyas only in what he had been assured was undisputed territory. What was being celebrated at the bhoomi pujan is the construction of a temple at the site of the demolished mosque.

Moreover, we appear to have forgotten that a Congress Prime Minister, on the morrow of the demolition, had promised a mosque at the demolished site to replace the demolished one. These are the issues we should be raising, not joining the sectarian chorus that rises from the throats that have cried out: “Ek dhakka aur do/Babri Masjid thod do.”

The Muslim community is quiescent but concerned. As far as it is concerned, the Congress as a party has long lost its secular credentials for fear of being labelled “appeasers”. We hesitate to affirm what Jawaharlal Nehru had no hesitation in affirming when we were in the throes of the Partition trauma and on the eve of the first-ever elections with full adult franchise in a nation that had just emerged from the furnace of vicious communal violence. Nehru said categorically that whatever the electoral consequences, win or lose, he was not going to let the Congress join the communal madness. On Gandhi Jayanti in 1951, he proclaimed at a public rally on the Ram Lila grounds: “If any man raises his hand against another in the name of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life, whether from inside the government or outside.” He also held consistently that “majority communalism is worse than minority communalism”.

TAKING A STAND: That is what we should be telling the saffron brotherhood today rather than competing with them to determine who is more Hindu — the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)? We should be asking instead: who is more secular, the Congress or the BJP? We are trying to usurp their space. We would be better advised to fight for our own principled ‘Idea of a secular India’, whatever the perceived electoral cost. We can only justify our existence in the eyes of the nation as an alternative to the BJP, not as a pale imitation.

Mani Shankar Aiyar is a member of the Congress party.

Friday, 7 August, 2020

BUSINESS 09

PeTRoleum Division aliGns sTRaTeGy To achieve self-sufficiency in oil & Gas

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD

T

LAHORE: An elderly woman from an underprivileged community expresses contentment after collecting clean drinking water from RO plant installed recently by the Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd. PRESS RElEASE

Gold surges to Rs129,500 per tola ISLAMABAD APP

The price of 24-karat gold witnessed an increase of Rs800 and was traded at the highest-ever rate of Rs129,500 on Thursday, as against its trading at Rs128,700 the previous day, Karachi Sarafa Association reported. Likewise, the price of 10-gram gold increased

by Rs685 to Rs111,025, as against its sale at Rs110,340 on Wednesday. The price of per-tola silver increased by Rs20 to Rs1,650, as against the previous day’s Rs1,630, whereas that of 10-gram silver went up by Rs17.14 and was sold at Rs1,414.6 compared to Rs1,397.46 at the previous closing. Gold prices in the international market increased from $2,041 on Wednesday to $2,050 on Thursday, the association reported.

Trade deficit shrinks 10.2pc to $1.64bn in July

STAFF REPORT

HE Petroleum Division has aligned its strategy to achieve self-sufficiency in the oil and gas sector by introducing radical measures and ease-of-doingbusiness to ensure a level-playing field for all competitors.

In a bid to achieve self sufficiency, the Petroleum Division has also done calculations pertaining to the country’s existing and future energy needs.

"As many as 40 new blocks have been identified in different parts of the country to step up oil and gas exploration activities as the existing reservoirs are fast-depleting and there has been no major discovery since long," a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP. The new blocks would be awarded in a transparent manner through international bidding, for which necessary work is in process, he said.

The official informed that in September 2018 after the PTI government came into power, a bidding round for 10 onshore exploration blocks was conducted after a gap of almost five years, wherein eight blocks were awarded.

"The next bidding round is being planned to be held shortly in which 20 onshore blocks will be offered and efforts are being made to attract foreign companies," he said, adding that more

‘AS MANY AS 40 NEW BLOCKS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY TO STEP UP OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES’ bidding rounds will be held in the future.

The country's total sedimentary area currently stands around 827,268 square kilometers (km), out of which 320,741km or 39 per cent of the area is under exploration, he said.

Quoting a recent study about the fast depletion of existing hydrocarbon reservoirs in the country, he said that the deposits would further deplete by 60 per cent by the year 2027, underlining the need for accelerating exploration activities in potential areas on war-footing.

Total consumption of petroleum products in the country stood at 19.68 Million Tonne (MT) during the fiscal year 2019-20, out of which 11.59 MT was supplied through local refineries and 8.09 MT was supplied through import.

Moreover, currently gas production stands at 4 Billion Cubic Feet per Day (BCFD) compared to its demand of 6 BCFD. The 2 BFCD gap is being bridged through import of Liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

According to the official the Petroleum Division has granted open access to the private sector for the import of LNG besides allowing the private sec-

tor to set up its own terminals.

He said that the government has planned to introduce Euro-V fuel in the country to meet requirements of hi-tech vehicles and tackle environmental issues like pollution and smog.

He further said that general sales tax on fuels has been fixed at the rate of 17 per cent by law to streamline matters related to pricing of petroleum products.

Commenting on the country's oil refining capacity, he said that two new modern refineries are being built, while an incentive package has been announced for the up-gradation of existing facilities.

He said that the government has also simplified the approval process for those who want to work in the exploration and production business.

The official said that the government has finalised the new downstream oil policy, whereas the work on dualisation of the white oil pipeline would start soon.

Moreover, he said that engineering work is being carried out for the development of underground storage capacity.

The official further said that the Boards of Directors (BoD) of ten

companies have been reconstituted adding that professional Chief Executive Officers (CEO) have been appointed at Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Company Limited, Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) Limited, Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation and Government Holdings (Private) Limited.

He said lab testing facilities of Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan are also being upgraded to ensure provision of quality petroleum products across the country.

During the period from August 18, 2019 to April 30, 2020, Exploration and Production (E&P) companies have drilled around 142 wells, out of which 50 were exploratory and 92 were related to appraisal/developmental. As a result, as many as 26 discoveries with initial flow of 6,799 Barrels per Day (BPD) oil and 234 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) gas were announced.

According to the official, the E&P companies have added 9,444 BPD oil and 218 MMCFD gas to the national pool against the depletion of 9,611 BPD oil and 279 MMCFD gas from operational wells.

Till May 21, 2020, the government had collected Rs142.977 billion from different E&P companies, out of which Rs51.196 billion were received on account of crude oil and Rs91.781 billion for extraction of natural gas.

MARKET DAILY

Stocks extend rally as volume hits year’s peak

ISLAMABAD

KARACHI

APP

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan's trade deficit witnessed a reduction of 10.24pc during the first month (July) of the current fiscal year (2020-21), as compared to the corresponding month of last year. The country's deficit in July 2020 stood at $1.640 billion, as against the deficit of $1.827 billion in July 2019, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). During the month under review, Pakistan's exports registered an increase of 6.04pc, from $1.886 billion last year to $2 billion, whereas imports declined from $3.713 billion to $3.640 billion (1.97pc). Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, the country’s exports increased by 25.08pc in July 2020 when compared with the exports of $1.599 billion in June 2020. Likewise, the imports of the country declined by 2.12pc MoM as compared to the imports of $3.719 billion in June. It is pertinent to mention that despite a challenging global environment, the country's external account position remained stable during the last fiscal year (FY20). According to PBS, Pakistan's current account deficit continued to narrow, “even though both exports and imports have fallen sharply since the coronavirus outbreak”. In FY20, the current account deficit shrank by 77.9pc to $2.9 billion (1.1pc of GDP) as against $13.4 billion in FY19 (4.8pc of GDP). The country's exports declined by 7.2pc to $22.5 billion in FY20 as compared to $24.3 billion last year, whereas imports declined by 18.2pc to $42.4 billion as compared to $51.9 billion last year.

Consequently, the trade deficit reduced by 27.9pc to $19.9 billion in FY20 as against the deficit of $27.6 billion last year.

Banking and technology sectors helped the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extend its rally on Thursday, with the indices accumulating decent gains, while volumes soaring past the 800 million mark, a level breached only for the fourth time in the last 10 years.

Global equity markets, on the other hand, showed a mixed performance, while crude oil prices also slipped lower from the last close; WTI crude price declined 1.02pc to $41.77 while Brent crude price fell 0.42pc to $44.98.

MARKET SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE-100 remained in the green throughout the day, registering its intraday high at 40,422.83 after gaining 540.05. It settled higher by 283.34 points at 40,166.12.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gathered 477.10 points to close at 64,310.12, while the KSE All Share Index added 260.16 points, ending at 28,073.68.

The overall market volumes surged from 501.93 million shares to 826.74 million shares (+65pc).

Worldcall Telecom (WTL 41.58pc), Power Cement Ltd (POWER 3.49pc) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory (MLCF 3.05pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 242.82 million, 45.34 million and 38.47 million shares, respectively. Sectors that kept the benchmark index in the green included banking (95.75 points), technology (43.72 points) and oil & gas exploration (41.24 pts). Among the companies, MCB Bank Ltd (MCB 63.90 points), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG 39.63 points) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP 21.78 points) remained the top contributors.

Adding 4.06pc to its cumulative market capitali-

sation, the technology & communication sector ended as the session's top performer, with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTC 3.22pc), NetSol Technologies Ltd (NETSOL 3.63pc) and Avanceon Limited (AVN 7.47pc) posting decent gains.

Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Avanceon Limited (AVN +7.47pc) informed that it has been selected by DHA Lahore to provide a 'building

management solution' for a new 'business hub building' at approx. Rs30 million.

On the financial side, United Bank Limited (UBL -0.69pc) declared an after-tax profit of Rs6.34 billion for the 2nd quarter of FY20. The bank's markup earned during the period under review inflated 22pc compared to last year, pushing its earnings per share higher by 18pc.

Etihad Airways aims to increase flights worldwide Global oil demand to shrink by 8pc in 2020: IMF ABU DHABI TlTP

Etihad Airways said its first quarter performance showed a 34 per cent year-onyear improvement and the carrier was "progressing well ahead of its transformation plan targets," before Covid-19 brought global air travel to a grinding halt.

"Etihad faced a set of enormous and unpredictable challenges in the first six months of the year," Tony Douglas, chief executive of Etihad Aviation Group, said in a statement on Thursday.

"We started 2020 strong and recorded encouraging results as part of our continuing transformation programme. This left us in a relatively robust position when Covid-19 hit, allowing us to act with agility and to mobilise all available resources as the crisis deepened, taking major steps to reduce costs through a

wide-reaching series of measures."

The Abu Dhabi-based airline had its best monthly results to date for February, prior to the impact of Covid-19, the subsequent closure of international borders, and the suspension of flights to and from the UAE from March 24.

The airline carried 3.5 million passengers during the first half of the year, down 58 per cent from the same period in 2019, with a seat load factor of 71 per cent.

Etihad recorded a $758 million (Dh2.78 billion) loss in the first six months of its fiscal year, compared to $586m in the prior-year period. First-half revenue fell 38 per cent year-on-year to $1.7bn.

The state-owned airline grounded its fleet and reduced staff wages after the UAE suspended regular passenger flights in March to curb the spread of the virus.

During the first half, Etihad reduced operating costs by 27 per cent to $1.9bn.

In May, the carrier said it cut jobs in several areas of its business, joining its global peers in taking tough measures to slash costs to survive the coronavirus crisis. The Etihad Aviation Group, which employed 20,369 people at the end of 2019, did not say how many people were made redundant or in which departments.

“While we have revised our outlook for the rest of 2020 based on current realities, we remain optimistic that as international borders re-open, we will increase our flying and carry more guests securely," Mr Douglas said. "By September, we aim to increase our worldwide flights to half our pre-Covid-19 capacity."

Even as restrictions begin to lift in some countries, leading chief executives of carriers, trade bodies and analysts in the aviation industry warned it may take air travel demand several years to recover to pre-coronavirus levels.

CMYK

WASHINGTON TlTP

The coronavirus crisis will lead to global oil demand dropping by around 8 percent this year compared to last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a new report.

This year, oil prices will be 41 percent lower than in 2019, the IMF said in its ‘Global imbalances and the Covid-19 crisis’ external report.

The direct impact of the low oil prices on oil trade balances will vary across economies, reflecting their dependence on oil exports and imports, according to the IMF. The fund’s estimates for this year’s global oil demand decline are in line with other forecasters such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC. Last month, the IEA said in its latest Oil Market Report that global oil demand was set to crash by 7.9 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, but this forecast is slightly more optimistic

than last month’s expectation of an 8.1-millionbpd demand drop.

The IEA, however, noted that the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the reinstating of partial lockdowns in some countries continue to contribute to the uncertainty surrounding the world’s global oil demand in 2020.

This year, the world is expected to consume an average of 92.1 million bpd of oil, compared to the typical demand of 100 million bpd, the IEA said.

OPEC, for its part, expects overall global oil demand to drop by 8.9 million bpd in 2020, before rising by seven million bpd in 2021, when it will still be lower than demand in 2019.

The oil price plunge and the production cuts after the coronavirus pandemic will hit oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) hard, with the combined oil income for those countries expected to plummet by US$270 billion this year compared to 2019, the IMF said in its latest update on the region last month.

Friday, 7 August, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

US STepS Up Campaign To pUrge 'UnTrUSTeD' ChineSe appS WASHINGTON AGENCIES

T

China threatens countermeasures as Taiwan prepares for US visit BEIJING/TAIPEI AGENCIES

China on Thursday threatened to take countermeasures over a trip to Taiwan by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, as the Chinese-claimed island geared up for its highest-level US official visit in four decades. The visit, which begins on Sunday, adds to tensions between Beijing and Washington over everything from trade and human rights to the novel coronavirus pandemic. China calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue in its bilateral ties with the United States. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing in Beijing that any attempt to deny or challenge the “one China” principle, which states that Taiwan is part of China, would end in failure. “China will take strong countermeasures in response to the US behaviour,” Wang said, referring to Azar’s visit. While he gave no details, China last month said it would impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin for involvement in US arms sales to Taiwan. Taiwan has batted away China’s criticism, saying Beijing has no right to comment.

Washington broke off official ties with Taipei in 1979 in favour of Beijing. The Trump administration has made strengthening its support for the democratic island a priority and boosted arms sales. Azar, who is scheduled to meet President Tsai Ing-wen, is coming to strengthen economic and public health cooperation with Taiwan, and support Taiwan’s international role in fighting the pandemic. Taiwan is locked out of most global agencies, such as the World Health Organization, due to the objections of China, which views the island as a Chinese province that is not entitled to any of the rights that statehood confers.

Taiwan Centres for Disease Control Deputy DirectorGeneral Chuang Jen-hsiang said Azar and members of the U.S. delegation would be tested for coronavirus before leaving for Taiwan, and again upon entry at the airport. Only if they are negative will they be allowed in. “They must wear masks at all times,” Chuang said.

“There are rules on where they can go,” he added, saying that Taiwan’s often-crowded night markets would not be on the list for private visits. The members of the U.S. delegation will also have to maintain social distancing when meeting government officials, Chuang said, adding they would use dedicated elevators “to avoid any risks”. Taiwan has won praise for its steps to control the coronavirus, including strict border quarantine controls and the widespread wearing of masks, which have won broad public support. It has reported 477 cases of the coronavirus and seven deaths. Most cases have been imported, and only a small number of people remain in hospital or isolation. The United States has had more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country, and the wearing of masks has become a heated political issue, with some people objecting to what they see as an infringement of personal freedom.

HE Trump administration said on Wednesday it was stepping up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat “significant threats.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said expanded U.S. efforts on a program it calls “Clean Network” would focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.

Pompeo’s announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok. The hugely popular video-sharing app has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerns, amid intensified tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“With parent companies based in China, apps like TikTok, WeChat and others are significant threats to personal data of American citizens, not to mention tools for CCP (Chinese Communist Party) content censorship,” Pompeo said.

In an interview with state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the United States “has no right” to set up the “Clean Network” and calls the actions by Washington as “a text-

book case of bullying”.

“Anyone can see through clearly that the intention of the U.S. is to protect its monopoly position in technology and to rob other countries of their proper right to development,” said Wang.

TikTok currently faces a deadline of Sept. 15 to either sell its U.S. operations to Microsoft Corp or face an outright ban.

In the run-up to Trump’s November re-election bid, U.S.-China ties are at the lowest ebb in decades. Relations are strained over the global coronavirus pandemic, China’s military buildup in the South China Sea, its increasing control over Hong Kong and treatment of Uighur Muslims, as well as Beijing’s massive trade surpluses and technological rivalry.

Pompeo said the United States was working to prevent Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from pre-installing or making available for download the most popular U.S. apps on its phones.

“We don’t want companies to be complicit in Huawei’s human rights abuses, or the CCP’s surveillance apparatus,” Pompeo said, without mentioning any specific U.S. companies.

Pompeo said the State Department would work with other government agencies to protect the data of U.S. citizens and American intellectual property, including COVID-19 vaccine research, by preventing access from cloud-based systems run by companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, China Mobile, China Telecom, and Tencent.

Pompeo said he was joining Attorney General

William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf in urging the U.S. telecoms regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, to terminate authorizations for China Telecom and three other companies to provide services to and from the United States.

He said the State Department was also working to ensure China could not compromise information carried by undersea cables that connect the United States to the global internet.

The United States has long been lobbying European and other allies to persuade them to cut out Huawei from their telecommunications networks. Huawei denies it spies for China and says the United States wants to frustrate its growth because no U.S. company offers the same technology at a competitive price.

Pompeo’s comments on Wednesday reflected a wider and more accelerated push by Washington to limit the access of Chinese technology companies to U.S. market and consumers and, as one U.S. official put it, to push back against a “massive campaign to steal and weaponize our data against us.”

A State Department statement said momentum for the Clean Network program was growing and more than 30 countries and territories were now “Clean Countries” and many of the world’s biggest telecommunications companies “Clean Telcos.”

It called on U.S. allies “to join the growing tide to secure our data from the CCP’s surveillance state and other malign entities.”

Lebanon explosion: What will be the political impact?

BEIRUT AGENCIES

The colossal explosion that devastated Beirut´s port and gutted entire neighbourhoods of the Lebanese capital deals a fresh blow to an already fragile and deeply unpopular government.

Lebanon´s ruling elite was already under enormous pressure from a protest movement that rejects it as inept, corrupt and beholden to the country´s myriad sectarian groups rather than the national interest.

With public anger now boiling over the epic destruction caused by a disaster blamed on official negligence, in a country choking from its worst-ever economic crisis, what will be the political impact?

ON THE GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Hassan Diab´s government, billed as technocratic line-up when it was launched in January, is seen as subservient to the party of President Michel Aoun and his Hezbollah allies.

In weeks of talks, the cabinet has failed to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package for Lebanon, which defaulted on its debt earlier this year.

Battling runaway inflation, mass unemployment, and rising poverty, the government is already fraying at the edges.

This week Nassif Hitti resigned as foreign minister to protest a lack of

willingness to tackle much-needed reforms, warning that Lebanon risked becoming a “failed state”.

Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, argued that “in any other country, the government would resign” after such deadly blasts.

“Irrespective of how this explosion came to happen there is absolute criminal neglect.”

Security officials told AFP that huge quantities of highly explosive ammonium nitrate had been stored for years in a rundown warehouse and that the hazard was known to the authorities.

“The catastrophe, while exceptionally severe, is the result of business as usual in Lebanon,” Faysal Itani, a deputy director at the Center for Global Policy, wrote in The New York Times. “There is a pervasive culture of negligence, petty corruption and blame-shifting endemic to the Lebanese bureaucracy, all overseen by a political class defined by its incompetence and contempt for the public good.”

Nonetheless, in the context of extreme geopolitical polarisation in the region, especially between arch foes the United States and Iran, the government´s sponsors might seek to preserve it at all costs.

“Despite popular anger… a resignation still seems unlikely just now be-

cause there is no clear alternative,” said Karim Bitar, a professor of international relations in Paris and Beirut.

ON THE PROTEST CAMP: An unprecedented nationwide and crosssectarian protest movement that erupted on October 17 had looked at one stage like it could topple the hereditary ruling elite.

The euphoria faded however as change failed to materialise and the combination of economic hardship and the coronavirus pandemic left the popular revolution in tatters.

Bitar predicted that Tuesday´s tragedy would give the protest camp “a second wind”.

“The Lebanese will be more determined than ever to make a political class which is corrupt to the bone accountable,” he said. But Yahya argued that many among the protest camp could also see the port blast as the last straw that convinces them to leave the country for good, joining Lebanon´s massive diaspora.

The government announced a two-week state of emergency with immediate effect on Wednesday, which could also foil any plans for mass protests in the short term.

ON HEZBOLLAH: The Tehranbacked movement, the dominant political player in Lebanon, appealed for unity and its leader Hassan Nasrallah has postponed a televised address initially slated for Wednesday evening.

Death toll from Beirut blast rises to 137, more than 5,000 injured BEIRUT AGENCIES

The death toll from the Beirut port blast rose to 137 on Thursday as rescue teams continued to pull bodies out of the wreckage caused by a massive explosion. Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday as early investigations blamed negligence for the explosion at Beirut port, which has left tens of people missing and injured more than 5,000 others. Up to a quarter of a million people were left without homes fit to live in, officials said, after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland. The death toll was expected to rise from the blast, which officials blamed on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port. The explosion was the most powerful ever in Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war that ended three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections. The blast rattled buildings on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, about 100 miles (160 km) away. “No words can describe the horror that has hit Beirut last night, turning it into a disaster-stricken city,” President Michel Aoun said in an address to the nation during an emergency cabinet session. Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, was stored for six years at the port after it was seized. The government was “determined to investigate and expose what happened as soon as possible, to hold the responsible and the negligent accountable,” he said.

Survivors mark 75th anniversary of world’s 1st atomic attack HIROSHIMA AGENCIES

The dwindling witnesses to the world’s first atomic bombing marked its 75th anniversary Thursday, with Hiroshima’s mayor and others noting as hypocritical the Japanese government’s refusal to sign a nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Mayor Kazumi Matsui urged world leaders to more seriously commit to nuclear disarmament, pointing out Japan’s failures.

“I ask the Japanese government to heed the appeal of the (bombing survivors) to sign, ratify and become a party to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” Matsui said in his peace declaration. “As the only nation to suffer a nuclear attack, Japan must persuade the global public to unite with the spirit of Hiroshima.”

His speech highlights what survivors feel is the hypocrisy of Japan’s government, which hosts 50,000 American troops and is

protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Tokyo has not signed the nuclear weapons ban treaty adopted in 2017, despite its non-nuclear pledge, a failure to act that atomic bombing survivors and pacifist groups call insincere.

The U.S. dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying

the city and killing 140,000 people. The U.S. dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000. Japan surrendered Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Survivors, their relatives and other participants marked the 8:15 a.m. blast anniver-

sary with a minute of silence.

Thursday’s peace ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was scaled down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The fewer than 1,000 attendees was onetenth of those attending in past years.

Some survivors and their relatives prayed at the park’s cenotaph before the ceremony. The registry of the atomic bombing victims is stored at the cenotaph, whose inscription reads “Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the mistake.”

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in his speech at the ceremony, said Japan is committed to nuclear weapons ban but a nuclearfree world cannot be achieved overnight and that it has to start from the dialogue between opposite sides.

“Japan’s position is to serve as a bridge between different sides and patiently promote their dialogue and actions to achieve a world without nuclear weapons,” Abe said.

Nuclear policies are divided amid a harsh se-

curity environment, so it is necessary to create common ground first, he said.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said there is nothing in between. ”The only way to totally eliminate nuclear risk is to totally eliminate nuclear weapons,” he said in his video message from New York for the occasion. “Seventy-five years is far too long not to have learned that the possession of nuclear weapons diminishes, rather than reinforces, security,” he said.

“Today, a world without nuclear weapons seems to be slipping further from our grasp.”

An aging group of survivors, known as hibakusha, feel a growing urgency to tell their stories, in hopes of reaching a younger generation. Many peace events, including their talks, leading up to the anniversary had been cancelled due to the coronavirus, but some survivors have teamed with young students or pacifist groups to speak at online events, sometimes connecting with international audiences.

Friday, 7 August, 2020

BABAR AzAm, ShAN mASOOD lIft PAKIStAN ON StOP-StARt DAy

Kohli, Rohit Sharma retain top two spots in ICC ODI rankings; Babar Azam at No. 3 DUBAI AGENCIES

India captain Virat Kohli (871 points) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (855) continued to retain the top two positions in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, with Pakistan's Babar Azam currently placed third. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah (719) held on to the No. 2 spot, marginally behind New Zealand's Trent Boult (722). There were movements for three Irishmen, who played a key role during their impressive chase of 329 against England on Tuesday. Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie, who struck 113, jumped four places to 42nd, while his deputy Paul Stirling climbed one spot to 26th after a 128ball 142. Rookie Curtis Campher's impressive first series, which saw him score half-centuries both times he batted - 59 not out and 68 in the first and second matches - helped him make an entry into the batsmen's list at the 191st position. In the bowling chart, Ireland fast bowler Craig Young's six wickets in the series lifted him 40 places to a career-best 89th position, while Mark Adair (up six places to 138th) and Josh Little (up 38 places to 146th) also made significant moves after Ireland's stunning seven-wicket win that helped pull one back after conceding the three-match series to England. England's ODI captain Eoin Morgan, who also scored a century in the final match, gained one place to be ranked 22nd, while Jonny Bairstow moved up a slot to 13th position, thanks to his bruising 41-ball 82 in the second ODI.

Pakistan 139 for 2 (azam 69*, masood 46*) v England

MANCHESTER

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SPORTS 11

AGENCIES

ABAR Azam and Shan Masood lifted Pakistan on a day punctuated by shifting fortunes on the field and above it as the first match in the three-Test series against England began.

A moment of silence to remember those who have lost their lives in the Covid-19 pandemic before play began under heavy skies put the match in perspective and emphasised the efforts of both countries to stage this contest behind closed doors at Emirates Old Trafford.

Having been in England for a month, preparing in the relative anonymity provided

by England's series against West Indies, Pakistan arrived to their first Test since February as questions swirled over their readiness to face an opposition which has three matches' worth of competition fitness in them.

By the time rain brought about an early tea and delayed the evening session by nearly three hours, it was batsmen Azam and Masood who looked to be in a groove against a bowling attack that seemed to have turned rusty at lunch.

After his captain, Azhar Ali, won the toss and elected to bat first - opposite number Joe Root said he would have done the same - Pakistan opener Masood withstood a tricky period against Stuart Broad and James Anderson first up, accompanied by Abid Ali in a partnership that was approaching fifty when Jofra Archer

entered the attack.

Having rounded off his first over with a couple of steepling bouncers which were evaded well by Abid, Archer struck with the first ball of his second over when he bowled Abid with a beauty through the gate and into off stump, thus ending a patient start by Abid and the partnership on 46.

After a brief rain interruption, Masood settled, guiding Archer through the bare gully region with smart, soft hands for four.

But then Chris Woakes, who had relieved Anderson after five overs, struck with a full delivery that thwacked Azhar Ali on the pad in line and sent him on his way for a six-ball duck, despite his swift call for a review, which only confirmed the lbw decision.

That brought Azam to the crease and he showed his class, somehow escaping a testing first delivery from Woakes that narrowly missed the outside edge and off stump and negotiating the ever-challenging Archer.

But it was against Anderson after lunch that Azam settled into his stride, finding the boundary three times in as many overs to bring his spell to a swift end.

Anderson even became the first bowler to be called for a front-foot no-ball - a rarity for him - by the third umpire in Tests under the new system being trialled during this series when he over-stepped bowling to Azam in the 31st over.

Meanwhile, Masood was enjoying almost as good a time against Broad and, by the time

Root turned to Archer and the offspin of Dom Bess, the batsmen were in a decent flow. They had put on 78 runs together and, as Azam brought up his half-century off just 70 balls with a punch into the covers off Bess and then passed it with two runs behind square off Archer, the rain hit.

By that stage, Masood had moved to 45 not out, Pakistan had recovered from 43 for 2 to 121 for 2 and the players faced a long stay in the dressing rooms.

Manchester was eventually bathed in bright sunshine but, by the end of mopping-up operations, play resumed under lights with the dim skies back overhead.

Archer, who had bowled one ball before the lengthy stoppage, finished his over with plenty of short stuff, which meant Root was forced to turn back to spin, bringing himself on with Bess. Masood added just one run, having faced 152 balls - more than any other visiting opener in England since 2016 - for his 46 not out before bad light forced play to be abandoned for the day.

In the course of his innings, Masood had two lives, both from Jos Buttler off the bowling of Bess. On 45, he survived an edge through to the keeper, and he hadn't added to his score when, after the rain break, he charged at Bess, attempted to hit the ball to the leg side but missed, only to be saved when the ball bounced out of Buttler's gloves. At the other end, Azam had moved to an unbeaten 69 off 100 balls in a third-wicket stand of 96.

Chris Silverwood welcomes prospect of Pakistan tour after PCB chief issues invitation LAHORE AGENCIES

Chris Silverwood says he would have "no problem" leading a tour to Pakistan, after Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive, expressed his hope that England will send a T20 team to the country ahead of their next scheduled visit in 2022. England have not toured Pakistan since 2005-06 due to security concerns. But, before the Covid-19 pandemic, hopes had risen that they would return to the country in two years' time, and Silverwood, the England head coach, has signalled his willingness to go. "For me it's great that it's a topic of conversation again," Silverwood said. "We are looking to get back there."

Speaking on Sky Sports during the first day's play at Emirates Old Trafford, Wasim had echoed the sentiments of West Indies' captain, Jason Holder, who used his final press conference after last week's third Test to call on the ECB to stage a reciprocal tour of the Caribbean in the wake of their own two-month tour. Pakistan, like West Indies, are helping the ECB fulfil their contractual obligations to Sky, at significant inconvenience to their own players, who have already been in the country for a month and remain in lockdown, and Silverwood said that he would be open to returning the favour. "Personally, I'd have no problem going," he said. "I've never been so it would be nice to go and have a look. And I know our batsmen are looking forward to batting on their wickets. We are getting there [in terms of planning]."

Man Utd complete emphatic win over LASK to reach Europa finals OLD TRAFFORD AGENCIES

Manchester United came from behind to beat Austrian side LASK at Old Trafford, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Europa League 7-1 on aggregate.

Anthony Martial came off the bench to score the winner four minutes from time, collecting Juan Mata's precise through ball before finishing off his 23rd goal of the season from 10 yards.

Earlier, Mata also provided the assist for Jesse Lingard to score for the second consecutive game.

Having broken his Premier League duck for the season in the very last minute of the final match - at

Leicester - it meant Lingard was scoring in successive games for the first time since he did so December 2018.

That was in the matches against Liverpool and Cardiff that bookended the final game of Jose Mourinho's time in charge at Old Trafford and the first of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's.

It was tough luck on the Austrians, who were the better side in the first half, despite trailing 5-0 from their home game in March.

When skipper Philipp Wiesinger curled an excellent shot into the top corner after 55 minutes, it looked like they were heading for a famous victory.

But Lingard replied two minutes later and Solsk-

jaer could even give 18-year-old defender Teden Mengi his debut as the clock ticked down to the final whistle. Having already secured a place in next season's Champions League, United will now play Danish side FC Copenhagen in Cologne in the quarter-finals of the 'Final 8' tournament on 10 August.

The 'Final 8' is taking place in Germany, with the final itself being held in Cologne on 21 August.

The draw for the remainder of the competition has already taken place. Wolves are potential semi-final opponents, so there cannot be an all-English final.

However, Inter Milan, with three former United players - Romelu Lukaku, Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez - are potential final opponents.

Covid-19: PCB oers financial support to 25 unemployed Pakistan women cricketers To fight with the economic challenges thrown up by the Covid19 pandemic, the PCB has announced a three-month financial support package for 25 unemployed national women cricketers. Under this scheme, the players who meet the eligibility criteria such as featuring in the 2019-20 domestic season, and are presently without a contract for the 2020-21 season as well as a day job or business, will receive a monthly stipend of PKR 25,000 (approx US$150) each from August to October.

In June, the PCB had announced a list of women's contracted players, which included

nine centrally contracted cricketers and as many emerging contracted players. These are 12-month contracts, which commenced on July 1.

The latest PCB decision takes the count of women cricketers receiving PCB support to 43.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a halt to all women cricketing activities worldwide. This has adversely affected our women cricketers, some of whom are the sole breadwinners of their families," Urooj Mumtaz Khan, the head of the PCB women's wing, said in a statement issued by the board.

"As the women's game is making steady progress, it was imperative

that the PCB came up with this scheme to not only protect and support our players but to also make them understand and realise that the PCB values them and will look after them in difficult times.

"Forty-eight players featured in the 2019-20 national domestic season out of which 25 became eligible to benefit from the scheme. The remaining players are either contracted by the PCB or employed elsewhere."

In May, the PCB had offered one-time support to 161 stakeholders through an identical scheme, including former men's first-class cricketers, match officials, scorers and curators.

CMYK

Friday, 7 August, 2020

NEWS

PAkiSTAn once AgAin ASkS indiA To APPoinT lAwyer for kulBhuShAn JAdhAv ISLAMABAD

f

INP

OREIGN Office (FO) Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui on Thursday said that Pakistan has once again contacted the Indian government over the matter of appointing a legal representative for spy and agent of intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Kulbhushan Jadhav.

During the new briefing, the FO spokesperson said that the move came under the light of Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) directives. We are waiting for the response of Indian authorities on this matter, she said.

Earlier, IHC had directed the government to recontact India for the appointment of legal representative for Jadhav. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had asked the attorney general to brief the court about the history of the case.

“We want to make the Indian government and Jadhav part of the case, and hence, the federation assured to approach the neighbouring country through the foreign office for the hiring of a lawyer for the spy,” the IHC CJ had said.

Earlier on July 22, 2020, the government had moved the court stating that Jadhav, who was involved in several terrorist activities in

SBP reserves rise $567m to $12.54bn KARACHI MEIRYUM ALI

The net foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $567 million to $12.54 billion during the week ending July 30, 2020, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks increased to $7.02 billion, from the $6.93 billion during the week prior. The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $19.56 billion, an increase from $18.9 billion recorded last week. The SBP said the increase could be attributed to inflows from multilateral and bilateral agencies including $505.5 million received from the World Bank.The SBP has received significant inflows in the two months.

It received a cumulative total of $1.24 billion from the World Bank, $503 million from Asian Development Bank, $500 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and $1.3 billion as GOP loan disbursement from China.These funds are critical for the SBP, as they act as an important buffer. Analysts have said that the decision to cut the interest rate by 100 basis points to 7pc in the last monetary policy meeting took into account the incoming inflows, among other factors. The increase is also a reverse form the prior week ending July 24, which was the first time reserves dipped in the month of July. Net reserves had steadily risen since the week of July 2, after hitting below the $10 billion-mark during the week ending July 19. That represented the first time reserves had fallen below the $10 billion-mark since in November 2019. Net reserves have steadily risen since, reaching $12.2 billion in early May, before falling again, mostly on account of external debt repayments.

Afghan forces, Taliban clash after ceasefire end GHAZNI AGENCIES

Ten insurgents were killed in clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, the first time authorities have confirmed direct fighting since a recent ceasefire expired. According to defence ministry spokesman Fawad Aman, two clashes broke out Wednesday in the eastern province of Ghazni. Aman told AFP that 10 Taliban insurgents had been killed. “Their attacks were repelled and they suffered casualties,” Aman said. Waheedullah Jumazada, spokesman for the Ghazni provincial governor, confirmed the two clashes. In one attack near Ghazni city, Afghan forces called in an airstrike when Taliban fighters raided an army base housing about 300 government troops.

The Taliban and government forces agreed on a three-day truce to mark the Muslim festival of Eidul Azha which started last Friday.

Pakistan, had refused to file a plea against his sentence. The agent cannot appoint a lawyer in Pakistan without assistance from India, it had read.

On July 2, Pakistan had decided to grant third consular access to Jadhav following his refusal to file a review petition against his sentence.

On July 16, Indian charge d’affaires had reached the FO as New Delhi had accepted Pakistan’s offer to give second consular access to Jadhav. The place where the agent was kept had been declared as sub-jail.

Aisha said that on September 2, 2019, Pakistan had provided the first consular access to Jadhav under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963. She said that the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav were also allowed to meet him on December 25, 2017.

She also said that Pakistan provided two consular officers of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to Indian Commander Jadhav.

On July 17, 2019, ICJ had rejected remedies sought by India, including annulment of military court decision convicting Jadhav, his release and safe passage to India.

Announcing the verdict, Judge Abdulqavi Ahmed Yousaf had asked Pakistan

to review the death sentence for an alleged Indian spy, saying Islamabad had violated his rights to consular visits.

The ICJ had found that Pakistan deprived India of the right to communicate with and have access to Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation, and thereby breached obligations incumbent upon it under Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The tribunal in The Hague had ordered an “effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav.”

The judge had remarked that Pakistan and India are signatories of the Vienna Convention. “A continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav,” it had ruled.

While finding Jadhav guilty of committing terrorist activities inside Pakistan, the court had ordered that the Indian spy cannot be handed over to India. Jadhav will remain in Pakistan’s custody, it had ruled.

Pakistani team headed by the attorney general was present in the courtroom. The team also included then FO spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal.

The government arrested Jadhav alias

Hussein Mubarak Patel in the province of Balochistan on charges of terrorism and spying for India’s RAW. The government had stated that he was a serving commander in the Indian Navy who was involved in subversive activities inside Pakistan and was arrested on March 3, 2016, during a counter-intelligence operation in Mashkel, Balochistan. The Indian government had recognised Jadhav as a former naval officer but denied any current links with him and maintained that he took premature retirement and was abducted from Iran.

On March 25, 2016, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had released the confessional statement of Jadhav where he claimed to be a serving Indian Navy officer.

“By 2002, I commenced intelligence operations. In 2003, I established a small business in Chabahar in Iran,” he had admitted.

“As I was able to achieve undetected existence and visits to Karachi in 2003 and 2004.

Having done some basic assignments within India for RAW, I was picked up by RAW in 2013 end.”

He had said that his purpose was to meet Baloch insurgents and carry out “activities with their collaboration.”

On April 8, 2017, ISPR had lodged a first information report (FIR) against him

Pakistan condemns aggressive actions by Afghan forces

FY2019-20: Pakistan's fiscal deficit narrows to 8.1pc of GDP ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

Pakistan's fiscal deficit shrunk to 8.1pc of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the fiscal year 2019-20.

According to sources, the fiscal deficit was actually 8.1pc in June 2020 as compared to the revised estimates of 9.1pc published in the budget. This also included corona expenditures and if these expenditures were omitted, the deficit would have been 7.3pc of the GDP, they added.

The PTI economic team had set a 7.1pc fiscal deficit target for FY20.

The deficit was recorded at 4.1pc in the last quarter of 2019-20, whereas it remained at 4pc from July to March FY20.

Sources said that the government had

whereas on April 11, 2017, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had confirmed the death sentence of Jadhav who was tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under Pakistan Army Act (PAA). He was tried under section 59 of the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) 1952 and Section III of the official Secret Act of 1923.

FGCM had found Jadhav guilty of all the charges. He had confessed before a magistrate and the court that he was tasked by RAW to plan, coordinate and organise espionage and sabotage activities aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan by impeding the efforts of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for restoring peace in Balochistan and Karachi.

On May 8, 2017, India had approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denying consular access to Jadhav.

On May 18, 2017, the ICJ had stayed the execution pending the final judgment on the case, and even on July 13, 2018, ICJ stayed Jadhav’s execution in Pakistan.

On June 22, 2017, Jadhav gave a second confessional statement where he confessed to carrying out subversive activities in Balochistan.

On Feb 22, 2019, ICJ had reserved its judgment in Jadhav case whereas they ruled the verdict on July 17, 2019.

paid Rs740 billion in interest payment from April to June 2020. Overall, the government had paid more than Rs2,600 billion in interest payments during FY20, as against the budget estimate of Rs2,900 billion.

The federal government has also given more than Rs900 billion in grants against the budget estimate of Rs830 billion.

Sources said that the government had given Rs88 billion additional money in subsidy during the last fiscal year (against the estimate of Rs272 billion), whereas it had disbursed Rs360 billion for corona control as well as in the head of income tax refunds.

They said the defence expenditure in the last [corona] quarter remained around Rs400 billion. Overall, the defence spending in the last fiscal year was Rs1.2 trillion as against the budget estimate of Rs1.15 trillion.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the unprovoked aggressive action by Afghan forces and their evident support to terrorists that resulted in the martyrdom of one Frontier Corps (FC) soldier and injuries to two others.

The Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson, in a statement on Thursday, said that terrorists operating from Afghanistan resorted to mortar and firing from heavy ammunition on Pakistan posts in Binshahi Sector in Dir while Afghan border police posts also started engaging Pakistan Army posts. The spokesperson said that this is detrimental to the existing coordination and cooperation mechanism between the two countries. “Pakistan reiterates its determination to give a befitting response to orchestrated terrorist attacks from across the border,” she added. Earlier in May, six security personnel, including an officer were martyred when an FC reconnaissance vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) during a routine patrol in Buleda district of Balochistan near the Pakistan-Iran border. TLTP

SBP introduces Non-Resident Pakistani Rupee Value Accounts KARACHI STAFF REPORT

In order to facilitate Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs) with opening and operating of non-resident Pakistani rupee accounts, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has introduced NRP Rupee Value Account (NRVA).

The NRVA will enable NRPs, through digital means to invest in the stock exchanges in Pakistan, residential and commercial real estate, Government of Pakistan (GoP) debt securities and term/remunerative deposit products of Authorized Dealers (ADs) on repatriable basis.

Other than NRPs, foreign nationals except those who have obtained work visa/permit to work in Pakistan, and firms or companies that are incorporated or registered outside Pakistan will be able to make use of the NRVAs. Authorised dealers will be allowed to let NRPs to open joint accounts with other residents and non-residents as per banking practices and laws. However, these accounts will be treated as non-resident accounts.

As per regulations, the authorised

dealers may also issue cheque books if required. Authorized dealers are also required to enable operations in the account through digital channels such as mobile banking, ATM or debit cards. Supplementary ATM or debit cards may also be issued as per banking practices.

However, if the debit cards are used internationally, the settlement will be the responsibility of the authorised dealer through the interbank. Moreover, in case of dormancy, authorised dealers are to devise a mechanism that allows the account holders to reactivate their account digitally.

Credits allowed in NRVAs include, remittance received from abroad through banking channels, transfer of funds from holders’ Foreign Currency Value Account (FCVA), from other NRVAs with the same authorised dealer and proceeds from disinvestment, sale or maturity of assets in Pakistan. Account holders will be allowed to withdraw or make payments in Pakistani rupee to any person in Pakistan, however any amount paid will not be allowed to be credited back into the account.

In addition, remittances and payments outside Pakistan are to be limited to the ex-

tent of balance available in the account.

The account holder will not need prior approval from the bank or the SBP, except in the case of investment in real estate.

As per the SBP, the minimum investment period in real estate will be three years. Following the completion of three years, investors will be able to repatriate the full amount of sale proceeds of the investment in property.

However, if an investor wishes to disinvest before three years, they can repatriate funds up to the lower of the amount of sale proceeds, or the principal investment amount in Pakistani rupee on the date of investment. The differential amount and profit or return earned, however, can be repatriated after the culmination of three years from the date of investment. The differential can also be invested in other eligible securities from NRVA. Moreover, the SBP also announced a Foreign Currency Value Accounts (FCVA) which will enable NRPs that have assets abroad declared with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to invest in foreign currency denominated government registered debt securities on repatriable basis.

Authorised dealers have to clearly indi-

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

cate whether the account holder is a resident or non-resident and will have to provide a declaration of his or her assets held abroad.

This declaration is to include the latest wealth tax statement filed with the FBR. Authorised dealers are also expected to provide real time convertibility from foreign currency to Pakistani rupee based on the request made by the account holder digitally for the eligible debits from the account. Moreover, authorised dealers are also expected to indicate the exchange rate that is applicable for the transaction.

The account holders will be able to invest in permissible securities, transfer funds to account holder’s own NRP Rupee Value Account with the same authorised dealer, transfer to other foreign exchange Pakistani rupee account and non-resident rupee account with any bank in Pakistan.

Moreover, they will be allowed to remit and pay outside Pakistan to the extent of their balances available in the account without any prior approval from the bank or SBP. Cash withdrawals in foreign currency and equivalent local currency and payment in Pakistani rupee to any person resident in Pakistan are allowed. However, the amount is not to be credited back into the account.