Epaper – February 12 LHR 2021

Friday, 12 February, 2021 I 29 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 225 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

Protesting govt emPloyees get 25Pc increase in salaries g

KhattaK says a calculation of the committee showed 'a difference of 60 per cent in pay of federal employees on average'

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

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ielding to pressure to increase the salaries of employees in lower grades, the government on thursday announced a 25 per cent increase on an “ad-hoc basis” in the compensation of those working in grades 1 to 19 at the federal departments. the announcement was made during a press conference jointly addressed by defence minister pervez Khattak, minister for interior sheikh rasheed ahmed and minister of state for parliamentary affairs ali muhammad Khan who are part of a committee formed to resolve a pay dispute between the government and the federal government’s low-level employees. speaking on the occasion, ahmed said a notification announcing the al-

lowance will be issued later in the day and will continue until the pay and pension commission (ppc) had provided its recommendations, radio pakistan quoted him as saying. he further said the employees’ basic salaries will be revised in the next fiscal budget. “some salaries may be increased further based on their [ppc] proposals,” he said, recalling the government wanted to reward hard-working staffers while ensuring that substandard employees were penalised. the minister further said the summary for the allowance had already been approved by finance minister abdul hafeez shaikh, as well as the ministry of finance. the salaries of government officials in grades 20 and above will also be revised in the coming budget, he said. ahmed also announced the release of all the protestors detained on wednes-

coronavirus in

Pakistan

day and withdrawal of police cases against them. speaking after ahmed, Khattak said a calculation of the committee showed “a difference of 60 percent [in pay] of federal employees on average”. he said the centre was also aware of the issues being faced by employees of the provincial governments, and added federal government would recommend provinces to provide similar allowances to address their grievances. “we will work with provincial governments and will give direction on how to achieve this,” he said. the presser comes a day after a protest of employees for increase in salaries and other demands near pakistan secretariat, islamabad turned violent after police resorted to tear gas shelling to push back the demonstrators. the police arrested several protestors while those stuck in the secretariat Block broke the door to escape. demonstrations were held at several points of the city, including constitution avenue, outside secretariat Block, cabinet Block and outside the national press club. later, the protesters started a march towards the parliament house to intercept which police placed containers on the roads, sealing off d-chowk. on thursday, at least 350 protestors gathered again at the pakistan secretariat while another 700 marched towards the national press club in the Blue area, islamabad’s central business zone. however, the protest was called off after the presser.

PM tasks three-member committee to probe into video scam through FIA ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

prime minister imran Khan has formed an inquiry committee to probe into the video scandal of alleged vote-trading by certain members of Khyber pakhtunkhwa (Kp) assembly during the senate elections for the year 2018. according to sources, a three-member committee of the federal cabinet comprising interior minister shahzad akbar, science and technology minister fawad chaudhry and human rights minister dr shireen mazari will probe into the matter. federal investigation agency (fia) would also assist the committee. later in the day, prime minister imran also confirmed the probe into the scandal through fia during an interview. pm imran said that the committee will review all constitutional and legal aspects and make recommendations to the federal government. he added that after the probe, the names of those responsible for the vote-trading would be shared with the election commission of pakistan (ecp) so that appropriate action against the culprits may be taken. the premier said that everyone knows that, for the past 30

Rockets fired from Afghanistan leave child martyred, 7 minors hurt

CONFIRMED CASES:

559,093

years, money has been misused by politicians to win the senate elections. “we have come to know that bids are being held again for the upcoming senate elections. we have come to know that the bids are ranging from 50 to 70 crore for getting elected one senator. “so if people who make decisions about the future of the country would sell their conscience, then how the government can stop the shos [station house officers] and patwaris [from not taking bribes],” argued the prime minister. the pm pondered what would be the worth of those politicians who sell their conscience for money. when asked whether if he had already seen had the video went which viral recently, pm imran said if he had gotten hold of the video before, he would have presented it immediately as evidence to the supreme court (sc). “the issue is not about the timing of the video but the sale and purchase of lawmakers. i have formed a committee to probe the video. the committee would get the probe conducted through the fia.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

Govt, TLP reach agreement, demands will be put forward in parliament STORY ON PAGE 03

LAST UPDATED AT 8:31 AM ON FEBRUARY 11, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

57

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

1,502 DEATHS:

516,683 12,185 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

252,296

162,391

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

68,972

18,898

9,334/4,923 42,279

RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

a five-year-old child embraced martyrdom while seven other minors received injuries after terrorists fired five rockets from inside afghanistan at Bajaur. according to the inter-services public relations (ispr), the incident happened at 1450 hours pst. the terrorists fired 5 rockets from inside afghanistan in laghari sector and sarakai top of tribal district Bajaur. a 5-yearold minor, resident of mamund, embraced martyrdom, while 7 minors including a girl got injured, said the ispr. several attacks have been made from across the border

in recent months in which several innocent people have lost their lives. on January 6, a frontier corps (fc) soldier was martyred in a cross-border attack from afghanistan in mohmand tribal district. according to the ispr, terrorists from afghanistan fired across the international border on a military post in mohmand district. the fc troops from pakistan responded promptly. during exchange of fire, fc soldier sepoy fazal wahid, 25, resident of shangla district of Khyber pakhtunkhwa (Kp), embraced martyrdom. on october 14, 2020, a soldier of the pakistan army

embraced martyrdom while another was injured in a crossborder attack in Bajaur tribal district. on July 29, 2020, a soldier was martyred in a cross-border attack by terrorists from afghanistan. on July 14, 2020, a girl was injured when a mortar shell fired from afghan side landed at a house in Bajaur. on June 28, 2020, three persons were injured in charmang tehsil of Bajaur in firing from afghan side. on may 27, 2020, one person was killed and a girl was injured after a mortar shell fired from afghan side landed in salarzai tehsil of Bajaur.

sc disposes legislators uplift grant case after pm’s denial STORY ON PAGE 02

Govt allows private sector import of Covid-19 vaccine STORY ON PAGE 03

sophisticated satellite technology being used to search K2 for missing climbers STORY ON BACK PAGE

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Friday, 12 February, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

SC dISPoSeS leGISlATorS uPlIFT GrAnT CASe AFTer PM’S denIAl

T

NEWS DESK

HE Supreme Court (SC) has disposed of a case relating to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s approval of Rs500 million uplift grant to lawmakers after the finance secretary on Thursday submitted a report denying the supplication of the grant.

The report, signed by Prime Minister Imran Khan and concerning the reported issuance of Rs500 million uplift grant to each Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker, confirmed that not a single lawmaker was given the uplift fund by the incumbent government.

“The finance division has not allocated or handed over monies to any legislature or any person nor has it intended to do so. There is no such provision in the public finance management system,” the report stated.

The petition was being heard by a five-

THE REPORT, SIGNED BY PM IMRAN CONFIRMS THAT NOT A SINGLE LAWMAKER WAS GIVEN THE UPLIFT FUND BY THE INCUMBENT GOVERNMENT judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed.

During the hearing of the case, Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that yesterday someone sent him documents on WhatsApp regarding the release of large funds to the government ally in NA-65 constituency.

“Can funds be given to certain constituencies for road construction?” he questioned. “We are not the enemy, we are the protectors of the people’s money and the constitution,” he added.

“We will dispose of the matter if the grant is being given as per the constitution, law and court orders,” he said and directed the attorney

ATC sends four lawyers on judicial remand for storming IHC building ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the capital on Thursday sent four arrested lawyers to jail on judicial remand on charges of storming the building of Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier this week. Police produced the accused nominated in the first information report (FIR) — Zafar Ali Waraich, Naveed Malik, Sheikh Shoaib and Nazia Bibi — before the court.

Scores of lawyers protesting against the demolition of their chambers by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) during an anti-encroachment operation wreaked havoc on the high court’s building on Monday. Late on Sunday night, an enforcement team as part of the body’s anti-encroachment drive had destroyed several lawyers’ chambers built on the premises of the District and Session Court in F-8 Markaz and retrieved state-owned land. The move came days after the Islamabad administration on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan prepared a list of 80 people allegedly involved in land grabbing activities. The clearance operation against the encroachments outraged the legal community who barged into the Chief Justice Block (CJB) of the court and broke windows. They also chanted slogans against IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah outside his chamber, leaving him trapped inside. INP

IHC disposes of case pertaining to PTV chairman’s appointment ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday termed the appointment of Pakistan Television (PTV) Chairman Naeem Bukhari against the guidelines of Supreme Court (SC) and disposed of a case against it.

The court instructed the federal government to make a new appointment while keeping in view the SC direction. Bukhari could also be reconsidered in the application procedure, but it would be necessary to provide good reasons for giving any age relaxation, it further said. Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah heard the case, wherein the Bukhari’s lawyer apprised the court that the authority had clubbed the matter of PTV managing director in-line with the IHC order. Minallah remarked that this bench had ordered the ministry, on January 14, to send a new summary for the appointment but this had not been done so far. APP

Govt, people of Pakistan to continue supporting Kashmiris, says Faraz ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said on Thursday that the government and people of Pakistan have extended support to the Kashmiri brethren throughout the last seven decades, and would continue to do so until the Kashmiris succeed in their struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination.Speaking at the Kashmir Solidarity Day Photographic Exhibition at Foreign Office (FO), the minister said that Pakistan under the bold leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected India’s illegal actions of August 5, 2019, and internationally highlighted the humanitarian, legal and peace and security dimensions of the issue.Faraz said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has reached out to world leaders, the international institutions, the UN, the OIC and forcefully raised the Jammu & Kashmir dispute on all multilateral and international fora. “Our efforts to project the Kashmir cause have not gone unnoticed.United Nations Security Council has discussed the Jammu & Kashmir dispute three times since 5 August 2019. APP

general of Pakistan (AGP) to seek instructions from the government and inform the SC in this regard. On the occasion, the judge of the apex court also remarked that the premier had spoken against the five-year term being too short, and advised the PM to approach the assembly for an extension if necessary.

Speaking on the occasion, the CJP also observed that the courts are not there to control the prime minister’s office while questioning the authenticity of the documents for the funds case. Justice Isa a day earlier had questioned Prime Minister Imran’s stance on the grant of development funds to members of the national and provincial assemblies as the SC took up a

suo motu case to determine the constitutional status of the move.

The SC judge had noted that a letter submitted by the premier’s principal secretary to the top judicial forum “did not contain the answers to the court’s questions”.

In January, Prime Minister Imran had purportedly announced a grant of Rs500 million for each member of the national and provincial assemblies under sustainable development goals to enable them to carry out development schemes for their voters.

On the occasion, he had asked Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan to update the court on the issue based on the government’s

response. However, the AGP had responded he would update the court after receiving instructions from the government and further reassured that “whatever action is taken will be in the light of the law, Constitution and legal precedent.”

Subsequently, Justice Isa had referred the matter to the top judge for the formation of a bench. On Wednesday, all provinces submitted written replies to the court except for Sindh.

When asked, the Sindh government’s counsel informed the court the provincial government had not given development funds to any lawmakers.

Meanwhile, AGP Khan had told the court the grant of development funds was “linked to the Constitution”, adding that the prime minister knew that “government funds cannot be used wrongly”. “Either the prime minister should remain firm on what he said or admit he had made a mistake. Why is the prime minister hiding behind his secretary?

The entire media published the news and the prime minister is silent,” the Justice Isa had said on the occasion. AGP Khan had replied if the prime minister “started refuting every news himself, he would not be able to do any other work”. The bench had ordered the finance secretary to submit a clear answer to the court, directing that the report should also have the premier’s signature on it.

ECP to hold Senate elections on March 3 ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Embroiled in controversy over the presidential ordinance on open voting, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced to hold elections for 52 Senate seats on March 3.

According to the schedule issued Thursday, the returning officers will issue a public notice for filing of nomination papers on Thursday.

Interested candidates would file nomination papers on February 12 and 13 and the names of the nominated candidates will be published the following day (February 14). The scrutiny of the nomination papers will take place on February 15 and 16, followed by two days reserved for filing of appeals against any acceptance or rejection of nominations. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the commission will scrutinise the credentials of the candidates through an online process.

The documents submitted by the candidates would be verified by the Ministry of Interior, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The financial documents provided by the prospective candidates would also be checked by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

An election tribunal will dispose of all appeals

A TOTAL OF 52 SENATORS IN THE HOUSE OF 104 ARE SET TO RETIRE ON MARCH 11 ON COMPLETION OF THEIR SIX-YEAR TERM within two days, on February 19 and 20. And finally, the ECP will publish a revised list of nominated candidates on February 21.

Any notified candidates wishing to withdraw their candidacy will be able to do so before February 22.

A total of 52 senators in the House of 104 are set to retire on March 11 on completion of their six-year term. The number includes four of the eight senators from the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

As the seats representing FATA will not be filled due to the merger of the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in May 2018, the Senate strength will shrink to 100.

Polling will, therefore, be held to elect 48 members: 12 each from KP and Balochistan, 11 each from Punjab and Sindh, and two from Islamabad.

The legislators will also vote to elect seven members on general seats including two women and two technocrats in the four provinces. Besides, the election on one minority seat each in KP and Balochistan will also be conducted.

More than 65 percent of the senators due to retire

LHC directs FIA to initiate action against YouTube channels attacking judiciary NEWS DESK The chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to complie a list of those YouTube channels, or accounts on any other social media platform, which may be speaking against the judiciary and to take action against them.

CJ Qasim Khan, during a hearing of a plea filed against Punjab’s commissioners, assistant commissioners (ACs) and deputy commissioners (DCs) for allegedly refusing court’s orders, staging a protest and raising slogans against the judiciary, pondered the relevance of freedom of speech in this case.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) Chairman Muhammad Saleem Baig, in reply

to a question about free speech posed by the chief justice, said that the precedent has been set wherein the authority has taken action in 129 cases of people speaking against the judiciary.

In a recent such incidet, the chairman cited that a TV channel had been suspended and imposed upon with a Rs1 million fine. After this, CJ Khan put AC Raja Muhammad Haider on the spot and came down upon the assistant commissioner for having used abusive language against the judiciary and threatening the civil judge with consequences.

AC Haider had been a lynchpin in the recent string of protests by the commissioners, DCs and ACs after he refused to comply with an arrest warrant. Referring to these protests, the CJ directed the FIA director general to prepare a report with all related images, posts

belong to the opposition parties.

SENATE ORDINANCE: On Saturday last, President Dr Arif Alvi issued an ordinance — Election (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 — under which the Senate polls will be held through a show of hands to end the practice of horse-trading.

The amendment was introduced in section 33, 86, and 122 of the Election Act, 2017.

“Provided that in case the Supreme Court of Pakistan gives an opinion in Reference No. 1 of 2021, filed under Article 186 of the Constitution, that elections for the members of the Senate do not fall within the purview of Article 226 of the Constitution, the poll for elections for members of the Senate to be held in March and thereafter shall be conducted by the Commission through an open and identifiable ballot,” read the ordinance.

According to Article 226 of the Constitution: “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of prime minister and chief minister, shall be by secret ballot”. However, the ordinance will only come into force if the presidential reference in this regard pending before the Supreme Court rules in the government’s favour.

and videos.

The report is to be submitted in 30 days through PERMA and will be used to identify those officials who staged the protest against the judiciary.

Last year, the LHC) had taken notice of YouTube channels being opened in Pakistan without any proper mechanism in place, wherein CJ Khan had heard the case related to the non-removal of offensive content from on social media.

Expressing indignation over the circulation of offensive content on social media, the chief justice had questioned how YouTube channels were being launched across the country.

“Under which law are YouTube channels running and who monitors the content [on the video-sharing platform]?” the judge had inquired.

On the occasion, he had also remarked that derogatory language was being used on the platform against the judiciary and that he would not allow anyone to violate the sanctity of the institution.

“How many cases have been registered by the FIA so far and how many people have been arrested?” he had asked.

PTI issues policies on coronavirus vaccination, impact on economy & education ISLAMABAD APP

The government of Pakistan aims to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating 70 per cent of the eligible population in 2021, said the policy guideline of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regarding the coronavirus vaccination plans.

In an exclusive working session organized by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) regarding the party’s policy planning wing, the draft policies were discussed by the relevant officials, including Central Joint Secretary Mussadiq Ghumman, MNA Dr Nausheen Hamid, National Health Services (NHS) parliamentary secretary (Regulations & Coordination), PTI’s Women Wing president, and PTI Economic Affairs Secretary

Dr Talat Anwar.

The PTI has issued a set of comprehensive policies on the availability and use of the coronavirus vaccines, as well as documentation regarding its impact on economy and education. It states that approximately 100 million Pakistanis are eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine as per global guidelines, adding that the government already has enough doses secure to vaccinate approximately 30 million people by September – almost 50 per cent of the aforementioned target. Therein, frontline healthworker (FHWs) will be vaccinated first.

The policy highlights that the vaccine would be administered free of cost by public health facilities and emphasis that 578 adult vaccine counters (AVCs) have been established, enabling the the government to offer a vaccination capacity of 40,000 persons per day.

The policy states that clear criteria have been defined

for FHWs after consultation with all provincial stakeholders, further explaining that the Resource Management System (RMS) has been set up so they can be registered expeditiously. PTI’s policy on education under the pandemic states that, during school closures, the federal government was able to move swiftly to offer digital learning content through TeleSchools. The content on the teleschools is provided free of cost by major Edtech partners, including Sabaq Foundation, Taleemabad, The Citizens Foundation (TCF), Punjab IT Board (PITB), Allama Iqbal Open University, and the Knowledge Platform.

The policy on education also added that the government managed a national consensus and coordination through the platform of Inter-provincial Education Ministers’ Conference (IEMC) and took decisions after consultations with the committee.

Friday, 12 February, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

GoVT, TlP reACH AGreeMenT, deMAndS wIll be PuT ForwArd In PArlIAMenT ISLAMABAD

T

MIAN ABRAR

HE federal government and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have agreed to table the TLP demands in the Parliament which would decide the matter while the TLP has extended its deadline from February to April 20.

A copy of the agreement, available with Pakistan Today, has been duly signed by Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Interfaith Harmony Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri while Ghulam Ghous Hazarvi, Dr Shafique Amini, Ghulam Abbas Faizi and M Umairul Azhari signed the document on behalf of the TLP Shura.

According to the document signed on January 11, 2021, the TLP had signed an agreement with the PTI government

on November 16, 2020, which could not be implemented.

“The government and TLP were in talks for the past one month as the government resolved to implement it. It has been agreed that the federal government would table the agreement in the Parliament by April 20 and decisions would be taken with a nod of the parliament,” the agreement says.

The agreement said that those TLP leaders whose names had been registered in the fourth schedule would be absolved. The agreement said that the agreement would stand cancelled if any clause of the agreement is violated. The document said that the prime minister would formally announce the deal which would be implemented amicably.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan also announced the agreement on Thursday during a TV interview, saying

that the government negotiators had successful talks with the leadership of TLP and it had been agreed to extend its deadline of February to April 20.

“Our [negotiating] team was in talks with the TLP which turned out to be successful. The government has reached an agreement with the TLP which has extended its deadline from February to April 20. According to the agreement, the government would table the TLP demands in the Parliament which would decide the matter,” Khan told media.

Imran said that no government in past has even taken a clear stand for the glory of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

He clarified that the government did not raise its voice regarding the honour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) for want of votes.

“This is my belief. In Western countries, the honour of the Holy Prophet

(PBUH) is questioned under a plan. The western countries don’t understand our belief. I have raised this issue time and again in the United Nations and UN also agreed to Pakistan’s opinion,” the prime minister said.

He said the agreement stipulates that decisions will be made with the approval of parliament. The agreement states that the names of TLP workers included in the Fourth Schedule will be removed.

“Today, I would like to tell the TLP and the people of my country that no one before my government has taken a clear stand for the glory of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Rather my government has taken a clear global position on this sensitive issue. Reactions from Muslim countries came afterwards over the subject. The UN also supported our position on blasphemy,” concluded the premier.

Govt allows private sector import of Covid-19 vaccine ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

JCSC lauds nCoC's efforts for containing Covid-19 RAWALPINDI: The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) on Thursday dilated upon the latest situation of Covid-19 and lauded the services of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which was established to synergize the unified national effort for containment of the pandemic. The JCSC met at the Joint Staff Headquarters with JCSC Chairman General Nadeem Raza leading the meeting. It was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff (CONS) Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan and senior officers from Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Defence Production and triservices. The forum discussed the emerging regional geo-strategic environment, including the fast-paced developments in the realm of strategic and conventional policies or doctrines and operational preparedness of the armed forces. STAFF REPORT

The government will allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to exempt such imports from price caps as the world scrambles to secure supplies. The documents show the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination division had sought a special cabinet exemption to allow for such imports while excluding the imported vaccines from the strict price cap regime that is typically applied to all drug sales within the country. The federal cabinet, the documents suggest, has approved the proposal.

State Minister of Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that the government still planned to inoculate its population for free and only a “small minority” who wish to pay for the shots will have that option in the open market.

“Only those who wish to get it via private sector will pay anything,” he said. “Personally, my assessment is that when the vaccines are available and we have market competition, that will automatically set the prices.”

Pakistan began rolling out the anti-coronavirus jabs last week after receiving half a million shots of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.

As per the roll-out plan, the vaccine will first be made available to more than 400,000 doctors and frontline healthcare workers, teachers and social workers because they run the highest risk of exposure to the contagious disease. After that, the shots will be provided to citizens over the age of 65, who generally face a higher mortality risk from the virus.

Pakistan received its first tranche of the Sinopharm jabs, given by China as a “gift”, on Tuesday last week.

The shipment marked the first shots to be imported into

the country where more than 550,000 cases of the disease have been reported since the outbreak in February last.

In addition, the government is due to receive a further 1.1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine by the end of this month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced late last month.

Separately, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan announced on Saturday that the government has secured 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine through the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX initiative. Of these, he had said, about seven million doses will be available in the first quarter of the year and the rest by the end of 2021.

On Monday, the Pakistan Army donated a batch of Chinese jabs — delivered for the troops by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of China — to the national vaccination drive.

In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar said the PLA donated an undisclosed number of doses, making Pakistan the first foreign military to receive vaccine assistance from China.

“However, keeping with the Pakistan armed forces’ traditional spirit of ‘nation comes first, always and every time’ it has been decided to contribute the complete donation to the national vaccination drive [for] frontline healthcare workers across Pakistan who are the real heroes fighting against the pandemic and saving precious lives,” the statement said.

“Pakistan’s armed forces extend their deepest gratitude to PLA and the People’s Republic of China for this magnanimous donation during testing times,” it added.

Kashmir dispute hampering regional development: Qureshi ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday regretted that “bottleneck” Kashmir dispute blocked chances of greater regional cooperation on the handling of coronavirus outbreak.

Addressing a photography and culture exhibition, titled Tribute to Kashmiris, in Islamabad which was attended by foreign diplomats, Qureshi expressed solidarity with the people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Qureshi noted the Asian nations “could have cooperated in the region to [better] combat Covid-19 but we didn’t [due to the dispute].”

He said tall Indian claims to bring development in Kashmir by revoking its

FM SAYS ASIAN NATIONS 'COULD HAVE COOPERATED IN THE REGION TO [BETTER] COMBAT COVID-19 BUT WE DIDN'T [DUE TO THE DISPUTE]' semi-autonomous status were exposed as the region witnessed the devastation of economy and tourism during the pandemic. “India’s illegal act of August 5 has resulted into miserable conditions for Kashmiris, who are bearing the severe economic brunt due to communication blockade [in the valley],” he added.

The foreign minister rejected the Indian claim of Kashmir being its integral part, recalling the issue remained on the agenda of the composite dialogue, started between India and Pakistan and

1998, and also of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

He said the situation of human rights in Kashmir needed the immediate attention of the international community.

India, he said, took advantage of the 9/11 attacks and hoodwinked the global community by linking the freedom struggle of the people of Kashmir with terrorism. He urged the diplomats to visit both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, and meet the local people to assess the

situation first-hand. Qureshi reiterated Islamabad wanted good relations with New Delhi as tensions between the two nations influenced the development of the region in areas of education, health, and security in absence of optimal utilisation of resources. He said Pakistan was ready to re-engage in dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute. In a hostile environment between the two nucleararmed states, “dialogue was the only sensible preference,” he said.

SC adjourns presidential reference about Senate elections till Monday ISLAMABAD APP

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday adjourned hearing on the presidential reference seeking an opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections till Monday. A five-member SC larger bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi heard the reference.

During the course of proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan said the

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had changed its position but he held the same stance.

The local bodies elections were held under provincial laws and the Election Act, he added. Justice Bandial replied the local bodies elections were held under the Local Government Act. To this, the attorney general said that the Constitution and the law provided a complete mechanism for local government elections.

The Balochistan and Sindh High Courts had declared holding of the local government elections through secret ballot, he added. Moreover, he informed the apex court that the provincial high court had asked

for an amendment in the Sindh Local Government Act. He maintained that the Election Act 2017 was totally silent on challenging elections under the Constitution. Meanwhile, the counsel of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) informed the court that the ECP had issued the schedule of Senate elections.

“The nomination papers will be received from tomorrow, while ballot papers are also required to be printed,” the ECP counsel said. The court directed the AGP to complete his arguments in 15 minutes on Monday.

After the top lawyer, Senator Raza Rabbani would start his arguments followed by all the four advocate generals.

03

Pakistani envoy denounces India for targeting Pakistan in unSC UNITED NATIONS: The top Pakistani diplomat pushed back against false Indian claims in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Wednesday regarding the allegedly continuing terrorist activities from safe havens in Pakistan, and questioned India’s impartiality as head of the 15-member body’s Taliban committee. “India’s statement in UNSC briefing is a reflection of its deep frustration at its inability to distort the UN reports and failure of its propaganda and disinformation campaign against Pakistan,” Ambassador Munir Akram said in a series of sharply-worded tweets in response to the allegations made by Indian Ambassador T S Trimurti. The Indian envoy spoke after a briefing to the 15-member council which was chaired by Vladimir Voronkov, head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), in which he urged member states to remain focused and united in thwarting terrorism. “Contrary to the Indian allegations,” the Pakistani envoy added, “recent UN reports validate Pakistan’s actions against all terrorist groups.” In its 27th report to the UNSC, which was released last week, the UN monitoring team that tracks Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other extremist groups pointed to the arrests in Pakistan of “individuals engaging in terrorism financing and the freezing of the assets of designated individuals and entities”. “The Indian statement (in UNSC) is also a clear manifestation of its role as a spoiler in the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan,” Ambassador Akram said on the Twitter. “Contrary to the international community’s consensus of finding a political solution to the Afghan conflict, India wants to prolong the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan by supporting terrorist groups like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA)”. Pakistan, he said, had provided “irrefutable” evidence of India’s direct support and financing of UN-listed TTP and JuA to the Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee. “We call on the Committee to initiate immediate actions against the Indian government agencies involved in the sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan,” the Pakistani envoy said. “The Indian role in supporting terrorist groups also raises questions on its so-called impartiality as the Chair of the 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee. The Security Council must not allow India to derail the ongoing Intra-Afghan Negotiations.

“There is no doubt that India will do all that it can to prolong the conflict in Afghanistan.” APP

Two returning PdM Senators set to get bAP ticket again ISLAMABAD: Two Senate members from opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), have tendered resignations before they were set to retire next month. Senator Sitara Ayaz of Awami National Party (ANP) and National Party's Dr Ashok Kumar have tendered their resignations to the Senate chairman. As per sources, both members will run in next month's Senate elections on ticket of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). Before the Senate election, both the members of the upper house submitted their resignations to the Senate chairman. Sitara Ayaz belongs to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) but would be contesting from Balochistan. MIAN ABRAR

Friday, 12 February, 2021

04 NEWS

LAHORE

MeMBerS of HINdu, SIkH CoMMuNITIeS CrITICISe VANkwANI oN defAMINg eTPB LAHORE

S

SHAHAB OMER

OME members of Hindu and Sikh communities on Thursday criticised Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) President Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, saying the chief had tried to tarnish the image of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) after failing to become its chairman.

The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee President Sardar Satwant Singh, former President Bishan Singh and Hindu leader Manohar Chand held a joint

press conference at Lahore Press Club and said that the ETPB is playing its practical role for protecting temples and gurdwaras, and arranging religious ceremonies across the country.

“We are very satisfied with the steps taken by the management of the board while some political elements are making false and baseless allegations against the board for their nefarious intentions. Vankwani is trying to impose his illegitimacy on the board in various ways and distorting relations with the country's reputable institutions. His attitude and actions are by no means commendable. There is a fear of

damage on the inter-religious harmony in the country,” they said.

The leaders added, "Vankwani's real agenda was to become the chairman of ETPB. But, in order to run the affairs of the institution in a better and more transparent manner, the federal government appointed a chairman under the open merit policy. Since then, Vankwani has been trying to discredit the ETPB' which is performing in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision for minorities, their religious places and ceremonies, and enhancing Pakistan's reputation around the world.

We request the prime minister to take im-

mediate action against Vankwani."

On the other hand, Vankwani, who is also the member of National Assembly, denied the allegations and said that he never wanted to become ETPB's chairman but asked for a suitable candidate from Hindu community as all the properties under the board belong to Hindus and Sikhs.

Speaking to Pakistan Today, Vankwani said that there is a mafia operating in the ETPB, who manages 1800 religious places and writes in reports that only 31 religious services are functional. “Now tell me which servant of the Hindu community will go against me. I have full command over my

community. I always speak the truth. The fact that so many gurdwaras are closed is not discussed because everyone is in cahoots and whoever goes to complain is silenced by paying some money. I have said at every forum that the chairman of ETPB should be from Hindu community as all 1522 temples and 583 gurdwaras belong to Hindu and Sikh communities. Ishrat Hussain had approved the proposal to appoint a chairman from Hindu community but a year has passed and it has not been implemented. The mafia calls some four or five people, who have no role for the communities, to hold a press conference,” Vankwani added.

PTI to emerge as major political party in Senate elections: Buzdar LAHORE INP

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has asserted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will achieve success in the upcoming Senate elections, adding that it will emerge as a major political party with the blessings of Almighty Allah. In a statement issued on Thursday, the chief minister emphasised that those who are against open balloting have some internal fears as they were habitual of horse-trading in the past. Buzdar further said that the Opposition has always opposed political transparency and, now it is trying to manipulate the Senate elections as resistance to the open balloting has exposed the duality of the opposition parties. “The Opposition should avoid hue and cry over the open balloting issue as its credibility has been completely eroded. In fact, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is meant for ranting and it will continue to bewail till 2023,” concluded the CM.

SHC directs PPP leader to cooperate with NAB in graft case KARACHI INP LAHORE: Smog blankets a busy road in the provincial capital. Zubair Mehfooz

PM approves Nullah Leh project with estimated cost of Rs75 billion ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday approved the Nullah Leh project with an estimated cost of Rs75 billion Besides the construction of expressway on both sides of Nullah Leh under the project, two malls will also be constructed at the state land.

After granting the approval in meeting, the prime minister directed the concerned to immedi-

ately start work on the project, which would be completed under the model of public-private partnership in two years.

Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Member National Assembly Shafiq Rashid Ahmad and senior officers of concerned departments were present in the meeting, which was also attended

by Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab Dr Salman Shah and the provincial chief secretary via video-link.

The premier said that along with the Nullah Leh

PHC orders for steps to block objectionable content on TikTok PESHAWAR TLTP

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has ordered for measures to block objectionable content on popular video-sharing app TikTok. PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid issued these directions on Thursday while heading a bench that heard a plea seeking directives for the authorities concerned to block unethical content on the application. The director generals (DGs) of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) appeared before the court.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the people upload indecent videos on TikTok and asked the DGs about what measures have they been taking to block such videos. “This is Islamic Republic of Pakistan. What is this happening here? What culture are we promoting here?” Indecent videos being uploaded are negatively impacting the youth, the PHC judge noted, adding, “It’s our national duty to protect the young generation from immoral activities.” He called for putting in place measures to filter videos being uploaded on the app. The court also directed the DGs to sit together to find a solution to this issue and submit a detailed report in this regard on the next hearing. The PTA DG stated that the authority was already taking measures to address the issue. Accounts of people, who violate the relevant rules, are blocked, he added. The hearing was later adjourned for March 11.

project, the process of zoning of the related area and changing bye-laws in that respect should be completed in few weeks so that multi-storey buildings and commercial markets could also be constructed on both sides of the expressway.

He further said that since addressing the problems of Rawalpindi was the top priority, the project would prove an important milestone in the transformation of the city.

The prime minister was also briefed in detail about the Rawalpindi Ring Road project during the meeting.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday extended the interim bail of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in a case related to 352 illegal appointments.

During the hearing, a prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) told the court that an investigation is underway against the speaker and other accused in the case. He added that the speaker provincial assembly was summoned at the NAB office Thursday (today) in connection with the probe. At this, the judge directed Durrani to cooperate with the investigators and ordered the agency to submit a progress report on March 30. Durrani, a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was arrested by NAB in an Islamabad hotel in Feb 2020 for investigation into his alleged movable and immovable assets beyond his known sources of income, making 352 illegal appointments, embezzlement of public funds in the construction of the MPA Hostel and the new Sindh Assembly building, as well as the appointment of project directors for these schemes. The anti-graft watchdog named Durrani, his spouse, children, brother, and others for allegedly possessing assets worth around Rs1.61 billion made through illegal means.

AJK president calls for sanctions against India over violations in IOK MIRPUR APP

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan on Thursday thanked the people and the government of Turkey, particularly President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for their strong and steadfast support to the oppressed people of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK) as well as Palestine.

In his opening remarks at the roundtable conference on “Kashmir–Evaluating the Way Forward”, organised by the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul, Masood asserted that hectic efforts are needed to place the ongoing genocide of Kashmiri people on

centre stage and global agenda.

He went on to say that the killings, massacres, staged encounters, rapes, and arbitrary arrests manifest the genocide in the IOK. “Thousands of youngsters, languishing in concentrations camps, are being tortured and brainwashed,” he added.

Enumerating the events of last seven months, the president said millions of Hindus have been illegally imported from India and settled in the occupied territory to change the demography of the state.

“Such systematic transplantation of population has no precedent in the history of occupation, colonial rule and warfare,” he said adding that the lands of

Kashmiri people are being robbed and grabbed for illegal settlements by non-native occupation authorities and armed forces.

Masood lamented that the Kashmiri people have been besieged in their own homeland, where foreign marauders are preying on local population and the predators are committing crimes against the Kashmiri Muslims, who have been cut off from the rest of the world. “The occupied territory is the worst Islamophobic hotspot in the world, where the people are being annihilated because they are Muslims and their religious identity and aspiration for freedom have become their bane,” he added.

The president further said that

the violent BJP-RSS regime while pursuing a hate-driven Hindutva doctrine has turned the occupied territory into the worst axis of Indian state-sponsored terrorism.

He appealed to Turkey to activate its humanitarian diplomacy on Kashmir and establish a humanitarian corridor for the Kashmiri people. “Let us also try to set up peace tables for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the Kashmir dispute and give Kashmiris their right to self-determination,” he said and added that no place is better than Istanbul for such an engagement. The president also called upon the international community to hold the Indian regime accountable.

Friday, 12 February, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

PM tasks three-member committee to probe into video scam through FIA continued from page 01 Once the probe is finalised, the committee’s recommendations will be sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for further action,” the premier observed. The prime minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had formed the government in KP in year 2013. “My statement is on record as in Senate elections held in the year 2015, I had warned my party lawmakers about horse-trading. Then in the 2018 elections, I issued show-cause notices to PTI members who were found involved in the vote-trading and also took action,” he said. Replying to a question about the secret ballot, PM Imran said that he had no fears for the secret ballot. “I believe the opposition would again cry foul like they [have done] of late,” he said, likely referring to the no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman. “Secret ballot always benefits the government as treasury gets more seats,” he observed.

Talking about the opposition’s alliance of the PDM, Imran said the PDM is a gang of thieves and not a democratic movement. “It (The PDM) is a thieves’ protection movement,” concluded the prime minister. On the occasion, the premier said that the depreciation of the rupee increases inflation. “If the dollar prices surge, then everything becomes more expensive. The salaried class gets most hit in such a case. If the salaries of the employees are increased then our deficit will increase and inflation will also increase too. So, the government employees should be patient,” he said while responding to a question about the recent strike by government employees for pay raise. “The government employees had earlier agreed on 24 per cent pay raise but later on they increased their demand once more,” he added.

Danial Chaudhry asks for officials involved in demolition to be held responsible Barrister Danial Chaudhry, son of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Chaudhry Tanveer Khan, has asked for those officials involved in the allegedly illegal demolition of many of their buildings to be held responsible. The lawyer maintained that the buildings where complete legal and said that they would file a contempt of court plea. He said that the people involved would be haunted by this action for their entire careers and that the legal fraternity would not let this issue rest. “The judiciary should take notice of this incident,” he stated. “They talk about giving jobs, but four marquees were demolished where thousands of people had been employed. Didn’t they think of that?

Where are they leading the country to by taking away the jobs of the poor?” he said during a local news programme. Responding to a question, Barrister Danial Chaudhry said that the government lawyers were aware of the stay order. “The chief justice should take notice that the orders of his lower judiciary were being flouted.”

He said that the plans had been approved by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and termed the incident as an act of “vandalism”. He spoke out against the fact that Prime Minister Imran Khan was able to legalise his home with Rs1.6 million and stressed that “this wave of oppression will not last long”. NEWS DESK

05

PAkIstAn’s e-CoMMerCe MArket sIze rIses rs25bn YoY In Q1FY21 iSLamaBad

P

GHULAM ABBAS

AKISTAN’s e-commerce market size has increased to Rs96 billion in the first quarter of financial year 2021 as compared to Rs71 billion in 1QFY20. This was informed during the 4th meeting of the National e-Commerce Council (NeCC), chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Razak Dawood on Thursday.

NeCC is a body of representatives from the public and private sector, constituted under the National eCommerce Policy approved by the Federal Cabinet in October 2019.

According to officials, the NeCC discussed operationalization of cross border e-commerce procedures, incentives to promote e-commerce, ways to introduce international payment services, besides deliberations on mercantile stock exchange, digital on-boarding services, reports of consultative committee on Women Economic Empowerment (WEE), e-commerce business facilitation portal, consumer protection councils, availability of broadband to remote areas, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP)’s digital transformation process and collaboration with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) on e-commerce related matters.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on the occasion informed the meeting on the legal framework updates, including e-commerce rules regarding mechanism of imports goods clearance, return of goods policy and WEBOC e-commerce module. It also informed that the National Taxation Council (NTC) is working on harmonization of the taxation regime in all provinces and federation.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also gave a thorough presentation on its efforts to promote cross-border e-commerce. The National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) informed the meeting that it is in the process of developing a payment solution for cross

border/international payments in collaboration with the SBP through which people residing outside Pakistan will be able to pay through Paypal, Google Pay and Apple Pay while payments within/from Pakistan will be processed by integration with any international payment provider. Payment system will be facilitated by the involvement of a third party.

NIFT said the payment facility was to become functional by the end of 2020, but multi-party engagement with the effect of Covid affected the plan badly. However, they are working on it and will update as soon as they are ready to take it to SBP. Assistance from SBP will come in once they put in the complete details for their review. The pilot run is now expected in the second quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, the sub-committee on financial inclusion & digitization shared its progress of conducting three webinars for freelancers; mobile wallet & accountbased solutions; and card-based payments in collaboration with MOC. It informed that it was in the process of issuing white paper on the suggestions received for further deliberation. NeCC was also briefed on matters relating to the Consultative Committee on Women Economic Empowerment (WEE). TDAP shared its updates regarding Trade Facilitation Portal, collaboration between TDAP and SMEDA and TDAP’s B2B portal.

Moreover, Bank Al-Falah briefed the meeting about its new initiative “Alfa Payment Gateway for online Payments” through which anyone can collect payments online from anywhere in Pakistan.

Engro Polymer profit jumps 311pc YoY LaHore HASSAN NAQVI

Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited (EPCL) on Thursday announced its financial results for the calendar year 2020 (CY20).

As per the company financial statements, EPCL booked a 4QCY20 consolidated profit of Rs3,627million (EPS: Rs3.99), up 311pc YoY and 93pc QoQ which takes full-year 2020 earnings to Rs6.30 per share, up 55pc YoY. According to Topline Securities Research Analyst Sunny Kumar, the result came in higher than industry expectations mainly due to higher-than-expected gross margins. “Along with the result, the company has also announced a final cash dividend of Rs1.247 per share, slightly

higher than expectations of Rs1.0 per share,” he added.

Further, the company’s net sales increased by 24pc YoY during 4QCY20, primarily due to an increase in PVC prices by 32pc YoY to US$1,108 per tonne as well as 3pc YoY devaluation of PKR against the US dollar.

The gross margins during 4Q2CY20 increased to 47pc compared to 21pc in 4QCY19 amid improvement in core delta.

Kumar added that Core delta during 4QCY20 clocked in at $689/tonne vs. $457/tonnes in the same period last year, up 51pc YoY. Moreover, the company’s financial charges declined by 38pc YoY mainly due to lower interest rates whereas the effective tax rate clocked in at 32pc in 4Q2020 Vs. 29pc in 4QCY19.

Digital siege: Internet cuts become favoured tool of regimes London AGENCIES

When army generals in Myanmar staged a coup last week, they briefly cut internet access in an apparent attempt to stymie protests.

In Uganda, residents couldn’t use Facebook, Twitter and other social media for weeks after a recent election. And in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, the internet has been down for months amid a wider conflict.

Around the world, shutting down the internet has become an increasingly popular tactic of repressive and authoritarian regimes and some illiberal democracies. Digital rights groups say governments use them to stifle dissent, silence opposition voices or cover up human rights abuses, raising concerns about restricting freedom of speech.

Regimes often cut online access in response to protests or civil unrest, particularly around elections, as they try to keep their grip on power by restricting the flow of information, researchers say. It’s the digital equivalent of seizing control of the local TV and radio station that was part of the pre-internet playbook for despots and rebels.

“Internet shutdowns have been massively underreported or misreported over the years,” said Alp Toker, founder of internet monitoring organisation Netblocks. The world is “starting to realise what’s happening,” as documenting efforts like his expand, he said.

DIGITAL RIGHTS GROUPS SAY GOVERNMENTS USE THEM TO STIFLE DISSENT, SILENCE OPPOSITION VOICES OR COVER UP HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, RAISING CONCERNS ABOUT RESTRICTING FREEDOM OF SPEECH Last year there were 93 major internet shutdowns in 21 countries, according to a report by Top10VPN, a UK-based digital privacy and security research group. The list doesn’t include places like China and North Korea, where the government tightly controls or restricts the internet. Shutdowns can range from all-encompassing internet blackouts to blocking social media platforms or severely throttling internet speeds, the report said.

Internet cuts have political, economic, and humanitarian costs, experts warned. The effects are exacerbated by Covid-19 lockdowns that are forcing activities like school classes online.

The shutdowns highlight a wider battle over control of the internet. In the West, efforts to rein in social media platforms have raised competing concerns about restricting free speech and limiting harmful information, the latter sometimes used by authoritarian regimes to justify clampdowns.

In Myanmar, internet access was cut for about 24 hours last weekend, in an ap-

parent bid to head off protests against the army’s seizing of power and the detention of leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies.

By Sunday afternoon, internet users reported data access on their mobile phones was suddenly restored.

Norway’s Telenor ASA, which runs one of Myanmar’s main wireless carriers, said the communications ministry cited “circulation of fake news, the stability of the nation and interest of the public” in ordering operators to temporarily shut down networks.

Telenor said it had to comply with local laws. “We deeply regret the impact the shutdown has on the people in Myanmar,” it said.

It’s a familiar move by Myanmar’s government, which carried out one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns in Rakhine and Chin states aimed at disrupting operations of an armed ethnic group. The cutoff began in June 2019 and was only lifted on February 3.

Another long-running internet shutdown is in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which has been choked off since fighting started in

cmYK

early November — the latest in a series of outages with no sign of service returning anytime soon. That’s made it challenging to know how many civilians have been killed, to what extent fighting continues or whether people are starting to die of starvation, as some have warned.

In Uganda, restrictions on social media sites including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube took effect ahead of a January 14 presidential election, along with a total internet blackout on the eve of polling. Authorities said it was to prevent opposition supporters from organising potentially dangerous street protests.

The social media curbs were lifted Wednesday, except for Facebook. Longtime leader Yoweri Museveni, who was facing his biggest challenge to power yet from popular singer-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine, had been angered by the social network’s removal before the vote of what it said were fake accounts linked to his party.

In Belarus, the internet went down for 61 hours after the August 9 presidential election, marking Europe’s first internet blackout. Service was cut after election results handed victory to authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko but the vote was widely seen as rigged and sparked enormous protests. Access remained unstable for months, particularly around weekend protests, when mobile internet service repeatedly went down.

The risk is that regular shutdowns become normalised, said Toker.

“You get a kind of Pavlovian response where both the public in the country and the wider international community will become desensitised to these shutdowns,” he said, calling it the “greatest risk to our collective freedom in the digital age.”

Internet shutdowns are also common in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has increasingly used them to target his political opposition. His hardline Hindu nationalist government has ordered hundreds of regional shutdowns, according to a tracking site.

Most have been in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), which endured an 18-month blockade of high-speed mobile service that ended last week. But they’ve also been deployed elsewhere for anti-government demonstrations, including months-long massive farmers’ protests that have rattled Modi’s administration.

“It used to be authoritarian governments who did this, but we are seeing the practice become more common in democracies such as India,” said Darrell West, a vice president of governance studies at the Brookings Institution who has studied the internet shutdowns.

“The risk is that once one democracy does it, others will be tempted to do the same thing. It may start at the local level to deal with unrest, but then spread more broadly.”

Friday, 12 February, 2021

06 COMMENT

Another coup

On protests

Premonitions of an impending storm?

F

IGUReS and graphs of rising prices do not convey the suffering and the pain felt by the millions. Nor do these disturb the peace of mind of insensitive rulers who tend to explain away fast rising prices with remarks like, “When the dollar goes up and the rupee falls, prices rise,” or propose “creation of wealth” as a pre-requisite for provision of relief to the masses through the so-called trickledown effect. People cannot be made to forget their suffering and the pain through facile remarks. For some time the victims continue to stoically bear the pain, but a point finally comes when a section of them decides to come out to protest.

It is easier to deal with small groups of protesters who gather outside the press clubs momentarily and then melt away. Also, if the protesters are a few hundred teachers marching on Banigala who can be dispersed after being teargassed. It is easier to dismiss protests by smaller communities, projecting these to be a part of conspiracy hatched by enemies of Pakistan.

But it is a different matter when there are a few thousand highly motivated protesters who hold their ground despite teargassing and baton charges. They have to be accommodated by a government that is already under pressure from the opposition alliance. This is what happened on Thursday when the government yielded to the demands of the employees of the Federal Secretariat under duress as they had turned Islamabad into a war zone, causing traffic jams in the capital city. It is yet another example of the government’s incompetence that it allowed the Pay and Pension Commission to keep the decision pending on their demands for over two years.

By yielding under pressure the government has shown the way to millions who have been pushed under the poverty line, lost jobs, or cannot pay the house rent, medical expenses or children’s fees. They have seen how an insensitive government can be made to respond to their demands. Unless the government brings immediate and tangible relief to the millions, the PDM is bound to be the beneficiary of the situation irrespective of whether it has a feasible economic uplift plan or not.

There are not just lessons but indications in the Myanmar coup At Penpoint M A NIAZI

T

he military coup d’état in Myanmar provides some lessons to other countries with a shared heritage, not just of a previous colonial past, but of militapry rule.

Burma was originally a colony not to Britain directly, but of the British Indian empire. While the British would probably have liked Burma to be something like Nepal or Bhutan, which were nominally independent, but which allowed the UK, or rather the Raj, to conduct its foreign affairs and guarantee its defence, while it was ruled by a native dynasty.

The Burmese ruling dynasty was not complaisant, however, as the Raj found out in the course of the three Anglo-Burman War in the 19th century.

The second, in 1852, ended with the British annexation of a Burmese province, which was named Lower Burma. The third in 1885 ended with the annexation of the remainder after the ruling dynasty was replaced. Burma became a province of British India, which it remined until 1037, when it became a separate crown colony. Like Inia, however, it became selfgoverning, and had its own prime minister.

During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese, but there was fierce fighting, mostly by Indian troops, and this was a theatre in which most of Pakistan and India’s initial military leaders received their initial battle inoculations. An interesting Pakistani connection is that Ayub Khan commanded a unit of Burma Rifles as a lieutenant-colonel, which was the only unit command he held before promotion to brigadier and command to the Pakistan Boundary Force.

More importantly, the occupation made Britain opt for independence. India became independent as India and Pakistan in 1947, Burma and Ceylon followed in 1948, Burma as a full-fledged republic, rather than with dominion status.` however, the man with whom the British had negotiated, Aung San, was assassinated after winning a thumping victory, and just after having been made PM, just before the country was given independence. Independence took place nonetheless, but the government was ultimately overthrown by the military in 1962, and Ne Win became the new strongman of the country. he ultimately was forced to resign in 1988, after 26 years in power. he was replaced by another military man, whose first priority was to end the riots which had broken out. The country was ruled by a

Senate polls KP Assembly video raises more questions than it answers

T

he first thing that is being asked about the unedifying video of KP MPAs with piles of cash before them, and talking about voting away from the party ticket, is the timing. The three-year-old video has been thrown onto social media just before another Senate election, and in the midst of a government campaign to stop this horse-trading by a reference to the Supreme Court, and by an ordinance allowing for an open ballot for Senate elections. The question naturally arises is why would this video appeared now, after three years, at this particular juncture, and why did the possessor sit on it for three years? While one effect will be to put pressure on the Supreme Court, to rule in the government’s favour, or else face being thought a supporter of horse-trading, another effect will be to raise questions about what the government has done so far about acting against those responsible for suborning the parties’ MPAs. At the same time, the question is inevitable about why there should be a constitutional amendment passed, and that too to jettison such a fundamental concept of democracy as the secret ballot, only because the PTI is unable to maintain party discipline? The party is rightly proud that action was taken against MPAs who disobeyed the party whip. Not only have the defaulting members blocked the action by obtaining stay orders, but those who brought together the deal have not been identified, let alone penalized in any way.

At the same time, the sale of votes definitely has to be stopped, but it seems to be presently the PTI’s problem, for it is that party’s legislators who are of the kind who seem willing to sell their votes, and that too only in KP, not in other provinces. Not only must the Constitution be amended, but the principle of secrecy of the ballot must be abandoned, only because the PTI is unable to enforce among legislators though it awarded tickets to. It is a sad comment on the party’s own commitment to anticorruption that it cannot keep its own legislators honest.

India: A land of oppressions AlI SAjId lAShArI

I

NDIA used to be called the world’s largest democracy and a pluralistic society coloured with distinct religions, races, folks, and cultures, that guaranteed rights of every dweller.

But now this has because ever since BJP has held the reins of the country, the left-democratic physiognomy of this republic has become disfigured.

Woefully speaking, no any individual feels secure owing to the hindu-centric policies of Narendra Modi. The inhabitants of the Republic of India belonging to Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and even hinduism (Dalits) are victim of brutal treatment.

Not only are individuals being targeted but their worship places are also being demolished in order to terrify them .The US State Department released its international religious report that portrays a very ugly picture of so-called secular India, “There were reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, riots, discrimination, vandalism, and actions restricting the right of individuals to practice their religious beliefs,” the report said. It added, “Authorities often failed to prosecute perpetrators of ‘cow vigilante’ attacks, which included killings, mob violence, and intimidating”. ever since Modi took the charge of the Prime Minister’s office, believers of Islam are suffering from far greater worry than before. They are afraid of hindu nationalists in terms of their religion because BJP-backed goons have initiated brutal beating and assassination of Muslims accused of eating and selling beef, cow smuggling, burglary, dating hindu girls and so on. Syeda hameed, an educator and former member of India’s planning commission told DW, “Indian Muslims are currently facing one of the most trying moments in our history.”

Besides, forced conversion is also touching a summit. Across India, ceremonies are being organized to convert Christians to hinduism . These ceremonies are being held by hardline hindu groups like the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa hindu Parishad. These groups arrange such programmes

Arif Nizami Editor Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

change Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located , to Agravan. From this drive, one can easily notice the intention of ruling party that will to hinduize the enwhich they name “ghar wapsi” (returning home), be- tire country and damage its plural identity.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is ancause they claim Muslims and Christians were hinother move to deprive mildus who had converted to lions of Muslims of their other faiths in the last few citizenship rights and discenturies .In accordance enfranchise them as in this with reports, scores of imKashmir, which has been new amendment religion is poverished families have the basis for granting citibeen forced to change their called Paradise on earth, zenship. faith if they are to dwell seems Hell now due to the Kashmir, which has peacefully in India. In the been called Paradise on town of Agra, 50 Muslim anti-Muslim policies of earth, seems hell now due families were converted to to the anti-Muslim policies Narendra Modi. Since the hinduism against their will. of Narendra Modi. Since the Another report tells that 100 government revoked Article government revoked Article Christians of the western 370 of the Constitution, thus state of Gujarat and 30 of the 370 of the Constitution, thus ending its special status, southern state of Kerala had ending its special status, Kashmiris are enduring inconverted, and a number of human treatment. After absimilar cases had not been Kashmiris are enduring rogation of Articles 370 and reported so far. Dismaying to 35A, military personnel inhuman treatment. After state, the head of the RSS, have been multiplied in the Mohan Bhagwat, vowed to abrogation of Articles 370 Valley and changed it into continue with conversions. the largest open prison of “We will bring back those and 35A, military personnel the world. According to stawho have lost their way. have been multiplied in the tistics, thousands of KashThey did not go on their miris have been killed and own... They were lured into Valley and changed it into rape is being used as tool to leaving.” Fortunately, the Inpunish and suppress their the largest open prison dian Constitution guarantees voices for freedom. the right of religious freeof the world. According to Inter alia, Sikhs are also dom of its citizens but unforsick of the current governtunately, activities carried statistics, thousands of ment, and have been out by BJP-assisted blocs Kashmiris have been killed protesting for several weeks oppose the Constitution. against it because of new Another cruelty which is and rape is being used as tool farm laws that will snatch being perpetrated by the Inaway their livelihood. to punish and suppress their dian government is hinduizWitnessing such atrociing cities’, airports’ and voices for freedom ties and barbarities on the streets’ Muslim names. part of the Indian governScads of names have been ment against its habitants, it changed or proposed for would be justice to label change. here are some exAamles: Allahabad to Prayagraj, Faizabad to Ayod- India not as a democratic state but a cruel state. hya, hyderabad to Bhagyanagar, Muzaffarnagar to The writer is a freelance columnist Laxmi Nagar and attempts have also been made to

India can no longer be called a democracy

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

is the creed officially supported. The previous military ruler, Thein Sein, abandoned politics to become a Buddhist monk. The ugly face of Myanmar was exposed by its persecution of the Rohingya, who are Muslim, and whom Bamar politicians, whether Thein Sein or Suu Kyi, have excluded from Myanmaresehood, claiming that they are not citizens, but the descendants of migrants from what is now Bangladesh.

The military seems to be the main institution the British left the region. Military coups seem to have junta, and it was not until Thein Sein emerged that been quite common in former colonies, and South single individual became the face of the regime. It Asia has had its fair share. Apart from Burma, there was before then that Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a have been coups in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and in leader, and in 1988, her party emerged as the largest both countries the military continues to play a prein elections. however, the military refused to accept eminent role in politics. While Sri Lanka has avoided those results, and made her go into house arrest. a military coup, its Army has been prominent because She emerged from house arrest after the 2015 of the fight against Tamil separatists, and also are imelections, in which her party obtained a majority, bued with Buddhism as an adjunct of Sinhala nationbut did not assume complete power. For example, alism. Only India has not undergone a military she did not become President, and did not reverse takeover, but after the rise of the BJP, does it need to? the government’s ethnic policies, particularly on the The Myanmar coup might point out how the PakRohingya. istan or Bangladesh militaries might choose to regard The present coup has occurred because Suu Kyi’s as a betrayal by the electorate: a coup, so as to reject party, the National League for Democracy, won re- the results. election, and the party that As Bangladesh is showthe military backed, the ing, where the Chief of Union Development and Army Staff, Gen Aziz Solidarity Party, lost again.

Ahmad, is the subject of AlThat meant that the moveThe coup in Myanmar showed Jazeera documentary, the ment towards greater deArmy can become a kleptocthat cooperation with the mocratization was moving racy. The Army is, through forward in a way unacceptthe COAS, providing full military, to the extent of able to the military. Another backing to the government, reason mentioned is that the helping it paper over the and the COAS is busy using Army chief, Sr Gen Min his brothers’ criminality charges of massacring the Aung hlaing, was due to re(three are involved in a murtire this July, upon reaching der) to buy up property Rohingya, does not work. the age of 65. Interestingly, abroad. the retirement age was origThe coup in Myanmar inally fixed at 60, and was showed that cooperation amended in 2014 when with the military, to the exGeneral Min was coming up against it (though still tent of helping it paper over the charges of masover a year short). sacring the Rohingya, does not work. This might have It is interesting to note that the Myanmarese mil- been gauged from the Pakistani case, where the PPP itary relies on the security threat posed by the many and the PML(N) both developed an anti-Army narminorities the country to justify its intervention in rative even though their respective founders came politics. It has positioned itself as the champion of into politics by piggybacking military rulers. What is the majority Bamar ethnicity, imbued with Theravada remarkable is that there have been none of the corBuddhism not so much in itself, but as a nationalist ruption charges so common in Pakistan whenever symbol. That might provide Pakistani observers a re- there has been a military takeover. minder of the Zia Martial Law, but to an extent is inIts international acceptability will also reflect evitable, with the US military a bastion of Christian how far it is imitated in the rest of South Asia. fundamentalism, the Indian military reflecting much Though Myanmar has seen itself as belonging to support for the BJP and the UK military for the South Asia, as reflected in its membership of Church of england. The military seems to reflect a ASeAN rather than SAARC, it has historical links tendency to adopt the religion of the people to fulfill to South east Asia. South east Asia seems to have its own purposes, such as reinforcing discipline. turned away from military coups, but will militaries however, this religion must be subordinated to in the Philippines, Indonesia or Laos be learning lespatriotism. Buddhism would seem a poor candidate sons making them seek a lost prominence? The comfor a warriors’ creed, but as it is part of the Bamar ing days will tell. identity, and that identity is central to Myanmarese patriotism, the Bamar religion, Theravada Buddhism, The writer is a member of staff.

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Friday, 12 February, 2021

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. e-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Hooliganism at IHC

Virginity test, and consent as a defence-plea in rapes one side of the picture.

We live in a society where research conducted by Rai Bahadur Jaising P. Modi showed Two assertive books that have been used for that to get a false conviction of an innocent man, long in Indian and Pakistani jurisdictions are chilies were used to irritate the vagina and to take Modi’s Medical Jurisprudence and Parikh’s it for medical examination in a swelling form.

Medical Jurisprudence. Old versions of these Those acquainted with such cases would know books provide that medical evidence was more that mature parties commits this act mostly out reliable than the claims of women, and scientific of love which afterward converted into fraud. evidence of a woman’s “habituation” to sex— And if the female got pregnant, then the families two fingers test, or rather the virginity test, the to save their honour in society has to take the state of her hymen, and injuries on her body, and stance that rape has been committed. Because if so on, were used to undermine claims of rape. it is proved that the act was the result of love not Modi’s book shows that the “principle of force then the accused would be acquitted. false charges” was commonplace in rape comAnd with respect to dignity, the male accused plaints in India. And Modi also believed that in would also be a child, minor, and mostly under certain situations women consent to intercourse 18 years of age. his parents too have the same and then bring a false charge to blackmail a man. love for him as the victims’ parents. And it has These ideas are also available in editions of been seen that in most mature cases of rape, the Parikh’s Medical Jurisprudence. he even went act was the result of love, which due to extraneone step ahead and said that “rape is an allega- ous circumstances had to be converted into rape. tion, easily made— hard to prove and harder to What if after abolishing the virginity test, the disprove”. To prove his stance, he describes var- accused takes the plea that the act was the result ious artificial injuries, including self-inflicted of love not force, hence, it does not fall within the vulvar and vaginal inambit of rape. how can juries— the important he prove it? Since now one is the irritation of the precedents provide the vagina using chilies that DNA is no requireThe accused too has a in pre-partition India. ment, torn clothes are Therefore, these no requirement, eyefundamental right to a fair textbooks emphasize witnesses are no retrial under Article 10-A of the quirement, injuries on that medical tests, including the virginity body of victim are Constitution, besides victims’ the test, are the most imporno requirement, delay tant to find the true facts right to privacy. And in lodging FIR is not of the alleged rape. fatal, sole statement of whenever two possible These and several other prosecutrix is sufficient, books treat the medical interpretations are possible, a and now lastly the deassessment of virginity fence plea, taken by the view favourable to the as closely connected to alleged accused that the the determination of prosecutrix has had the accused must prevail, rape. Two methods were relationships with him provided for the virginbecause the accused is the and the act was not ity test: one, the twodone “without consent” blue-eyed child of the law, not rather it was the result fingers-test (which involves the certificaof love, is also held to the prosecution tion by a doctor that the be unprovable and inadvagina can admit one, missible. two, or more fingers As Parikh once easily or tightly to said, “rape is an allegademonstrate sexual habituation) and second, an tion, easily made, hard to prove and harder to assessment of the state of the hymen. disprove”, it has now become the ever most difIn India, the learned trial courts regularly ficult case to disprove. used these two pieces of evidence in the deterBecause the “prosecution is bound to prove mination of rape. Until the Indian Supreme its case beyond any reasonable shadow of Court in Lillu alias Rajesh Vs State of Haryana doubt”; if a woman alleges she is a virgin and held that “the two-fingers-test and its interpreta- she has been subjected to rape, then she must tion violates the right of rape survivors to pri- prove the same— either through a virginity test, vacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity. like the two-fingers-test or through other modes Thus, this test, even if the report is affirmative, of forensic science, and the defence must not be cannot ipso facto, be given rise to a presumption taken away the right to take a plea —that the of consent”. In the same vein, the honourable woman is not virgin.

Lahore high Court has also held this test unconThe accused too has a fundamental right to stitutional in its recent most verdict. a fair trial under Article 10-A of the Constitution, It is admitted that the virginity test is viola- besides victims’ right to privacy. And whenever tive of the victim’s fundamental right, an unlaw- two possible interpretations are possible, a view ful intrusion on the right of privacy and sanctity favourable to the accused must prevail, because of a woman. Yes, it degrades and humiliates the the accused is the blue-eyed child of the law, not victim. Moreover, as per International Covenant the prosecution. Because rape is an offence havon economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 1966; ing capital punishment as a sentence; a balanced United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles approach should be adopted through considering of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of the test admissible in evidence for a complainant Power 1985, and now WhO guidelines, rape alleging virginity. survivors are entitled to legal recourse that does The writer is an Assistant District Public not retraumatize them or violate their physical Prosecutor and can be reached at or mental integrity and dignity. however, this is Khokhar.azeem@yahoo.com.

The accused should not be deprived of any tools of defence

hAfIZ MuhAMMAd AZeeM

“T

he prosecution is bound to prove its case beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt”, this is the universally accepted inalienable principle that regulates the conviction of an under-trial accused. This rule is also based on an Islamic law maxim, “It is better that ten guilty persons be acquitted rather than one innocent person be convicted”. Moreover, for the accused to be afforded the right of benefit-of-doubt, it was not necessary that there should be many circumstances creating uncertainty, and if a single circumstance is creating doubt in a prudent mind then the benefit of the same shall be given to the accused as a matter of right. These are the rights of an accused.

On the other hand, it is also an accepted principle of criminal administration of justice that “No offence should go unchecked and no offender unpunished”. And true that rape as an offence is reprehensible, deplorable, despicable, extremely repugnant, and unforgivable, indefensible, outrageous, besides being non-compoundable. however, how much detestable as it is, it is still an offence, and to convict an accused, it too must pass through the above-mentioned test of “proof beyond a reasonable shadow of doubt”.

Rape has been defined as under section 375 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The act would fall in the category of this penal provision if sexual intercourse has been committed by a man with a woman under provided five circumstances— the most important aspect is “without consent” of the prosecutrix. however, if the act has been committed with the consent of each party then it falls in the category of “fornication” under section 496-B in the case of the Pakistan Penal Code, or within the ambit of “zina” in the case of Islamic Law. So, “consent” is one of the major defences that often has been taken by an accused under trial. Therefore, the prosecution is bound to prove that the act was committed “without consent” or the “consent has been taken fraudulently or forcibly”.

It is not astonishing that, at the end of the trial, allegations are mostly found false. howsoever gruesome or heinous as the offence would be in its nature, still it can be allegedly false. In this regards, historically, the textbooks on medical Jurisprudence show that women do allege falsely rape. Therefore, to verify the allegations of rape, medical evidence is given ample space in its trial.

The State exists to protect and secure for the people their basic constitutional rights and for that it creates three pillars, each working within their confined constitutional framework to serve citizens. One such pillar is an independent judiciary which is tasked to protect legal rights of individuals, while the other two are parliament and executive.

The attack on Islamabad high Court by unruly men and women wearing black coats is an attack on the very independence of the judiciary.

If the CJ of Islamabad high Court can be harassed and abused and judges forced to seek refuge from hooligans, then this essential constitutional requirement of independence stands compromised.

The lawyers are there to represent the people and have no other role except to defend litigants who secure their services to protect their legal rights. If the lawyers themselves get involved in irregularities such as construction on amenity plots or land which does not belong to them, then they are guilty of criminal offences and must be dealt with in accordance with laws and not through compromising of law. Crime nourishes, states collapse and mafias thrive when laws become hostage to whims of few.

The IhC judges and all others have sworn an oath to defend the constitution and must work strictly within their jurisdiction to interpret laws in existence. The Courts cannot become hostage to the dictates of lawyer’s representatives, nor bar associations elected by them. If lawyers are not willing to submit to law, then citizens must be given the right to represent themselves before judges. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, a country created through constitutional political struggle, the power of the people and their right to choose those who may exercise the power to govern, in accordance with laws and constitution was usurped by few and ever since that, this country has suffered abuse from within and outside.

Malik Tariq ali lahore

Kashmir issue head on The people of Kashmir, despite all the odds, have never lost hope in the right of self-determination. The Kashmiri diaspora does not need to remind them that. The diaspora needs to simply take the reins, open the doors, pave the road, and take advantage of those opportunities that become available to express that will. history has shown that it has not been done, and it will in all likelihood not be done unless there is unity not only at the bottom but also at the top.

Dr. Farhan Chak, Canadian-Kashmiri scholars has written that “there are few hundred Kashmiri organizations in the United Kingdom and hundreds elsewhere throughout the world. This level of multiplicity is not only unnecessary but counter productive to Kashmir’s right to selfdetermination. Any close scrutiny of the rise and fall of nations proves that no one conquer a united house. Civilizations disappear by suicide, not murder.” It’s time, my fellow Kashmiris, for a bouquet of flowers. It’s time to see all the flowers together, working together, gleaming brightly in the sunlight of Kashmiri beauty. It’s time that we fill that vase with all the flowers that Kashmir has to offer, the people. It’s time that the diaspora gives all that flows from its heart, because it is only then that the people will respond with theirs and demonstrate the power of their love for their country, Kashmir – the paradise on earth. The role of our global Kashmiri diaspora becomes much more pertinent and important after the developments since August 5, 2019 and because of the changes occurring at a global level. They need to understand that a leader has to sacrifice his ego for the good of the people. A leader cannot be tossed about by the waves of the wind but he should be able to correct his course accordingly.

Leadership always sets the pace. Leadership must always inspire.

GhulaM Nabi lahore

Global warming GLOBAL warming is increasing our earth’s temperature, due to toxic gases like carbondioxide, chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide. Michael oppen heimer is a nobel prize winning climate scientist. he talked on “GS” about the global warming. he is alerting the world about the climate change. he is talking that the world is going to a new danger zone due to pollution, which is caused by new technology, industrial gases like rising carbon dioxide.Our sea levels are rising and ocean’s temperature has increased due to melting of ice sheets and glaciers. he is talking about how human beings protect themselves from global warming. he talks that we should not only optimist but we work hard and struggle about the climate change. The first climate change treaty signed by developed countries in 1992. In Paris climate agreement 90 countries participated on board. The developed countries like US, Germany, France, UK activated about global warming but the developing countries should also be activated. The developing countries like China, India and Pakistan solving global warming to less carbon and more oxygen for our ideal world and grow greenery for the benefit of society, so we should control the global warming and make our world a real world. haMdia askaNi, hub

Increase salaries GIVeN the severe impacts of rising inflation across the country, the Federal Government employees have been demanding increase in their salaries from the incumbent government and staging sit-in in the capital since a long time.

As the Government remained adamant not to increase their salaries, the employees had to protest against it in Islamabad. Instead of entertaining their legal demands appropriately, the government apparatus resorted to shelling, jailling, baton-charing and voilence to disperse off the peaceful demonstrators. While the government blames of the protesters being played into the hands of the opposition it is a fact that when the protests or sit-ins are staged anywhere in the world, it is meant that either the government has failed to improve the conditions of the people or it turns blind eye to the core issues faced by them. The government must accept the legal demands of the Federal Government employees and release the jailed demonstrators and should not have resorted to voilence and high-handed tactics to shy away from its responsibilities. riaz ahMad sooMro shikarpur

Friday, 12 February, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

HOw tHe military Has Held OntO pOwer in myanmar POLITICS MOVES SLOWLY IN MYANMAR – THE MILITARY LIKES IT THAT WAY

conversaTion

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MIcHaeL W cHaRNey

HE military once again hold the reins of power in Myanmar. Citing constitutional provisions that give the military control in national emergencies, army officers detained government leaders in the early hours of February 1 2021, including state counsellor and popular national leader aung San Suu Kyi. an announcement on military television said the move was in response to “fraud” during last year’s general election. a spokesman said power had been handed to the army’s commander-in-chief, General Min aung Hlaing, who would hold power for one year, after which there would be new elections.

Military control of the government is nothing new for the Burmese people. in one way or another, the military has controlled the country since 1962. The post-independence civilian government got off to a bad start in 1948. in July 1947 the charismatic nationalist leader General aung San, the fa-

ther of aung San Suu Kyi, was assassinated and leadership was inherited by the less politically agile U nu.

Civil War broke out in 1949 between the government and an array of different insurgent forces, including communist and ethnic armies. as the civil war waged on and national politics became increasingly divisive, the military came to see itself as the only force that could hold the country together.

General ne Win, who took power in a military coup, took the country economically and politically down a road informed by a new ideology that mixed together Buddhism and Marxism, known as the “Burmese Way to Socialism”. it brought an end to democratic institutions and civil liberties. nationalisation of the economy and the forced sales by farmers of produce to the government removed private incentives and ruined the economy, leading to mass protests in the rainy season of 1988.

These displays of pent-up frustration including hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets forced ne Win to step down.

This brought to the fore aung San’s daughter, aung San Suu Kyi and a new political force, the national league for democracy (nld). another military takeover followed, overtly to “restore order”, with the promise of new general elections in 1990.

When aung San Suu Kyi and the nld swept the elections, the military cried foul and arrested her, preventing the nld from taking power. during nearly six decades in power, the military has been guided by several moti-

vations. Chief among them are the army’s majoritarian nationalism dominated by the Burmese-speaking, Buddhist, Bamar ethnic group and the fear of any open democracy in which ethnic minorities, roughly 30% or so of the population, might gain too much power.

But the most durable motivation is that keeping control of – or at least maintaining a secure veto – over civilian government is a permanent necessity for the Burmese military. The upper echelons of the military and their families have used their control to enrich themselves, largely at the expense of pre-existing political and social elites. The continued wealth of their families would be threatened by any new government that could punish the corruption, reverse the land transfers and demand transfer of foreign bank accounts whose existence explains in part why most Burmese are so poor.

The military has followed a pattern of controlling the government for as long as it can in one guise and then, when a crisis hits, reinventing the official purpose for its continued control under another guise – and another name. So the revolutionary Council in 1962 gave way to the Burma Socialist Programme Party government in 1974. This gave way to the State law and Order restoration Council in 1988, followed by the State Peace and development Committee in 1997, which in turn was replaced in 2010 by the Thein Sein interim government.

What had been touted as a true democratic transition when the 2008 constitution

was implemented, actually set up a system whereby the military still maintained enough power, through its veto power and control of a 25% block of parliamentary seats, to block any reforms that would lead to real change.

This was particularly the case given they had banned nld leader aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president.

But this changed in 2016 when the ndl, having won an earlier round of elections in 2015, created the office of state counsellor for aung San Suu Kyi. The move allowed her to be the de facto leader, with Win Myint as the figurehead president. in 2017, the Myanmar military launched a brutal assault on the rohingya ethnic group in the province of rakhine in Western Myanmar. Thanks to social media campaigns on platforms such as like Facebook, the majority Bamar Buddhist population had been whipped up into an anti-islamic frenzy. aung San Suu Kyi did not oppose the military’s actions as the military had hoped, which would have lost her a great deal of popular support. instead she denied the military’s culpability, joined in the military’s political game of not recognising the rohingya as a nationalist cause, supported the arrest of journalists who had discovered evidence for the military’s actions and even defended the military, most recently in 2019 in the international Court of Justice. These actions were the reason she has lost the human rights halo she once held in the eyes of the world.

But rather than win the military’s favour, army leaders were perturbed that

their actions had not cost her and the nld Burmese public support. Her continued popularity was demonstrated in november 2020 when the nld swept the elections.

The military’s fear that it was losing the nation, and that aung San Suu Kyi might use this support to force constitutional changes, override the military’s control and bring their game to an end, meant that something had to be done.

The current military front party, the Union Solidarity and development Party (USdP), claimed election fraud – perhaps drawing a lesson from donald Trump in the United States. On January 28, Myanmar’s election commission rejected these claims and validated the nld victory.

Planning for the takeover of the government evidently began immediately. i have been told privately that there were two days of Chinese-brokered negotiations between nld leaders and the military that came to naught when aung San refused to budge to military demands. The military moved the next morning and Burmese woke up to yet another version of military control. as so many times after so many coups and “corrective moves” made before, the future of the country is in the military’s hands. Sooner or later military rule in Myanmar will assume yet another guise – with another claim that it marks the beginning of a real transition. But only until it threatens to actually lead to real change. Then Myanmar is likely to see the cycle repeated again. Politics moves slowly in Myanmar – the military likes it that way.

Michael W. Charney is Professor of Asian and Military History at SOAS, University of London.

Media as target: is Jeff Bezos the greatest chief On ed searches at executive in tech history? newsclick Office AMAZON’S FOUNDER HAS DRAWN ACCOLADES, BUT THERE ARE STRONGER CANDIDATES FOR THE TITLE SUCH AS ELON MUSK

THERE MUST BE NO ROOM FOR SUSPICION THAT AGENCIES ARE BEING USED FOR CURBING DISSENT

O

Hindu

rdinarily, searches and seizures are the legitimate starting point of an investigation, done on the basis of prior information. But the Ed’s raids in the office of independent digital news platform newsClick, and in the residence of its promoter and editor-in-chief, have invited justified condemnation from organisations representing the media. There is every likelihood that this operation is linked to the platform’s in-depth coverage of ongoing protests as well as the various struggles of the people and the grassroot organisations that represent them. Ostensibly arising from an Fir registered by the delhi police some months ago, the Ed is said to be investigating alleged money-laundering to the tune of ₹30 crore. not much is known about the nature of the police case, but the agency is empowered by the Prevention of Money-laundering act to investigate if the proceeds of crime related to a ‘predicate offence’ have been laundered. Whether such a primary offence has been established or not, and if so, whether newsClick is in any way linked to it, is unclear. However, in the light of the manner in which the central agency is wont to enter the scene to investigate both real and imaginary allegations against anyone vocally critical of the government, it is difficult to brush aside the suspicion that the website is being targeted for its coverage of the farmers’ agitation as well as last year’s countrywide protests against the Citizenship (amendment) act.

The present regime’s record is quite dismal when it comes to the obvious use of central agencies such as the CBi, Ed, iT and even the nia, to rein in dissenting voices. it is unfortunate that specialised agencies are allowing themselves to be used as force multipliers in political battles against sections of the Opposition. amidst claims that there are varying kinds of conspiracies against the government and india, it is no surprise that relentless journalistic focus on protests, which are basically steps taken in pursuit of redress for public grievances, is inviting repressive action. laws that are serious in nature and ought not to be invoked lightly are being used with abandon against those seen to have invited the establishment’s wrath.

This may explain the frequency with which the offence of sedition is being invoked for speeches and writings, while allegations of antinational activity peddled by those groomed to build such narratives lead to action under the Unlawful activities (Prevention) act. in other instances, cases of promoting social enmity or outraging religious sentiments are also slapped selectively to ‘discipline’ comedians and script-writers. The Supreme Court’s intervention has protected prominent journalists from arrest for defamation for tweets that turned out to be incorrect. it no more behoves a responsible and responsive government to dismiss criticism of its treatment of dissenters, including journalists who do not agree with it, as motivated or inspired by foreign elements.

Financial Times

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JOHN THORNHILL

EFF Bezos has said that one of his greatest achievements during his 27 years as amazon chief executive was making people yawn. routinely turning a surprising invention, such as “insanely fast” shipping or accessible cloud computing, into something commonplace enough to provoke a yawn had been the secret of his company’s success.

“That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive,” Bezos wrote last week in an email to amazon’s 1.3m employees. rather than yawning, amazon’s shareholders have been cheering him after Bezos said he would step down as chief executive this summer.

Some were quick to declare the entrepreneur, who built a start-up online bookseller into a multinational machine with a stock market valuation of $1.7tn, as arguably the greatest chief executive in tech history. it is an interesting idea, although much depends on what yardsticks are used to measure greatness. Should it be evaluated by total returns to shareholders, by the transformational use of technology, or personal example and impact on society?

Ben Thompson, author of the Stratechery newsletter, has made a strong case for why Bezos deserves the accolade. in the 1990s, amazon’s founder was among the first to realise the implications of the astonishing rise in internet use, then growing faster than anything “outside a Petri dish”, as he put it. in his annual shareholder letters, Bezos described the new rules of this internet economy and obsessed about putting customers first.

Guided by these principles, he built three extraordinary businesses: amazon’s ecommerce platform, its cloud computing division and its marketplace for other sellers. By realising his vision of creating the Everything Store, Bezos has enabled millions of customers to buy goods,

work remotely and binge-watch films during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bezos will stay as executive chairman but has said he wants to spend more time on outside interests, including space travel, environmental projects and the Washington Post, which he owns. He may be stepping back from the company at a good time. although amazon has created much of the indispensable infrastructure of the internet economy, outsiders are increasingly questioning its societal cost. newly energised congressional trustbusters, aggrieved competitors and overworked employees and trade unions are all in hot pursuit of the company. in spite of Bezos’s success, many people would still pick Steve Jobs as the tech industry’s greatest chief executive. The visionary founder of apple launched the Macintosh computer, the iPhone and transformed consumer technology. When he stepped down as CEO in 2011, shortly before his death, he received almost universal adulation.

“Steve Jobs is the greatest leader our industry has ever known,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.

Others would choose Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, who built the world’s biggest personal computer software company, which has opened up technology for billions of users. When he stepped down as CEO in 2000, during a bruising antitrust battle with regulators, then president Bill Clinton hailed Gates as a “genius of technol-

ogy”.

But both Jobs and Gates have been eclipsed by their successors when it comes to delivering financial returns. Tim Cook has added $1.9tn to apple’s market value since taking over as CEO in 2011, while Satya nadella has added $1.5tn at Microsoft since 2014.

My vote would go to Elon Musk, who has just overtaken Bezos as the world’s richest person (as long as you accept Tesla’s bubble-territory stock as currency). it is sometimes difficult to disentangle Musk’s achievements from all the galactic hype and tech bro nonsense that envelops him. But no one can doubt his astonishing technological advances. if the measure used to determine greatness is who has put the biggest dent in the universe, to play with Jobs’s formulation, it is hard to beat someone whose portfolio includes Tesla, SpaceX, Solar City and neuralink. CB insights reckons he is disrupting eight industries. in Tesla, Musk has built a car company that has popularised electric vehicles and accelerated the use of battery technology. Only four organisations have ever launched astronauts into deep space: the governmental agencies of russia, the US and China and his SpaceX. Musk dreams big, inspires invention and delivers extraordinary results. His career may yet end in a spectacular explosion. But the last thing you can accuse him of is provoking yawns.

Friday, 12 February, 2021

BUSINESS 09

LAHORE

FBR BoaRd aPPRoveS eSTaBLIShmenT oF ‘Tax PoLICy unIT’ undeR FInanCe dIvISIon ISLAMABAD

PCJCCI laments regulatory hurdles in import of medical equipment LAHORE: Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry Vice President Khalid Raffique Choudhry has urged the government to withdraw regulatory hurdles to be faced by the importers of refurbished medical equipment.

He was briefed by Pakistan Medical Equipment Importers & Dealers Association (PMEIDA) on Thursday with regard to the recent problems that emerged under the Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan’s new condition of ‘licensing for import of the used hospital machinery’.

PMEIDA delegation that met PCJCCI vice president included Al Rafay Traders CEO Qaiser Anwer and Bio Vision CEO Masroor Ahmed Khan, whereas Khalid Raffique was accompanied by PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif. The delegation complained that Pakistan Customs Department had initiated a new practice of asking the importers to produce DRAP Establishment License, which was never asked retrospectively. Due to this condition, importers are facing significant detention charges and demurrages; despite the fact they are the largest source of providing hospital machinery to the private sector hospitals in the country. STAFF REPORT

Global financial services company Stripe invests in Karachi-based Safepay LAHORE: Karachi-based fintech startup Safepay has announced raising a seven-figure seed funding round led by global financial services company Stripe, among other investors. Besides Stripe, other investors in the round include Global Founders Capital, HOF Capital, Soma Capital, and Mantis Capital, in addition to Pakistani VC Fatima Gobi Ventures. In 2020, SafePay raised $150,000 as part of the accelerator programme at American technology accelerator Y Combinator, which also launched SafePay’s recent investor Stripe in 2014.

Safepay was founded in 2019 by Ziyad Parekh and Raza Naqvi with the aim of increasing the acceptance for online payments. In 2019, it launched a beta product which scaled quickly to reach 300 merchants across the country and became particularly popular among other startups. However, services were taken offline a year later as the company initiated its next stage which required working within the framework of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). “We feel well-positioned with the right partners backing us to help build on the increasing volume of digital payments as well as work with other Pakistani fintechs to further our vision," Parekh said in a press release. "In particular, initiatives from the SBP such as Raast will lead to an upward trajectory towards digital payments, to which we want to contribute. We want to see the country’s online economy grow and provide merchants with the right tools to achieve this," he added.

“Safepay’s commitment to increasing digital payments in Pakistan will become even more vital as the country continues to pursue a fully digital economy and increases its role in global trade.” Stripe Asia Pacific region Business Lead Noah Pepper said. The fintech plans to use the new funds to focus on investing in engineering talent to increase digital payment acceptance in Pakistan beyond credit and debit cards, including mobile wallets and bank accounts. Other than that, it will be using the money to further develop its products, expand its team, and obtain regulatory compliance, which in this case is the Payments Service Provider licence, the press release said. “The choice of backers reflects a combination of funds that already have links with other businesses in the market and that are bullish on the entrepreneurial space in Pakistan," Naqvi said. "Backing from Stripe, in particular, will provide Safepay with unique guidance towards becoming a leading technology provider, building world-class products in the context of local payments and commerce,” he noted. TAIMOOR HASSAN

T

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE Federal Board of Revenue's Policy Board has given a go-ahead to the establishment of a 'Tax Policy Unit' under the administrative control of the Finance Division.

The meeting of the FBR Policy Board was held under the chair of Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Thursday.

According to the finance ministry, the tax department had made a presentation regarding the establishment of a tax policy unit in accordance with the cabinet decision dated 29 November

2018. The briefing highlighted the advantages of keeping the tax policy function independent of administrative functions.

After due deliberations, the chair accorded approval for the establishment of the policy unit under the administrative control of the Finance Division.

According to details, the new setup, consisting of FBR members as well as fiscal and economic experts from academia, think tanks and the private sector, would present holistic proposals to mobilise revenue generation with greater autonomy.

The tax policy unit would also work out policy recommendations for domestic tax collection on the lines of the Na-

tional Tariff Commission, which operates under the Ministry of Commerce.

Meanwhile, FBR's Technical Committee apprised the policy board of measures taken to identify anomalies and simplify the taxation system for a better understanding of the business community.

The FBR was requested to include senior representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industries & Production for better coordination and effective policymaking in this regard.

Furthermore, the Complaint Oversight Committee (COC) chairman briefed the policy board on the workings of a newly developed complaint portal which was currently running on

PSX denies placing WorldCall Ltd on defaulters' list KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday denied the placement of Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL) in its defaulters' segment.

"PSX has received multiple calls for confirmation on an alleged PSX notice no. PSX/N-215, dated February 11, 2021, circulating on social media, relating to the placement of WTL in defaulters' segment. It is hereby clarified to all market participants that the aforementioned notice is fake and is not issued by PSX Limited," a statement issued by the exchange read.

The PSX advised all investors/market participants to follow PSX website [for companies' announcements] for correct information and not pay heed to any unverified notice/information seen on social media platforms.

"It is re-emphasized to all concerned that all notices issued by

PSX are placed and disseminated through PSX corporate website," the statement read. "PSX reserves the right to initiate legal proceedings against those involved in circulation of fake notice."

Meanwhile, expressing resentment over the development, WTL said in a statement to the exchange, "It has come to our notice through

various social media platforms and queries from stakeholders that absolutely fake and misleading information, with no authenticity whatsoever, is being spread regarding the company. I, being the company secretary, explicitly deny any such news and would once again advise all stakeholders to follow PSX website for correct information."

CCP imposes Rs150m fine on Reckitt Benckiser Pak Ltd ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed fines worth Rs150 million on Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited for violating the Competition Act 2010 by making misleading marketing claims about its product, Strepsils.

According to CCP, M/s Square Distribution & Marketing System (Pvt.) Limited sent a formal complaint alleging that M/s Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited has been disseminating misleading information to consumers by creating an impression that its product can be sued as a drug to cure sore throat and cough.

It was alleged that the product was de-registered as a drug when acquired by Reckitt from Boots in 2005, and then re-launched with a disclaimer stating 'Nonmedicated Lozenges'; however, the company made no effort to educate and inform consumers regarding the discontinuation of the medicinal ingredient in it.

The CCP’s enquiry concluded that the marketing campaign of the respondent appears to be deceptive in terms of Section 10 of the Act in general, read with sub-section 10(2) (b), which prohibits the distribution of false and misleading information to consumers.

Moreover, the marketing campaign demonstrates that the public was actually deceived into perceiving that Strepsils was a medicated sore throat remedy.

Keeping in view the history of the brand and also the fact that, internationally, it is known and marketed in various jurisdictions as a medicinal product, the disclosure of such fact becomes material for its marketing in Pakistan.

The bench ruled that the marketing campaign had misled consumers and harmed businesses, whereas the respondent was not able to substantiate as to how and to what extent efforts had been made to inform the general public about change in the formula of its product, observing that the disclaimer on the box was not adequate.

The company has been ordered to stop misleading marketing of Strepsils and print the disclaimer, ‘nonmedicated, in English and Urdu in bold letters on the product box as well as on the strips.

The bench has given Reckitt Pakistan 40 days, starting from the date of the order, for compliance whereas the company has also been ordered to publish weekly advertisements in at least three English and Urdu newspapers having nationwide circulation regarding the change in the character of the product from medicated to food category in Pakistan.

a trial basis.

The complaint resolution system has been designed to facilitate businessmen, traders, small & medium enterprises (SMEs) and large taxpayers, where all complaints can be filed in one place, officials said.

The chair directed the officials to disseminate relevant information about the working of the complaint registration mechanism and ensure that contact details were readily available for public consumption.

The finance minister further directed FBR to expedite the process of income tax refunds of less than Rs50 million to uphold the government commitment's of taxpayers' facilitation.

PTCL Group conducts successful 5G trials ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

PTCL Group has successfully tested 5G technology in a special ceremony held at its headquarters, a statement issued on Thursday read. The trial was conducted in a limited environment on a non-commercial basis.

During the ceremony, Information Technology & Telecommunication Minister Syed Aminul Haque was given an overview on the live 5G usage scenarios. The demonstrations included remote surgery, cloud gaming and overview of anticipated 5G technology applications in Pakistan. The PTCL Group, during the 5G trial, was able to achieve the fastest data rate, with download speeds reaching 1.685 Gbps in a limited environment. "PTCL Group demonstrated a 5G remote surgery trial that will help in making the lives of people better. Once the ecosystem is developed, doctors will be able to conduct surgeries remotely in far-flung areas.

In addition, it will create new social and economic development opportunities that will make the dream of Digital Pakistan a reality," the statement read. Speaking on the occasion, Syed Aminul Haque said, "I am glad to be present at this crucial event as PTCL Group takes a momentous step of [conducting] successful trial of 5G technology in Pakistan. I believe that communication plays a major role in the socioeconomic development and uplift of financial inclusion in the country. 5G technology will surely enable an emerging technological environment and ecosystem conducive for economic prosperity in Pakistan." Meanwhile, IT and Telecommunication Secretary Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui said, "We are committed to the vision of a Digital Pakistan. PTCL Group's successful 5G trial today is a major step that will pave the way towards digitalization of Pakistan. This technology will open new avenues in many fields such as education, health, security and communication that will have a positive social and economic impact on our country." In his address, PTCL Group Acting CEO & Group CFO Nadeem Khan stated, "PTCL has been serving the nation since 1947 as an integral part of everyone's lives in the country. With today's successful 5G trial in a limited environment, we believe that this technology will unlock new realities for eHealth, smart homes & cities, agriculture, autonomous vehicles, Cloud computing, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. PTCL Group's remote surgery demo enabled by 5G, successfully tested for the first time in Pakistan, will enable people living in far-flung areas to potentially have access to the best medical facilities available anywhere in the world."

MARKET DAILY

Stocks bleed 588 points on selling pressure; volume nears all-time high KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Bears dominated the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, with the indices trading negative for the most part despite volumes surging to the second-highest level in the exchange’s history.

Global equity markets, on the other hand, displayed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price falling 0.53pc to $58.37 while Brent crude price declining 0.57pc to $61.13 (as at 3:56pm).

"The market touched yet another historic high volume today; however, the index also slid over 650 points despite a positive start.

Cement sector performed well earlier in the day, with PIOC and DGKC hitting upper circuits. On the other hand, banks, E&P, O&GMCs witnessed aggressive selling, which brought the index down," a report issued Arif Habib Ltd read.

MARKET SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session on Thursday, registering its intraday high at 46,935.32 (+291.03 points) and low at 45,960.44 (-683.85 points). It settled lower

by 588.77 points at 46,055.52.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 646.33 points to end at 75,638.49, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 410.70 points, closing at 31,704.67.

The overall market volumes inflated further from 1.01 billion shares in the previous session to 1.12 billion shares (+11pc). Average traded value also increased by 30pc, from 171.6 million to $223.8 million. Worldcall Telecom Ltd (WTL -10.71pc) led the volume chart for the second consecutive session with 353.57 million shares exchanging hands, followed

CMYK

by Telecard Ltd (TELE -11.76pc) and KElectric Ltd (KEL -4.63pc). The scrips had exchanged 97.50 million and 47.09 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that drove the benchmark index south included banking (-151.97 points), technology & communication (-89.99 points) and oil & gas exploration (-75.54 points). Among the companies, TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -65.14 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (PSO -40.87 points), and Habib Bank Ltd (HBL -37.99 points) dented the index the most.

Shedding 4.08pc from its cumulative

market capitalization, the technology & communication sector ended as the session's worst performer, with NetSol Technologies Ltd (NETSOL -7.49pc), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTC 2.80pc) and Systems Ltd (SYS -2.63pc) ending in the negative.

On the financial side, Cherat Packaging Ltd (CPPL -0.43pc) announced earnings per share of Rs5.08 for 2QFY21 as compared to Rs0.39 in 2QFY20, whereas Engro Powergen Qadirpur Ltd (EPQL +0.58pc) declared an EPS of Rs6.42 for FY20 as against Rs10.51 in FY19.

Friday, 12 February, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

LAHORE

BIdEn And XI hold fIrst phonE cAll AmId tEnsE Us-chInA rElAtIons WASHINGTON/BEIJING

U

AGENCIES

NITED States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held their first telephone call as leaders, with Biden saying a free and open Indo-Pacific was a priority and Xi warning confrontation would be a ‘disaster’ for both nations.

Biden also underscored his “fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair practices, its crackdown in Hong Kong, reported human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan”, the White House said in a statement.

Xi told Biden that confrontation would be a “disaster” and the two sides should re-

establish the means to avoid misjudgments, according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s account of the call, which took place on Thursday morning in Beijing time but Wednesday evening in the US. But the Chinese leader also maintained a hardline tone regarding Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan, which Xi told Biden were matters of “sovereignty and territorial integrity” that he hopes the United States will approach cautiously.

It was the first call between Xi and a US president since the Chinese leader spoke with former President Donald Trump in March last year. Since then, relations between the two countries have plunged to their worst level in decades, with Trump blaming China for the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the Trump administration, the

United States launched a series of actions against China, including a trade war, sanctions against Chinese officials and firms perceived to be security threats and challenging Beijing’s South China Sea territorial claims.

Chinese officials have expressed cautious optimism that bilateral relations will improve under Biden and urged Washington to meet Beijing halfway.

Xi congratulated Biden on his election in a message in November, even though Biden had called him a “thug” during the campaign and vowed to lead an international effort to “pressure, isolate and punish China.”

NO CHANGE IN US-CHINA POLICY: The Biden administration has made it clear that it will continue to maintain pressure on China, however, although it has also pledged

to take a more multilateral approach.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters ahead of the telephone call that Biden would be “practical, hard-headed, clear-eyed” in dealings with Xi, but wanted to ensure they had the opportunity to have an open line of communication, despite US concerns about Chinese behaviour.

The official said the call came at a time when the United States believed it was in a position of strength, after consultations with allies and partners, to lay out core concerns about China’s “aggressive activities and abuses”.

The Biden administration will look in coming months at adding “new targeted restrictions” on certain sensitive technology exports to China in cooperation with allies and partners, the official said. He also said

there would be no quick moves to lift the tariffs the former Trump administration left in place against Chinese imports.

The call came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on Friday.

That was the first announced high-level exchange between top diplomats from the two countries since former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Yang in Hawaii last June.

In his call, Blinken said Washington would stand up for human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong — all issues Yang had days earlier said the United States should stay out of.

Biden has said Beijing is Washington’s “most serious competitor”, and his administration has indicated it will broadly continue the tough approach taken by Trump.

Indian authorities begin drilling in attempt to rescue workers trapped in tunnel NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Indian authorities on Thursday began drilling inside a tunnel in the Himalayas in an attempt to rescue more than 35 workers trapped there after a flash flood that destroyed dams and bridges.

About 171 people remain unaccounted for since Sunday's disaster in Uttarakhand state, most of them workers at the TapovanVishnugad hydroelectric project and at the smaller Rishiganga dam, which was swept away by the torrent.

So far, the bodies of 33 people have been found, the state police chief's office said.

While scores are thought to have been washed away as rock and debris surged down the

Dhauliganga River, rescue efforts have been focused on saving an estimated 35 workers stuck in a 2.5 km tunnel connected to the Tapovan project. But the slush and water has been so heavy that soldiers have made only halting progress in four days. After clearing more than 100 metres of mud, rocks and debris, relief workers on Thursday sent water tankers and generators deep into the tunnel to assist in drilling. The men are trying to search for signs of life in smaller tunnels and rooms branching off from the main passage, officials said. Relatives continued to arrive at the site, but five days after the disaster, there was frustration at the lack of progress.

"They are not telling us anything," said Praveen Saini, whose nephew, Ajay Kumar Saini,

is trapped in the tunnel. Another was holding onto hope that his brother had survived after he was able to ring his mobile. "If his phone survived, maybe he survived," Jugal Kishore said. Originally thought to be a glacier breaking apart in the country's second highest, Nanda Devi mountain, and crashing into the river, some scientists now say the flood was more likely to have been caused by an avalanche. "It appears that the event was caused by a very large rockfall from high up the mountainside which picked up lots of snow and ice on the way down and melted these because of the frictional heat created by the rock fall," said Stephan Harrison, professor of Climate and Environmental Change at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

Biden approves order for sanctions on Myanmar generals, businesses WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar and he repeated demands for the generals to give up power and free civilian leaders. Biden said the order enabled his administration “to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members.”

Washington would identify the first round

of targets this week and was taking steps to prevent the generals in Myanmar, also known as Burma, having access to $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States. “We’re also going to impose strong exports controls.

We’re freezing US assets that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly,” Biden said at the White House. “We’ll be ready to impose additional measures, and we’ll continue to work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts.”

Iran produces uranium metal, IAEA says, in latest breach of deal VIENNA AGENCIES

Iran has carried out its plan to produce uranium metal, the UN atomic watchdog confirmed on Wednesday, despite Western powers having warned Iran that would breach their 2015 nuclear deal as uranium metal can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iran began breaching its nuclear deal with major powers step by step in 2019 in response to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal the previous year and Washington’s reimposition of sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has in recent months accelerated those breaches of the deal’s restrictions on its atomic activities, potentially complicating efforts to bring the United States back into the deal under President Joe Biden. A law passed in response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist in November, which Tehran blames on its foe Israel, called for steps including opening a uranium metal plant. Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency in December it planned to produce uranium metal fuel for a research reactor. “Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi today informed IAEA Member States about recent developments regarding Iran’s R&D activities on uranium metal production as part of its stated aim to produce fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor,” the IAEA said in a statement. Wednesday’s report, seen by Reuters, and a previous one said that Iran planned to carry out research on uranium metal using natural uranium before moving on to uranium metal enriched to 20 per cent, the level it is enriching uranium to now, short of the 90 per cent that is weapons grade.

The February 1 coup and detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi presents Biden him with his first major international crisis, and a test of his dual pledges to recentre human rights in foreign policy and work more closely with allies. “I again call on the Burmese military to immediately release the democratic political leaders and activists,” he said. “The military must relinquish power it’s seized.”

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was rolling out collective actions with partners on Myanmar.”We can impose substantial costs ourselves.

Friday, 12 February, 2021

SPORTS 11

LAHORE

Rizwan's hundRed helps pakistan outlast south afRica LAHORE

i

AGENCIES

N-form wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a maiden hundred as Pakistan edged out South Africa by three runs in a thrilling last over finish to first Twenty20 international in Lahore on Thursday.

Needing 19 to win off the last over, Bjorn Fortuin (17 not out) and Dwaine Pretorius (15 not out) managed 15 as pacer Faheem Ashraf held his nerves to keep South Africa down to 166-6 in 20 overs.

Rizwan's cracking 64-ball 104 not out had six boundaries and seven sixes -- most sixes by a Pakistan batsman in a Twenty20 international -- to lift the hosts to 169-6.

He then ran out the tourists' topscorer Reeza Hendricks (54) in the 18th over to anchor the win.

Hendricks and Janneman Malan (44) had given the visitors a solid 53-run start by the seventh over before leg-spinner Usman Qadir took two overs in successive overs to derail South Africa.

South Africa's most experienced batsmen David Miller (six) and skipper Heinrich Klaasen (12) also failed to lift the tempo.

Hendricks's fifth Twenty20 international fifty had eight boundaries off 42 balls while Malan hit eight boundaries and a six off just 29 balls.

For Pakistan, Qadir took 2-21

and fast bowler Haris Rauf finished with 2-44.

It was Rizwan all through Pakistan's 20 overs of batting.

Rizwan, who scored his maiden Test hundred in Pakistan's second Test win in Rawalpindi earlier this week, added 68 for the second wicket with Haider Ali who made 21.

It lifted Pakistan–sent in to bat– from a disastrous start which saw skipper and top batsman Babar Azam run out off the second ball of the match for nought.

Azam hit a drive off spinner Fortuin and ran for single but the bowler threw the stump at the nonstriker end with a direct throw.

Rizwan held the innings at one end, changing gears in the 11th over when he hit three sixes off pacer Junior Dala to reach his fifty.

On his way to hundred he was dropped twice on 83 and 96 but he smashed medium pacer Andile Phehlukwayo over the deep midwicket boundary for his seventh six to complete hundred off 63 balls.

Rizwan is the only second Pakistan batsmen to score a Twenty20 international century behind Ahmed Shehzad who achieved the feat in Dhaka against Bangladesh in the World Cup seven years ago.

Phehlukwayo was the best South Africa bowler with 2-33.

The remaining two matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday, also in Lahore.

Bonner puts West Indies on par in second Bangladesh Test

MELBOURNE

WEST INDIES 223 FOR 5 (BONNER 74 NOT OUT, DA SILVA 22 NOT OUT, JAYED 2-46, TAIJUL 2-64) VS BANGLADESH DHAKA AGENCIES

Nkrumah Bonner scored an unbeaten half-century as the West Indies and Bangladesh shared the honours on the opening day of the second and final Test in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bonner hit 74, guiding the West Indies to 223-5 at stumps after skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and elected to bat first at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva was unbeaten on 22 alongside Bonner at the close.

Pacer Abu Jayed (2-46) and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam (2-64) were the most successful bowlers for Bangladesh, who must win the match to avoid a defeat in the two-Test series.

Brathwaite hit 47 from 122 balls as the West Indies seized the early momentum, before the hosts clawed their way back into the contest.

Taijul made the first breakthrough, dismissing John Campbell lbw for 36 to end his 66-run

Rowdy fan kicked out as Nadal powers on in Australia AGENCIES

opening stand with Brathwaite.

Campbell reviewed the decision in vain after he attempted a sweep off a flighted delivery only to miss the line.

Shayne Moseley dragged one off Jayed to be bowled for seven after the West Indies resumed the post-lunch session with 84-1.

Occasional pace bowler Soumya induced an edge from Brathwaite, which was caught by Najmul Hossain at first slip.

Brathwaite, who looked solid until his only loose shot of the day, departed after hitting four fours in his dodged innings.

Jayed delivered a telling blow by dismissing first Test hero Kyle Mayers, who was caught by Soumya at slip.

Taijul then took a catch off his own bowling in the final session to remove Jermaine Blackwood for 28. It ended Blackwood's impressive 62-run fifth wicket stand with Bonner, who scored 86 in the second innings of the first Test.

The West Indies lead the two-match series 10 after winning the first Test in Chittagong.

Rafael Nadal shrugged off any lingering back soreness to storm past qualifier Michael Mmoh Thursday for the loss of just seven games, brushing off a bizarre incident that saw a female fan thrown out.

The world number two has been struggling with tightness in his lower back since arriving in Australia last month, but showed few signs of it with the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena. He crushed the American 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a match interrupted in the second set when a woman was ejected after heckling him and directing rude gestures in his direction.

The Spanish great took it in his stride, grinning and playing football with the ball while he waited, seemingly enjoying having spectators -- a rarity during the pandemic. Asked afterwards whether he knew the woman, he replied: "No, and honestly I don't want to know. "Maybe she take too much gin or tequila.

I don't know, but honestly was strange situation, but funny at the same time," he added. "Honestly, somebody doing the finger to me... I don't know the reason, but I was surprised, but at the same time was thinking, 'poor girl', because probably she was drunk or something like this."

BACK TROUBLE: Nadal, who will next play Britain's Cameron Norrie in his quest for a 21st Grand Slam title, said his back was still not 100 per cent.

"No, not under control, honestly. I keep doing the things that I can. If you see my motion on the serve is different than what I would like," he said.

"But I am trying to find solutions every day. I just keep fighting to find a solution. "I won two matches in straight sets.

I have another opportunity to be on court in two days, and I have tomorrow to keep doing things and trying to find solutions for my back." Nadal has a perfect record against qualifiers at the Australian Open, where he has reached the round of 32 every time he has played, barring his shock first round exit in 2016. Nadal sent Serb Laslo Djere packing with little drama in the opening round and it was a similar story with Mmoh, whose father Tony twice played at the Australian Open.

After getting his measure in the first few games, Nadal pounced to break in the fourth and never looked back, racing through the set in 27 minutes.

While serving big, the American lacked accuracy and was mercilessly punished by a player ranked 175 places higher.

Nadal was cruising at 5-4 and about to serve for the set when the strange scene with the woman unfolded, delaying play for a brief period. They played on but stopped again at 30-0 as security moved in to escort her out. Nadal, who seemed to enjoy the distraction, refocused to serve out the set with two aces. With the clock rapidly ticking towards midnight, he put his foot down in the third set to wrap up the match.

The 2009 champion, who has a history of back problems, is bidding to win his 21st major title and claim sole ownership of the men's record, which he currently shares with Roger Federer. But the king of clay has often laboured in vain on Melbourne's hardcourts, reaching five finals but only having the one title, falling in the quarter-finals last year to Dominic Thiem.

Everton down Spurs in FA Cup thriller, Man City beat Swansea to reach quarters LIVERPOOL AGENCIES

Everton upped the pressure on Jose Mourinho with a thrilling 5-4 victory over Tottenham Hotspur after extra-time to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, as Manchester City eased into the last eight by beating Swansea on Wednesday.

Tottenham face a daunting trip to City in the Premier League on Saturday and defeat after a draining 120 minutes was the last thing Mourinho wanted.

Spurs have lost four of their last five games and one of three chances to end the club’s 13-year wait to win a trophy in cup competitions is now gone.

“Attacking football only wins matches

when you don’t make more defensive mistakes than you create,” said Mourinho, who once described a 5-4 result as a “hockey score”.

“It was the mouse and the cat. The mouse was our defensive mistakes and the cat was us playing very well, scoring goals, but it wasn’t enough.”

Mourinho’s men made a bright start at Goodison Park as Davinson Sanchez headed them into the lead after just three minutes.

However, the defensive errors that have cost Tottenham dear in recent months were in evidence as Everton struck three times in seven minutes just before half-time through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s penalty.

Erik Lamela reduced Spurs’ deficit in

first-half stoppage time before another rare goal for Sanchez made it 3-3.

Richarlison then smashed home from a narrow angle to restore Everton’s lead.

Mourinho had left Harry Kane on the bench from the start to ease his return from an ankle injury. But the England captain ended up playing for over an hour and met Son Heung-min’s cross at the back post with bullet header seven minutes from time to send the game into extra-time.

Bernard’s brilliant finish from Sigurdsson’s scooped pass proved a fitting winner to a pulsating tie to keep alive the Toffees’ chances of a first trophy since 1995.

“It was a long night for everybody, but we came out on top which is the main thing,” said Everton assistant manager

Duncan Ferguson.

CITY’S RECORD-BREAKING RUN: The defending from both sides will encourage City, who also face Everton in the Premier League next Wednesday, after they broke the English football record for consecutive wins by a top-flight club.

Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were on target for City, who extended their winning run in all competitions to 15 games with a 3-1 success over Swansea.

Victory was also Pep Guardiola’s 200th in 268 games as City boss, with his side still on course for a historic quadruple of trophies. Guardiola’s men hold a five-point lead with a game in hand at the top of the Premier League, face Tottenham in the League Cup

final in April and resume their challenge to win a first Champions League in the last 16 against Borussia Monchengladbach later this month. “It is amazing for ourselves, we cannot deny how pleased and proud we are to break this record,” said Guardiola. “Records are there to be broken, but they have to do well (to beat it). “It is not easy in the modern era to make 15 wins in a row.”

Leicester were made to wait until the 94th minute to book their place in the last eight with a 1-0 win over Brighton thanks to Kelechi Iheanacho’s header.

Sheffield United also just needed a solitary goal to see off Bristol City 1-0 thanks to Billy Sharp’s penalty after Alfie Mawson was sent off for handling David McGoldrick’s goalbound shot.

Friday, 12 February, 2021

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:36

12:14

3:07

7:01

5:27

6:52

SoPhISTIcaTed SaTellITe Technology beIng uSed To Search K2 for mISSIng clImberS FAMILIES AND FRIENDS SET UP VIRTUAL BASE CAMP TO ENSURE A THOROUGH SEARCHAND-RESCUE EFFORT SKARDU

d

Pakistan successfully test fires surface-tosurface missile

APP

ESPITE a halt in the rescue operation owing to bad weather conditions, friends and families of Ali Sadpara and the other missing K2 climbers, vowed on Wednesday to carry on with the search of the “savage mountain” with the help of sophisticated satellite data.

Rescue efforts have been on since Pakistan’s Ali Sadpara, 45, Iceland’s John Snorri, 47, and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr, 34, went missing on February 5 while attempting to ascent the K2.

“For the first time ever, this team is working with the Iceland Space Agency to review the SAR technology – that has never been used before for searching and rescuing – not the SAT technology, to cover every inch of the higher elevations of the mountain despite bad weather conditions,” read a statement issued from Skardu.

The families and friends have set up a virtual base camp to ensure a thorough search-and-rescue effort.

The camp has been established by Rao Ahmad, Ali Sadpara’s long-time friend and his son Sajid Sadpara, along with British-American climber Vanessa O’Brien, also Pakistan’s Goodwill Ambassador who has previously summited the K2 with John Snorri – the missing Icelandic mountaineer.

The team has got the support of the ICEYE – a global leader in small satellite synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology that produces high-resolution imagery collected even through clouds and darkness, according to information

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

available on its website. “The ICEYE’s slogan, “every square meter, every hour” gives us the perfect visual acuity to view areas inaccessible to helicopters because of harsh winter conditions and excessive winds,” the statement said.

According to Home Secretary Muhammad Ali Randhawa, FLIR (forward-looking infrared radar) mission with a C-130 aircraft, to find the missing climbers through thermal imaging, will start Thursday morning, while ground teams would also follow the path taken by the mountaineers.

Bad weather on K2, earlier on Wednesday, had hampered the helicopter search and rescue operation.

“We are extremely grateful to Daniel Leeb, the Founding Partner & Mission Director at the Iceland Space Agency, for his incredible leadership and assistance, as well as the extraordinary teams at Airbus, Planet and EGEOS,” the statement said.

The team of family and friends have asked the anxiously waiting public to understand that a lot of work was going on in the background, and not to worry about helicopters being able to fly or not.

“If the weather is good, yes they will fly, but multiple flights have not seen any bodies. We are using more sophisticated technology,” they observed in the statement, while also appealing to the people to avoid rumours.

The team has also got additional data from devices the climbers carried – Garmin, Thuraya, Inmarsat – together with interviews from witnesses. This would help in creating a timeframe of the climbers’ locations during their summit bid.

‘THANKFUL FOR ALL THE SUPPORT’: “We are grateful for the helicopter flights by the Pakistan Army pilots, who pushed the upper limits during each of these search flights,” the statement further read.

The team also thanked Canadian filmmaker Elia Saikaly for capturing imagery during these search-and-rescue flights, and to (Ret) Lt Col. Hassan bin Aftab, Director of Operations at Pakistan Analytica, who coordinated the overall logistics for the search-and-rescue attempts and served as the focal person for the families. “None of this would have been possible without the support and as-

sistance of the Chief of General Staff and the Pakistan Army. We are very grateful to the ISPR, the Chief of Defence of Iceland and the Foreign Ministers of Iceland, Pakistan and Chile,” the families maintained.

“We would like to thank everyone who expressed interest in John, Ali, and JP’s climb, and to those who expressed concern for their wellbeing, those who offered to help, and those who prayed for their safety and offered ideas and thoughts on the use of drones and search locations,” the statement further read.

Freezing temperatures and wind chill, averaging -50 degrees Celsius and strong winds have made the flight operations next to impossible.

However, the team believes that the climbers could have built an ice cave or shelter, and if they had sufficient fuel to melt water, it could have extended their lifeline, “but it depends [on] how low they made it down on the mountain.”

The families quoted Martin Luther King Jr – “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope” – while requesting the Pakistani government to continue to provide search and rescue support if the weather permits.

No change in policy on Jammu and Kashmir, says US State Dept The United States has said that there is no change in its policy on Jammu and Kashmir and that it still considers the region as a disputed territory between Pakistan and India.

"I want to be very clear there has been no change in US policy in the region," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, clarifying the views expressed in a tweet from the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department which welcomed the resumption of 4G mobile internet in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We welcome the resumption of 4G mobile internet in India's Jammu and Kashmir. This marks an important step for local residents and we look forward to continued political & economic progress to restore normalcy in J&K,” tweeted the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department.

Earlier this week, India ended an 18-month-long ban on high-speed internet services in occupied Kashmir, where opposition to the Indian rule has deepened after New Delhi revoked the region's semi-autonomous status in August 2019.

According to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report of August 2019, a longstanding goal of US policy in South Asia has been to prevent IndiaPakistan conflict from escalating to inter-state war.

This meant the United States has sought to avoid actions that overtly favoured either party. Over the past

PAKISTAN EXPRESSES DISAPPOINTMENT WITH US STATE DEPT'S 'INCONSISTENT REFERENCE' OF KASHMIR'S DISPUTED STATUS decade, however, Washington has grown closer to India while relations with Pakistan continue to be viewed as clouded by mistrust, CRS report said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday expressed “disappointment” over a tweet by the United States State Department for making a reference regarding Jammu and Kashmir “inconsistent” with its disputed status.

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US State Department in its tweet on February 10 had mentioned the reference as “India’s Jammu & Kashmir” while welcoming the resumption of 4G services.

“We are disappointed to note the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in the US Department of State’s tweet regarding the resumption of 4G mobile internet in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK),” the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in response to media queries.

The spokesperson said the reference was “incon-

sistent” with the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir as recognized by numerous United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the international community.

“Jammu and Kashmir is one of the oldest items on the agenda of the UNSC, which remains unresolved because of India’s intransigence and unwillingness to implement the relevant UNSC resolutions and its own solemn commitments made to Pakistan, the Kashmiris and the international community,” he added.

The spokesperson said the political and economic progress of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was inextricably linked to the realization of their desire for exercising the right to self-determination.

He said that the international community, including the United States, must urge India to stop its consistent and systematic human rights violations in IIOJK. “[These included] arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, incarceration of political leaders, ongoing efforts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory, extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris in fake “encounters”, and staged cordon-andsearch operations,” he said.

The FO spokesperson called the need for genuine steps to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions. NEWS DESK

Pakistan on Thursday successfully test-fired a shortrange surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of hitting land and sea targets with “high precision” up to 490 kilometers (about 280 miles) away. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) the Babur cruise missile was “launched from a state-of-the-art Multi Tube Missile Launch Vehicle.” This is the third successful experiment of the year by the army which since January has launched Shaheen-III and Ghaznavi (Hatf-III) ballistic missiles. President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the military leadership congratulated the team of scientists and engineers over the successful launch of the missile. The country’s nuclear and missile program is primarily aimed at countering threats from India, which also routinely conducts missile tests.

Twitter refuses to fully comply with Indian order to remove ‘Pakistanbacked’ accounts NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Twitter said on Wednesday it would not fully comply with orders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to take down some accounts as it does not believe the orders are consistent with Indian law. It has permanently suspended some accounts but for others, it has only restricted access within India and the tweets can still be read outside the country. The US social media giant has found itself in a heated no-win row with Modi’s administration, which wants it to take down more than 1,100 accounts and posts that the government argues are spreading misinformation about months-long farmers’ protests against new agricultural laws. Some accounts, the government said, are backed by arch-rival Pakistan or are operated by supporters of a separatist Sikh movement. The government has played hardball, sending Twitter a notice of non-compliance last week that threatens its executives with jail terms of up to seven years and the company with fines if it does not block the content. Twitter said it had suspended more than 500 accounts that were engaging in clear examples of platform manipulation and spam and had also taken action on hundreds of others that breached its rules relating to the inciting of violence and abuse. Others were geo-blocked, although Twitter did not go into detail on how it made decisions on which accounts to restrict.

“These accounts continue to be available outside of India,” Twitter said. “Because we do not believe that the actions we have been directed to take are consistent with Indian law.” India had also asked Twitter to restrict access to news accounts, arguing that the “freedom of the press does not include freedom to spread misinformation”, according to a copy of a government order reviewed by Reuters. Twitter said it had not taken action on accounts run by journalists, news media, activists, and politicians, in line with its policy of defending the freedom of speech. “To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law,” Twitter said, adding that it had informed the technology ministry of its actions.

India says reached accord with China for troop pull back on disputed border NEW DELHI AGENCIES

India and China have agreed to disengage troops from a bitterly contested lake area in the western Himalayas, the Indian defence minister said on Thursday, in a breakthrough after a months-long standoff on the disputed border.

Rajnath Singh told parliament the accord had been reached after several

rounds of talks between military commanders and diplomats.

“Our sustained talks with China have led to agreement on disengagement on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake,” he said.

China’s defence ministry said frontline troops from the two countries had begun to pull back from the shores of the lake on Wednesday.

The standoff began in April last year

when India said Chinese troops had intruded deep into its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or the de facto border in the Ladakh area in the western Himalayas.

China said its troops were operating in its own area and accused Indian border guards of provocative actions.

In June last year, 20 Indian soldiers were killed when the two sides clashed with iron rods and stones in the Galwan Valley, the

first combat losses on the border in 45 years.

China also suffered an unspecified number of casualties.

Singh said the Indian government had told Beijing that peace and tranquility had been seriously disturbed by the actions of Chinese troops and bilateral ties had suffered.

“To ensure disengagement in friction points along the LAC, it was our view that troops of both sides, who are now in close

proximity, should vacate the forward deployments made in 2020 and return to the permanent and accepted bases,” he said.

Once the disengagement has been completed at the high altitude Pangong lake, military commanders will meet within 48 hours to discuss pull back from other areas, Singh said.

India and China fought a war in 1962 and since then have not been able to agree on their 3,500-kilometre long border.

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