Epaper – January 10 KHI 2021

CMYK

10 January, 2021 I 25 Jumada-al-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 192 I 36 Pages I Karachi Edition

PM assures Hazaras of tracking down tHose beHind MacHH incident g

Imran Khan says IncIdent part of bIgger game; clarIfIes word ‘blacKmaIl’ used for pdm leaders; revIews law and order In balochIstan

QUETTA STAFF REPORT

P

rIme minister Imran Khan has assured the hazara community that they will be provided full protection and that those behind the gruesome machh incident would be brought to justice.

Interacting with the bereaved families of the martyrs of the machh incident at sardar bahadur Khan women's university Quetta on saturday, the prime minister said the federal and provincial governments will play their parts in this regard. he said a special cell is being established in the security forces to ensure the protection of hazara community, adding that he fully shares the pain of hazara community and stands behind them and that they will not be left alone at this critical juncture. he assured that the promises made with them will be fulfilled.

Imran Khan said the bereaved families of the machh incident will be fully taken care of and that their demands have already been accepted. he said that the government is putting in efforts to unite the nation and go after the elements trying to fan sectarian strife in the country. the premier said that he had visited the community in the past as well and that he

was aware of the tragedies that the community had been suffering. "when the war on terror was going on, and people were afraid to

coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

499,517

LAST UPDATED AT 10:11 AM ON JANUARY 9, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

40

2,007

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

455,445 10,598 SINDH:

224,004 KP:

60,751

PUNJAB:

144,111 BALOCHISTAN:

18,351

AJK/GB: ISLAMABAD: 8,451/4,879 38,970

visit your Imambargahs, I visited your community even then," he said. the prime minister said that he is aware of the sectarian group that targeted the hazara community and that the last time that he had visited the place and taken their name, the group had threatened him as well. "I understand all of your issues; I might be the only politician who understands your 20-year-old [struggle]," he said. the pm said the intelligence reports strongly suggest that India wants to stoke anarchy in pakistan by attacking the religious scholars of different schools of thought and the mach incident was also part of a bigger game.

Imran Khan, however, commended Interservices Intelligence (IsI) for pre-empting three to four other major plots and said there are certain forces which want to create shiasunni rift in the muslim countries.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

SLAIN COAL MINERS OF MACHH LAID TO REST the slain coal miners of machh were laid to rest in hazara town graveyard almost a week after their mourning families staged sit-ins across Quetta and different areas of the country. national assembly deputy speaker Qasim Khan suri, special assistant to prime minister on overseas pakistanis Zulfiqar abbas bukhari, federal minister for maritime affairs ali Zaidi, some provincial ministers and leaders of different political parties, and a large number of people attended the funeral prayers at hazara graveyard. the prayers were led by majlis wahdat-e-muslimeen leader allama hashim mousavi. balochistan chief minister Jam Kamal Khan said, “he is thankful to the people for ending their protest as no system can prosper where "oppression" exists. the city and the province belong to the people. It is the government's responsibility to provide safety and security to the citizens. the provincial government aims at a prosperous balochistan and his team is striving for it.” “the recent episode should serve as a learning lesson for the rulers of the country. the demands should have been met without the protest. every government should meet the requirements of its citizens as it is not necessary to wait for a sit-in," he added. he apologised to the protesters, saying that he is sorry for the inconvenience caused to them. he added that he feels no shame in apologising to his people. NEWS DESK

KP, Punjab back open ballot Senate polls in reply to SC LAHORE STAFF REPORT

the punjab and Khyber pakhtunkhwa governments have supported the centre's call to hold the senate elections through the open ballot, it emerged on saturday. the provincial governments have submitted their response to the supreme court in the presidential reference case. the federal government had filed the reference in the apex court under article 186 of the constitution, seeking the court’s opinion about holding the upcoming senate polls through open ballot by introducing an amendment in section 122 (vi) of the election act, 2017 without amending the constitution. punjab advocate general submitted the provincial government’s reply to the court notice, stating that the assembly members used to vote for their personal interest and violate party discipline in secret ballot against the basic principles of democracy. “the assembly members have no justification to seek to exercise their right to vote with a secret ballot. those oppos-

PDM to contest by-polls jointly, submit resignations after Senate election: PML-N LAHORE STAFF REPORT

pakistan democratic movement (pdm), an 11-party opposition alliance, will jointly compete in the by-polls, pml-n secretary-general ahsan Iqbal announced on saturday. speaking to the media in lahore, Iqbal hoped that the pdm's member parties would offer "complete support" during by-elections on seats that were won by the pml-n. "we have decided not to field a candidate in sindh for byelections on seats that were won by the ppp," he added. a few days earlier, the leaders of the 11-party alliance had announced that parties that are a part of the pdm would take part in the by-polls, but a decision related to the senate elections will be taken later. meanwhile, pml-n leader Khurram dastagir, speaking to the media said that the party held a meeting on saturday to discuss the upcoming by-elections. "the resignations will be given after the senate elections," he said, adding that they will be submitted at a time when

ing party policies can tender resignations from their assembly seats. one should step down instead of selling the vote,” the provincial government wrote in the reply. “the procedure of senate election has been different from other polls. the elections of president, prime minister and senate chairman are conducted under the constitution, which says nothing about any preferred procedure.” the hearing of the case will resume on monday (tomorrow). meanwhile, the Kp government, in its response to the apex court, said that in the past, the secret balloting method had been used against the spirit of elections.

Kp demanded that the court allow the parliament and the government to amend the election act 2017 — the law that must be amended to hold senate elections by open ballot. transparent elections are the basis of democracy while voting against one's party is dishonesty. In the past, allegations of corruption have been leveled against the senate elections, Kp maintained.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

Massive power failure plunges Pakistan into darkness STORY ON PAGE 12

ecc reverses decision to hand over Kcr project to sindh govt STORY ON PAGE 05

Indonesian plane crashes after takeoff with 62 aboard the party considers the parliament no longer functional. dastagir, clarifying the opposition's stance, said that their aim was to hold transparent elections, not submit resignations. however, he said that the opposition would not back down from resigning. "these are the milestones to reach our goal and we will devise our strategy according to the situation at the time." the development comes only days before the by-polls are

set to take place on two national assembly and five provincial assemblies’ seats. by-polls for sindh assembly’s ps-43 (sanghar III) and ps-88 (malir II) and balochistan assembly’s pb-20 (pishin III) will be held on february 16, 2021, while the voters in na-45 (Kurram I) and na-75 (sialkot Iv) and punjab assembly’s pp-51 (gujranwala I) and Khyber pakhtunkhwa assembly’s pK-63 (nowshera III) will elect their representatives on february 19, 2021.

STORY ON PAGE 12 in today’s issue

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02

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

NEWS

Covid-19 CASeS neAR hAlF A million in CountRy; 10,598 die So FAR ISLAMABAD

A

STAFF REPORT

RoUnD 2,007 new coronavirus cases were reported in the country during the last 24 hours, lifting the national tally of cases to 499,517, said the national Command and operation Centre (nCoC) on Saturday.

PANDEMIC CLAIMS 40 MORE LIVES IN 24 HOURS According to the nCoC, the coronavirus pandemic claimed 40 more lives, taking the death toll to 10,598. Around 1,617 patients recovered from the virus on Friday and the total count of active cases is 33,474.

Real estate magnate Seth Abid passes away at 85 Renowned Pakistani industrialist and social figure Seth Abid Hussain passed away in Karachi on Friday, family sources have confirmed. The 85-year-old, who was one of Pakistan’s first richest persons, died after a short battle with an illness. His funeral prayers were offered on Saturday after Asr prayers in Karachi at Hafiz Ayaz Mosque in Phase 2, DHA. Abid hailed from Kasur and his father was a big name in Karachi’s Sarafa Market.

He was said to be among the 30 richest persons of the country. Besides running various businesses successfully, he had also launched various charity projects. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar expressed grief over the death of businessman and extended his condolences to the bereaved family. BUSINESS DESK

FBR starts drive to identify sales tax evaders ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched an operation to identify persons who are making taxable supplies but are not in the sales tax net.

According to the FBR, a person who makes taxable supplies but fails to get sales tax registration shall be liable to pay fine and penalties. The person is also liable to imprisonment up to three years. Under the Sales Tax Act, 1990, any person who is required to apply for registration under the Act fails to make an application for registration before making taxable supplies, such person shall pay a penalty of Rs10,000 or five per cent of the amount of tax involved, whichever is higher. “Provided that such person who is required to get himself registered under this Act, fails to get registered within sixty days of the commencement of taxable activity, he shall, further be liable, upon conviction by a special judge, to imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to an amount equal to amount of tax involved, or with both.” The Section 14 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 requires a person to get registration under this Act, who is making taxable services. According to the Section 14, every person engaged in making taxable supplies in Pakistan, including zero-rated supplies, in the course or furtherance of any taxable activity carried on by him, falling in any of the following categories, if not already registered, is required to be registered under this Act, namely: a manufacturer who is not running a cottage industry; a retailer who is liable to pay sales tax under the Act or rules made thereunder, excluding such retailer required to pay sales tax through his electricity bill under sub-section (9) of section 3; an importer; an exporter who intends to obtain sales tax refund against his zero-rated supplies; a wholesaler, dealer or distributor; and a person who is required, under any other Federal law or Provincial law, to be registered for the purpose of any duty or tax collected or paid as if it were a levy of sales tax to be collected under the Act. The Section 14 further says that persons not engaged in making taxable supplies in Pakistan, if required to be registered for making imports or exports, or under any provisions of the Act, or any other Federal law, may apply for registration.

The registration under this Act shall be regulated in such manner as the Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, prescribe, said the ruling. TLTP

out of a total of 2,779 people admitted to 631 hospitals across the country, 2,266 patients were stated to be in critical condition, while 305 patients are on ventilators. A total of 40,898 tests were

conducted across the country during the last 24 hours, while 7,043,604 samples have been tested thus far. overall, 455,445 people have recovered from the deadly disease.

At least 1,505 new Covid-19 cases emerged in Sindh overnight, lifting the tally to 225,509. According to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, 14 more patients died due to the deadly disease as the death toll

Govt sets up ‘Academy of Excellence’ for training of media newcomers ISLAMABAD APP

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said on Saturday an Academy of Excellence has been set up for professional training of newcomers in various fields of media, including production, art and culture under the vision of improving quality of media industry.

Addressing the launching ceremony of the 'Academy of Excellence' at Radio Pakistan Academy, he said all capabilities and resources would be utilized to make the academy a platform of excellence. Besides Secretary Information and Broadcasting Zahida Parveen, Additional Secretary Shahira Shahid, Director General Radio Pakistan Ambreen Jan, Principal Information officer Sohail Ali Khan, and a large number of heads of media sciences departments of various universities were present on the occasion.

Shibli Faraz said the idea of the Academy of Excellence was brought by veteran television producer Khawaja najam-ul-Hassan.

He said that this platform would provide an opportunity to newcomers to hone their talents in a better manner. “When commitment, direction and vision get combined, such tasks would be accomplished,” he remarked.

Shibli Faraz said there were only a few media, art and production training institutes in the country and there was a dire need to introduce a facility where skills of media professional could be nurtured while to shortage of trained staff could be overcome.

However, after the establishment of this new institute, fresh blood would be part of the industry with number of success stories on television, radio and media houses.

He said that those trained at the Academy of Excellence would also be able to benefit from Pakistan Televison and Radio Pakistan which have the latest equipment and experienced manpower.

Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja najamul Hassan, Head of the Academy of Excellence, briefed the participants about the aims and objectives of the academy, its faculty members and courses being offered.

surged to 3,693. He also said that 758 patients recovered during the last 24 hours, taking the total to 203,328. Punjab reported at least 600 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 144,111.

According to health officials, 21 more patients succumbed to the deadly virus as the death toll jumped to 4,242. They further said that 129,852 patients have recovered from the disease in the province so far.

The nCoC reported that out of the total deaths, 3,679 deaths have occurred in Sindh, 4,242 in Punjab, 1,718 in KP, 436 in Islamabad, 187 in Balochistan, 235 in AJK and 101 in GB. The committee stated that of the 40 fatalities reported on January 8, 9 were reported in Sindh, 21 in Punjab, eight in KP, one in Balochistan and one in AJK.

Federal ministers assure cooperation for uplift of Gilgit-Baltistan ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Asad Umar and Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Ali Amin Khan Gandapur have assured full cooperation to the GB government for development of the region. Talking to GB Chief Minister Mohammad Khalid Khursheed here on Saturday, Asad said that the federal government will extend full cooperation to the GB government for development of the region. He agreed in principle to increase the GB’s development budget. He said that after historic federal packages for Karachi and South Balochistan, now efforts will be start for the package of GB. The chief minister and federal minister also agreed to set up a joint team, comprising of senior officers of planning commission and planning and development department, to devise a strategy for the development plan of the region. Earlier, the chief minister gave a detailed briefing to the federal minister about the prevailing situation of the region. In a separate meeting with a delegation of GB ministers, Ali Gandapur said that the federal government in collaboration with the GB government will accelerate the development process in the region through mutual strategy. “Priority will be given to health, education, tourism, minerals and hydel power sectors,” Gandapur said. STAFF REPORT

Azam Swati vows all-out efforts to minimise railways’ losses KARACHI APP

Railways Minister Muhammad Azam Khan Swati on Saturday said for how long the losses incurred by the Pakistan Railways would be met from the taxpayers money.

“Some Rs40 billion would be paid during the current year for the purpose, which should have been used for the welfare of masses if the railways was a profit earning department,” he said while addressing a press conference here at the City Railways Station.

Azam Swati said during the last five months, the losses of Pakistan Railways stood at Rs17 billion. All out efforts would be made to minimize the losses, he added.

He said for ample utilization of the available resources, all the sections of the railways were being evaluated. He said he would pay full attention to the

freight service, which currently generated Rs11 billion revenue per annum, and would be increased up to Rs22 billion in a few months with the help of same resources and manpower.

The minister said his top priority was to ensure that both the passenger and freight trains should reach their respective destinations safely on time. Both train services were pride of the railways and full efforts would be undertaken bring further improvement in them.

The schools and dinning service would be outsourced, he added.

He expressed gratitude to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) especially for the action taken against illegal encroachments in Karachi under his supervision.

The illegally occupied land of the railways would be retrieved with the help of CJP, he added.

Swati called upon the media to keep a strict vigil on him as well as the railway officials and point out

their shortcomings. The media as the fifth pillar of state should guide them as to how bring further improvement in services being provided by the Railways to the people.

He told a questioner that he would hold a video conference with the officials of the Uzbekistan on January 11, to discuss the matters related to the trilateral railway project connecting Pakistan with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan had already laid tracks up to Mazar-eShareef and now it had to be connected from Mazar-e-Shareef to Kabul and Kabul to Peshawar, he added. To a question about his surprise visits and actions taken against the negligent staffers, he responded that only one railway staffer had been suspended on negligence. Action against him would be taken as per due process and law as an inquiry was under process in that regard, he added.

US investors interested in assembling electric vehicles in Pakistan: envoy LAHORE APP

Technology transfer and duty-free access to American markets is imperative to give a quantum jump to the bilateral trade and in this connection serious efforts were being made from both sides, said Mrs Catherine Rodriguez, Consul General of the US in Lahore.

She was addressing a Zoom meeting with Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCC) President Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed. The meeting was also attended by some noted exporters to the USA. Appreciating the efforts of Pakistan

in controlling environmental pollution, she said that some American investors were exploring opportunities to assemble electric vehicles (EV) in Pakistan.

She said that the law and order situation has improved considerably and she would convince American investors to exploit new and emerging business opportunities in Pakistan. She also introduced her team and said that she will try to hold a direct and face to face meeting with the Faisalabad based industrialists dealing with US buyers. US Commercial Counselor for Pakistan John Coronado said that the US and Pakistan have deep trading ties which could be

further extended for the benefit of the both countries. other members of the US consulate were also present during this Zoom meeting. Earlier, Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed introduced Faisalabad and FCCI and said, "Seventy percent textile exports originated from this city while 8090 % textile units are also housed in it”, and added that it is the most suitable place to make exports to any country via seaports or through upcountry road links with China and Central Asian estates.

According to a press release, he said that cheap skilled labor was available which has made it more attractive for new industrialists. Calling for technology transfer

from USA, he said, "We could improve the quality of our products in addition to reducing cost of production". He said that Faisalabad has globally compliant industrial estates. “Fifty percent of M3 Industrial estate has already been colonized while the remaining portion of it is in different stages of completion”, he said, and added that the special economic zone was also being developed adjacent to M3 industrial estate which will be most suitable for American investment in the form of joint ventures.

Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed said that Pakistan's exports to US were around 4.1 billion dollar, while imports were 2.6 billion dollar.

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

NEWS

03

SuGAR pRiCeS likely to Go FuRtheR up AS AdviSoRy BoARd FAilS to Fix SuGARCAne vAlue ISLAMABAD

W

GHULAM ABBAS

HILE the price of sugar has already started going up in the market, the Sugar Advisory Board fails to develop consensus among stakeholders over the value of sugarcane.

According to sources, during a recently held meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board, differences among sugar mills, farmers and the authorities remained unaddressed, which may cause a further jump in the commodity's price.

During the meeting, sugar millers expressed anger and frustration over the failure of the government to ensure smooth supply of sugarcane on the support price of Rs200 per 40 kilograms and

indicated that if government failed in materialising its commitment, the country may see an increase in the price of sugar in the coming weeks.

Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar had informed the meeting that if the provincial authorities fail to reach any consensus with the sugar mills, there will be no option but to import either raw sugar for processing at the mills or import refined sugar and sell it at subsidised rates to consumers through utility stores.

As differences over the value of sugarcane continue, the price of the kitchen item has already increased by Rs5 to Rs6 per kg in the retail market during the past week.

According to retailers, the retail price of sugar was currently Rs95 per kg while the wholesale rate was around Rs90. "But markets are filled with rumours that prices

Four cops held for opening fire at vehicle, killing levies man

KARACHI

TLTP

Justice Qaiser Rashid sworn in as phC CJ PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan took oath as chief justice of Peshawar High Court on Saturday. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman administered the oath to him in a simple ceremony.

Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan was appointed as an additional judge on August 2, 2011, and he took oath as the acting chief justice of PHC on november 16, 2020. He may serve as PHC CJ until March 30, 2023. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) had approved the nomination of Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan as the new chief justice of the PHC on november 16 last. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed presided over the meeting of the JCP to consider a nomination for the post which fell vacant after the death of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth due to coronavirus earlier in november. In november, Justice Seth (late) was first admitted to a hospital in Peshawar but was later shifted to Kulsum International Hospital in Islamabad where he succumbed to coronavirus related complications after battling them for 15 days.

causes of the jump in sugar prices.

The advisory board’s meeting was informed that a new class of middlemen was present near sugar mills because the new law required the sellers to have a bank account and most of the farmers don't have it.

Hakim Ali Baloch, a farmer, claimed that bank account was an issue and that the new regulations require that "Cane Purchase Receipts (CPR) are to be issued to growers by the mills and amount to be paid through banks". "Many people do not have an account because the bank is around 20 kilometres away,” he added.

Moreover, the All Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has also expressed concerns that the sugarcane was not supplied to mills at the official support price.

The PSMA demanded the government to bring down sugar prices by abolishing 17 per

Terrorists may target govt buildings, warns KMC

PESHAWAR In yet another case of police opening indiscriminate fire on a vehicle, four cops have been arrested in Peshawar for killing a Levies man during the incident in the provincial capital. According to details, the incident occurred on January 03 when they opened fire on a vehicle in Badh Bir area of Peshawar for neglecting the police signal. The cops opened fire at the vehicle, seriously wounding Levies personnel, identified as Riaz. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries. It is pertinent to mention here that incidents of police opening fire on vehicles have occurred frequently in the country, raising questions over the training of the personnel to deal with such situations. In a similar case in the federal capital on January 02, five CounterTerrorism Force (CTF) officials were arrested for opening fire on a vehicle, leaving a youth dead in Islamabad. The firing incident was reported in Islamabad’s G-10 where the security officials shot multiple fires on a ‘suspicious’ vehicle after allegedly trying to stop the driver many times. Police told the media that the officials followed a suspicious ‘vehicle with tinted glasses and tried to stop it many times’.

They claimed that the department received a complaint on Friday night for a robbery bid in Shams Colony by some dacoits in a car. The vehicle was followed by CTF officials who were on patrolling duty in the area, police added. However, after many failed attempts to stop the car, the personnel shot fires on the tyre but unfortunately, the driver received two bullets to his body which later led to his death.

will go up, while at the same time we all know that authorities will be in action if the retail price reaches Rs98-Rs100 per kg."

According to sources, the meeting was informed that despite the government fixing sugarcane support price at Rs200 per 40 kg, the current rates were Rs300 in Sindh, Rs270–Rs290 in Punjab and Rs290 in KP. The industries ministry made the calculations that the retail price of sugar should be between Rs75 and 80, based on cane price at Rs200 per maund.

Meanwhile, the Sindh cane commissioner acknowledged that the rates were over Rs300 in the province due to the shortage of cane this year.

According to sources, the increasing role of middlemen after a new law under which all payments are needed to be made through banks, is also being considered as one of the

TLTP

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on Saturday issued a security alert, warning that the terrorists may attack the government buildings in the metropolis. In a communiqué, the KMC asked the concerned officials to beef up the security of all the government buildings in the city and ensure checking of vehicles and people at the entrance.

Meanwhile, the officials imposed a ban on the entry of unrelated persons and vehicles at the premises of the KMC office. A day earlier, Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani apprised the provincial lawmakers of the security threat being faced by the legislature. “The Sindh Assembly faces a terror attack threat,” Agha Siraj Durrani told the lawmakers. He said that the photos of the Sindh Assembly building were recovered from the possession of terrorists. “The law enforcement authorities (LEAs) have conveyed regarding the terror threat,” the

speaker said. It is pertinent to mention here that days before the speaker Sindh Assembly’s divulged details of a security threat to the legislature, the national Counter Terrorism Authority (nACTA) issued a terror alert for Karachi, warning that terrorists-backed by foreign agencies have planned to attack key installations in the city. The handout issued by the nACTA read that key government buildings or installations could be targeted in the attack by foreign-backed terror elements. “The preparation for an attack in Karachi has been completed,” it said while apprising that provincial home ministry, Inspector General of Police (IG) Sindh and Rangers were conveyed regarding the threat alert. It is pertinent to mention here that besides issuing a threat alert for Karachi, the nACTA has repeatedly warned of terror attacks recently being planned for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan province. In october 2020, the nACTA warned that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is planning attacks on political and religious leaderships across Quetta and Peshawar in the near future.

MQM-P to support Arbab Ghulam Rahim in PS-52 by-polls KARACHI TLTP

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has assured full support to Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in the upcoming PS-52 Umerkot by-election.

According to details, a delegation on Saturday met with GDA leader and former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim. The MQM-P delegation assured the GDA leader of full support in the by-poll.

MQM-P Rabita Committee members Suhail Mashadi and Dr Zafar Jamali were also present during the meeting.

Former chief minister Arbab Ghulam and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Amir Ali Shah are contesting the

election on the PS-52-Umerkot seat which fell vacant due to the death of PPP’s MPA Ali Mardan Shah.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last week had issued the schedule for by-elections on vacant seats of Sindh Assembly constituencies.

According to the ECP, polling for the PS-52-Umerkot by-election will be held on January 18, while byelection in PS-43 Sanghar and PS-88 Malir will be held on February 16.

In a major development on December 17, 2020, the ECP had decided to hold by-elections on all the vacant seats across the country. The decision had been taken at a meeting of the ECP presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in Islamabad.

cent sales tax on refined sugar, just like in the case of flour and pulses.

PSMA Central Chairman Iskander Khan, responding to the query, said on one hand, the government wants to reduce the price of sugar but on the other hand it is shying away from its responsibility of cutting down the role of middleman and ensure supply of sugarcane to mills at the fixed price. “I have been writing to the government and raising these issues at every forum that the government should meet its commitment by supplying sugarcane at support price fixed by it. If not, in the coming months, the price of sugar will increase manifolds.”

Another suggestion made by the PSMA to the Sugar Advisory Board was to stop smuggling of sugar and gurr to Afghanistan and Central Asia to stabilise the local markets.

Cm Buzdar approves Rs740bn plan for education sector reforms LAHORE TLTP

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Saturday approved a mega three-year plan of Rs740 billion for reforms in the provincial education sector. The provincial schools' department had sent a summary to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for approval of Rs740 billion to bring improvement in schools, which was approved with a direction that the summary would be presented before the cabinet for the release of funds. The mega reforms project will be completed in three years. Sharing the division of funds on various facilities under the education reforms programme, the schools’ department said that Rs1.8 billion would be spent on improving the condition of classrooms, Rs6 billion for provision of computer labs, Rs10 billion for furniture, Rs1.5 billion for science labs and Rs65 billion for libraries and playgrounds. Besides reforms being introduced at the provincial level, measures have also been taken to bring reforms in the sector at the federal level. In one such move on December 20, 2020, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood took to Twitter to announce that his ministry has started the process of formulating a “formal education policy.” “While we have taken a number of initiatives including a single national curriculum, A formal Education policy for the country is necessary,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle. “So in my direction, a process has been started by the Ministry of Education which includes widespread consultation. All suggestions welcome.”

Dr Sania Nishtar launches Ehsaas survey in South Waziristan ISLAMABAD APP

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania nishtar on Saturday launched Ehsaas national Socio-economic Registry survey in South Waziristan to pass on the programme benefits to the locals by registering them under its multiple initiatives.

During her visit to Tank and South Waziristan, the SAPM also met with four tribal Jirgas and sensitized their elders and influential about purpose of the ongoing survey.

Addressing the Jirgas, she appealed them to facilitate survey teams in doorto-door collection of household data.

“Poverty profiling of the households was being done through a computer aided digital system and would be completed in the next few months,” she informed.

She said that tribal people should

participate in the survey to get benefits from a multitude of conditional and unconditional cash transfer under Ehsaas programme.

Dr Sania said the government had executed the new Ehsaas survey on apolitical basis so that no deserving family remained unattended under the flagship social protection programme.

According to Ehsaas policy, she said, the survey would ensure the inclusion of poor families in several Ehsaas initiatives -- Kafaalat, Waseela-eTaleem Digital, Undergraduate Scholarship, Amdan, Interest Free Loan and nashonuma.

She thanked the local teachers for doing a commendable job in executing survey enumerations.

The SAPM said with the support of local teachers under the technical handholding of Ehsaas, the survey would be completed in those areas at earliest.

She maintained that the survey approach was being accelerated across

the southern tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the main priority goals of Ehsaas were to help the vulnerable population and uplift the underdeveloped districts.

She informed that 65 per cent survey in Tank district had already been completed. Tank and South Waziristan

were the most underprivileged districts of KP with high rates of poverty, malnutrition and infant mortality.

Earlier, Dr Sania held a news conference with the local press and media in Tank to describe the methodology and digital approach adopted for the Ehsaas survey.

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

04 NEWS

AJK cabinet approves over Rs1.72bn for development projects MUZAFFARABAD

EvAcuEE TRuST dEniES PHc AllEgATionS, dEcidES To RElEASE PERfoRMAncE REPoRT

APP

LAHORE

The Developmental Committee of the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) Cabinet approved over Rs1.725 billion for development projects in Azad Kashmir.

The cabinet met under the chair of AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan on Saturday to discuss the ongoing developmental projects in detail.

A sum of Rs570.945 million was approved for the maintenance and reconditioning of Kotly Gulpur Krote Road, with the AJK government bearing all the expenses from its own budget for the project.

Similarly, Rs1.434 billion were approved for the construction of 138km road in 13 electoral constituencies of LOC under LOC package phase-I, besides some 800 bankers would be constructed with the cooperation and assistance of Pak Army under phase-I at the line of control. The meeting was attended by cabinet members and secretaries of the government, including Raja Muhammad Nisar Khan, Dr Najeeb Naqi, Sardar Farooq Ahmed Tahir, Ch Muhammad Aziz Khan, Barrister Iftikhar Gilani, Sardar Farooq Sikander, Dr Mustafa Bashir, Ch Yaseen Gulshan, Syed Shokat Ali Shah, Nasir Hussain Dar, Ch Muhammad Ishaq besides, AJK Chief Secretary Dr.Shehzad Banghish, Additional Chief Secretary for Development Syed Asif Hussain Shah and other high officials were also present in the meeting. AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider while addressing the meeting, said that LOC package has jointly prepared by PAK Army and the government of Azad Kashmir and thanked to government of Pakistan and PAK Army for approving and providing the said funds. He asserted that all projects have been initiated in view of defensive point of view and adding that these projects are the most pivotal for over 600,000 people living at LOC in the radius of five KMs. The PM opined that AJK government has also launched the projects worth billions of rupees for the development and protection of these volatile areas and said that phase –II would be started soon in this regard.

SHAHAB OMER

SMHA to take psychiatrists onboard for mental health treatment

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HE Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has decided to compile a performance report to show its accomplishments of the last three years after receiving criticism from Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) Chief and Member National Assembly Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani over its performance, Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior ETPB official informed that Vankwani’s name was being proposed as chairman of the board before the appointment of current chairman Dr Aamir Ahmed and it was also being expected that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)led government would hand over the chairmanship of the board to a representative of Hindu religion.

According to the official, Vankwani was hopeful that he would be appointed as chairman of the board as

a large number of properties under the supervision of the board were belonged to Hindus and Hindu was the largest minority community of the country.

The official further informed the Prime Minister House later expressed personal interest in the appointment of ETPB chairman and decided to deviate from the tradition and appoint a non-political person to head the organisation.

Another official said that Vankwani alleged and criticised the board management due to improper conditions of the Hindu and Sikh shrines in the country.

The allegations were totally baseless and a propaganda against the board.

He said that the shrines of Sikh and Hindu communities are maintained and could be compared with the religious places of any other community of the country.

All the Sikh and Hindu rituals are properly conducted by the board. The work of the board was appreciated by the local Hindu and Sikh community as well as inter-

national community, which is evident from the visit of UN general secretary to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Narowal and successful conduct of recent rituals.

The official said, “Vankwani is not representing Hindu and Sikh community. The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) is an official body of Pakistani Sikh community, which is duly notified by the federal government. The PHC is neither an official body from the federal government nor registered with any other provincial department. It is a pressure group, led by Vankwani, to grab trust properties.

Vankwani is misusing the forums, including National Assembly, and running media campaign for his own vested interests.”

He added that the board has not sold a single property in the last three years. Moreover, the board has decided to pay the fees of Sikh and Hindu students, who are getting vocational training from the government institutions.

Punjab govt announces green loans to modernise brick kilns LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht has announced to launch Green Loan Scheme for brick kilns owners.

The scheme was announced by the minister while presiding over a meeting of the Anti-Smog Committee on Saturday. He said under the programme, the Bank of Punjab and the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) have jointly carved out a strategy and way forward to ensure facilitation of the brick kiln owners through facilitation centres being set up at tehsil level to ensure provision of the required funding and conversion of the maximum number of brick kilns to zig zag technology.

The provincial minister informed the meeting that on the recommendations of committee, the PDMA is cracking down on smoke-producing elements to eliminate smog. The traditional brick kiln sector along with vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors to environmental pollution and smog in the province, he maintained.

He said the best solution to the problem is to shift the brick kilns to modern technology instead of putting the business of the brick kiln owners and the working class at stake. He said that during the anti-smog operations, the PDMA ensured the transfer of more than 60 per cent of the kiln in the province to ZigZag technology.

Bakht said that the PDMA recommended providing financial assistance to

kilns owners for transformation of kilns to zigzag technology as they were facing financial problems. “The Green Loan Scheme will ensure the transfer of the remaining kilns to modern technology.”

He said that the objective of the scheme is smog free green Punjab, adding that kiln owners should support the Punjab government for a cleaner environment and smog free environment for future generations.

Under the scheme, soft loans are being provided to the brick kilns owners on easy instalments for the transfer of kilns to zig zag technology; a loan of Rs1 million with the mark up of 3pc to 4pc will be issued.

The loans are being issued under the Prime Minister's Kamyab Nojawan Programme and the Punjab government's Rozgar Scheme.

Man posing himself as secret agency's officer arrested KARACHI APP

Karachi police on Saturday arrested a man masquerading himself as an officer of a secret agency and his two accomplices. Police said a raid on a tip-off was conducted against the suspect accused of collecting protection money from the local citizens. During the raid, officials from Sachal police station arrested the accused and recovered forged identity cards and stamps. It emerged that the accused operate a gutka manufacturing unit.

Karachi factory blaze extinguished after hours-long firefighting KARACHI

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

APP

Sindh Mental Health Authority (SMHA) Chairman Dr Karim Ahmed Khwaja said that the authority is working hard to take psychiatrists onboard for mental health treatment. He said this while addressing a conference on "Increasing Trends of Suicide in the Society", organized at the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Saturday. He said that 100 per cent treatment of mental illnesses would be possible if the diagnosis was identified correctly and on time.

“We are going to release a five-year report on suicide soon.” He said that steps were being taken to improve the treatment of the patients of mental health in the Sindh government hospitals. Rotary Club Governor and Dr Essa Laboratory CEO Dr Farhan Essa said that wrong medication is also one of the causes of suicide. Wrong medication gives rise to depression and quacks have started treatment of mental illnesses. Unfortunately mental health has not been the country’s priority, he added. He termed the post-mortem of suicide case victim as imperative to get exact figures of the annual suicide cases in the country. Addressing the conference, Dr Tipu Sultan said that the incident of suicide is a terrible fact and it is a shame for our society. Worldwide, eight million people commit suicide every year and 85 percent of suicides occur in our region, he added. He said the nepotism has given rise to the frustration among the youths. We have to investigate the reasons behind suicides and have to ensure social security, he added.

President of PMA Sindh Dr Mirza Azhar Ali said that the increasing poverty, mental stress and social unrest are the leading causes of increasing trend of suicide.

Senior journalist and columnist Naveed Zubeida Mustafa, Dr. Jai Pal Bhatia, PMA Karachi President Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shuro, Dr Rakesh and others also expressed their views.

LAHORE: A workshop on “security of schools against terrorism” was held recently at the campus of School of Strategic Studies. PRESS RElEASE

Malik Sarood elected LBA president LAHORE: Malik Sarood of the late Asma Jehangir Group clinched top slot of president of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) in the elections for 2021-22, held on Saturday.

According to the election board, he bagged 2,544 votes in a tough contest, while his opponent Rao Sami of Hamid Khan-led Professional Group got 2,503 votes.

A total of 38 candidates were in the run for different slots. The balloting started at 9:00 a.m. and continued till 5 p.m. with half an hour lunch break.

Ahmad Saad was elected as general secretary after bagging 2,894 votes and Mudassar Butt remained winner

with 2,760 votes on the seat of secretary.

For the seat of vice president, Rana Shahid Hussain was elected after receiving 2,410 votes.

Rana Kausar Sulehri bagged victory on the seat of vice president (Model Town seat) with 2,112 votes and Irfan A Khichi remained successful on the seat of vice President (Cantt seat) with 2,617 votes.

Mian Farhat Saleem was elected as joint secretary with 2,546 votes. Rana Muhammad Akmal got the seat of finance secretary with 1,840 votes. On the seat of auditor, Hafiz Usman won with 2,115 votes. APP

Fire brigade officials controlled the thirddegree blaze that erupted at a chemical factory in Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) area on Saturday. Twelve fire tenders including the fire engines of KPT and the Navy participated in firefighting to extinguish the third-degree fire. Two people stranded at the upper storey of the factory building were also rescued during the fire fighting. The assistant commissioner SITE said that the fire erupted at a chemical godown in the industrial area and the authorities were searching for the factory owners and the management. “The experts will inspect the premises to inquire into the cause of the blaze,” he said. He further said that legal action will be taken if the godown management found to be negligent in the inquiry of the incident. Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and directed Karachi Administrator Laiq Ahmed to ensure that the fire is put out immediately and there is no loss of human life. Laiq Ahmed informed the chief minister that two labourers were rescued, adding that fire tenders are trying to put out the fire. Last week, an intense fire broke out in a cardboard factory in New Karachi, as a result of which goods worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes. Upon being informed of the incident, police and Rangers personnel reached the site and cordoned off the area where the factory was located. Meanwhile, area residents, who said they had called the fire department as soon as the fire erupted, found themselves on their own, struggling to contain the intensifying blaze, due to the delay in the arrival of firefighters.

KP governor seeks suggestions from districts on ‘Billion Tree Honey Initiative’ PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

Owing to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s direction to the governors of the four provinces to launch ‘Billion Tree Honey Initiative’ to promote the honey industry in the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Shah Farman on Friday sought suggestions from all the districts to formally start the plantation project.

Charring a meeting with the delegation

of All Pakistan Beekeepers Exporters and Honey Traders Association (APBEHTA), the governor said, “The best quality honey is available in the country. Berry honey is preferred all over the world and the province has great potential in the production of berry honey. The testing of honey in line with the international standards would lead to a huge increase in the export and production of honey in the country.”

During the meeting, various issues came under discussion, including the challenges

faced by the people involved in the honey business. The participants presented their suggestions for the production of honey in the country in accordance with the international standards.

Measures like vocational training for the people involved in honey business, healthy environment and spreading awareness among the population were also discussed in detail so that the quality of honey could be improved in the country.

The APBEHTA Senior Vice-President

Sheikh Gul Bacha welcomed the initiative of the government and hoped that it would enhance honey production in the country. “The project would multiply honey production in the province, reduce the price of honey and increase its exports,” Bacha told Pakistan Today.

Bacha said that at present the honey industry has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as the prices of honey have increased, besides reduction in its export. He said that most of the honey is exported from Pakistan to Arab and Eu-

ropean countries.

According to sources, the Saudi Arabia government had expressed its support for the project to activate the honey industry across Pakistan.

As per estimated figures, Karak district produces Rs6 billion worth of berry honey annually in the province. The beekeepers said that the production of honey will further increase, if the provincial government plants eco-friendly trees in other districts of the province under the initiative.

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

NEWS

ECC rEvErSES dECiSion to Hand ovEr KCr ProjECt to SindH govt

t

NEWS dESK

HE Economic Coordination Committee on Saturday announced it is reversing its decision of handing over the Karachi Circular Railway Project to the Sindh government. According to media reports, the decision was reversed on the recommendation of the secretary of the Cabinet Division.

Therefore, all upgradation and operation work of the Rs739 billion project has been assigned to the Ministry of Railways. Earlier, due to objections put forth by the ministry, the project had been handed over to the Sindh government.

In a parallel development, approval to include MQM Pakistan's Javed Hanif in the Karachi Transformation Plan Committee was accorded.

The project faced several setbacks before it became partially operational back in November.

SC ORDERS REVIVAL: In February 2020, a threemember bench headed by CJP Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah had directed Pakistan Railways and Sindh government

Subsequently, on November 26, the apex court issued a contempt notice to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah over failure to implement orders pertaining to the clearing of certain portion of the tracks.

During a hearing, the top judge observed that the work should have been completed in two months and asked the director general of Frontier Works Organization (FWO) to explain why the work has not started yet.

"We have submitted a design plan to the Sindh government and are awaiting approval," the FWO director general told the bench.

The bench issued a contempt notice to the provincial chief minister and show-cause notice to secretary railways, giving them two weeks to submit a reply. The hearing was adjourned till December 2.

Initiated in 1964, the old KCR route started from Drigh Road and ended in downtown Karachi. After suffering losses for years, it ceased operations in 1999.

The Karachi Circular Railways revival project includes the transformation of the old route into a mass transit system with the total length of the railway track expected to be 50 kilometers.

to remove all encroachments from the lands meant for the long-delayed circular railway system in the metropolis within six months.

Then, on November 10, the court issued a contempt notice to both over failure to revive KCR. The bench directed Sindh chief secretary, railways secretary, and the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) director-general to appear in person and brief the court on why the project is still not operational.

"We will call everyone. If need be, even the premier and chief minister will be called," observed the top judge. On November 19, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed inaugurated the much-awaited project at the City Station in Karachi.

Addressing a post-launch ceremony, Ahmed said four trains will operate daily from Pipri to the City Station in the first phase. The fare has been decided at Rs30 per route while the traveling pass will be sold at Rs750.

Ahmed said the KCR will also be extended to other parts of the city. "Rs1.8 billion have been earmarked for the project — out of which Rs17 million have been spent," he said. "A KCR coach cost Rs900,000."

Arabia-Iran ties.

Earlier, the PM offered Fateha for the departed souls of the martyrs of the Mach incident.

Governor Amanullah Khan Yasinzai, Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, federal ministers Ali Zaidi and Ali Ameen Gandapur, provincial ministers, inspector general of police, Frontier Corps chief and other high ranking officials were also present on the occasion.

Later, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen leader Agha Raza said that during the PM’s visit, the people had registered their protest over the use of the word "blackmail" and how it is "unbecoming of a prime minister".

The PM clarified that he used the word "blackmail" for the Pakistan Democratic Movement leaders, said Raza. He said that the prime minister has assured the community that the agreement signed will be fulfilled.

LAW & ORDER: Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan chaired a high level meeting regarding the Machh tragedy and law and order in Balochistan.

He also held a meeting with the Balochistan governor and chief minister which was also attended by Commander Southern Command Lt General Sarfraz Ali to discuss matters related to law and order of the province.

Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Quetta on a day-long visit to the city. Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan, provincial ministers and other high ranking officials received the Prime Minister at the airport.

PM assures Hazaras of tracking down those behind Machh incident CONTINuEd frOm pAGE 01 The prime minister said that "keeping the situation in mind, I had first sent the interior minister your way".

"The first thing that we had to do was [console] the families who endured heartbreaking setbacks — Amna bibi, whose five brothers were martyred and Mohammad Sadiq, a brother of six sisters was also martyred."

"That is why I had sent the interior minister first so that we could assure the families that we would not abandon them."

"These are 35-40 people who have spread terror in the country; in the past they were known as Lashkar-eJhangvi, and now they are a part of the extremist group Daesh," the Prime Minister said.

"Several of the terrorists have been killed; however, 35-40 of them are left, and now a complete programme is in the works, including a security forces' cell whose only responsibility will be to ensure your (Hazara com-

Pakistan removes all visa restrictions for Bangladeshis AGENCIES Pakistan’s High Commission in Bangladesh has said that Islamabad had lifted all restrictions on visas for Bangladeshi citizens as both countries have agreed to intensify bilateral contacts at all levels. “Pakistan has already removed all restrictions on Pakistani visas for Bangladeshi citizens,” said the statement after a meeting between Siddiqui and Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam. “The two sides agreed to intensify bilateral contacts at all levels,” it added. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui said that they are waiting for the same response from the Bangladeshi side. “Bangladesh’s restrictions on Pakistani nationals are still in place, and that is why I informed the state minister that we have already lifted all bars from our side,” he said. The move is being seen as an ice breaker in the frosty relations between the two South Asian countries. Bilateral relations between the two countries turned sour after Bangladesh government formed a controversial tribunal for the “trial of crimes” during the 1971 war. Bangladesh seemed interested in establishing closer relations with China and Pakistan due to India’s years-long partial attitude, including monopoly control over common rivers, killings of unarmed Bangladeshi civilians on borders and enactment of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. Ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan began to turn positive, however, following a rare phone call last July

by Prime Minister Imran Khan to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina. Siddiqui had also called on Premier Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen in Dhaka and reportedly discussed various bilateral issues in a cordial environment. A separate statement issued by the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry said that both sides agreed on the need to hold long-pending foreign office consultations, which were last held in 2010.

munity) safety and hunt down those responsible," he said.

The PM, speaking about his delay in visiting them, said that a premier has a lot of matters to deal with as compared to the common man. "When I wasn't prime minister, I had visited you."

"Nobody can guarantee that an unfortunate incident won't take place in the country," he said, adding: "That is why I had asked your community to bury the deceased, and then I would visit you."

"But when you keep conditions, then it becomes a precedent. Today Imran Khan is the prime minister, tomorrow someone else will be," he added.

"I want to say again, not only I, but the whole country was sharing your sorrow and pain." He thanked the families for listening to the government and going ahead with the burial.

He said he is putting in an effort to unite the Muslim Ummah that is why he also strived to improve Saudi

05

KP, Punjab back open ballot Senate polls in reply to SC CONTINuEd frOm pAGE 01 On January 4, the apex court issued notices to the federal and provincial advocate generals, the NA speaker and speakers of the provincial assemblies and the Election Commission of Pakistan in a hearing on the presidential reference for holding the Senate elections by open ballot.

A five-judge larger bench of the apex court, comprising of Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justices Mushir Alam, Umar Ata Bandial, Ijaz ul Ahsan and Yahya Afridi, had issued notices to the provincial advocate generals, Election Commission of Pakistan, Senate chairman, National Assembly speaker and provincial assemblies’ speakers over the issue. The reference read that the president has sought the apex court's opinion on whether the condition of holding a secret ballot referred to in Article 226 of the Constitution is applicable only for the elections held under the Constitution such as the election to the office of president, speakers and deputy speakers of the Parliament and provincial assemblies and "not to other elections such as the election for the members of Senate" held under the Elections Act 2017 enacted to pursuant to Article 222 read with Entry 41 (1) of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution "which may be held by way of secret or open ballot" as provided for in the Act. According to the government, the nature of the elections and the way it is conducted has not been clearly mentioned in the Constitution. The government said election for the Senate is conducted in accordance with the Election Act of 2017 and asked if it is possible to introduce the idea of openballoting in the upper house of the Parliament.

Pakistan exports to UK cross $1bn in H1FY21 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports to the United Kingdom (UK) have crossed the one billion US dollars in the first six months of the fiscal year 2020-2021 for the first time, the first-ever target met in the said duration.

An announcement in this regard was made by Advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Saturday. From July 1 to end December 2020, exports to the UK grew by 21 per cent touching $1,029 million as compared to $852 million in the corresponding period last year, the advisor tweeted.

“Moreover, exports grew by 47pc to $189 million in December 2020 as compared to $129 million in December 2019. I congratulate our exporters for this achievement and encourage them to make efforts to obtain a greater share of the market,” he added. “I also commend the efforts of MOC’s Trade Officers (TOs) posted in the UK and urge them to work harder in finding opportunities for our exporters and provide facilitation to our businessmen, “the PM’s advisor said. APP

IMF maintains lending capacity at $1tr for coming years WASHINGTON TLTP

With the support by creditors for a doubling of the IMF’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and a new round of new bilateral borrowing agreements (BBAs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its lending capacity at around US$1 trillion for the coming years.

This is of particular importance in the context of increased demand for IMF resources due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing heightened risks, said a press statement issued to TLTP on Saturday.

Since the membership’s endorsement in 2019 of a package on IMF resources and governance reform, the IMF has worked closely with its creditor members.

According to the statement, the IMF’s NAB, the sec-

ond line of defence after quota resources, have been strengthened.

In January 2020, the Executive Board approved a NAB reform that included a doubling of the size of the NAB and setting a new NAB period through 2025. Creditors have since provided the necessary consents and this reform took effect as targeted on January 1, 2021. Following the effectiveness of the reform, 38 NAB participants contribute an aggregate amount of SDR 361 billion (USD 521 billion) to the Fund’s resource envelope.

In addition, work proceeded to maintain access to bilateral borrowing agreements (BBAs) as the third line of defence.

On March 30, 2020, the Executive Board approved a framework for a new round of bilateral borrowing, to succeed agreements in place through end-2020. Within this

framework, a new set of agreements beyond 2020 (2020 BBAs) have been introduced to replace the 2016 BBAs, which expired at end-2020.

New bilateral borrowing agreements with 37 creditors for a total of SDR 128 billion (USD 185 billion) have become effective (Table 2). Agreements with a few other prospective 2020 BBA creditors are on track to become effective in the period ahead.

The 2020 BBAs have an initial term of three years through end-2023 and may be extended for one further year.

“Information on NAB credit amounts and bilateral borrowing agreements are available at respective country pages and through the IMF Financial Data Query Tool at the IMF website. The latest amounts will be reflected in the next reporting period,” the statement concluded.

KCFR holds webinar on Pakistan's educational problems NEWS dESK Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) recently arranged a webinar on "Challenges in Education in Pakistan".

The webinar, chaired by KCFR Chairman Ikram Sehgal, also had Education, Professional Training, National Heritage & Culture Minister in attendance. The event was moderated by KCFR CEO Cdre (r) Sadeed A. Malik.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister noted that over the last 73 years, the state did not invest in education the way it should have.

"Apart from the prevalent situation, we were suddenly faced with the coronavirus emergency, which we managed by making a functional and effective organisation wherein fundamental decisions were taken with regard to opening and closures of schools etc.

Within 15 days of closure of schools in March, we were able to launch a 'Tele School' by taking an entire channel from

Pakistan Television Corporation. In higher education, online learning was encouraged. Just a few days back, we took a decision to gradually open schools from the 18th to the 25th of Jan 2021, and by the 1st of next month, all education institutions will reopen."

He said with on focus on distance learning, the government has put in place projects to develop new content.

"We have started a blended learning project in Islamabad which is going to combine different kinds of technologies to determine which one is the appropriate technology and at which age."

While the future is stressful because of Covid, it has created opportunities.

"We have started 'distance learning' and we hope that within the next 6 months, we will be able to develop new content and new ways to give to the children."

The minister opined that there is a huge problem with 'learning poverty', which according to World Bank is the amount of learning that a student has to

CMYK

attain over a certain period of time but unfortunately the figures for Pakistan at 75pc were very poor.

"There are other problems such as societal problems and we have a huge apartheid-like situation in education where you have the elite schools, then the low fee paying private schools, government schools and Madrassah schools. Each one is going in their own direction. Madrassa reform has been a huge effort... we held a number of meetings with Ittihad-e-Tanzeem Madaris and reached an agreement that all madrassa over the next 4 to 5 year period will also be teaching according to the national curriculum and that their students will be taking part in the national examinations, like Matriculation, FA or FSc." The minister then took some questions from participants after which KCFR Chairman Ikram Sehgal thanked the minister and said that he believed there was a problem with education be-

cause of the 18th Amendment.

"We do not want to go down the way of the Yugoslav model which suffered a racial and religious divide. I think we need to have a common minimum programme to address our problems. There are things counter-productive to the continuation of good education, for example, textbooks. The 18th Amendment must be modified to have at least a Common Minimum Programme as far as education is concerned."

Continuing, Mr Sehgal said that having 'mortar and brick' schools in the pandemic is not enough. "We can do double shifts at schools, we can do stage wise alternate on-line classes, etc. The most important thing is the common minimum programme and also the textbook problem, I think you really need to revisit your policy about textbooks because if you hand over the textbooks to the provincial level you are going to have a problem of the highest order as is already happening as we see it."

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

06 COMMENT

Pakistan’s soft underbelly

Preparing to deal with new US administration

Hazaras targeted again in unstable Balochistan

Need to safeguard a complicated but vital relationship

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he Foreign Office is about to initiate an in-house debate over Pak-US relations under the new US President. Pakistani ambassador to the USA Asad Majeed Khans is already in Islamabad to provide his inputs. Leading a US delegation, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, has visited the GhQ to discuss Afghan peace talks and the long-term security partnership . Meanwhile an Anti-terrorism Court has sentenced Laskar-i-Taiba's Zakiur-Rehman Lakhvi to five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000 for terror financing. The action was hailed by the State Department with an-all-too familiar “do more” by holding Lakhvi accountable for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

Many think that Pak-US relations will remain more of the same despite a Democrat occupying the Presidency. Others maintain there will be important differences in details. There are vital issues of bilateral interest that lead the two countries to seek each other’s cooperation despite mutual doubts and suspicions that continue to persist. Unless handled deftly by the PTI government, these could harm the relations.

Both Pakistan and the USA want peace in Afghanistan.

Unlike Trump, Biden is not in a hurry to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Similarly he would like to get assurances for human rights and an inclusive polity in talks with the Taliban. In case, the peace process suffers, and the US concludes Pakistan was being less than helpful, relations with Pakistan could suffer.

The new US President would treat India as a strategic ally and is likely to soft-pedal Narendra Modi’s repressive policies in Kashmir. On the other hand the USA might express dissatisfaction over measures taken by Pakistan against India centric terrorist groups.

The US is likely to continue its opposition to the CPeC. Pakistan cannot afford to slow down, let aside forgo, the Corridor which constitutes the country’s economic lifeline. The government would be required to defy the US pressure while maintaining good relations with it.

In 2017, the PML(N) government kept political forces united in the face of President Trump’s provocations. A unanimous parliamentary resolution on August 30 denounced President Trump’s “complete disregard for Pakistan’s vast sacrifices” in counter-terror efforts and called on the government to consider suspending cooperation with the US.” Does PM Imran Khan have the ability to unite all parties when needed?

Arif NizAmi

H

e will not be blackmailed by the hapless hazara community demanding that they will only bury their slain compatriots, killed in a terrorist attack in Balochistan Machh area, unless the prime minister personally comes to meet their demands. even by Imran Khan’s by now-well known bent of mind such ego driven narcissist drivel was appalling. how could a down-trodden and miserable people -deeply traumatized as a result of their near and dear ones having their throats slit - blackmail the premier of the country? Adding insult to injury, Khan while speaking on the same occasion in Islamabad chose to lambast the opposition as well.

According to him by this attitude (of the protesters) anyone will blackmail the prime minister, including the “band of crooks”. Clearly referring to the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s current campaign to oust him he added that, “this blackmail is also going on for the past two and a half years.”

The prime minister, by making such inopportune remarks, unwittingly himself politicised the matter.

If Bilawal and Maryam rushed to Machh to commiserate with the hazaras, the fault lies with the PM for dilly dallying on the matter for leaving the field open for the opposition to fish in troubled waters.

Predictably, there has been widespread condemnation of the premier’s inopportune remarks by the politicians and on the social media. PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has repeated her stance that the prime minister should have visited Machh

Embarrassment in New Zealand Pakistan cricket team’s stunning collapse

THE FAILED COUP

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FTeR a chaotic off-the-field start to its tour of New Zealand owing to covid-19 violations and positive cases in the squad, the Pakistani cricket team had an equally horrendous time on-the-field, especially in the second Test of the two match test series preceded by a three T20 matches that the home side won 2-1. An obvious takeaway from the tour was that Pakistan is yet to form a steady squad with an effective and match-winning balance of new talent and experience. While it was of course a clear disadvantage and devastating blow that the best and most dependable batman in the side and arguably one of the best in the world, Babar Azam, was ruled out of both Tests due to an injury that occurred during practice, the batting performance was still quite underwhelming and inconsistent. Apart from some exceptions, like Fawad Alam’s novel first century after 11 years and a decent 91 by newcomer Faheem Ashraf in the First Test that resulted in Pakistan losing by 101 runs, the Second Test defeat by an innings and 176 runs was an unmitigated disaster.

It has been close to three years since the stable middleorder defensive duo of Misbah-ul-haq and Younis Khan retired from international cricket, which is more than enough time to rebuild the backbone of any batting order. Unfortunately since their departure, both the selection of players and coaching has been ineffective in putting a well-rounded competitive team on the ground. Mickey Arthur’s abrupt and unexpected removal as head coach in mid-2019 to make way for Misbah-ul-haq to take the top job along with the additional role of chief selector produced mixed results, with the side winning only seven of their 19 matches since, excluding the latest New Zealand series. Misbah’s recent replacement as chief selector y Muhammad Wasim, an average cricketer at best who lacks experience, with rumours of a foreign head coach coming in as well following the embarrassment in New Zealand, show that the management side of the team is in complete disarray. As far as the bowling side is concerned, there are strong reservations within decision making-circles over Waqar Younis’s role as bowling coach after a thrashing of 659 for 6 by New Zealand in the Second Test. Pakistan’s cricket team is as unpredictable as they come, but of late, evidently due to bad selection and coaching staff, and it is fast becoming a predictably losing side.

What the attempted coup in the US can teach us

rAbiA Ahmed

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hAT just happened in the USA when supporters of Donald Trump attacked the Capitol was important, not just because it seems to have been a turning point in the elections but for many other reasons, one of the most obvious and striking being how closely these events and their reasons resemble what happens in Pakistan. It is worth noting them.

It is interesting that whether it is involved or not– the USA and the West get blamed for most things in Pakistan, most particularly by the right wingers.

Blamed for the suspicion towards vaccines (with reason that one, thank you CIA, mostly responsible for the suspicion), for all ills of modern culture, for every religious remark that is blown up into blasphemy.

The refusal to accept the new leadership, the insistence that elections were tampered with, not only was this entirely familiar to us in this country, but it is pertinent to note the reason why Donald Trump’s tactics did not succeed: the fact that most people in the USA do believe in its basic institutions, and are not pleased when the Constitution is threatened. They don’t mind organizing coups in other countries but are rather touchy about coups taking place in their own. But that is a whole different subject.

That belief in the Constitution and the threat to the Constitution was probably the biggest reason

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For example, in the aftermath of the Machh tragedy, the provincial government proved to be totally ineffective. The chief minister Jam Kamal was in Dubai, while his interior minister initially was nowhere to be seen. In ideal circumstances the chief minister should have handled matters better, but not so in Balochistan.

It is no coincidence that the present government immediately and by not going, has failed in his duty was ushered in through political engineering and is as the chief executive of the country.

She has posed an interesting question from Khan: composed of turncoats and pliant politicians. “if this was due to obedience (tabedari), then the na- Balochistan Awami party (BAP) was created for this tion wants to know is obedience more important than purpose.

Baloch leaders who have roots in the province are people’s lives”? She obliquely accused the prime generally treated with disdain. Traditionally, most of minister being driven by superstition.

Thankfully better sense has prevailed. The haz- these being nationalists are considered a security risk. aras demands were met in the early hours of Saturday Sardar Akbar Bugti, a moderate politician was assasand the funerals of the dead took place later in the sinated during general Pervez Musharraf’s rule on his day. The premier visited Quetta soon after to person- express orders for the sole reason that he was causing problems for the military regime by staking claims if ally condole and listen to their grievances.

Of course, Khan’s no-show in Quetta was rightly the province’s natural resources.

Sardar Akhtar Mengal heading the BNP criticized across the country. But to put the whole Balochistan National Party) was in coalition with the Balochistan problem on his plate is rather unfair.

Pakistan’s largest province has been a festering ruling (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf). he left in disgust as none of his demands- most wound very since the counimportantly recovery of misstry’s inception. Of course, ing persons- were ever met. the fault lies with our succesUndoubtedly the pressive military strongmen as ence of the military in the well as civilian rulers. province is also a stabilising The mineral rich and The mineral rich and It has helped build strategically located province strategically located province factor. schools hospitals and roads has historically been treated as a national security risk and has has historically been treated but governing is not their mandated role. therefore been controlled with as a national security risk In this backdrop the presan iron hand. Truly all kind of ent policy towards Balochisforeign based groups are operand has therefore been tan has simply not worked. It ating here. For example, Daesh needs an urgent reset. which for years has been tarcontrolled with an iron hand For starters, the prime geting the Shia community, acminister, instead of making it cepted responsibility for the an ego problem not to visit Machh attack. Our security Machh unless the hazaras establishment in the past has first bury their deceased been in a state of denial about the extremist groups’ presence in Pakistan. loved ones should have ideally have taken the oppoAlso, naively assuming that the so-called Islamic sition along in order to evolve a cogent policy toState has no truck with the Afghan based Taliban, wards escalating wave of terrorism in the province. he should also open negotiations with those porather they will emerge as each other’s rivals. In a sense we are now faced with a double whammy. Th litical forces that really matter as well as other stakeafghan Taliban attacks in Pakistan have continued un- holders.But unfortunately, this is not going to happen.

To expect Khan to come off his white horse and shed abated, while Daesh has become ominously active.

India’s active interest in Balochistan is now well his knight armour will be asking for too much.

Similarly, the establishment will not outgrow its documented. Indian spy Kalbhushan Yadav was propensity to treat Balochistan as its backyard. caught red-handed from the province in 2016.

Old habits die hard. hence the people of however, the dismal situation is not solely a function of foreign interference. An extremely flawed Balochistan will continue to suffer and the province approach has exacerbated matters. As a result, over will remain Pakistan’s soft under belly . the years Balochistan has become a national secuArif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be rity province where military and intelligence agencies rule the roost. Civilian provincial governments contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk are historically weak, corrupt and effete.

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Trump now finds himself eating crow . The other reason is that much as Mr Trump would have wanted it, the army refused to get involved in his plans. In the US, the military is generally left out of such matters, and the military itself was keen to keep it that way.

Interesting, eh? And not as familiar as the rest.

The heavily armed crowd that raided the Capitol came as no surprise. Americans have always been fond of guns, the country’s gun culture is not just something you see in Western movies. They own guns, several guns per household, and from the look of things they always will. That and the fact that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been a huge backer of Donald Trump and his election campaigns.

That made it inevitable that Trump would play puppet to the NRA’s string. Very early on in his tenure as president he got rid of a restriction that made it illegal for anyone with mental issues to buy a gun. he made it possible for those evading arrest to buy guns by changing the definition of ‘fugitive from justice.’

Businesses making and selling guns, and shooting ranges are now designated ‘essential businesses.’

Characteristically, he promised to do so but took no action against the gun lobby and gun safety. he also made it much easier to export guns to other countries.

The world needed that like a dose of cyanide. Yet how could he go against the NRA’s wishes when the Association is said to have donated $30 million for the 2016 elections, and it is now being calculated just how much they paid for this one that he lost?

We need to check who pays for our leaders’ electioneering.

Naturally Trump’s supporters, those who battered their way into the Capitol possessed guns and they used them, bats, fists and whatever came their way to break into the building. Guns were drawn in the building, a woman was shot and later died, a long gun and nine firearms were recovered by police, and several people were arrested under suspicion of carrying illegal guns. The entire Capitol episode was orchestrated. That is obvious. People travelled to DC from areas far away, from Florida, Texas.

None of this is new for us. It is as common for persons to be armed in Pakistan, thieves breaking into homes, drive by shooters and other thugs. Just as the build up of guns, their sale and possession particularly during the pandemic was ignored in the USA, it is ignored in Pakistan, as is the fact of who buys them.

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Still, the fact that people bought guns, more guns than usual was not just with the aim of attacking the Capitol. It is not just with the aim of aggression that people arm themselves. It is also frustration and injustice that make people think in terms of self-defence, and there is no lack of frustration and injustice in Pakistan, particularly now with the pandemic upon us. With businesses closing down and their livelihoods collapsing about people’s ears, what can they do but strong-arm their way to support in the absence of support from those responsible for providing it?

With the leadership of this country, those in power and those who aspire to it both concentrating solely on that golden throne, on abusing each other and holding rallies– even in the midst of a pandemic when it is wiser not to congregate, the people of this country have little choice but to take what they can.

The example set for them by their political leaders is hardly a peaceful, rational one.

While leaders blame each other, people all over the world do what they think is most in their interests, and while democracy is for the people by the people, people left to their own devices have never known what is best for themselves. They need a leadership that cares for them. That leadership must care regardless of the colour of their skin. Trump’s following is predominantly white.

Clearly it will be a while before racism is stamped out in that country, and the previous government’s legacy of racism, misogyny, will linger until someone else manages to remove the legitimacy it was granted.

Are all people granted respect in this country, be they women, poor, Shia, Sunni, hazara or Christian.

Is it possible for anyone to claim this in Pakistan? have not racism and misogyny been granted a similar legitimacy in Pakistan, with so many hazara people killed and the Prime Minister of the country refusing to pay them the respect that is their due? The latest while writing this column is that the PM is accusing the hazara of blackmailing him by asking for his presence. At least in the USA they have their systems which have been upheld in the final analysis. They have a basic reverence for their Constitution. They have an army that refuses to get involved. And now they have a new government.

It is doubtful that that new government will be any better for the world than its predecessors were, but that again is a different matter. We in Pakistan need to look to ourselves. To build our own strengths, to respect our own ability to do what is right. To make progress a reality and not just something that is worn like a fake medal by our leaders.

Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 10 January, 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

Save Cricket PAKISTAN'S Performance on the tour of New Zealand has given birth to a new debate, once again the Technicality of our batting order, the ability of the coach, and the selection process of the team has been called into question by former cricketers and sports analysts.

Before the start of the tour, Pakistan Team was stuck by a huge below when in-form and probably the most reliable batsman of Pakistan in current times Babar Azam got injured. Babers injury exposed Pakistan,s frail Batting order in tough batting conditions Shadab who replaced Baber as a captain was unable to deal with challenges that our team usually faces on away tours, besides that he could not find a match-winning combination. hyder Ali and Khushdil Shah who were being glorified on the basis of their performance in PSL struggled with their batting technique on bouncing and seeming tracks. The poor fielding during the T-20 series as well as Test Series further added to our miseries.

It seems that we are no more a good test side ever since the retirement of Younis Khan and Misbahul-haq, even under the captaincy of Sarfaraz we Struggled during the Test Matches, and it is the area that needs special concentration.

The Poor Show in New Zealand must have shaken the Minds of PCB officials and it is high time to take heedful steps so that cricket may not face hockey-like downfall in future.

Kamran Khamiso Khawaja sujawal

Ehsaas survey in South Waziristan

Times like none before So vile, so wicked, yet so common

Candid Corner rAoof hAsAN “We are living in a time of trouble and bewilderment, in a time when none of us can foresee or foretell the future. But, it is in times like these, when so much that we cherish is threatened, or in jeopardy, that we are impelled all the more to strengthen our inner resources, to turn to the things that have no news value because they will be the same tomorrow that they were today and yesterday – the things that last, the things that the wisest, the most farseeing of our race and kind have been inspired to utter in forms that can inspire ourselves in turn.”

–laurence binyon

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TRANGe are the times we are living in: strange because these do not seem to carry any meaning or relevance for what we may or may not be engaged in doing. It is like our instinct is driving us in a direction that we neither understand nor relate to. It is as if we are propelled by some inner prompting towards a destination that that we don’t know much about, or the path that we have to take, or the direction we should follow. The whole undertaking is without a sense of devotion.

Such are the times that we seem to be lost in.

These times have not come about suddenly.

These are the product of days gone by, days spent without any purpose or devotion to a cause that would chisel the path to be taken, or the contours of the mission to be pursued. In a different way, these times reflect a loss of honour and self-respect. This state finds resonance in the words of Lewis Mumford who said: “When art seems to be empty of meaning, as no doubt some of the abstract painting of our own day does seem, what the painting says, indeed what the artist is shrieking at the top of his voice, is that life has become empty of all rational content and coherence, and that, in times like these, is far from a meaningless statement”.

In these times, so much has jumbled up that it is difficult to make out one thing from the other, to sift the good from the bad. But, then, the line that separates the two has been hazy for a while. At some places, it has even disappeared.

So, the good may be construed as bad, and the bad painted as good. In fact, people are no longer driven by the correctness of what they are undertaking. Their sole criterion is whether the choice they are making will get them to their purported goal or not. If it does, it matters not whether the path they are choosing is right or not, whether it is within the ambit of law or nor, or whether it conforms to the social and moral benchmarks or not. The ultimate objective always justifies the means to get to the destination.

So much is lost along the way that it may be difficult even to recognise ourselves as being the same people who had set out on the journey at the beginning. If it is success we are able to achieve, the change may even become a permanent feature of our pursuits.

There is much that has gone wrong which emanates from an intellectual collapse. That is the principal ailment that we suffer from. We had forgotten about the worth or value of the written and spoken word a long time ago. We are not interested in their existence any longer because we are so consumed with our fanciful and rabid wishes irrespective of the means and methods chosen for their fulfilment.

But such infatuation with self-aggrandisement entails a price which has to be paid because the law of nature does not always wait for the world after. Much is enacted here for all to see, for all to learn from.

It is Faiz sahib who encapsulated it in his inimitable words in ‘Nida-e-Ghaib’: “Reward and punishment shall be dispensed here For here shall be enacted hell and paradise here shall be raised the call for the hereafter here shall be the doomsday.”

There is so much that I could refer to by way of amplifying what I am trying to put forth, all of which may not even be understandable for a large number of people. To cite just one example, look at the savage killing of 11 hazara mine workers in Machh, Baluchistan.

They were dragged out of their mud huts and butchered in the open. They were poor people who worked in abominable conditions to earn two measly meals a day. They had done no harm to anyone. They had no enemies. They were chosen by external conspirators, aided and abetted by local facilitators, to be eliminated to spread terror and fear. That they did, but they also did something else. They sowed the seeds of division and hatred among people which is, by far, the key agenda of the perpetrators. Why do we fall prey to their wicked

machinations? Why do we let these evil forces rejoice in the success of their mission of pitting one against the other?

Over the last 73 years, the country has been rent asunder through excessive politicisation– both of the institutions and our thought processes. We are no longer capable of looking at things and evaluating them in their objectivity.

We have to create a political context and then try to fit them in. That makes us lose our contact with reality and the way things should actually be seen as compared to how we would like to see them.

There are people who did not even spare the dead bodies of the hazaras. They put them by the wayside and refused to remove them till their demands were met including the arrival of the Prime Minister. A team of federal ministers along with the provincial leadership visited the site of the dharna many times. After all their demands were met and a commitment made that the Prime Minister would also visit them soon, the protesters agreed to bury the dead.

The families of the deceased were eager to do so all along, but some political charlatans degraded themselves to playing politics with the dead. They pressurised the families not to bury the bodies till the Prime Minister’s arrival.

This is a dastardly act which some evil minds manoeuvred to enact, getting the families of the dead caught up in a vicious tangle.

This is no politics. This is enactment of evil itself. But, like I said earlier, for these wicked people, there is virtually no distinction between what is right and what is not. Anything that suits their ends is justified for them. Only the innocent suffer by getting caught up in such vicious cycles.

Like so much else before, this will pass. But it will leave behind immense pain. Why do we think of causing such afflictions to the unsuspecting and the innocent? Why do we push them into a web of deceit and play with their emotions? This is so cruel, so evil.

It is time for people to stop becoming fodder for the political games of those who cannot look beyond their petty selfish interests. These vile actors don’t deserve any sympathy. They should be named, shamed and made to pay for their wickedness.

It is time for people to stop becoming fodder for the political games of those who cannot look beyond their petty selfish interests. These vile actors don’t deserve any sympathy. They should be named, shamed and made to pay for their wickedness

The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com.

Twitter: @RaoofHasan

SPeCIAL Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar on . Saturday launched ehsaas National Socio-economic Registry survey in South Waziristan to pass on the programme benefits to the locals by registering them under its multiple initiatives. During her visit to Tank and South Waziristan, the SAPM also met with four tribal Jirgas and sensitized their elders and influential about purpose of the ongoing survey, said a news release received here. Addressing the Jirgas, she appealed them to facilitate survey teams in door-to-door collection of household data. “Poverty profiling of the households was being done through a computer aided digital system and would be completed in the next few months,” she noted. She said that tribal people should participate in the survey to get benefits from a multitude of conditional and unconditional cash transfer under ehsaas programme. Dr. Sania said the government had executed the new ehsaas survey on apolitical basis so that no deserving family remained unattended under the flagship social protection programme. According to ehsaas policy, she said the survey would ensure the inclusion of poor families in several ehsaas initiatives- Kafaalat, Waseela-eTaleem Digital, Undergraduate Scholarship, Amdan, Interest Free Loan and Nashonuma. She thanked the local teachers for doing a commendable job in executing survey enumerations. She said with the support of local teachers under the technical handholding of ehsaas, the survey would be completed in those areas at earliest. She maintained that the survey approach was being accelerated across the southern tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the main priority goals of ehsaas were to help the vulnerable population and uplift the under-developed districts. She informed that 65 per cent survey in Tank district had already been completed. Tank and South Waziristan were the most underprivileged districts of KP with high rates of poverty, malnutrition and infant mortality. earlier, Dr. Sania held a news conference with the local press and media in Tank to describe the methodology and digital approach adopted for the ehsaas survey. sohail ali Khan islamabad

Thinking long-term ONe often thinks why our leaders dupe the public by promising to change the destiny of the poor and transforming the country into one like european countries. Weather european citizens are satisfied with their own system or not, our leaders know not. They seem to be impressed with the surface than the substance. The leaders forget that appearances can be deceptive and when reality would reveal itself, the opinion about europeans way of living may turn into despair. hence our leaders need to avoid deceiving their supporters and forfeit attempt of showing ‘Sabz bagh’ to them. Our leaders need to motivate their followers to work hard and capitalize on the immense treasures Allah has blessed our country with. Distributing the BISP and health card may be a short-term fix, but not a solution to alleviate poverty. For that, we need a long-term strategy geared toward encouraging business and creating jobs. Motivating people to stop looking for short cuts and work hard to innovate and create. If the leadership is honest and true to themselves, people will listen and follow to make the country strong. history tells us that our people have always gone out of the way to sacrifice and donate for the country in time of need like they responded to ex-PM Mian Nawaz Sharif’s “Qarz Utaro Mulk Sanwaro” call. raja shafaatullah islamabad

A visit at last PRIMe Minister Imran Khan reached Quetta on Saturday where he met with the families of the slain coal miners – killed on Jan 3 in a brutal attack in Mach – and members of the hazara community. In a video released by his office, PM Imran can be seen interacting with the families, answering questions of the women from the community and showing affection to children. "Don't worry, we will look after you," he was heard telling one woman who told him her family had lost all breadwinners and there was no one to provide for her sisters and ailing parents. Another woman can be heard telling the PM that he should have become part of their grief which would have touched the hearts of millions. "I sent the chief minister, federal ministers just to look after you," PM Imran said in response. A woman then tells the premier that "this is not the first time such an incident has happened with the hazara community", and that many ministers had come and gone in the past with hollow reassurances but "you [PM Imran] were our sole hope". "For one whole year, whatever we did was to protect you," the prime minister said in response, adding that this time around the government had given in writing its promises to the hazara community. "This time you will see that it is different," PM Imran said. raza ijaz lahore

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

How wiLL Biden inTervene ABroAd? HE MAY HAVE PROMISED A “RETURN TO NORMALCY,” BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT THERE IS NO GOING BACK

ProjecT syndicaTe

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JOSEPh S NyE, JR

MericAN foreign policy tends to oscillate between inward and outward orientations. president george W. Bush was an interventionist; his successor, Barack obama, less so. And Donald trump was mostly non-interventionist. What should we expect from Joe Biden? in 1821, John Quincy Adams famously stated that the United States “does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.” But America also has a long interventionist tradition. even a self-proclaimed realist like teddy roosevelt argued that in extreme cases of abuse of human rights, intervention “may be justifiable and proper.” John F. Kennedy called for Americans to ask not

only what they could do for their country, but for the world.

Since the cold War’s end, the US has been involved in seven wars and military interventions, none directly related to great power competition. george W. Bush’s 2006 National Security Strategy proclaimed a goal of freedom embodied in a global community of democracies.

Moreover, liberal and humanitarian intervention is not a new or uniquely American temptation. Victorian Britain had debates about using force to end slavery, Belgium’s atrocities in the congo, and ottoman repression of Balkan minorities long before Woodrow Wilson entered World War i with his aim to make the world safe for democracy. So, Biden’s problem is not unprecedented.

What actions should the US take that cross borders? Since 1945, the United Nations charter has limited the legitimate use of force to self-defense or actions authorized by the Security council (where the US and four other permanent members have a veto). realists argue that intervention can be justified if it prevents disruption of the balance of power upon which order depends. liberals and cosmopolitans argue that intervention can be justified to counter a prior intervention, prevent genocide, and for humanitarian reasons.

in practice, these principles are often combined in odd ways. in Vietnam, Kennedy and lyndon B. Johnson argued that the US military was countering North Vietnamese intervention in South Vietnam. But the Vietnamese saw themselves as one nation that had been artificially divided on the basis of realist cold War balance-of-power considerations. today, the US has good relations with Vietnam. in the first gulf War, president george H.W. Bush used force to expel iraq’s forces from Kuwait to preserve the regional balance of power, but he did so using the liberal mechanism of a UN collective security resolution. He considered himself a realist and refused to intervene to stop the shelling of civilians in Sarajevo, but after devastating images of starving Somalis on US television in December 1992, he deployed troops for a humanitarian intervention in Mogadishu. the policy failed spectacularly, with the death of 18 US soldiers under Bush’s successor, Bill clinton, in october 1993 – an experience that inhibited US efforts to stop the rwandan genocide six months later.

Because foreign policy is usually a lower priority than domestic issues, the American public tends toward a basic realism. elite opinion is often more interventionist than that of the mass public, leading

Three major threats to life on earth that we must address in 2021

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NOaM ChOMSKy aNd VIJay PRaShad

Arge parts of the world—outside of china and a few other countries—face a runaway virus, which has not been stopped because of criminal incompetence by governments. that these governments in wealthy countries cynically set aside the basic scientific protocols released by the World Health organization and by scientific organizations reveals their malicious practice. Anything less than focused attention to managing the virus by testing, contact tracing, and isolation—and if this does not suffice, then imposing a temporary lockdown—is foolhardy. it is equally distressing that these richer countries have pursued a policy of “vaccine nationalism” by stockpiling vaccine candidates rather than a policy for the creation of a “people’s vaccine.” For the sake of humanity, it would be prudent to suspend intellectual property rules and develop a procedure to create universal vaccines for all people.

Although the pandemic is the principal issue on all of our minds, other major issues threaten the longevity of our species and of our planet.

NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION: in January 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday clock to 100 seconds to midnight, too close for comfort. the clock, created two years after the first atomic weapons were developed in 1945, is evaluated annually by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, who decide whether to move the minute hand or keep it in place. By the time they set the clock again, it may well be closer to annihilation. Already limited arms control treaties are being shredded as the major powers sit on close to 13,500 nuclear weapons (more than 90 percent of which are held by russia and the United States alone). the yield of these weapons could easily make this planet even more uninhabitable. the United States Navy has already deployed low-yield tactical W76-2 nuclear warheads. immediate moves toward nuclear disarmament must be forced onto the world’s agenda.

CLIMATE CATASTROPHE: A scientific paper published in 2018 came with a startling headline: “Most atolls will be uninhabitable by the mid-21st century because of sea-level rise exacerbating wave-driven flooding.” the authors found that atolls from the Seychelles to the Marshall islands are liable to vanish. A 2019 United Nations (UN) report estimated that 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Add to this the catastrophic wildfires and the severe bleaching of the coral reefs and it is clear that we no longer need to linger over clichés about one thing or another being a canary in the coal mine of climate catastrophe; the danger is not in the future, but in the present. it is es-

sential for major powers—who utterly fail to shift from fossil fuels—to commit to the “common but differentiated responsibilities” approach established at the 1992 UN conference on environment and Development in rio de Janeiro. it is telling that countries such as Jamaica and Mongolia updated their climate plans to the UN before the end of 2020—as mandated by the paris Agreement—even though these countries produce a tiny fraction of global carbon emissions. the funds that were committed to developing countries for their participation in the process have virtually dried up while external debt has ballooned. this shows a lack of basic seriousness from the “international community.”

NEOLIBERAL DESTRUCTION OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT: countries in North America and europe have eviscerated their public function as the state has been turned over to the profiteers and civil society has been commodified by private foundations. this means that the avenues for social transformation in these parts of the world have been grotesquely hampered. terrible social inequality is the result of the relative political weakness of the working class. it is this weakness that enables the billionaires to set policies that cause hunger rates to rise. countries should not be judged by the words written in their constitutions but by their annual budgets; the U.S., for example, spends almost $1 trillion (if you add the estimated intelligence budget) on its war machine, while it spends a fraction of this on the public good (such as on health care, something evident during the pandemic). the foreign policies of Western countries seem to be well lubricated by arms deals: the United Arab emirates and Morocco agreed to recognize israel on the condition that they could purchase $23 billion and $1 billion worth of U.S.-made weapons, respectively. the rights of the palestinians, the Sahrawi, and the Yemeni people did not factor into these deals. the use of illegal sanctions by the United States against 30 countries including cuba, iran, and Venezuela has become a normal part of life, even during the coViD-19 public health crisis. it is a failure of the political system when the populations in the capitalist bloc are unable to force their governments—which are in many ways democratic in name only—to take a global perspective regarding this emergency. rising rates of hunger reveal that the struggle for survival is the horizon for billions of people on the planet (all this while china is able to eradicate absolute poverty and largely eliminate hunger).

Nuclear annihilation and extinction by climate catastrophe are twin threats to the planet. Meanwhile, for victims of the neoliberal assault that has plagued the past generation, the short-term problems of sustaining their mere existence displace fundamental questions about the fate of our children and grandchildren. global problems of this scale require global cooperation. pressured by the third World states in the 1960s, the major powers agreed to the treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1968, although they rejected the deeply important Declaration on the establishment of a New international economic order of 1974. the balance of forces available to drive such a class agenda on the international stage is no longer there; political dynamics in the countries of the West, in particular, but also in the larger states of the developing world (such as Brazil, india, indonesia, and South Africa) are necessary to change the character of the governments.

A robust internationalism is necessary to pay adequate and immediate attention to the perils of extinction: extinction by nuclear war, by climate catastrophe, and by social collapse.

Noam Chomsky is a legendary linguist, philosopher, and political activist. Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter.

some critics to argue that the elite is more liberal than the public.

Nonetheless, polls also show public support for international organizations, multilateral action, human rights, and for humanitarian assistance. As i show in Do Morals Matter? presidents and Foreign policy from FDr to trump, no one mental map fits all circumstances. there is little reason to expect the public to have a single consistent view.

For example, in the second gulf War, American motives for intervention were mixed. international relations specialists have debated whether the 2003 invasion of iraq was a realist or a liberal intervention. Some key figures in george W. Bush’s administration such as richard cheney and Donald rumsfeld were realists concerned about Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction and the local balance of power; but “neo-conservatives” in the administration (who were often ex-liberals) stressed the promotion of democracy and the need to maintain American hegemony. outside the administration, some liberals supported the war because of Saddam’s abominable human rights record, but opposed Bush for failing to obtain the institutional support of the UN, as his father had in the first gulf War. Broadly defined, intervention refers to actions that influence the domestic affairs of another sovereign state, and they can range from broadcasts, economic aid, and support for opposition parties to blockades, cyber attacks, drone strikes, and military invasion.

From a moral point of view, the degree of coercion involved is important in terms of restricting local choice and rights.

Moreover, from a practical point of view, military intervention is a risky instrument. it looks simple to use, but it rarely is.

Unintended consequences abound, implying the need for prudent leadership. obama used force in libya, but not in Syria. Both trump and Hillary clinton said in 2016 that the US had a responsibility to prevent mass casualties in Syria, but neither advocated military intervention. And there was remarkably little discussion of foreign policy in the 2020 election.

Some liberals argued that the promotion of democracy is America’s duty, but there is an enormous difference between democracy promotion by coercive and non-coercive means. Voice of America broadcasts and the National endowment for Democracy cross international borders in a very different manner than the 82nd Airborne Division does. in terms of consequences, the means are often as important as the ends. Where will Biden land on the spectrum of interventions intended to promote security, democracy, and human rights? We may find an encouraging clue in his history of good judgment and contextual intelligence. But we must also bear in mind that sometimes surprises occur, and events take control.

US president-elect Joe Biden may have promised a “return to normalcy,” but the truth is that there is no going back. the world is changing in fundamental ways, and the actions the world takes in the next few years will be critical to lay the groundwork for a sustainable, secure, and prosperous future.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is a professor at Harvard University and author, most recently, of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump.

US tragedy will serve useful purpose if Facebook is persuaded to de-platform populist autocrats elsewhere

Times of india

A

NayaN ChaNda

poplectic commentators are struggling for words to describe the botched coup attempt in America. Some have harkened back to 1812, when the British launched an assault on Washington Dc in a desperate bid to recover their American colony. others have compared the trump inspired siege of the US capitol to alQaida’s 9/11 attack. there’s a kernel of truth in all these comparisons but there’s one difference with such past episodes. this wasn’t a surprise attack by a foreign adversary; it was a domestic insurrectionist assault planned and executed in plain sight, with the president himself exhorting his mobs to commit violence against the very government he leads. ever since Donald trump’s surprising 2016 victory confounded pollsters, the public has come to accept one truism. the media takes him literally and laughs off his mendacity and his bottomless ignorance, “his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” this time trump confounded his opponents by signalling his intention literally. He urged his supporters to march to capitol Hill by tweet, urging them to “Be there, will be wild!” With protesters in all manner of attire, including animal costumes complete with bulls’ horns, rampaging unimpeded through the US congress it really was turned into the place “where the wild things are.” this might have been the world’s first coup attempt and a terrorist assault planned in plain sight. long before the November 3 election, trump insisted he would not accept the result as legitimate if he did not win. After November 3, he and his supporters continued their relentless campaign against the reality of his defeat. the denouement was reached on January 6, when with the White House as a backdrop, trump exhorted his legions of red-

hatted followers – hooligans, racists, white supremacists, Holocaust deniers, and conspiracy theorists alike – to disrupt the congressional formality to certify Joe Biden’s victory. this wasn’t osama Bin laden, hiding in a cave in Afghanistan dispatching his jihadi soldiers to wage war on the West.

Since 9/11, the US has conducted counter-terrorist operations across the globe, successfully protecting the US mainland. During this same period, domestic terrorism carried out by white supremacists, Nazi sympathisers, and religious bigots has flourished. Although the US law defines domestic terrorism as acts designed to “influence the policy of government by intimidation or coercion” this fast-growing cohort is seldom described as ‘terrorists’. this is in part because, in the popular imagination at least, ‘terrorists’ are necessarily foreign. terror plots are hatched in secrecy, in faraway caves or fundamentalist religious institutions. US law enforcement seems bewildered when the plotter is sitting in the oval office and announcing his intentions on Facebook and twitter. in this highly transparent operation, the foot soldiers are indulgently called “good people” who are justifiably irate, aggrieved supporters of the president. Some capitol police officers even posed for selfies with members of the trump mob.

While many of the insurrectionists, and trump himself, may avoid facing any meaningful consequences for their actions, there is one group that ought to be nervous about what the immediate future may hold. the social media behemoths, who have made enormous profits from being willing tools of propaganda, falsehoods, wacky conspiracy theories, and hate speech, may finally face a reckoning. Facebook, which some argue has done more than any other organisation to pump undiluted trumpian venom into the bloodstream of American society, managed for years to brush off calls to censor trump. Now, with the capitol in disarray and trump’s supporters jubilantly using Facebook to share images of their crimes, Mark Zuckerberg seems to have decided enough was enough and banned trump from the platform for the remainder of his term. though clearly too little too late, the US tragedy could still serve a useful purpose elsewhere if Facebook can be persuaded to apply similar logic to de-platform populist autocrats in other parts of the world.

Nayan Chanda is a US-based journalist who writes columns for TOI.

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

BUSINESS 09

‘Rimdan marketplace to link Iran to CPEC’ ISLAMABAD TLTP

Chabahar Free Industrial Trade Zone Organisation (CFITZO) chief Abdolrahim Kordi has said that Rimdan Marketplace will connect Iran with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Talking to an Iranian news agency on Saturday, Abdolrahim Kordi reiterated that Rimdan Border Marketplace in Dashriari city will connect Iran with the economic corridor of China and Pakistan and play a leading role in developing and promoting bilateral trade ties. Not only will Rimdan Border Marketplace provide suitable grounds for Iranian traders and producers to get access to Pakistan market, it will also create a connection link to the joint economic corridor of Pakistan and China, he opined. After five years of continuous activity as well as approval and implementation of development of this area, suitable grounds have now been provided for activity in this free zone, the CEO said. Emphasising the significance of Rimdan Border Marketplace as a free zone separate from Chabahar, Kordi stated, “Launching Chabahar-Gwadar railway through Rimdan Border is a need and for this purpose, land area as large as 130ha was allocated for construction of first phase of this project.” By the completion of national steel and petrochemical projects, Chabahar will be turned into an industrial and economic hub in the country, CEO Kordi added. A few days ago, deputy of Sistan and Baluchestan Governor Abouzar Kosari in his meeting with newly-appointed consul general of Pakistan in Zahedan, said that Iran-Pakistan cooperation has doubled with the reopening of the Rimdan border. Referring to the importance of relations between the two countries, Abouzar Kosari said that with the reopening of the Rimdan border, economic and cultural growth can be witnessed, because Iran and Pakistan have long-standing historical, economic, and cultural relations. The consul general expressed hope that with the reopening of the Rimdan border, the two countries will see the growth and development of relations more.

SMEs seek better access to finance in next NCC meeting LAHORE APP

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the government to provide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with better access to finance in the next meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) of the Cabinet, adding that the same issue had been discussed with the heads of various banks, including State Bank of Pakistan, in recent meetings.

The request was made by LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah during a meeting with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hashim Raza at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Saturday. The LCCI chief noted that Pakistan’s private sector credit to the GDP ratio was at 17 per cent, which was the lowest in the region. "SMEs only get 6.4pc of private sector financing, while the number of SME borrowers was just around 189,000," he added. Misbah recommended that commercial banks, in collaboration with the relevant government institutions, should facilitate SMEs through innovative financing schemes at low mark-up rates with the minimal collateral requirement. He also demanded the provision of technical and professional training to individuals associated with the sector. "LCCI and SMEDA should collaborate in holding various training programmes and workshops," he suggested. During the meeting, the SMEDA CEO informed that has said that the new SME policy is ready but needs suggestions from the private sector. He said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan desires to facilitate SMEs for the growth of businesses in the country, while SMEDA was also ready to conduct business plan competitions in collaboration with the LCCI. Mian Tariq Misbah said that approval of a National SME Policy Action Plan by the prime minister was a welcome sign, which would help resolve the issues being faced by SMEs. "The plan is a composition of a comprehensive roadmap and recommendations for the development of this important sector," he said expressing his satisfaction. He also appreciated the initiative of seeking input from all the stakeholders in order to improve existing laws and regulations that are affecting businesses at small and medium levels.

BudGEt foR fY22 to BE PRESENtEd IN fIRSt WEEk of JuNE

t

BUSINESS DESK

HE Ministry of Finance on Saturday released its calendar for the next fiscal year, wherein the budget for FY2021-22 would be presented during the first week of June.

According to media reports, the finance minister has announced that a meeting of the annual plan coordination committee will be held in April, while estimates on ongoing and development projects will be presented till March 15.

The budget for FY22 will be presented before the federal cabinet and Parliament during the first week of June, he added. According to the ministry, budget strategy papers will be prepared in the second week of March, whereas budget particulars will be given a final shape in the last week of May. Last year, the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government had presented a budget with a total outlay of Rs7.13 trillion, including major allocations of Rs25.5 billion for health, Rs83.3bn for education and Rs1.3tr for defence.

The budget, presented by federal minister Hammad Azhar, was dubbed “corona budget”, as it was presented during the corona crisis; no taxes were imposed by the government. The government at the time had called the budget “a relief for the masses” but major opposition parties, PPP and PMLN, termed it “people's enemy budget”.

In the previous budget, the net revenue receipts were estimated at Rs3,699.5 billion, indicating an increase of 6.7pc over the budget estimates of 2019-20; provincial share in

KCCI condemns Pak Railways’ action of sealing Gul Ahmed’s yard

federal taxes was estimated at Rs 2,873.7 billion, which was 11.7pc lower than the budget estimates for 2019-20; net capital receipts were estimated at Rs1,463.2 billion against the budget estimates of Rs831.7 billion in 2019-20; external receipts in 2020-21 were estimated at Rs 2,222.9 billion, showing a decrease of 26.7pc over the budget estimates for 2019-20; while overall expenditure during 2020-21 has been estimated at Rs7,294.9 billion, out of which the current expenditure was Rs6,345 billion.

Gold price drops to Rs113,300 per tola BUSINESS DESK A single tola of 24-karat gold in Pakistan was being sold for Rs113,300 on Saturday, 1,300 lower than the previous closing. Likewise, 10 grams of 24k gold was sold for Rs97,136 at the close of the bullion market. Meanwhile, 10 grams of 22k gold was traded for Rs89,042, with one tola of 22k gold being sold for Rs103,859. On Friday, gold rates in the local market had decreased by Rs700 per tola, said the All Sindh Saraf Jewellers Association. Similarly, the price of 10 grams gold dropped Rs600. In the international market, gold rates had decreased by $23 to reach $1,893 per ounce. Jewellers believe that the gold prices in the local market continue to remain Rs3,000 per tola lower compared to the Dubai gold market.

KARACHI PPI

The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has condemned the action taken against Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited, saying that the mills' legally acquired yard was sealed by Pakistan Railways without any court order or legal justification.

In a statement issued on Saturday, KCCI President M. Shariq Vohra appealed to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail to take notice of the incident, emphasising that it would adversely affect the operations of Gul Ahmed and put thousands of workers’ jobs at stake.

He pointed out that the yard was where the mill kept all its cotton stocks in bulk quantities but it was sealed due to the ongoing anti-encroachment drive. However, it was a legally acquired premise with lease documents which have been vetted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) and the Sindh High Court (SHC). “It was unfair to stop Gul Ahmed's management from taking away cotton stocks from the yard when they had assured to abide by whatever the honourable court decides in this matter”, he added.

He further said that Gul Ahmed was the biggest exporter of textile products and the move to bar the textile mill from accessing its cotton stock would affect its produc-

tion activities, while exportable consignments may also suffer delays. “Prompt intervention by the premier and provincial governor in this matter would ensure smooth operations of the factory and save thousands of jobs,” he reiterated.

“The Karachi Chamber fully supports Gul Ahmed’s legitimate demand to allow access to its raw material so that its workers remain at work, export operations continue without any disruption and the shareholders remain confident about the mill’s performance”, he said, adding that even the government was also a shareholder of Gul Ahmed Textile Mills through negative income tax (NIT) and net interest cost (NIC).

PESHAWAR: A vendor prepares Barbeque for customers outside an eatery in Namak Mandi. INP

Pakistan improves position in WB’s ease of doing business index BUSINESS DESK Pakistan has improved its position in the World Bank’s (WB) Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Index for the second consecutive year, according to an annual report issued by the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). As per the World Bank’s latest rankings, Pakistan has improved its position by 28 points from 136 to 108 which is an “unprecedented improvement”, the report said. Out of six reform areas acknowledged in the 2020 report, the highest improvement of 58 points has been made in ‘starting a business’ indicator, where the SECP is leading the reform process. Pakistan’s ranking in this indicator has improved from 130 to 72 and is placed at the second position in South Asian countries in terms of ease of starting a business. The improvement, according to the SECP, is primarily due to the integration of e-services with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) at the federal level and with business registration portals of Punjab and Sindh at the provincial level.

After this integration, SECP’s e-services offer a one-window facility for company registration with FBR, EOBI, provincial employees social security institutions, the labour department and excise and taxation departments of Punjab and Sindh. As a result of this reform, the number of procedures to start a business, as recorded in the Doing Business Report 2020, have been reduced from 10 to five and Pakistan has been able to be ranked “among the top ten reformers globally”.

PM's de-coal initiative to kickstart new starting point for CPEC energy cooperation The de-coal initiative launched by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan requires the country to develop clean energy to fill the energy gap which would kickstart biomass energy cooperation as a new starting point for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy cooperation.

These views have been expressed by Biomass Energy Industry Part Association (BEIPA) Secretary General Zhang Dayong in an interview with China Economic

(CEN) Net. “It is environmentally friendly, due to biomass energy being a green, zero-carbon fuel, which will contribute greatly to the carbon-neutral goal,” Zhang said, adding that biomass energy, generated by utilising effluent and waste, has become one of the most commonly used renewable sources of energy in the last two decades, second only to hydropower in the generation of electricity.

“In addition, it can be utilised in a diverse

manner. Unlike clean energy such as photovoltaic, wind power and hydropower, which are limited to power generation, biomass energy can also produce heat, oil and gas, even integrate business intelligence,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that biomass energy accounts for almost 15 per cent of the world’s total energy supply and as much as 35pc in developing countries. It has huge potential in the process of coal removal and carbon reduction.

CMYK

During the interview, it was stated that Pakistan is an agricultural country with a large population, abundant resources such as waste in urban and rural areas, and a huge energy market; therefore, it is suitable to develop biomass energy which can alleviate multiple problems in Pakistan such as electricity shortage, climate change, and polluting emission.

Further, the growth rate of biomass energy’s installed capacity in China is 25-30pc.

Zhang said that Chinese equipment and

devices reach western standard with less than two-thirds the price, whereas cooperation under CPEC will put Pakistan’s biomass energy industry on a fast track as well.

“We are also looking forward to establishing contacts with relevant associations and organisations in Pakistan to share China’s experience and technology in biomass energy and contribute to the clean energy transition of both countries,” the BEIPA official concluded. NEWS DESK

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

10 foreigN NewS

FRenCh waRplanes Fly oveR CenTRal aFRICan RepublIC aMId voTe TensIons

F

RENCH warplanes flew over the Central African Republic on Saturday for the first time since a disputed election last month, President Emmanuel Macron's office said.

Macron's office said the flight took place at the request of President FaustinArchange Touadera and with permission of a UN peacekeeper mission in the country.

The French president had condemned recent acts of violence during a phone call with Touadera, his office said, an apparent reference to a rebel advance which Touadera and the United Nations say has been mounted by former President Francois Bozize to thwart the election.

Touadera was declared the winner of the Dec 27 election with more than 50% of votes cast in a single round, avoiding a run-off against any of 16 challengers.

Many of the opposition candidates have

demanded the election be annulled and for the vote to be repeated, citing irregularities and low turnout following violent clashes.

French warplanes also flew over the Central African Republic four days before the vote.

France has a history of repeated mili-

tary interventions in the Central African Republic, most recently from 2013-2016.

The United Nations now maintains nearly 13,000 peacekeepers there.

The electoral commission declared Touadera the winner with voter turnout of more than 76pc despite. However, only half the country's 1.8 million eligible voters were able to register to vote due to the rebel offensive.

A disputed election could further destabilise a country whose population of 4.7 million has endured waves of militia violence since 2013 that has killed thousands of people and forced more than a million from their homes.

Rebels, which the United Nations and Touadera say are led by former President Bozize, seized the country's fourth largest city briefly before the vote. Macron reiterated condemnation of former President Bozize on Saturday. AGENCIES

China enacts rules to counter 'unjustified' foreign laws BEIJING AGENCIES

Cuba to collaborate with Iran on coronavirus vaccine HAVANA AGENCIES

Communist-run Cuba said late on Friday it had signed an accord with Iran to transfer the technology for its most advanced coronavirus vaccine candidate and carry out last-stage clinical trials in humans of the shot in the Islamic Republic. The allies are both under fierce U.S. sanctions that exempt medicine yet often put foreign pharmaceutical companies off trading with them and as such they seek to be selfreliant. Both are also strapped for cash. Iran launched human trials of its first domestic COVID19 vaccine candidate late last month, while Cuba has four candidates currently in trials although none yet in humans. Once its most advanced candidate, Soberana (Sovereign) 2, has completed Phase II trials which started on Dec. 22, it will be tested in human trials in around 150,000 people in Havana, officials have said. Yet the Caribbean country will need to conduct more human trials abroad too given it does not have a high infection rate due to its successful management of its outbreak, they said.

Iran, meanwhile, has been the worst-hit country in the Middle East. Cuba’s Finlay Vaccine Institute said late on Friday it has signed an accord with Iran’s Pasteur Institute to collaborate on testing of Soberana 2. “This synergy will enable both countries to advance more rapidly in the immunization against the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” it said on its Twitter account. Cuba says several countries have expressed interest in its coronavirus vaccines but this is the first such accord it has reached.

China on Saturday introduced new rules to counter "unjustified" laws and measures that other countries might apply to its companies and citizens, as tensions with the United States worsen.

The rules aim at "protecting the legitimate rights and interests" of Chinese people and companies, and safeguarding the country's interests, said the commerce ministry.

China's move comes as its firms face increasing pressure abroad, particularly from the US, which has placed restrictions on telecoms giant Huawei, blocking its access to vital American components.

US President Donald Trump also

issued an order last November banning Americans from investing in Chinese firms deemed to be supplying or supporting the Asian country's military. This month he signed another order to ban transactions involving several apps linked to Chinese companies.

The latest Chinese rules call for the setting up of a working mechanism to counteract "unjustified extraterritorial application of foreign legislation and measures".

Citizens or organisations are to submit reports to authorities within 30 days when they face restrictions from foreign rules that prevent them engaging in "normal economic, trade and related activities".

If China's working group confirms there are "unjustified" meas-

ures, it can impose a prohibition order rejecting the application of these foreign laws.

Government departments may also support people or firms that suffer significant losses from non-compliance with overseas rules.

The commerce ministry added that China's government may also take "necessary countermeasures" against these foreign laws.

If a citizen or company fails to submit a truthful report or comply with a prohibition order, they could receive a warning or be fined, according to the rules, which take effect Saturday.

A report on the rules by state-run tabloid Global Times said they were "a fresh move to carry (out) the country's legal self-defence against notably the US bullying of China".

First Qatari vehicles cross border into Saudi after Gulf detente DUBAI AGENCIES

Qatari vehicles crossed into Saudi Arabia through a land border on Saturday for the first time since Arab states severed diplomatic and transport ties with Doha in mid-2017, Saudi state TV said, following a deal this week to restore relations.

“It is good the crisis has been resolved, and the warm welcome we had, and the happiness we see in our brothers,” the driver of the second car to pass through the Abu Samra-Salwa crossing told Ekhbariya TV. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced a US-backed deal to end a bitter dispute with Qatar that saw Riyadh, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an embargo on Doha over allegations that it supports terrorism and is cosying up to foe Iran. Qatar denies the charges

and says the boycott aimed at curtailing its sovereignty.

A UAE official this week said travel and trade links could resume within a week of the deal, but restoring diplomatic ties requires more time as parties work to rebuild trust.

So far no flights have resumed between Qatar and the four Arab states. Qatar Airways on Thursday began rerouting some of its flights through Saudi airspace.

Etihad airways, Abu Dhabi’s carrier, intends to recommence services between Abu Dhabi and Doha, a spokesperson said on Saturday.

Measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus are in place on both sides of the Saudi-Qatar land border.

All arrivals into Qatar crossing at Abu Samra must present a negative Covid-19 test, take a new test at the border and quarantine for one week in one of a number of selected hotels, Qatar News Agency said.

Thailand arrests 19 Rohingya, Thai woman for illegal entry BANGKOK: Nineteen Rohingya and a Thai woman accused of housing them have been arrested for illegal entry to Thailand, police said Saturday, as concerns grow about trafficking routes for the Muslim minority fleeing Myanmar.

The embattled Rohingya have long faced persecution in Myanmar, where they are denied freedom of movement and citizenship, and lack access to work, healthcare and schools. A 2017 military crackdown in western Rakhine state sent almost 750,000 fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, while many choose to embark on treacherous journeys with human smugglers to reach Malaysia and Indonesia, sometimes going through Thailand. Thai police said the latest trafficking operation was discovered this week when 19 Rohingya were found in a house in Bangkok's Don Mueang district. "Police also managed to arrest one Thai woman in Pathum Thani province (near Bangkok) on the charge of providing shelter to the Rohingya," Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen, the deputy police spokesman, told AFP. The group was smuggled into Thailand overland from Rakhine state and was bound for Malaysia, said an immigration officer who declined to be named. "They didn't know what kind of work they would find in Malaysia, they just wanted to get out of Rakhine," he said, adding that the Thai woman's husband -- still at large -had promised them jobs. Out of the 19 Rohingya, seven tested positive for coronavirus and are being treated, said the officer, while the rest are being kept in quarantine as a precaution. Thailand was thrust into the international spotlight in 2015 during the so-called "boat crisis", which saw desperate Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded at sea and abandoned by their traffickers.

Police officers, a high-ranking general and several politicians were among scores convicted for their role in the trafficking network, which spilled into full view after officials found dozens of shallow graves in hidden camps near the Malaysian border. Kissana said the latest discovery of the 19 Rohingya -- along with the threat of the coronavirus spreading -- has authorities worried. "The chief of Thai police has expressed his concern over the issue of police being potentially involved with the smuggling scandal, so he has ordered subordinates to strictly follow the law," Kissana told AFP. Earlier this week nearly 100 Rohingya bound for Malaysia were arrested in a raid in Yangon. Authorities are still investigating if the smugglers are part of a wider network. AGENCIES

Ten babies killed in a fire at Maharashtra hospital NEW DELHI: Ten newborns were killed on Saturday in a massive fire at a hospital in Maharashtra, India’s richest state, a doctor said, as leading politicians expressed grief at the loss of life. “The fire broke out at 2 a.m. (2030 GMT) today [Saturday],” said PramodKhandate, civil surgeon at Bhandara District General Hospital in the western state.

Seven of the 17 children in the Sick Newborn Care Unit were rescued, Khandate told a news agency. Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThakre ordered a probe into the incident. “Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost precious young lives,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter. “My thoughts are with all the bereaved families. I hope the injured recover as early as possible.” A number of other politicians, including opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, also expressed their grief. AGENCIES

North Korea's Kim calls US 'our biggest enemy' in challenge to Biden SEOUL AGENCIES

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for more advanced nuclear weapons and said the United States is “our biggest enemy,” state media said on Saturday, presenting a stark challenge to President-elect Joe Biden just days before he takes office.

Washington’s hostile policies would not change regardless of who occupies the White House but dropping those policies would be key to North Korea-US relations, Kim said, according to state news agency KCNA. “Our foreign political activities should be focused and redirected on subduing the US, our biggest enemy and main obstacle to our innovated development,” Kim said during nine hours of remarks over several days at a rare party congress in Pyongyang.

“No matter who is in power in the US, the true nature of the US and its fundamental policies towards North Korea never change,” Kim said, vowing to expand ties with “antiimperialist, independent forces.”

North Korea would not “misuse” its nu-

clear weapons, Kim said but the country is expanding its nuclear arsenal, including “pre-emptive” and “retaliatory” strike capabilities and warheads of varying sizes.

Kim called for developing equipment including hypersonic weapons, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), spy satellites, and drones.

North Korea is preparing for the test and production of various new weapons, including a “multi-warhead rocket” and “supersonic gliding flight warheads for new type ballistic rockets,” while research on a nuclear submarine is nearly complete, he said.

“Kim pretty much showed what is on his mind – submarine missiles, better ICBMs and other advanced arms,” said YooHo-yeol, professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul. “He is saying that is basically what Washington will see going forward, which could escalate tension or open doors for talks.”

Kim’s remarks were one of the most ambitious outlines of North Korean national defence and nuclear matters in some time, said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“It could presage a return to nuclear testing, which is now on the table given that Kim renounced his April 2018 moratorium,” he said.

US TALKS STALLED: There was no immediate comment from the US State Department. A spokesman for the Biden campaign declined to comment.

Kim criticised South Korea for offering cooperation in “non-fundamental” areas such as coronavirus aid and tourism, and said Seoul should stop buying arms from and conducting military drills with the United States.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it still hopes for a better North Korea-US relations, and will continue to pursue the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

“The inauguration of the new US administration can be a good opportunity to improve US-North Korea relations, and we expect relations to swiftly resume,” the ministry said in a statement after Kim’s comments were released.

Biden, who was vice president under President Barack Obama, called Kim a “thug” during the election campaign. In 2019 North Korea called Biden a “rabid dog” that needed to be “beaten to death with a stick.”

Kim had three unprecedented meetings with President Donald Trump and the two corresponded in a series of letters, but those efforts failed to lead to a denuclearisation deal or official change in the countries’ relations.

“North Korea is declaring the window for cooperation is much, much smaller for the Biden administration,” Yoo said.

Biden said in October that he would meet Kim only on the condition that North Korea agreed to draw down its nuclear capacity.

Last month Kurt Campbell, the top US diplomat for East Asia under Obama and considered a contender for a top Asia policy position under Biden, said the incoming US administration would have to make an early decision on what approach it will take with North Korea and not repeat the delay of the

Obama era.

Besides US and defence policy, Kim spoke at greater length on proposals for a five-year economic plan due to be announced at the congress, which he said would continue a focus on building an independent economy.

“The basic seeds and themes of the new five-year economic development plan are still self-reliance and self-sufficiency,” he said.

Among the plans are building energy-saving steel plants, significantly increasing chemical goods, boosting electricity production, and securing more coal mines, Kim said.

The congress took steps toward “strengthening the united guidance and strategic management of the state over the economic work.”

North Korea faces growing crises caused by international sanctions over its nuclear programme, as well as self-imposed lockdowns to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

“In practical terms, there is a disconnect between North Korea’s dire internal economic situation and this ambitious nuclear and military modernisation agenda,” Panda said.

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

SPORTS 11

LAbuSchAGne, Smith Steer AuStrALiA tO OminOuS LeAd Over indiA SYDNEY

F

Agencies

IRST innings heroes Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith steered Australia to a commanding 197-run lead in the high-stakes third Test in Sydney on Saturday, leaving an injury-hit India with a mountain to climb.

They came to the crease after Will Pucovski and David Warner fell early, pushing them to 103-2 at stumps and a strong position with the four-Test series locked at 1-1.

Labuschagne, who scored 91 in the first innings, was not out 47 and Smith, who blitzed 131 in his first knock, unbeaten on 29. Australia padded up again after taking eight wickets on day three to dismiss India for 244 in reply to the hosts’ 338.

It gave them a handy 94-run lead, with India’s task made harder by the absence of key spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who was sent for scans after a hit to the thumb while batting. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant joined him in the clinic after a nasty blow to the elbow.

Their problems piled more misery on India, who were already without injured bowlers Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma and batsman KL Rahul, while skipper Virat Kohli is on paternity leave.

Despite this Mohammed Siraj stepped up to remove Pucovski for 10, caught by substitute keeper Wriddhiman Saha, with the debutant unable to replicate the 62 he made the first innings.

Serena, Osaka to join top men in Adelaide ahead of Australian Open MELBOURNE Agencies

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will join Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic in playing a pre-Australian Open warm-up exhibition in Adelaide after serving their quarantine in the South Australian city, Tennis Australia (TA) said on Saturday. The “A Day at the Drive” event will take place at the city’s Memorial Drive Tennis Centre on January 29, a week before the delayed Grand Slam gets underway at Melbourne Park. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley had already flagged that Ash Barty and Simona Halep would be among the eight players involved in the exhibition with US Open champion Dominic Thiem now confirmed as the third man. Adelaide will also host a WTA tour 500 level event, the Adelaide International, in the week after the Australian Open as TA look to give players every opportunity to compete after travelling Down Under and isolating for two weeks. “These two tournaments are a real coup for South Australia,” state Premier Steven Marshall said in a news release.

“This is a real show of support for the way that South Australia has managed the Covid-19 pandemic and underlines our ability to attract world-class events.” Other warm-up tournaments, including a shortened version of the ATP Cup involving Nadal, Djokovic and Thiem, will be held in Melbourne before the Australian Open.

Hundreds of players and entourages will arrive in Australia from January 15 and undergo a mandatory quarantine as part of Covid-19 health protocols for the Asia-Pacific Grand Slam. The players will be allowed five hours a day outside their hotel rooms to train during their mandatory isolation and Tiley told the Tennis Channel that health regulations would be the same in Adelaide. However, the Sydney Morning Herald said the Adelaide hotel, with gym facilities, would offer much better accommodation for the players than those on offer in Melbourne. France’s Jeremy Chardy, ranked 72nd in the world, was not happy with the decision on the Adelaide tournament and feared that top players isolating in the city would benefit from extra privileges. “This announcement for the top threes is a bit out of the blue, and it is weird, to put it mildly,” Chardy told L’Equipe. “They will even be able to benefit from a gym at the hotel and will be able to do their exercises, which will not count towards the five-hour quota.”

Ravi Ashwin then took the prized wicket of David Warner for 13, his ninth career dismissal of the opener, trapping him lbw.

But the disciplined Labuschagne and Smith steadied the ship, building a 68-run partnership that is slowly taking the game away from India.

India were all out just before tea after some scintillating bowling and razor-sharp fielding, having resumed on a fine day at the Sydney Cricket Ground at 96AUSTRALIA 2. Pat Cummins took AND 103 FOR 2 338 4-29, including the (LABUSCHAGNE 47 NOT stoic Cheteshwar Pujara for 50 SMITH 29 NOT OUT) OUT, while Josh HazleLEAD INDIA 244 (GILL 50, wood removed a dangerous Pant PUJARA 50, CUMMINS 4-29, after a breezy 36.

HAZLEWOOD 2-43) The pair’s downfall BY 197 RUNS saw the team crumble, with Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah both run out, joining Hanuma Vihari who suffered the same fate earlier in the day.

A cautious Pujara began the day on nine and captain Ajinkya Rahane two after HazleThe skipper then whacked Lyon for six wood and Cummins dismissed openers Rohit Sharma (26) and Shubman Gill (50) before his new-found aggression cost him on Friday. Rahane, who scored a century in his wicket, chopping a Cummins ball onto the last Test at Melbourne, had an escape on his stumps in the next over.

Pujara did what he does best at the other 16, with a Nathan Lyon delivery ballooning to Matthew Wade at short leg, who could end, grinding out singles while occasionally opening his bat, bringing up his 26th halfonly get his fingertips on the ball.

mark for a single and Cummins alert, making a quick throw to Labuschagne standing at the stumps. It followed Vihari being brilliantly run out for four before lunch, attempting a run that wasn’t there, with Hazlewood diving to his right and throwing the ball onto the stumps in one movement.

century. But the celebrations were shortlived, with Pant out two balls later, edging a Hazlewood delivery to Warner at slip. And it got worse when Pujara was removed in the next over, gloving a rising Cummins ball to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.

India slumped, with Ashwin slow off the

PSL franchises complete players’ retentions KARACHI KINGS RETAINS BABAR AZAM LAHORE sTAFF RePORT

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises on Saturday released their players’

lists after completing retentions for the upcoming edition of the league, starting from February 20.

According to details, Karachi Kings and Islamabad United retained national

team captain Babar Azam and vice-captain Shadab Khan respectively. Lahore Qalandars retained Fakhar Zaman and named the opening batsman as its brand ambassador.

On the other hand, defending champions Karachi Kings and Islamabad United completed the successful trade of Englishman Alex Hales and South African Colin Ingram."As per the event rules, five sides have consumed their allocation of retaining up to eight players except Peshawar Zalmi, which have retained only five players," said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a press release.

Players retained: Lahore Qalandars: Ben Dunk (gold); David Wiese (diamond); Dilbar Hussain (gold); Fakhar Zaman (diamond); Haris Rauf (diamond); Mohammad Hafeez (platinum); Shaheen Shah Afridi (platinum) and Sohail Akhtar (silver). islamabad United: Alex Hales (platinum); Asif Ali (gold); Colin Munro (diamond); Faheem Ashraf (diamond); Hussain Talat (gold); Musa Khan (sil-

Liverpool into the fourth round after 4-1 win against virus-hit Villa BIRMINGHAM Agencies

Liverpool survived a scare from coronavirus-ravaged Aston Villa to reach the FA Cup fourth round with a 4-1 win against opponents missing their entire first-team squad as the pandemic wreaks havoc on English football.

Villa fielded a raw side comprised entirely of youth academy players and were without boss Dean Smith after being hit hard by a Covid-19 outbreak earlier this week.

In all, 14 unnamed Villa employees – nine players and five staff – have tested positive, forcing the Premier League club to close their training base on Thursday because of the outbreak.

Liverpool played a strong side for the third round tie at Villa Park, but Villa’s youngsters acquitted themselves well. Four of Villa’s starting line-up were not even born when Liverpool midfielder James Milner made his professional debut for Leeds in 2002.

But they gave Liverpool a shock when Louie Barry cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener.

Eventually, the Premier League champions’ class told with a blitz of three goals in five minutes in the second half. Georginio Wijnaldum struck before Mane and Mohamed Salah sealed a first win in four games in all competitions for Jurgen Klopp’s side. “The kids did really well,” Klopp said. “We had problems in passing and moving.

Too many on the wrong side of the ball, not enough recoveries of passes. We had chances and shot directly at the goalie. It was rusty but better in the second half. We have a lot players with no rhythm.” Mark Delaney, the Villa Under-23 coach deputising for Smith, added: “We are all very proud as a club, as coaches and players. That was a monumental effort considering what the players have had to go through.”

That Villa, whose team had an average age of 18 and 294 days, ended the night with their heads held high was all the more remarkable given their CEO Christian Purslow’s frank pre-match assessment.

“Our experience of this situation in the past two days has been a frightening scenario because we went from 100 per

cent negative on January 1 to 14 cases,” Purslow told BT Sport. “Many of the players tonight are so young their mums and dads will be dropping them off at Villa Park.”

There are growing concerns over whether the Premier League season can be completed on time as the new virus variant plagues Britain.

A record-high 40 positive tests were detected among top-flight players and staff in the week between December 28 and January 3 and four Premier League games have already been postponed this term.

The English Football League, which oversees the three divisions below the Premier League, reported 112 positive tests on Friday.

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce and Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa claim there is a moral argument to suspend all matches after the latest national lockdown ordered by the government.

Despite the resurgent virus, Premier League officials are adamant the season will proceed and Liverpool took advantage of Villa’s problems to get back on track.

ver); Shadab Khan (platinum); Zafar Gohar (silver) Karachi Kings: Amir Yamin (gold); Arshad Iqbal (emerging); Babar Azam (platinum); Colin Ingram (platinum); Imad Wasim (diamond); Mohammad Amir (platinum); Sharjeel Khan (gold) and Waqas Maqsood (silver). mUltan sUltans: Shahid Afridi (platinum), Imran Tahir (diamond); James Vince (gold); Khushdil Shah (diamond); Rilee Rossouw (platinum); Shan Masood (gold); Sohail Tanvir (diamond); Usman Qadir (gold).

PESHAWAR ZALMI: Haider Ali (gold); Kamran Akmal (diamond); Liam Livingstone (gold); Shoaib Malik (platinum) and Wahab Riaz (platinum).

QUetta gladiators:: Anwar Ali (silver); Azam Khan (gold); Ben Cutting (diamond); Mohammad Hasnain (diamond); Mohammad Nawaz (diamond); Naseem Shah (gold); Sarfaraz Ahmed (platinum) and Zahid Mahmood (silver).

German Zverev splits with coach Ferrer ahead of new season BERLIN Agencies

German Alexander Zverev will head into the 2021 season looking for a new coach after splitting with Spaniard David Ferrer, the world number seven confirmed on social media.

Zverev added former world number three Ferrer to his coaching team around the middle of 2020 and reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open, where he went down to Dominic Thiem after winning the first two sets.

The German picked up two ATP titles in Cologne and also made the final of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris in an encouraging close to the season. “I would like to thank David for the months we have shared, the times on and off the court, wishing him only the best in the future,” Zverev wrote on his Instagram account. “I also want to thank his family for giving me the chance to spend precious weeks with David during these difficult times. I have tremendous respect for the way David played and coaches tennis.” Zverev will start his 2021 season at the team-based ATP Cup which will be played at Melbourne Park a week before the Australian Open is held at the same venue from February 8.

Sunday, 10 January, 2021

PrAyEr TImINGS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:58

12:39

4:24

7:18

6:00

7:21

PakIstan rejeCts IndIa's ClaIM lInkIng let leader's ConvICtIon wIth FatF

t

NEWS DESK

HE Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday rejected the statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding the conviction of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, leader of proscribed organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"Pakistan categorically rejects the malicious statement by the MEA regarding conviction of a UN-designated individual by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan," FO spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudri said in a statement.

"India has no locus standi to comment on the independent judicial mechanisms of Pakistan. In this regard the only

‘compliance’ that interests Pakistan is abiding by its own statutes and fulfillment of its international obligations," the statement said.

A day earlier, India had questioned the timing of action against Lakhvi who was convicted of terror financing by a Lahore anti-terrorism court on Friday.

According to India Today, the MEA said that UN proscribed entities and designated terrorists act as proxies for "Pakistan's establishment to fulfill Islamabad's anti-India agenda", adding that the action was taken by Pakistan at this time to suggest a "sense of compliance" ahead of the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) meet.

In today's statement, the FO said: "Inves-

tigations, prosecutions and subsequent convictions, through due process, are a reflection of the effectiveness of Pakistan’s legal system, which operates independent of any extraneous factors or influences.

"India's assertions to link Pakistan's due legal process with FATF are unfortunate. It is yet another Indian attempt to politicise FATF and use its processes against Pakistan.

Pakistan reiterates its commitment to impartiality, confidentiality and technical nature of the FATF process."

The statement added that the Indian insinuations against Pakistan were a vain attempt to conceal the former's failure to bring to justice those blatantly involved in state terrorism and the brutal suppression against

the subjugated people of occupied Kashmir and other minority communities.

"As for the hypocritical Indian assertions regarding the ‘terror infrastructure’ and ‘individual terrorists’, irrefutable evidence has already been provided by Pakistan to the international community of the active aiding, abetting, planning, promoting, financing and execution of terrorist activities by India against Pakistan, with impunity."

"India would do well to put its own house in order and rein in its terror infrastructure that is aimed at destabilising India’s neighboring countries in order to fulfill the extremist agenda of the RSSBJP regime."

Massive power failure plunges Pakistan into darkness

Indonesian plane crashes after take-off with 62 aboard

NEWS DESK

JAKARTA AGENCIES

A Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on a domestic flight with 62 people on board, and their fate was not known.

The Boeing 737-500, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off just after 2.30 p.m. (0730 GMT) - 30 minutes after the scheduled time because of heavy rain. Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karya told a news conference that 62 people had been aboard Flight SJ 182, including 12 crew. The detik.com website quoted him as saying the plane crashed near Laki Island, some 20 km (12 miles) from the airport.

Rescue agency Basarnas said in a statement it would send a team to the Thousand Islands area to help in the search for victims “after the crash of Sriwijaya Air SJ 182”.

All those on board were Indonesian, Indonesia’s transport safety committee said.

Indonesia’s Navy had pinpointed the site of the missing aircraft and ships had been sent there, a Navy official said. Authorities did not say whether they believed there were survivors.

Indonesian airline Sriwijaya Air’s chief executive, Jefferson Irwin Jauwena, told a news conference that the plane had been in good condition before the flight.

The nearly 27-year-old Boeing 737-500 was much older than Boeing’s problem-plagued 737 MAX model, one of which crashed off Jakarta in late 2018, killing all 189 people aboard the Lion Air flight. Older 737 models are widely flown and do not have the system implicated in the MAX safety crisis.

A Boeing spokeswoman said, “We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information”.

Reliable tracking service Flightradar24 said the Boeing jet took off at 2:36 p.m. local time (0736 GMT) and climbed to reach 10,900 feet within four minutes. It then began a steep descent and stopped transmitting data 21 seconds later.

A transport ministry spokeswoman said air traffic control at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport had asked the pilot why the plane was heading northwest instead of on its expected flight path just seconds before it disappeared. There were no immediate clues on what may have caused the sudden descent and safety experts stress most air accidents are caused by a cock-

We also expect the UN counter-terrorism bodies to proceed on the basis of concrete evidence provided by Pakistan, urge India to renounce the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and play their part in securing the dismantling of the Indian terrorist infrastructure, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the United States said it was "encouraged" by Lakhvi's recent conviction.

"However, his crimes go far beyond financing terrorism. Pakistan should further hold him accountable for his involvement in terrorist attacks, including the Mumbai attacks," the US State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs said on Twitter.

A massive power outage was reported from several cities across Pakistan late Saturday. The reason behind the breakdown remains unknown, as the “authorities are still working to figure out the problem”. The cities to face disruption include Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi. Within Karachi, areas which reported outages included Korangi, Defence, Garden, Clifton, Gulistan-eJauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, MA Jinnah Road, II Chundrigar Road, Jinnah International Airport, Liaquatabad,and FB Area. According to government officials, work on countrywide breakdown is underway, and that the electricity would be soon be restored.

tail of factors that can take months to establish.

DISTRAUGHT RELATIVES: Indonesian television channels showed pictures of suspected wreckage.

“We found some cables, a piece of jeans, and pieces of metal on the water,” Zulkifli, a security official, told CNNIndonesia.com.

Distraught relatives waited at Pontianak, around 740 km (460 miles) from Jakarta.

Yaman Zai, a father of three children who were aboard the plane with their mother, said that he was at the airport in Pontianak waiting for them, when he heard the news.

“I will never meet her again,” he said, holding up a photo of his oldest daughter.

Indonesia’s KNKT safety agency was expected to launch an immediate investigation. The U.S. National Safety Transportation Board will automatically be part of the probe, since the plane was designed and built in the United States.

Founded in 2003, Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air group flies largely within Indonesia. The airline has a solid safety record until now, with no onboard casualties in four incidents recorded on the Aviation Safety Network database.

INDONESIA’S PATCHY SAFETY RECORD: The Boeing 737 is the world’s most-sold family of aircraft and has undergone several makeovers since it entered service in 1968.

The 737-500 is two generations of development before the most recent 737 MAX, which has been embroiled in a worldwide safety crisis following crashes

in Indonesia and Ethiopia. It does not use the software system implicated in those crashes.

Nonetheless, experts say planes such as Sriwijaya’s leased 737-500 are being phased out for newer fuel-saving models. Civil jets typically have an economic life of 25 years, meaning they become too expensive to keep flying beyond that compared to younger models, but they are built to last longer.

Indonesia itself has a patchy air safety record.

In 2007, the European Union banned all Indonesian airlines following a series of crashes and reports of deteriorating oversight and maintenance since deregulation in the late 1990s. The restrictions were fully lifted in 2018.

Between 2007 and 2016, the US Federal Aviation Administration lowered its Indonesia safety evaluation to Category 2, meaning its regulatory system was inadequate.

Indonesian officials say they have worked hard to bring safety up to international standards.

PAKISTAN EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES: Pakistan on Saturday expressed condolences and deep sympathies with the government and people of Indonesia over loss of lives in a tragic plane crash.

“We offer our profound sympathies & condolences over the loss of so many precious lives in tragic crash of Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, travelling from Jakarta to Pontianak. Our thoughts & prayers go out to families of victims, govt. & brotherly people of Indonesia,” foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri posted on his twitter account.

India detains Chinese soldier at flashpoint border NEW DEHLI AGENCIES

Indian forces have detained a Chinese soldier on the disputed Himalayan frontier where the world's two most populous countries fought a deadly battle last year, the military said Saturday. It is the second detention on the high altitude border since the pitched battles in June in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed. Both sides have since poured tens of thousands of troops and heavy weaponry into the tension zone in the Ladakh region, currently in the grip of freezing winter temperatures. The Indian army said in a statement that the People's Liberation Army soldier was "apprehended" on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, as the border is known, in the early hours of Friday and taken into custody.

"The PLA soldier is being dealt with as per laid down procedures, and circumstances under which he had crossed the LAC are being investigated," the statement added. Another Chinese soldier was briefly held by Indian forces in the same region in October. India and China have disputed their frontier for seven decades and fought a brief war in 1962.

The two sides blame each other for the current standoff. The neighbours have held several rounds of disengagement talks but failed to ease the military buildup. India's foreign ministry said Friday that the two sides have agreed to a new round of talks between senior commanders. "In the meantime, both sides have maintained communication at the ground level to avoid any misunderstandings and misjudgements," it said in a statement.

Increasingly isolated Trump threatened with second impeachment WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US Democrats on Saturday were readying for an unprecedented second impeachment of Donald Trump as the defiant president showed no signs of stepping down after the deadly violence at the Capitol.

Democrats said impeachment proceedings could begin as early as Monday -- an extraordinary acceleration of a process that historically has taken weeks, but one that might not be completed before Presidentelect Joe Biden is sworn into office on January 20. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that Democrats will launch the process unless Trump resigns or Vice President Mike Pence invokes the 25th Amendment, where

the cabinet removes the president.

"He's deranged, unhinged and dangerous. He must go," Pelosi, referring to Trump, tweeted on Friday.

The move to impeach came amid continued fury over the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday by angry Trump supporters, which left five people dead, including a Capitol policeman.

'GRAVELY ENDANGERED OF US': The impeachment text being prepared by Democrats laid blame squarely at the president's feet.

"In all of this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transi-

tion of power, and imperiled a coordinate branch of government."

Trump, who had urged his supporters to come to Washington on Wednesday for a rally opposing his November election loss, has remained defiant, even after finally posting a video Thursday in which he belatedly promised an "orderly transition" to the Biden administration. But the president also said that "it's only the beginning of our fight."

That sort of language prompted Twitter to suspend Trump permanently and fueled Democrats' moves against him.

The Twitter ban drew an angry response from Trump, who in a statement late Friday accused the popular platform -- where he had more than 88 million followers -- of having "coordinated with the Democrats and the

Radical Left." Twitter not only suspended the @realDonaldTrump account but took action against others, including @POTUS, when he briefly turned to them.

BIDEN DEFERS TO CONGRESS: Several Democrats and at least one Republican lawmaker -- Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska -- have urged Trump to resign and avoid the messiness of impeachment proceedings in his final full week in power, but he reportedly has remained defiant in talks with his aides.

Trump has said he never intended for his supporters to attack the Capitol building -where Congress had convened to certify Biden's victory in the state-by-state Electoral College tally -- but only meant to encourage peaceful protest.

But in the chaos that day, one Trump supporter was shot and killed, lawmakers, reporters and staff were forced to take shelter, a Capitol policeman was killed in the chaos and invaders looted and vandalized the historic building, some parading through its halls with Confederate flags.

Just as when Trump was impeached in a traumatic 2019 partisan vote -- but not convicted -- the process requires first majority backing in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, and then, for conviction, two-thirds approval in the Senate.

Reaching two-thirds could be difficult in the narrowly divided upper chamber, but a number of Republicans who long supported Trump have expressed their disgust with the events of Wednesday.

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