Epaper – July 15 KHI 2020

CMYK

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020 I 23 Dhū al-Qa‘dah, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 17 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

Govt Gets sC’s nod to aCt aGainst suGar barons g

Top court orders authorities to ‘operate in accordance with law’

g

Directs high courts of Sindh, Islamabad to decide on sugar inquir y-related cases within three weeks

ISLAMABAD

PM Imran directs provinces to constitute finance commissions

STAFF REPORT

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DAY after the federal government approached the Supreme Court (SC) against the Sindh High Court (SHC) stay order which barred authorities from acting on the recommendations of the inquiry report on the recent sugar crisis which witnessed an artificial surge in the price of the commodity, the apex court on Tuesday allowed the government to proceed further against the sugar barons accused of hoarding and profiteering by the sugar inquiry commission.

A three-member bench — comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed — heard the case and issued a short verdict.

In its order, the apex court directed the federal authorities to “operate in accordance with the law”. The court also cautioned the government against taking “unnecessary steps” against sugar mill owners. The verdict annulled the SHC ruling of June 24 which had restrained the federal authorities from taking action against around 20 sugar mills of Sindh on the inquiry report.

The bench, additionally, restrained government officials from commenting in public on the sugar commission report.

The court also directed the high courts of Sindh and Islamabad, where cases pertaining to the matter were pending, to issue a decision within three weeks. The IHC issued a verbal order in the case on Monday but a detailed order is yet to be issued. The federal government had on Monday submitted that different sugar mills intended to prevent the Centre and provincial governments from performing their respective statutory duties on the prices of the sweetener.

During the proceedings on Tuesday, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan asserted that SHC’s verdict was “against the law”.

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

255,056

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

54

1,979

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

170,656 5,366 107,773

87,492

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

31,001

11,239

1,655/1,694 14,202

g

Federal cabinet defers decisions on KE tariff hike, gas prices ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Khan informed the apex court that the government was also constituting a commission on the fuel shortage face by the nation recently but wanted the “stay order problem to be resolved first”. A detailed judgement is expected to be released later.

SUGAR INQUIRY REPORT: The government on Feb 20 constituted an inquiry committee to probe into a sudden hike in sugar price and shortage of the commodity across the country. It was asked to ascertain if the production this year was less than past years, if the low produce was the prime reason for price hike and whether the minimum

support price was sufficient.

Subsequently, on May 21, the commission delivered its report identifying potential violations of laws by different manufactures of sugar and others acting in collusion or in concert with the manufacturers of sugar thereby being liable to possible legal action(s) or proceedings as warranted under different statutes.

Later in June, the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) moved petitions before the Islamabad High Court against the constitution of the inquiry commission and its report. Later on, they approached the SHC.

OGRA slashes gas rates by up to 6pc ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday reduced the price up to 6 per cent for consumers.

According to a notification issued by the regulator, gas prices for the consumers of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) have been reduced by 6 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

“The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), under Section 8(1) of OGRA Ordinance, 2002, vide its decision dated July 13, 2020 & July 14, 2020, has determined the revenue requirement of gas companies i.e., Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) for FY 2020-21 respectively and has sent the same to the federal government for gas sale price advice in respect of each category of consumers under Section 8(3) of said Ordinance,” the notification read .

The SNGPL had demanded to increase gas price to

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday directed all provinces to constitute provincial finance commissions to bring the less-developed areas at par with developed areas. The PM was chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet here. The federal cabinet also deferred the decision to increase K-Electric’s power rates between Rs1.09 and Rs2.89 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for different tariff slabs. Briefing the media about decisions taken in the federal cabinet, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said that Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umer will supervise the matters pertaining to provincial finance commissions in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

The functional PFCs will help the government bring prosperity in backward areas of the provinces, he added. The minister said that the premier has expressed the government’s determination to ensure transparency in the Senate elections.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

3 soldiers martyred in Panjgur terror attack STORY ON BACK PAGE

India no longer part of Iran’s Chabahar rail project STORY ON BACK PAGE

Rs1,287.19 per mmbtu against existing price of 664.25 per mmbtu. However, the regulator decided to reduce price to Rs623.31 per mmbtu which is 106.5pc less than demand and 6pc less than existing price.

The SSGC had demanded to raise price to Rs881.53 per mmbtu against existing price of Rs796.18 per mmbtu.

However, OGRA reduced price to 750.90 per mmbtu

CMYK

which is 17.4pc less than demand and 2pc less than existing price. The regulator has significantly slashed the gas prices against the companies’ demand for the increase in gas prices for FY2020-21.

The main reason for reduction in price is international oil prices along with other disallowances made by OGRA in respect of revenue and capital expenditures.

NAB opens fresh probe against Nawaz, Shehbaz in undisclosed cases STORY ON PAGE 03

Sindh cable operators suspend TV, internet for three hours in five cities STORY ON PAGE 02

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Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

NEWS

Sindh Cable operatorS SuSpend tV, internet for three hourS in fiVe CitieS KARACHI

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STAFF REPORT

ABLE operators in Sindh suspended TV and internet services in five cities of the province from 7pm to 10pm on Tuesday as a protest against K-Electric (KE) for deliberately cutting the cables of various fibre broadband providers.

The service is halted in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah and Larkana owing to “stubbornness” of the power distribution company, Khalid Arain, the chairperson of All Pakistan Cable Operators Association (APCOA) and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) told a private news channel.

The cable operators have extended the duration of their strike by an hour after halting the services from 7pm to 9pm on Monday. They have also warned of a countrywide protest if their demands are not accepted and action is not taken against KE. They have demanded that K-Electric

stop damaging their infrastructure and give them reasonable time to streamline their aerial network or migrate their networks underground.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday, Arain had said that on one hand, KE negotiated with

them, while on the other, it was cutting their connections.

He demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) take notice of the issue and provide them security.

Arain added that the cable operators

needed time to lay an underground cable network. “If the KMC and other relevant institutions cooperate with us, we can lay the underground network within three to four years,” he claimed.

According to him, KE was not complying with the orders of the Karachi commissioner. He added that APCOA and ISPA had also requested Sindh Governor Imran Ismail to resolve the dispute between the power utility and the cable operators.

He also argued that KE had held cable operators responsible for the casualties caused by electrocution during the monsoon rains last year, but the allegation was baseless as their cables did not conduct any electrical current.

Pointing out that the internet was a major source of entertainment for citizens, especially given the lockdown, he admitted that the people would face inconvenience due to their strike, adding that PEMRA should support the cable operators against KE.

PPP gave K-Electric millions of rupees, Vawda tells NA ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Zardari to be indicted in thatta water supply reference on aug 4 ISLAMABAD: An accountability on Tuesday announced that it would indict former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the Thatta water supply reference, which is an offshoot of the mega fake bank accounts case, on August 4. The reference accuses the suspects of misusing authority for the illegal award of different contracts to private contractors. The reference was filed in April last year and also nominated 13 other individuals in addition to Zardari. The accountability court, during the hearing on Tuesday, directed all the accused to reappear on Aug 4. The reference alleged that some accused persons created fake accounts and purchased plots from ill-gotten money. STAFF REPORT

all facilities to be provided to balochistan hospitals: ndMa chief QUETTA: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal on Tuesday said that all health-related facilities would be provided to hospitals in Balochistan. Talking to media in the provincial capital on Tuesday, the NDMA chief said that provincial health department has improved its performance in a very short time to combat with coronavirus. The chairman NDMA said that doctors are playing as frontline fighters against Covid-19 and the entire nation appreciates their role.

He said that Pakistan can overcome the pandemic if the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are implemented in the true spirit. He ensured strict implementation of the SOPs on the Eidul Azha and added that there is no other way till now to overcome the Covid19 outbreak. Replying to a question, he said that nine aircraft of the NDMA are taking part in anti-locust spray operation and vowed to control over the swarms of the locusts. Replying to a question, he said that NDMA is fully cooperating with Balochistan government in eradication of locusts. Earlier, the NDMA chairman visited Fatimah Jinnah Hospital Quetta to review arrangements in connection with Covid-19 in the province. It is pertinent to mention here that Ministry for Food Security and Research on June 21 announced that they are looking to initiate a program against locust swarm infestation in the country with the help of World Bank (WB). According to a notification issued by the ministry on the matter, World Bank has offered an amount of $200 million to fend off and kill the locust swarms overwhelming agricultural land in Pakistan. An additional $150 million were also promised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help the country fight the critters. TLTP

Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda on Tuesday accused the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of dispensing millions of rupees to favour the K-Electric (KE) during its tenure in the Centre in 2008.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Vawda said: “The report which Bilawal Bhutto Zardari showed yesterday contains a tale of corruption of the PPP government.”

He was responding to Bilawal’s Monday press conference wherein he accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of having links with the KE majority shareholder – Abraaj Group.

“Abraaj is Imran Khan’s ATM. The FIA report has said that corruption of the Abraaj Group has been suppressed.

The Abraaj Group is Imran Khan’s frontman and everyone is silent because of this,” he had said.

The minister also challenged the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

(PML-N) to hold a debate with the incumbent government’s economic team on any national TV to fix responsibility of the country’s longstanding issues.

Responding to Vawda, PPP lawmaker Naveed Qamar said Arif Naqvi, owner of the Abraaj Group, had himself confessed to funding the election campaign of the ruling PTI in 2008 and 2013.

He also denied the allegations that the PPP government favoured the KE.

Ahsan Iqbal approaches NAB against PM Imran in sports city case LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal has approached the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Prime Minister Imran Khan for neglecting the Narowal Sports City Complex and causing “damage” of billions of rupees.

Iqbal said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, under PM Imran, immediately stopped the funding of the project after coming to power, which caused heavy losses to the national exchequer.

In the application to the anti-graft body, PM Imran and his accomplices have been held responsible for “misuse of authority to sabotage a vitally important national project through willful default and criminal breach of trust on political grounds thereby causing billions of rupees loss to national exchequer”. “It is requested that case be registered against them for willful loss to the national project and they should be made personally liable for any cost escalation

in respect of completing the project.”

The minister continued that the Astroturf and athletic field track, imported worth millions of rupees, were not installed in time.

Iqbal further lamented that the release of remaining Rs400 million to complete the project is yet to be made, out of the total approved cost of Rs2.9 billion, adding that 86% of the funds have been spent so far.

“Now additional billions of rupees will have to be spent in remobilization claims and cost escalation heads in order to complete this project.”

While talking to media, the PMLN leader said that the NAB is oblivious to the recent sugar and wheat scandal, adding that the authority failed to see the “corruption” committed by the PTI leaders. He alleged that pressure is put on officials through NAB to “make cases against us [PMLN]”. Calling Peshawar Bus Rapid Transport the “biggest” corruption scandal, Iqbal said PM Imran has become an “umbrella” to shelter the corruption of his government.

eCC to take up Karachi development issues today ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to be held on Wednesday will take up various issues related to development projects in Karachi.

According to documents, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has summoned the meeting of the ECC in which nine agenda items pertaining to different ministries, including five agenda items pertaining to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, will be discussed. The five agenda items of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs include, construction of remaining sewerage system in north west industrial zone and south west industrial zone at Port Qasim, construction of remaining water supply network in north west industrial zone and south west industrial zone at Port Qasim, construction of remaining road works and storm water drains in north west industrial zone and south west industrial zone at Port Qasim and construction of pump houses, underground water tanks, overhead water tanks and auxiliary work in eastern industrial zone at Port Qasim. Appointment of engineering consultancy services firm for planning, designing, preparation of tender documents and construction supervision for combined effluent treatment plant in north west industrial zone and enhancement of existing sewerage treatment plant already established at Port Qasim is also on the agenda. ECC would also take up matters pertaining to the provision of satellite services in Pakistan and a report of the committee constituted by the ECC on litigation between the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication and LMKR. The meeting would also consider the summary of the Ministry of Finance pertaining to the approval of a 22.5 Million Saudi riyal foreign equity investment by Eastern Products Private Limited, Pakistan.

The issue of supply of gas to localities within a five kilometre (km) radius of petroleum gas producing fields of the Petroleum Division is also on the meetings agenda.

SHAHZAD PARACHA

ShC dismisses plea challenging Caa's suspension of pilots with fake licences KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) dismissed on Tuesday a petition against the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) over the suspension of pilots with fake licences. Justice Khadim Hussain Shaikh said that the court cannot put lives at risk by allowing these pilots to continue flying planes. He told the petitioner to take back the petition and warned him that he may receive a fine otherwise.

The petition was filed by pilot Waqar Ahmed. He had said that the list of fake pilots issued by CAA included his name.

Ahmed claimed that he obtained his flying license from the authority but didn’t work with PIA. He has, therefore, demanded that the list should be declared incorrect and his name be removed from it. Responding to him, the court said that a decision will only be taken after the inquiry into the matter is completed. “The court cannot interfere into the investigation, neither can it endanger the lives of people by letting the pilots fly,” Justice Shaikh said. STAFF REPORT

In a first, locally made drones to join fight against locusts ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Ministry of Science and Technology on Tuesday unveiled domestically manufactured drones to fight the locust attack threatening food security.

“Made in Pakistan drones will revolutionise the country’s agriculture industry,” Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry said, sharing the photo of drones on Twitter.

The Ministry of Science and Technology signed an agreement with a private company, ABM-SATUMA, for the production and agriculture application of the drones to deal with the locust crisis. The drones would be handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Explaining the drone’s mechanism, Chaudhry said that earlier the entire field had to be disinfected

but with the help of the drone, the sensors will detect the infected patches and spray pesticides directly on them.

“The ministry is now focusing on precision farming with the introduction of drone technology to enhance agricultural productivity,” he said, encouraging youngsters to work on agri-tech startups.

Dr Suleiman Ashraf, CEO of Surveillance and Target Unmanned Aircraft (ABM-SATUMA), said the company that has been working with the country’s defense industry for over two decades has decided to develop drones for the agriculture sector to help farmers save crops and achieve efficiency.

The hexacopter drone has six propellers and has a carrying capacity of about 16kg, which means it can spray up to 16 litres of pesticide in about 15-18 minutes. The drones designed and manufactured in Pakistan will reduce the time and cost of farmers while

saving crops and protecting farmers from exposure to harmful chemicals with efficient spraying, Ashraf said.

“The manual spraying that takes more than one hour can be done in 5 minutes using the drone.”

‘DON’T BUY A DRONE, JUST RENT ONE OUT’: The farmers can now take full advantage of drone technology to save crops. The drones are simple, fast, affordable and easy to use, according to the experts.

The local production has reduced the cost of agricultural drones by one-third. But can the farmers afford the drone?

“Farmers don’t have to buy or own the drones.

We would introduce a rent-a-drone service similar to Uber, that would connect farmers with the drone as per their requirement,” Chaudhry explained.

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

NEWS

nab openS freSh probe againSt nawaZ, ShehbaZ in undiSCloSed CaSeS ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE Executive Board of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday approved fresh inquiries into a number of high-profile individuals, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, while also ordering shut an illegal allotment probe against the latter due to a lack of evidence.

The executive board meeting was attended by the NAB deputy chairman, prosecutor general, director-general operations and other senior officials.

“All inquiries and investigations have been ordered on the basis of accusations raised and are in no way final or binding,” said a statement is-

sued by NAB. “NAB will strive to obtain the stance of all those involved, as per the law, after which it will decide whether or not to proceed with the inquiry,” it added.

According to the statement, an investigation into Nawaz Sharif has been approved. The notice however made no mention of the nature of the probe.

It also approved inquiries against former chief minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif, former senator Sartaj Aziz, former deputy inspector general of traffic police in Punjab Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan and others, member of the Punjab Assembly Meher Hamid Rasheed, developer of Heaven Villas in Faisalabad Meher Abdul Rauf and others, former members of the Punjab Assembly Ateeq-urRehman and Sheikh Ijaz Ahmed and others and the defaulting PhD scholars

Kamyab Jawan programme phase-ii gets pM’s nod ISLAMABAD

of University of Punjab.

Additionally, it accorded approval for a probe into illegal activities by chief executive of Earth Resource Private Limited (ERPL) and others who have been accused of taking undue advantage of their position for their benefit.

However, investigations against Shehbaz, former secretary to chief minister of Punjab Javed Mahmood, former director-general Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Ahad Khan Cheema and others and inquiries against the management, officers and members of the environment management company Faisalabad Industrial Estate and Development Management Company (FIEDMC), the Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIEDMC), Lahore Transport Company, Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company, Gujranwala West

Khawaja Asif slams govt for opening Wagah border on Kashmir Martyrs Day ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

TLTP

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday approved to launch the second phase of Kamyab Jawan Programme, aiming to provide more opportunities to the youth across the country. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar called on PM Imran to discuss matters related to Kamyab Jawan Programme. During the meeting, the prime minister directed Dar to immediately launch the second phase of the Kamyab Jawan Programme. The federal government also released Rs25 billion for phaseII of the program. The government has also increased the loan amount for phase-II from Rs5 million to Rs20.5 million. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued circular to all banks in this regard. Moreover, the federal government has reduced the markup for the second phase from 6 per cent to 3 per cent. On the occasion, Dar said that youths under the programme can now get a loan of Rs25 million for business purposes.

He said that the decision was taken keeping in view the economic challenges due to coronavirus. “Despite tremendous economic constraints the government allocated Rs100 billion for the youth of this country, the Premier also increased the loan quotas from Rs5 million to Rs25 million,” said Dar. “The government has brought the markup to its lowest value in the country’s history along with allocating Rs30 billion for skilled based education,” he added. Earlier, Planning Minister Asad Umar said that Phase-II of PM Kamyab Jawan Programme in collaboration with Ministry of Industries will give loans for the establishment of Utility Stores’ franchises. It is pertinent to mention here that the Kamyab Jawan Programme was launched by the premier last year in November.

Management Company for illegal allotment of land were ordered shut due to a lack of evidence, as per the law.

NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said that NAB is making utmost efforts to rid the country of illegal acitivities and corruption. “NAB’s foremost priority is to see to the conclusion of mega corruption cases,” the press release quoted him as saying. According to the statement, the anti-graft watchdog has deposited Rs466 billion into the national exchequer recovered directly or indirectly while probing unlawful elements “which is a record achievement”.

In December 2018, Nawaz was handed seven years in jail by an accountability court in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case. He is currently in London, where he went on bail in November 2019, for a four-week period to receive medical treatment.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif on Tuesday criticised the government for announcing the resumption of Afghan trade through Wagah border on Kashmir Martyr’s Day. Addressing the National Assembly, the PML-N stalwart said that the details regarding the decision to allow Afghan transit trade should have been discussed in the House before making an announcement. “[Re]-opening transit trade on this day is tantamount to hurting the sentiments of the Kashmiris,” he lambasted the government while questioning the need to take the decision in such a hurry.

“If there was any such suggestion, it could have been postponed a little nd the House should have been informed about it,” he added. On Monday, the Foreign Office had announced that Pakistan will resume Afghan exports through the Wagah border crossing from July 15 after implementing coronavirus-related protocols. “At the special request of the Government of Afghanistan and to facilitate Afghanistan’s transit trade, Pakistan has decided to resume Afghan exports

through Wagah border crossing from July 15, 2020, after implementing Covid-19 related protocols,” the Foreign Office had said.

It added, “With this step, Pakistan has fulfilled its commitments under the Pakistan-Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). Pakistan has restored bilateral trade and Afghan transit trade at all border crossing terminals to pre-Covid-19 status.”

Pakistan remains fully committed to further strengthening its bilateral relations with Afghanistan in all areas including trade, and to facilitate Afghanistan’s transit trade under APTTA, the Foreign Office added. Pakistan last month had opened its third border crossing with Afghanistan to facilitate trade between the two countries. Islamabad said it was opening the third border crossing with Afghanistan for 24/7 trade. The Torkham, Chaman, and Ghulam Khan borders were open to increase the volume of trade and to promote business activities between the two countries.

A notification issued by the Ministry of Interior said the three border terminals would remain open for imports and exports from and to Afghanistan, with an unlimited number of trucks to be allowed per day for both Afghan transit and bilateral trade.

PM Imran orders crackdown on wheat hoarders ISLAMABAD TLTP

The government has decided to launch a crackdown on elements involved in wheat hoarding across the country. This was decided at a high-level meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday. The meeting reviewed the adequate supply of wheat and flour to the people across the country and prices. The prime minister directed the provincial chief secretaries to continue the policy of zero tolerance against adulteration and to not make any concessions in this regard. He directed the chief secretaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan to ensure complete prevention of wheat smuggling.

He directed that comprehensive administrative

measures should be taken to further improve interprovincial coordination and ensure equitable prices of wheat and flour across the country.

The premier directed the chief secretary of Sindh to finalise the wheat release policy in the province as soon as possible keeping in view last year’s experience. He directed that the plan for implementation of the decision to import wheat to meet the future needs of wheat and flour be finalised as soon as possible.

The chief secretary of Punjab apprised the meeting that a 20-kg bag of flour is being provided at Rs860 across the province. He said that the Punjab government is releasing 18,000 tons of wheat on daily basis to ensure ample availability of wheat.

The chief secretary of KP briefed the meeting on steps taken to prevent wheat smuggling.

Senate body gives go-ahead to Zindagi Tamasha’s release ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Senate Committee for Human Rights has approved the much-debated movie Zindagi Tamasha for screening, dismissing all religious objections raised against the film.

The film, which has been premiered at the 24th Busan International Film Festival in 2019, faced controversy back home after the right-wing Tehreek-e-

Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) called for protests against its scheduled release on Jan 24, alleging it was “blasphemous”.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who chairs the panel, said in a tweet that the committee “found nothing wrong” with the film, adding that the censor board “has our go-ahead to release” postCovid-19 pandemic.

In January, the TLP had called for protests against the film’s release in the

country but cancelled its plans after the government said the movie will be sent to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for review even after it was twice cleared by censor boards.

Later, in March, the Senate panel for human rights decided to take the matter in its hands and barred the CII from reviewing the film. The panel directed the Central Board of Film Censors to provide the committee a copy of the movie for screening, so the members could de-

cide if its content was objectionable.

At the time, Khokhar had said that if the committee members found something objectionable in the movie, it would be forwarded to the CII. He further said that the committee will “not come under anyone’s pressure” and that the “parliament will exercise its authority”. “We should not come under pressure of those parties who held Islamabad hostage twice,” Khokhar said while referring to the TLP.

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Qureshi returns home after recovering from virus ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has returned home after being discharged from the hospital in Islamabad where he was admitted last week after contracting coronavirus. In a statement, the foreign minister expressed gratitude to all those who had sent wishes. According to Qureshi, he had called off all meetings after experiencing mild symptoms of the disease. He added his condition began improving as his treatment started immediately after the diagnosis. The statement added that Qureshi was treated through antibodies and thanked the CMH Rawalpindi’s staff for taking care of him. “I have returned home and am feeling better,” he said, hoping his second test will come out negative. Qureshi called on the citizens not to fret about the disease and take precautionary measures to keep the virus at bay. Several politicians, including members of the ruling PTI, have been diagnosed with the virus over the past few months as it continues to spread in Pakistan. Prominent political leaders who have contracted the virus so far include National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, PPP leader Saeed Ghani and Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, all of whom have recovered. APP

foreign remittances go up by $3.2bn in 2019-20, na told ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) was informed on Tuesday that foreign remittances witnessed an increase of $3.2 billion in the last fiscal year as a result of prudent economic policies of the government.

Responding to various points raised by the opposition benches, Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said that Pakistan Stock Exchange has emerged as the third fastest growing market of the world. He said trade deficit decreased, while information technology exports surged by 26 per cent. He said the international ranking of Pakistani passport improved by six points. The minister said that it is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which started work on Diamer-Bhasha dam and initiated reforms in state institutions. Responding to a calling attention notice, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that the government is focusing on promoting tourism industry in the country. He said that the meeting of the National Tourism Coordination Board, scheduled on 22nd of this month, will find ways and means to help the people relating to the tourism sector as their businesses have been adversely affected due to Covid-19. TLTP

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Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

NEWS

CovId-19 tEStInG droPS 60PC In PunjAB LAHORE

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HE Covid-19 tests carried out by the Punjab government to detect the virus in suspected patients have been reduced by 60 per cent.

According to a report, coronavirus tests in Punjab have been reduced by about 60 per cent against its capacity of 16,470 tests each day.

The figures show that the Punjab hos-

Covid-19 testing labs have the capacity to conduct 8,040 tests per day but, only 5,812 tests were being carried out on a daily basis in state-run labs. Similarly, the private Covid-19 labs has capacity to perform 8,430 tests per day. The data show that private labs in Punjab are conducting only 2,363 tests in a day.

It was revealed that only four

pitals have capacity to perform more than 16,000 tests each day. However, only 8,175 tests were being carried out at the state-run and private labs.

There are a total of 16 private and 18 government Covid-19 testing labourites in Punjab.

The data shows that in the government sector, the

K-Electric says facing 130MW shortfall due to technical fault KARACHI TLTP

K-Electric has informed citizens that there may be load-shedding in certain areas of Karachi as it is facing a 130-megawatt shortfall in electricity due to a technical fault at the Bin Qasim Power Plant. A spokesperson for the electric supply company said that the power generation ability of KE has decreased by 130-megawatts due to a technical fault in one of the units of the Bin Qasim Power Plant, adding that there will be temporary load management in the affected areas. The spokesperson stated that load management will be carried out in half industrial zones to provide relief to residential consumers.

The spokesperson added that the load management’s advance notice has been sent and the schedule can also be accessed on KE’s website.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson also stated that they are in touch with the Power Ministry regarding the supply of furnace oil and assured that the temporary load-shedding will be finished when the fault is rectified. The spokesperson while talking about the cable and internet association stated that they violated an agreement under which they were supposed to lay their wires underground by July 2020. The KE spokesperson stated that in the past there have been deaths during rains because of illegal internet and TV cables put up in various parts of the city. KE stated that the cable association had assured commissioner Karachi and other officials that they will remove their wires from KE’s polls, adding that the strike called by the cable and internet association was called to blackmail the company.

Health workers’ courage in coronavirus fight to be remembered: Bangash PESHAWAR: Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Information and Local Government, Kamran Bangash has said that bravery and courage of frontline health workers in fight against coronavirus will always be remembered in history. The special assistant said this during his visit to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Tuesday. He handed over 600 PPE kits, masks, gloves, sanitizers and other protective equipment to the hospital management. A meeting presided over by Kamran Bangash was also attended by Rotary International Club Deputy Governor Khurshid Khan, LRH Director Dr Khalid Mehsud and Dean Professor Abdul Latif Khan. TLTP

labs across the province were conducting tests according to original capacity, while the remaining 34 labs have been performing half coronavirus tests than the actual capacity to perform virus tests each day.

Punjab Secretary for Primary Healthcare Muhammad Usman said that government is only testing those patients who have Covid-19 symptoms. He said that from the last few days, the number of critical virus patients in province has decreased significantly.

Coronavirus cases decreasing in Punjab: Yasmin EXTENSION IN CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN FOR 15 MORE DAYS ANNOUNCED LAHORE TLTP

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has said that coronavirus cases are decreasing in the province.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Dr Yasmin said, “Due to hard work of our doctors, we are witnessing a steady decline in the number of Covid19 patients.” She said that the number of people defeating the virus and recovering from the disease is higher than the number of new infections.

Meanwhile, Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department on Tuesday extended the coronavirus lockdown imposed earlier this month in the province for another 15 days to July 30.

According to the notification, educational institutions, wedding halls, restaurants, parks and cinema halls will continue to remain closed and gathering for social, religious or sports activities will not be allowed. The province has recorded 87,492 coronavirus cases and

2,026 deaths, with new infections seeing a decline, according to official figures. At least 63,977 have recovered from the pandemic in the province.

Secretary Primary and Secondary Health Care Captain (r) Muhammad Usman said that the notification will be effective immediately, while the decision for areas under a smart lockdown will be notified separately.

The Punjab health department on Thursday issued a notification under the Punjab Infectious Diseases Ordinance, 2020, about the enforcement of a smart lockdown in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and Rawalpindi, till July 24, 2020 midnight.

In Lahore, the lockdown has been

enforced in A2 Block Township, EME Society, Main Bazaar Chungi Amr Sadhu, Punjab Government Servants Housing Scheme, Wapda Town, CBlock Jauhar Town and Green City.

"All markets, shopping malls, restaurants, offices (public and private) shall remain closed in these areas," read the notification from the health department about Lahore. "There shall be a complete ban on movement of people to and from these areas by public and private transport except for limited movement of one person per vehicle to and from the exempted facilities."

The basic necessities of life will remain available in the areas put under the selective lockdown. “The purpose of the smart lockdown is to minimise movement of people in hotspots of positive coronavirus cases,” said Captain (r) Muhammad Usman.

Sindh governor asks NEPRA to probe KE over-billing KARACHI TLTP

Taking notice of public complaints against K-Electric, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Tuesday asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to conduct a thorough audit of the complaints lodged against the company for excessive billing.

In a letter to NEPR chairman, Ismail said that if the over-billing claims prove true, the consumers should be refunded their excessive paid amount instantly.

He said, “On a daily basis, a large section of society is complaining against KElectric authorities for multiple issues, one out of them is excessive billing.”

The governor said that it becomes a nightmare for a common person when he receives an exaggerated bill from KElectric, as there is a general perception that such a situation has no remedy.

“These complaints are not limited with domestic consumers only, commercial and industrial consumers are also facing similar approach from KE and voicing against excessive billing at

different forum,” he wrote. He asked the NEPRA chairman to take immediate action to resolve the issue in the larger public interest.

Earlier on Sunday last, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar warned K-Electric of action if it failed to keep its promise of refraining from unannounced load shedding in the city. He had warned that in case of continuous violation of its promise to ensure uninterrupted power supply, strict action should be taken against the K-Electric.

75pc adults suffering from stress during pandemic: AKU study KARACHI PPI

Three out of four Pakistani adults are suffering from moderate or high levels of stress during this Covid-19 pandemic while nearly one in three are experiencing moderate or severe anxiety, according to the preliminary findings of a mental health study conducted by Aga Khan University.

Researchers from the department of community health sciences (CHS) conducted an online survey of 373 respondents between April and May, the study’s first phase, using validated screening tools to determine if people had generalised anxiety disorder, perceived stress or both conditions. More than 90 per cent of the participants were from

Sindh and Punjab.

Respondents ranked the top three causes of anxiety and stress as being fear of contracting the virus, financial losses during the pandemic and losing a loved one to Covid-19.

Survey participants were much more concerned about their loved ones catching the disease with nearly eight out of ten respondents, or 76 per cent, feeling a lot of fear or extreme fear of those close to them falling ill. In contrast, four of ten respondents, or 36 per cent, reported a lot of fear or extreme fear about catching the virus themselves.

“The pandemic has exposed our social and economic vulnerabilities and created widespread uncertainty in society,” said Professor Sameen Siddiqi, the CHS depart-

Another polio case reported in Lahore LAHORE: Another polio case has been reported from Lahore’s area of Ravi Town, confirmed Anti-Polio Programme on Tuesday. As per details, the affected child is said to be 26 months old his both hands and feet are affected due to deadly virus. On Saturday, federal government had decided to launch a special antipolio immunisation campaign after the country so far recorded 58 cases of the disabling disease during the ongoing year. The immunisation campaign would be launched in four provinces of the country, especially in the areas that have reported rising polio cases. INP

GB CM rejects wrong polio vaccination news report GILGIT: Caretaker Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mir Afzal Khan has said that news about wrong polio vaccination in the region is baseless. In a statement on Tuesday, the chief minister said that polio campaigns in GB are being run jointly by World Health Organisation (WHO) and the health department.

“Polio-free Pakistan is our dream,” he said, adding that wrong statement to media on this sensitive matter should be stopped. TLTP

Bird hits PIA plane during landing LAHORE: One more plane was hit by a bird at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport as a flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) struck by bird while landing on the runway. A PIA Boeing 777 aircraft, PK-6202, from Sharjah was hit by a bird while attempting to land at Lahore airport’s runway at night on Monday. However, the captain of the plane managed to safely land at the airport. The PIA spokesperson said that one of the engines of the passenger plane was damaged and engineers are working to repair it. TLTP

Sindh marquees to reopen before August 2 KARACHI: Marriage halls and marquees in Sindh province will be allowed to reopen before August 2 after the Marriage Halls Association and the provincial government held successful talks on Tuesday. Head of the Marriage Halls Association, Rana Raees, while confirming the development, said that the government has agreed to reopen the halls before August 2. “The government has sought recommendations on SOPs [standard operating procedures] from the owners,” he said, adding that comprehensive precautionary measures will be devised after consultations. He further said that the marriage halls would completely abide by the government SOPs. TLTP

ment chair. “If left unchecked, stress associated with Covid-19 can lead to distress and the distress can lead to disease.” Those already suffering from anxiety and stress are especially vulnerable to advanced illnesses such as depression and other mental health disorders, added Maryam Lakhdir, the study’s principal investigator and a senior instructor in the CHS department.

“The findings suggest that we are at risk of a mental health crisis during a pandemic. Policymakers must prioritise psychosocial interventions to limit the chances of long-lasting scars on our mental health,” Maryam said.

The study also found a high correlation between exposure to rumours via WhatsApp and anxiety or stress, since more than eight out of ten respondents suffering from the two conditions were using this social media platform. Respondents who reported frequently checking the news also had more anxiety and stress.

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

KP govt sets uP Commission to Probe AjmAl WAzir's 'leAKed Audio CliP' PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday set up a committee to investigate the “leaked audio clip” that accuses KP chief minister’s former adviser Ajmal Wazir of receiving kickbacks from an advertising agency.

After the clip surfaced, Wazir was denotified from his post.

Wazir has maintained that he had been targeted in a “well-planned conspiracy”. “This is a conspiracy against me.

The conspirators have used a vile method to block my way,” said the former information adviser.

Retired bureaucrat Sahibzada Saeed will head the committee, while retired judge Muhammad Bashir and a retired police official, Tariq Javed, are part of the team that has been directed to submit the report in three days.

“The commission, through forensics, will find out the reality of the audio clip,”

CAA clears 21 Pakistani pilots working for foreign airlines KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday cleared the licences of 18 Pakistani pilots working for Oman’s SalamAir after the Arab country’s civil aviation requested for the verification and clearance of the Pakistani pilots working in Oman’s airline company.

The names of the pilots cleared by the CAA Pakistan are Captain Fawad Shahab, Sheikh Saifullah, Mohammad Bilal Malik, Mohammad Javed, and Mohammad Rashid. Moreover, the licences of Captain Muhammad Athar Iqbal, Muhammad Asif, Farhan Khan, Babar Sultan, Farrukh Bhatti, Sajjad Malik were also cleared, whereas, Captain Zia-ul-Haq, Natasha Sultan, Abbas Rizvi, Omar Jafar, and 3 other captains received clearances from the authority. Separately, the CAA also cleared three Pakistani pilots associated with Hong Kong airlines after it had asked for clearance of their licenses. On July 18, the CAA had suspended licences of 34 pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspected of holding fake degrees. The notification issued by the aviation authority had said that the licenses will remain suspended till the inquiry against the pilots has not been completed. Separately, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had also ordered its member states to bar Pakistani pilots from working. EASA has asked its member countries for details of Pakistani pilots. The letter sent to the member states by EASA stated that the CAA has revealed irregularities in the issuance of 40% of licences.

the notification said.

According to the notification, the team will apprise the government on the losses incurred to the national exchequer.

The commission will also investigate the officials who were on duty and examine the “transparency” of advertisement deals approved during Wazir’s tenure, it said.

Secretary Administration Zahir Shah will be the focal person, while the Special Branch, forensic lab, anti-corruption, and other relevant departments will support the commission in the probe.

On Saturday, Wazir was removed from his post and Kamran Khan Bangash was given the additional charge of the portfolio of Information and Public Re-

lations in addition to his office of Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Local Government, Elections and Rural Development.

An inquiry into the allegations was ordered by the KP chief minister as soon as the audio clip surfaced.

“Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has desired to process a case for a fact-finding inquiry into the recently surfaced audiotape of Ajmal Khan Wazir, former advisor to the chief minister for information and public relation,” a government statement said.

Meanwhile, Wazir had said that audio clips from various briefings had been cut and stitched together to produce the fabricated audio clip.

“I have nothing to do with the issue on which I am being criticised,” he said.

“The advertisement was for the health department, which is chaired by the health minister. I was an honorary member of the committee and I had no authority to make a decision.”

Polio drive in Karachi from July 20 KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for Polio in Sindh would conduct a small-scale polio campaign in Karachi from July 20.

Baldia, Orangi, North Nazimabad, Liaqatabad and SITE are among the locations where the campaign would be held in which approximately 260,000 children, under the age of five, would be administered oral polio vaccine.

This is the first polio-campaign since the breakout of Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Following this smallscale campaign, wider scope campaigns will be conducted on a monthly basis in Sindh until the end of the year.

EOC spokesperson said that “these campaigns are of utmost importance as we must give children oral polio vaccine to save them from polio and to ensure a healthy future for them. Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along with Afghanistan and has so far reported a

STAFF REPORT

In a move to ensure transparency in taxes, trade and banking matters Pakistan and Hungary have signed a 'Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income'.

Hungarian Ambassador to Pakistan Istvan Szabo signed the protocol on behalf of his country, while Member (Inland Revenue Operations)/Additional Secretary Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed inked it on behalf of Pakistan,

He said that votes are traded in the Senate polls. He added that two provinces have mostly raised voice against Senate polls.

Regarding the appointment of the heads of the national institutions, the information minister said that the past governments had failed to devise a proper mechanism for making deputations in the government institutions. It is not an easy task to bring improvements in a system, he said, adding the government is working on developing a system to streamline the appointments of heads in government institutions.

The information minister said the government is working on establishing the Hajj Fund on the pattern of Malaysia model.

Commenting on the sugar inquiry report, he said its main purpose is to ensure the provision of sugar to the consumers at a low price instead of defaming someone.

He also said the federal cabinet will take decisions for K-Electric and gas prices in its next session.

He further said that the cabinet reviewed all decisions taken in the previous meetings and discussed various suggestions related to the implementation of the delayed decisions.

Faraz said the people are being provided solar stoves in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to prevent deforestation in the region. He said the meeting was apprised that a total of 11,376 Pakistanis are imprisoned in various countries. The prime minister directed all Pakistan embassies to provide legal support to these prison-

CoAs interacts with young cancer patient willing to join army RAWALPINDI TLTP

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday interacted with a 15-year-old boy, Ali Raza, who has been fighting cancer for the last one year, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. The young boy expressed his desire to meet the army chief and join the Pakistan Army. The meeting between COAS Bajwa and Ali Raza was arranged at Corps Headquarters Karachi via video-link. The army chief appreciated Raza’s passion and inquired about his wellbeing. He also prayed for his recovery from the disease, read the ISPR tweet.

KP govt set to complete seven hydel power projects by year-end TLTP

total of 58 polio cases out of which 20 cases are from Sindh.”

EOC faced a setback due to the pandemic when global polio campaigns were halted in March and it is absolutely necessary now that these vaccines are provided to fill the immunity gap in children, the spokesperson added.

Talking about the safety measures during the campaign, he said that “We are taking all WHO recommended precautionary measures for the upcoming campaigns, parents have nothing to

fear.” “Our workers have been provided sanitisers, masks, gloves and will not directly handle any child, not knock on doors and not interact closely with parents, spending minimum time at the doorsteps,” spokesperson assured.

In order to make up for the gap in campaigns, EOC Sindh has requested all parents to cooperate with polio teams and give their children, who are under the age of five, two drops of the polio vaccine every time they are offered.

said a statement issued on Tuesday.

"The present article embodies the rules under which information may be exchanged to the widest possible extent to include taxes other than the income tax. Therefore, to incorporate the latest standard of administrative assistance in the extant convention, Pakistan and Hungary have decided to replace the 'Article on Exchange of Information' with the new version through a 'protocol'," the statement read.

The new article on exchange of information provides that the competent authorities of the contracting states shall exchange such information that

will not be restricted by article 1 & 2 of the convention and no state shall decline to provide information merely for the reason that such information is of no interest to it, or because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution or nominee or a person acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity.

According to the new version of the article, the contracting states shall exchange such information on request as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out provisions of the convention or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of the requesting state.

PM Imran directs provinces to constitute finance commissions CoNtINuED FRoM PAgE 01

05

PESHAWAR

Pakistan, Hungary ink pact to avoid double taxation, fiscal evasion ISLAMABAD

NEWS

ers and contact the concerned governments to ensure their release, he added.

Faraz said the federal cabinet has so far taken 1,759 decisions during its 93 sessions. The relevant authorities started implementation on 1,579 decisions, 28 decisions are delayed and 46 are due to be implemented, he added.

He also said that many projects for health sectors are under consideration for the construction of hospitals under the public-private partnership.

The information minister criticised the opposition, saying that the political parties have neither brought forward any agenda nor an alternative programme. He added that the opposition has been trying to create a situation of uncertainty for the last two weeks.

Faraz said that the opposition leaders are fully aware of their wrongdoings and

they are trying to prevent themselves from accountability.

The opposition leaders should forget to compare themselves with PM Imran as they only want to save their supremos from accountability instead of working for the betterment of the country, he further said.

“Coronavirus pandemic has shaken the economies of developed countries.

The national economy is in a quite better position if it is compared with other countries amid pandemic crisis. The country has recorded an increase in foreign investment, remittance and exports,” he said.

“We have launched a housing project for the construction of low-cost houses for the poor people,” he said. “We are also trying to ensure supplies of sugar on the lowest rates across the country.”

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has expedited work on the construction of seven hydel power projects in the province. According to Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization, these projects are being constructed in Mansehra, Shangla, Swat, Lower Dir, Chitral and Kurram districts. The government has set a target to complete these projects by the end of this year, it added. It will generate more than 400-megawatt electricity, besides bringing thousands of acres of barren land under cultivation.

iHC reserves verdict on petition against Pubg ban ISLAMABAD APP

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking to revoke the suspension of popular online game Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had on July 1 temporarily suspended the game, saying it had received several complaints about the game being “addictive”, a waste of time and its potential negative impact on children’s physical and psychological health. As the hearing resumed on Tuesday, Justice Amir Farooq remarked that the PTA should have consulted psychologists on the issue of potential psychological hazards of the game. He also wondered under which law the game was suspended.

The counsel for PTA claimed that the game was suspended due to some in-game explicit scenes and antiIslam material. On being informed that the suspension was suggested by Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Zulfiqar Hameed, the judge wondered whether the authority will impose a ban on anything on the officer’s suggestion. Hameed had recommended the ban on June 23. In a statement issued following the suspension of the game, PTA had taken the stance that “according to media reports, cases of suicide attributed to the game have also been reported.

President for making institution of ombudsman more effective ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has stressed the need for making the institution of ombudsman more effective by amending the existing laws so as to provide expeditious relief to the common man in resolving their grievances. Addressing the Federal Ombudsmen Conference on Tuesday, the president directed the federal ombudsmen to enhance their outreach to remote areas of the country. The president advised the participants to launch a media campaign aiming to create awareness among people about the role of ombudsmen in providing swift relief to the people. TLTP

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

06 COMMENT

JIT: the talk of the town

The new political setup Imran Khan goes from being a presumed asset to a liability

What are JIT reports really worth?

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he new political setup created in 2018 has landed in a blind alley. It must not have taken long for its critics and those who matter to realize that the PTI leadership lacks competence to manage the affairs of the country. early in his term, there was continuous reiteration by Prime Minister Imran Khan of being on the same page with the establishment, but that has died down in recent months, perhaps owing to how it suggests that the latter is equally responsible for the PTI’s misgovernance. It seems the PTI, owing to sheer underperformance, is increasingly becoming a liability.

The plan that led to the demolition of the PML(N) government was well-prepared. But no need was felt to make a Plan B to deal with the situation in case the PTI government failed to deliver. None had visulised that the current setup would make blunders right out of the chute, showing signs of failure within a year. The powers that be are now in a quandary.

So are the opposition parties. All of them want to see the back of the PM at the earliest. What they lack is the required numerical strength in the National Assembly.

The allies will continue to support the minority government as long as the establishment backs it. The PML(N)’s hardliners would like to wait till Mian Nawaz Sharif is exonerated by the courts and returns to claim his lost office through some sort of triumphant mass movement.

The softliners in the party are trying to win over the establishment to stage a comeback. The PPP talks about a movement but lacking support in Punjab, it has to depend on a united front of the opposition. Presently it is vociferously calling into question the PTI’s claims of honesty.

There has been talk about the PTI government minus Mr Khan. None among the several aspirants in the PTI for the PM’s slot is willing to claim it till Mr Khan resigns, which he is not inclined to do. There has also been talk about general elections under a caretaker national government soon after the pandemic is under control but that is a long way off. While the opposition parties could be made to agree to some reasonable alterations to the 18th amendment they will vehemently oppose any extraconstitutional adventurism. But for now, the current setup will linger on until all concerned have had too much.

Zaeem mumtaZ Bhatti

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he JIT is the talk of the town. Uzair Baloch was a symbol of terror in Lyari, Karachi. he faces serious allegations of committing heinous crimes, including murders. With a view to shattering his terror network and to uprooting such networks before they take root, a JIT was constituted. It comprised seven representatives of the federal government, provincial government, police, and intelligence agencies. Its report could not see the light of the day, however.

Political parties levelled a catena of accusations.

TV anchors zoomed in on this issue. Nevertheless, during the budget session, federal minister Ali Zaidi attacked the PPP fiercely. PPP veteran former federal minister, Naveed Qamar flew into a rage, taking off his coat angrily as if throwing a gauntlet to Zaidi.

Zaidi harped on the issue that according to the JIT report, Uzair Baloch was involved in terrorist activities under PPP auspices. Also, he maintained that Uzair extorted money from people through the Layari gang and illegally dispossessed them of their properties. Zaidi felt he had got the real JIT report, while the Sindh Government quoted an incomplete report, distorted to absolve ex-President Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. however, Zaidi couldn’t tell who had given him the alleged report that came in a “Khaki” envelope. Contrarily, he invited the Supreme Court to clean the dirt he had dug up, to determine which report held good.

A lot of questions crop up. The JIT gained popularity when it was formed by the SC under Article 184(3) to investigate the Panamagate scandal against then M Nawaz Sharif. Since then, a JIT has been considered the be-all and end-all of investigations into every high-profile case. The so-called findings returned by it have been treated as though set in stone.

Before seeking answers to such crucial questions as whether the inception of JIT militates against Constitution and law? Or under what law it is brought into being? Besides, whether it can decide guilt or innocence?, its origin and historical background merit discussion.

Seemingly, the concept of a JIT or Joint Investigation Team was borrowed from laws in force in european Union countries where different eU countries simultaneously probe into crimes committed within territories of two or more countries. In such

Corona receding?

Cutting loose on Eid will be a mistake

V

ARIOUS ministers of the ruling party are claiming that the coronavirus has been successfully reined in owing to its ‘smart lockdown’ strategy and ‘implementation of SOPs’. The number of daily confirmed cases has started to decline but, barring Sindh, this has also been accompanied by a reduction in the number of tests being conducted.

Compared to last month, at least 10,000 less tests are being done daily, which would make the selective data that is being quoted unreliable. This rolling back of testing looks worse when one considers that the National Coordination and Operation Centre (NCOC) has a declared total capacity of over 70,000 tests daily and that the World health Organistaion (WhO) continues to stress the need for continuous aggressive testing and tracking to understand the exact extent and virulence of the virus.

The situation is made even more precarious due to eidul Azha being just around the corner and the government allowing the setting up of around 700 cattle markets on city outskirts that will remain open for 13 hours a day with local administrations tasked with ensuring people entering the markets observe all safety precautions. If eidul Fitr, celebrated fearlessly across the country two months ago, is any indication, SOPs are near impossible to enforce in large crowds, especially the sort that descend upon cattle markets annually. There is also a very real danger that the virus will spread to rural areas as cattle farmers from various villages and remote areas set up shop at the city markets, get infected and return to their homes as carriers of the deadly disease. Once eidul Azha has passed, Muharram will be next, and the same allowances will have to be made for the Shia community as well.

There is a hint of shortsightedness in the government’s approach towards the upcoming religious holiday.

Suggesting that the country has passed the worst of the pandemic and is now in control of the situation despite not even having credible evidence to back this assertion will have encouraged the populace to become relatively carefree come eid. With two weeks to go, there is still time to reconsider some of the decisions that the NCOC has made, as it would go a long way in solidifying any gains that have been made.

Cyber Crime and Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill Cyberlaws are needed badly ChangeZi Sandhu

C

yBeRCRIMe is also known as a computer-oriented crime in which a network or computer is used for illegal activities. Cybercrime has become a wide term in the ongoing technological era where technological innovations have shaken the tectonic plates of every sphere in the world. Committers of cyber-crime use their skills for the purpose of “bringing down websites, stealing data, or committing fraud”.

The Committee on National Security Systems defines the cybercrime as “The ability to protect or defend an enterprise’s use of cyberspace from an attack, conducted via cyberspace, for the purpose of disrupting, disabling, destroying, or maliciously controlling a computing environment/infrastructure; or, destroying the integrity of the data or stealing controlled information.”

Cybercriminals or hackers attempt to steal sensitive information from a computer or electronic device. hackers not only pose threats to individuals’ rights of privacy but also threaten national security by targeting information related to national security plans, nuclear or other military-related installments, defense systems, and others.

Phishing scams, identity theft scams, online harassment, cyberstalking, and invasion of privacy are major threats. The nature of cybercrime attacks fluctuates from one to the next.

That was the old-time when cyber warfare was fiction but it has become an important part of the military in the ongoing era. The highly advanced countries are also working on the cyberspace as an important strategic domain with special reference to land, air, and sea.

At the national or local level, social media platforms are used for the purpose of harassment, stealing information of others, and using electronic ways to violate human rights to privacy and independence. even, hackers used their skills and software to hack websites of the government, organizations, or individuals for the purpose of extracting information and blackmailing. These are the new challenges that are being faced by human beings in the ongoing era.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

was blithely disregarded that this step was antithetical to the law of the land and had the potential to become a subterfuge to cover up illegal acts in times to come. cases, the investigative agencies of these countries This decision shook the foundations of law and conshare their investigation with one another. hence the stitution to the core and played havoc with well-settled jurisprudence. however, to tackle this, a novel inception of JITs. The criminal jurisprudence of Pakistan didn’t rec- argument was built that the Supreme Court can give ognize a JIT until an amendment in 2013 was made to any direction to any department of government under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, by adding sections 11- Article 187. This article give carte blanche to the eee and 11-eeee. Pursuant to this amendment, JIT is Sureme Court to constitute new bodies, not envisaged an abbreviation of Joint Interrogation Team. A careful by the law. If the apex court itself called into question perusal of these provisions makes clear that the federal the legality of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), every government orders to form a JIT for a specified time, law-abiding person is justified in asking whether the not least when the matter is complex in nature and re- SC is clothed with the authority and power to bring into existence any temporary or permanent instituquires deeper probe beyond the capabilities of an SP. tion, not contemplated by the This amendment aims at Constitution and law? carrying out an investigaWhether Article 184(3) is tion, collection of evidence, not subservient to the law? and the interrogation of a A JIT is an anomaly in Whether it is above the Conperson accused of terrorism, stitution? Whether judges under preventive detention Pakistan’s jurisprudence. don’t take oath to abide by for up to 3 months. A JIT the Constitution and law? consists of an SP and offiNeither is the report the last Whether Article 5 does not cers of different civil agenword nor sacrosanct. The cast an inviolable obligation cies. If the Army takes a on every citizen to stand by person into custody, JIT government of the day should the Constitution? If the forshall include the Army offimation of a JIT is violative cers or officers of Army do its own work, but not settle of law and constitution, what agencies.

The Anti-Terrorism Act, scores under the garb of JITs. would be the ultimate fate of the evidence collected by it? as is evident from its very Also, it is high time that media even otherwise, there are title, was passed to nip terfour longstanding principles rorism-related crimes in the trials were stopped of law. Firstly, when the bud. That apart, it incorpofoundation is void, the surates a detailed definition of perstructure built on it would terrorism. except for this come crumbling down too. law, the enacted laws in Secondly, when a thing is not allowed to be done diPakistan are completely silent on JITs. Anyone having a smattering of law does know rectly, it cannot be done indirectly. Thirdly, an investhat a law cannot be invoked unless the underlying tigator cannot take on the mantle of a judge. Fourthly, reasons for making it are not taken into account. It is no accused can be declared innocent or guilty either trite law that neither the letter of the law can be al- by police challan submitted under Section 173 of the tered nor a word can be added or deleted. If the es- Criminal Procedure Code, or by a JIT report. This can tablishment of JIT is to be put to the litmus test of the only be determined by a court of law, and that, too, above amendment, any JIT that falls outside its after the recording of evidence.

A JIT is an anomaly in Pakistan’s jurisprudence. purview would be absolutely illegal and unconstitutional. Unconstitutional because Article 4 mandates Neither is the report the last word nor sacrosanct. The not only protection of the law, but also guarantees in- government of the day should do its own work, but dividuals for the time being in Pakistan and its citi- not settle scores under the garb of JITs. Also, it is high zens to be treated in accordance with law. At the heart time that media trials were stopped. of this article lies the concept of rule of law.

Zaeem Mumtaz Bhatti is a lawyer based in has this immensely significant article been reduced to icing on the cake? When the Supreme Court Lahore. He tweets at @zaeem8825. He can be directed to constitute a JIT against Nawaz Sharif, it contacted at zaeem.bhatti89@gmail.com.

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ism by providing a punishment of “up to seven years imprisonment, Rs10 million fine or both for the glorification of an offense relating to terrorism, any person convicted of a crime relating to terrorism or proscribed individuals or groups. Glorification is explained as “depiction of any form of praise or celebration in a desirable manner”. even, if information related to your identity is used without getting permission, you may apply to the authorities to secure, destroy or prevent transmission of your information.

There are many different types of punishment in Pakistan is also facing cybercrime-related issues. human rights are at the brink of destruction because the bill which are still opposed by the multiple segmillions of attacks have been conducted and at- ments of society. No doubt, the punishments are setempted for many years. Prevention of electronic vere and the bill overreached the powers of law and Crimes Bill (PeCB) 2015 was passed by the National enforcement agencies, but that is the need of the time.

According to Mohsin Jawa Assembly in 2016 for ensurwho is CeO of Wangard Ining the applicability of strict ternational– a leading Inforlaws to counter the erupting mation Technology digital challenges for human However, there is a problem company and dealing with rights. There were severe concerns and apprehensions with the fair implementation of cyber security protocols– there must be fair implemenof the political opposition, the laws or rules. Cybercrimes tation of the laws for rapid the IT industry, civil rights outcomes for the protection organizations, and civil soare increasing day by day, of privacy and human rights. ciety. They all termed the bill as controversial and drawhich threatens the privacy of he further opines that there should not be aby gap beconian and claimed that the individuals and organizations, tween the cybercrime laws bill would curb human and human rights. These rights, and overreach powand human rights. Primary laws ought not to square up ers of agencies. to human rights at all. Mr. The bill offers “more rights such as freedom of Jawa enunciates that the than three years imprisonspeech should not be infringed brand registering and tradement and Rs1 million fine mark recognition process or both for unauthorized acat all under the aegis of such must be fair and quickest in cess to critical infrastructure the country, because it took information system or data”. laws, but issues which are much time to recognize a Provisions which embrand or logo in Pakistan powered the government to being caused by cybercrimes which poses threats to intelcooperate with any a foreign must be tackled such as lectual property right too. government, organization or however, there is a agency, 24x7 network for harassment, stealing individual problem with the fair impleinvestigation or proceedings mentation of the laws or relating to an offense or for information and many more rules. Cybercrimes are incollecting evidence were creasing day by day, which also added in the bill. The threatens the privacy of indibill allows a fine of upto Rs 10 million and up to seven years imprisonment, or viduals and organizations, and human rights. Primary both, for interference with a critical infrastructure in- rights such as freedom of speech should not be infringed at all under the aegis of such laws, but issues formation system or data, with dishonest intention.

Social media channels are used to engage people which are being caused by cybercrimes must be tackin terrorist activities by building an appealing narra- led such as harassment, stealing individual informative by appealing posts and content. People are tar- tion and many more. geted and contacted to join militant or terrorist groups Changezi Sandhu can be reached at that disrupt the law and order situation in the country.

So, the bill also covered the crimes related to terror- Ch.changezi.sandhu111@gmail.com

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Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

War mongering ONe day ago an Indian soldier assaulted (LoC) wantonly, Result was this, that five people got injured including women. Why India don’t want peace, why they want to bunting themselves in bothered. Pakistani southearted soliders didn’t do anything, it’s not mean that they have fear of you, at behest of our prime Minister, we want peace. If Indian government craves to decimate Pakistan, then they are in omission. First of fall they will have elapse from our morts. But if we want to combat that, we have been done already. Bellum is not good for both of us, by doing this our generations will be wrecked. So here I will say to India be in your senses, otherwise you will be in deficit, so don’t be in vagrant, it will embroiled you in gash.

Be firm, it will efficacious for both of us.

Mian HaMid ali Tunio MiroKHan

Frontline heroes

Kashmir Martyrs Day The suffering goes back at least to 1930

malik muhammad aShraf

K

AShMIRIS on both sides of the divide and the Kashmiri diaspora around the world observed Kashmir Martyrs Day on 13 May in commemoration of a gory incident in 1931 on the same day, when 22 Kashmiris were martyred while they were agitating against the injustices perpetrated on them and the arrest of a young man who dared to speak against the oppressive regime. The observance of the day was a stark reminder to the world community that the people of Kashmir were not only suffering at the hands of the Indian rulers after Partition of the Subcontinent but their plight also had roots in the history which needed their immediate intervention to end the inhuman treatment being meted out to them as well as granting them their right of selfdetermination.

The State of Kashmir, with a majority Muslim population, was ruled by the Dogra Dynasty of hindu Rajputs from 1846 to 1947. The Dogras treated their Muslim subjects badly and even interfered in their religious affairs. There was wide-spread discontent and resentment against the oppressive governance which kept simmering underneath.

Perhaps it would be pertinent to narrate a brief background to this agitation for the benefit of the readers to enable them to understand the issue in its true perspective. The agitation occurred as a result of a sequence of incidents. In the first instance, a leading land-holder of Udhampur of Jummu converted to Islam. The hindu registrar (Tehsildar) issued a fresh mutation of his lands, eliminated his name and mutated the same in the name of his brother. The landlord filed a suit that was dismissed with the remarks that unless he re-entered the hindu faith, he was not entitled to any property. This was done in accordance with a decree issued by the Dogra Government on 31 December 1882.

A protest rally was organized against this ban.

The crowd marched to the city’s main Masjid (mosque) where a brief meeting was held condemning the incident. The Muslims felt deeply hurt, politically suppressed and economically strangulated. The interference in their religious matters aroused deep hatred against the rulers and protest meetings became quite frequent. They also brought a complaint in the court of the Additional District Magistrate under section 296 of the Ranbir Penal Code against the

hindu inspector for disturbing a religious assem- the issue would be decided through a reference bly, which was dismissed because the hindu to the people. The situation however became Magistrate held that Khutba (sermon) was not a very precarious, leading to the first war between part of the prayer. yet another incident which Pakistan and India which took the matter to the further infuriated the Muslims was desecration United Nations. After thorough deliberations on of the holy Quran. Reportedly some pages of the issue, the UN Security Council passed a the holy Book were found in the public toilet. It number of resolutions calling for holding the badly hurt the Muslims, prompting them to hold plebiscite under the auspices of the UN to settle the question of accession of the state. a big protest rally.

That unfortunately remains an elusive dream On 13 July 1931, a sizeable Muslim crowd was agitating against arrest of Abdul Qadeer out- so far due to Indian intransigence over granting side the Srinagar Central Jail. According to the right of self-determination to the people of recorded evidence, the police fired 160 rounds Kashmir. The Partition of the Subcontinent into the crowd, killing 17 people on the spot pushed the people of Kashmir into an unending ordeal. They were while another five died forced to pick up arms later in the hospital. A in 1989 to win their hindu writer, Prem freedom. India on its Nath Bazz in his work Regrettably the world and the part has used ruthless Inside Kashmir, pubmilitary might to quell lished in 1941, wrote, UN remain oblivious to the the uprising. Its secu“The driving force berity forces have since hind the mass agitation sufferings of the people of then killed more than till the 13th July was Kashmir. One really wonders 100,000 Kashmiris bethe discontent among sides raping thousands the rank and file of the for how long the people of of women. Kashmir reMuslims. The attack on the jail was in no way Kashmir will have to suffer and mains a venue of oppression and directed against the endure the ongoing ordeal? persecution. hindus, and those who The Modi governlaid down their lives at Indian oppression in Indianment has further agthe jail gate did so the situation fighting against an unOccupied Jammu and Kashmir gravated by ending the special sympathetic governstatus of Indian-Occument… It was a fight of and its defiance of the UNSC pied Jammu and Kashthe tyrannized against resolutions on the subject is mir, its annexation to their tyrants, of the opthe Indian Union in pressed against the opindeed an affront to the sheer violation of the pressors.”

UNSC resolutions and Since 13 July 1931, conscience of the global international law. the people of Kashmir community. How long it can Kashmir is under conobserve youmetinuous lockdown Shuhada-Kashmir afford to be indifferent remains since 5 August 2019 (Kashmir Martyrs Day) every year. The incito be seen. However it is clear and the killing spree continues unabated. dent marked the beginthat the people of Kashmir are India has also adopted ning of the modern-era a belligerent posture Kashmir freedom determined to win their right to towards Pakistan and struggle which has trathe latter rightly feels versed through differself-determination, no matter that Indian disposition ent phases including civilian protests, politihow many more sacrifices they towards her What it has has cal struggle and armed might have to render done in Indian-Occustruggle. pied Jammu and KashUnfortunately, the mir, inebriated by the plight of the people of RSS philosophy of Kashmir did not end with the Partition of the Subcontinent. The hindutva, constitutes a grave threat to the secuprincely states under the Independence Act were rity of the region.

Regrettably the world and the UN remain allowed to accede to any of the two newly created states of India and Pakistan, keeping in oblivious to the sufferings of the people of Kashview the geographical proximity and demo- mir. One really wonders for how long the people graphic realities, or remain independent. Kash- of Kashmir will have to suffer and endure the mir was a fit case for accession to Pakistan due ongoing ordeal? Indian oppression in Indian-Octo geographical proximity, a majority-Muslim cupied Jammu and Kashmir and its defiance of population and cultural, religious and trade links the UNSC resolutions on the subject is indeed an affront to the conscience of the global comwith the areas that formed parts of the latter.

But the ruler of the state, Maharaja hari munity. how long it can afford to be indifferent Singh, announced the accession of the state to remains to be seen. however it is clear that the India. his action could be better understood in people of Kashmir are determined to win their the backdrop of the Dogra rule in Kashmir be- right to self-determination, no matter how many fore Partition rather than the ground realities. more sacrifices they might have to render.

The people of Kashmir revolted against this deMalik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. cision. Lord Mountbatten, while accepting the accession temporarily, unequivocally said that He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

DeSPITe the hardships and wellness endangerments, millions of indispensable frontline workers continue to do their job during the Covid19 pandemic.

They work hard day and night for people who are suffering from grievous covid-19 pandemic, even though they leave their children, instead of that they are still serving the populace.

These hardworking heroes are keeping Pakistanis fed, Picking up their rubbish, supplying them life-saving medicines, delivering their foodstuffs and packages, cooking their food, cleaning their hospitals, protecting for those who are most vulnerable and holding us safe-often while earning low salary and few profits.

They are all doctors, nurses, police, the Army, etc.

I have no words to describe their hard work.

They are all doctors, nurses, police, the Army, etc.

I have no words to describe their hard work.

My red salute to our frontline heroes.

ArSAl KAlhoro MiroKhAn

Killed by current PeOPLe of Pakistan have suffered a lot of problems in a hope that one day, our very own motherland will be governed in such a way that we will touch the skies of success. every government fills hopes of a better tomorrow in the head of public and after getting what they want (VOTeS), they shatter down this Illusion with their performance. A heart wrenching news of a boy being killed by current in korangi Karachi is one of the examples that how much powerless government is in front of these influential mafias. Load shedding in Karachi during these months of the year, where the temperature doesn’t go below 40 degree Celsius, is not less than a torture. People who are bearing this, they will get frustrated and will try to find an alternative by putting their lives in danger and that’s exactly what happened in korangi. Now the question which emerged here is that who to blame? The guy who got his son killed by trying to find alternative way to comfort his family in load shedding or the government who has power to handle this problem very easily but it is too busy in sledging their opposition leaders. A simple logic applies here, the boy got killed by the irresponsible behavior of the government towards public and now it’s time for government to confront those woes, who are responsible for this blood sucking, murderous and cruel load shedding.

MiAn AizAz KArAchi

Our ruling elites IT seems we do not learn anything from history. The ruling elite, be it the politicians or the other side, seem to have never ending lust for power and greed for money, which already led to dismemberment of the country in 1971. however, those in the power circles seem completely oblivious.

While institutions have never learnt to work within their boundary, the politicians keep creating room for them to expand into their domain. every election brings a new government that makes the past one look like angles.

The politicians keep accusing and abusing each other for spreading corruption while overlooking the mess right under their own wings. They make fiery speeches in parliament without any purpose or manner where one can expect improvement. The only purpose seems point scoring. They say what they must utter and leave without hearing the response because they know well what that would be. All they care is about their own interests while the poor citizens who vote for them keep struggling with the consequences of their corruption and incompetence. rAjA ShAfAAtullAh iSlAMAbAd

Hand in hand ThIS phrase is a strength to unity, history has encouraged to walk shoulder to shoulder with sharing wounds, its a best cure to release pressure from brain but the way we are going through situation or pandemic isn’t it good to leave hands and wash them? yes, it’s about corona, I know each one is writing on it but none of them has highlighted those who have been taking it as a joke. From the first case till now these people couldn’t believe it as real they are busy in their own content but the table was turned when this disease surround them, the usually used words to nation from them were “please take it seriously” whilst realising mistakes, cursing fortune and begging for prayers. Do not let it happen to you. There is no such difficulty in washing hands and wearing mask but for them it’s same as to sneeze with open eyes. hand in hand is hazardous where virus has settled down, where there are no follow ups for hygiene, these fellows must behave eventually even though in interior sindh families arranged weddings and on a serious note i myself say them dying in corona not one or two but in double digits.

Families of families went in mouth of death and cleared blood lines. I truly request through this article that if you are walking out then it’s a clear rope of execution on your parent’s throat and that rope is tightened with your feet so please stay home and let government neutralise this country SuhAil SAEEd tunio lArKAnA

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Mary TruMp’s book shows how DonalD TruMp geTs away wiTh iT ‘IF THE SOUL IS LEFT IN DARKNESS, SINS WILL BE COMMITTED. THE GUILTY ONE IS NOT HE WHO COMMITS THE SIN, BUT THE ONE WHO CAUSES THE DARKNESS’

slate

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DahLIa LIThWICk

OO Much and Never Enough, Mary Trump’s devastating indictment of how the Trump family created, as her subtitle characterizes him, “the world’s most dangerous man,” hits bookstores this week. Its publication coincides with—as she predicted—record-shattering COVID-19 cases, a fragile economy, and a half-formed government plan to open schools this fall at any cost. By now you have doubtless ingested the greatest hits of her family gossip: Donald Trump ogled his own niece in a bathing suit and sought to fill one of his books with hit lists of “ugly” women who had rebuffed him; Donald Trump paid someone to take his SATs; Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal appeals court judge, once described her brother as a “clown” with no principles; Donald Trump was a vicious bully even as a child; Freddy Trump—the author’s father—died alone in a hospital while Donald went to a movie. The details are new, and graphic, yes, but very little about it is surprising: The president is a lifelong liar and cheater, propped up by a father who was as relentless in his need for success as Donald Trump was to earn his approval. Check please.

But not quite. What is new and surprising is also that Mary Trump, who has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, has given us a granular portrait of Trump’s profound impairment: She says that her uncle has all nine clinical criteria for narcissism, although she insists that this diagnosis is only the tip of the psychological iceberg— he may also suffer from antisocial personality disorder, sociopathy, and/or dependent personality disorder, along with an undiagnosed learning disability that likely interferes with his ability to process information. I leave it to the mental health experts to determine whether some or all of that is accurate. But what Mary Trump surely adds to the growing canon of the “Trump is unwell” book club is not limited to family gossip or mental health diagnostics: At bottom, Too Much and Never Enough may be the first book that stipulates, in its first pages, that the president is irreparably damaged, and then turns a clinician’s lens on the rest of us, the voters, the enablers, the flatterers, the hangers-on, and the worshippers. It is here that Mary Trump’s book makes perhaps the most enduring contribution to the teetering piles of books that have offered too little too late, even while telling us that which we already knew. Because Mary Trump begins from the assumption that other analysis tends to end with: Donald Trump is lethally dangerous, stunningly incoherent, and pathologically incapable of caring about anyone but himself. So, what Mary Trump wants to know is: What the hell is wrong with everyone around him? As she writes in her prologue, “there’s been very little effort to understand not only why he became what he is but how he’s consistently failed up despite his glaring lack of fitness.”

The book is thus actually styled as an indictment not of Donald Trump but of Trump’s enablers. The epigraph is from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, and it’s emphatically not about Donald John Trump at all: “If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.” Mary Trump blames Fred Trump for Donald Trump’s pathology, although she doesn’t claim that her uncle is a tragic victim of abuse. She blames his family that propped him up (also her family, it should be noted), and then in concentric and expanding circles, the media that failed to scrutinize him, the banks that pre-

THE PROBLEM WITH A FRAUD AS BIG AS THIS PRESIDENT IS THAT ONCE YOU START COLLABORATING WITH HIM, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OUT

tended he was the financial genius he was not, the Republican Party, and the “claque of loyalists” in the White House who continue to lie for him and to him in order to feed his insatiable ego and self-delusion. Even the phrase “too much and never enough” is perhaps deliberately borrowed from the language of addiction, and what Mary Trump describes here is not just her uncle’s addiction to adulation, fame, money, and success, but a nation’s—or some part of a nation’s—unfathomable addiction to him.

The bulk of the book focuses on the tale of Mary and her brother Fritz’s abandonment by the rest of the Trump clan. Her father, Freddy, the scion and namesake, failed to be the storybook heir to her grandfather’s real estate empire, instead collapsing into a tragic black hole of alcoholism, illness, and despair. Donald Trump, Freddy’s younger brother, not only helped push Freddy down but also stepped on his sinking shoulders on his way into the empty, Freddy-shaped space to become his father’s successor. And as Freddy’s parents and three other siblings altered their lives and priorities in order to orbit around Donald, Mary and her brother were eventually written out of the wills, the empire, and the family story, as payback for their father’s perceived weakness and failures. This is all tragic in its own right, but it also makes Mary, who has been let down by the so-called adults in the room almost since her infancy, perfectly positioned to explain and translate what happens to otherwise high-functioning adults—her aunt Maryanne, a competent federal judge; the lawyers and accountants tasked with fulfilling Donald’s whims and hiding his failings; the sycophants and Republicans and evangelical Christians who support his campaign unquestioningly; and the officials who now populate the Senate, the Cabinet, and the Oval Office. All of them

appear to be reasonably mentally sound. Yet they all cover for Donald, at the expense of real suffering and genuine human loss, just as the Trump clan ignored Freddy’s disintegration and death. Mary Trump’s childhood trauma has become America’s trauma, and she really wants to know how that came to be. Again.

The section of the book that has garnered the most attention is likely Mary’s claim that Trump cannot be evaluated for pathologies because he is “in the West Wing, essentially institutionalized” and that he has in fact “been institutionalized for most of his adult life. So there is no way to know how he would thrive, or even survive, on his own in the real world.” We are not used to seeing entities like the White House described in this way—a “very expensive and well-guarded padded cell”—as a means of protection for the broken man inside rather than as a platform from which a leader can change the world. And her ultimate point is that even a shattered psyche, buffered from the real world, can still do irreparable damage to it. But the most interesting assessments she offers are reserved for those inside the “institutions,” the people who might have saved us and certainly have not, from the nuclear family, to the Trump businesses, to New York’s bankers and powerful elites, to Bill Barr, Mike Pompeo, and Jared Kushner. They all knew and know that the emperor has no clothes, even as they devote their last shreds of dignity to effusive praise of his ermine trim and jaunty crown.

Mary Trump seems to answer the question of why they do this in a section late in the book about Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump. In describing Fred’s growing realizing that his fair-haired boy, Donald, was a fraud, Mary explains that, yes, Fred himself was a master at fattening his wallet with taxpayer funds, committing tax

Did Iran suffer a nuclear setback?

AN EXPLOSION HAS CAUSED HEAVY DAMAGE TO AN IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITY JUST AS THE COUNTRY APPROACHES A BOLD NEW ENERGY PARTNERSHIP WITH CHINA, BUT IRAN SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAMME CounCil on Foreign relations Ray Takeyh

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE NATANZ NUCLEAR PLANT EARLIER THIS MONTH? It appears that a huge explosion occurred at the plant, specifically at a warehouse used to construct advanced centrifuges. Iran had hoped to roll out a large number of such machines to boost its uranium enrichment capacity. The U.S. press has speculated that Israel was responsible. In the past few months, there have been various accidents at Iran’s military facilities, including at a missile production factory.

Amid widespread speculation of sabotage, Iranian leaders have not confirmed the cause of the explosion, but they say it will likely lead to delays in developing advanced centrifuges.

In his report to parliament, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization, said “expert groups from various security and intelligence departments have investigated this issue and the Supreme National Security Council has identified the cause of the accident, but the results have not yet been announced because of security concerns.”

HOW DAMAGING IS THIS FOR THE NUCLEAR PROGRAMME? The most recent estimates suggest that the attack will delay by as much as two years Iran’s ability to bring online thousands of ad-

vanced centrifuges that were being assembled. Natanz was the main center for the mass production of various centrifuges, but it was not the only manufacturer of advanced ones. The most advanced model under development, known as IR-8, is being designed at Kalaye Electric Company in Tehran.

Iran is determined to develop a sophisticated nuclear apparatus and advanced centrifuges are the core of such a program.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said the nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes only, but U.S. officials suspect the country is developing a military capability. Despite delays caused by such incidents, the program will continue to move forward, but for now at a diminished pace. Iran is also likely to

fraud to benefit his children. (Mary admits she was the one who leaked the family tax information to the New York Times in 2018 for its blockbuster story.) But as it became clear that Donald had no real business acumen— as his Atlantic City casinos cratered and his father unlawfully poured secret funds into saving them—Mary realized that Fred also depended on the glittery tabloid success at which Donald excelled. Fred continued to prop up his son’s smoke-and-mirrors empire because, as Mary writes, “Fred had become so invested in the fantasy of Donald’s success that he and Donald were inextricably linked. Facing reality would have required acknowledging his own responsibility, which he would never do. He had gone all in, and although any rational person would have folded, Fred was determined to double down.”

Mary Trump’s words there could just as easily be true for John Kelly, Kellyanne Conway, John Bolton, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, or Melania Trump.

And as Mary Trump is quick to observe, the sheer stuckness of his enablers means that Trump never, ever learns his lesson. Being cosseted, lied to, defended, and puffed up means that Donald Trump knows that, “no matter what happens, no matter how much damage he leaves in his wake, he will be OK.” He fails up, in other words, because everyone around him, psychologically normal beings all, ends up so enmeshed with his delusions that they must do anything necessary to protect them.

Trump’s superpower isn’t great vision or great leadership but rather that he is so tiny. Taking him on for transactional purposes may seem like not that big a deal at first, but the moment you put him in your pocket, you become his slave. It is impossible to escape his orbit without having to admit a spectacular failure in moral and strategic judgment, which almost no one can stomach. Donald Trump’s emptiness is simply a mirror of the emptiness of everyone who propped him up. It’s that reflection that becomes unendurable. This pattern, as Mary writes, “guaranteed a cascade of increasingly consequential failures that would ultimately render all of us collateral damage.” Nobody, not even Mary, who signed on briefly to ghostwrite one of his books, ends up just a little bit beholden to Donald Trump and that includes his rapturous supporters who still queue up, maskless, to look upon his greatness. As she concludes, his sociopathy “reminds me that Donald isn’t really the problem at all.” That makes hers something other than the 15th book about the fathoms-deep pathologies of Donald Trump: It is the first real reckoning with all those who “caused the darkness.”

Mary Trump is, among other things, a brisk and gifted writer, and she is a fact witness to, and also a victim of, a family that elevated a mediocre and vicious man, at the expense of justice, fairness, and truth. Her real beef is not with her uncle Donald, who has always been exactly as we have long known him to be; that’s why a smattering of new details about his business failures and meanness were never really the point of this book. We’ve read that book before. The perspective of this book is made possible exactly because Mary Trump was one of the first children to be written out of the will, cast out of the family, and denied the support and love that should have been hers, as a result of her father’s perceived failures. It is this—because she was ousted rather than being forced to remove herself—that allows her to see clearly why everyone else stuck around. And what she reveals is a devastating indictment of all the alleged adults who stick around Donald Trump, who came together to fail America, to leave vulnerable populations to fend for themselves, and who continue to lie and spin to pacify his ego. They do it because they can’t admit the payoff is never coming, and to save themselves from the embarrassment of having to admit they were catastrophically wrong.

take further measures to protect its installations because recent incidents point to serious security gaps.

IRAN HAS BEEN RESUMING NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES SINCE THE UNITED STATES PULLED OUT OF THE NUCLEAR DEAL, KNOWN AS THE JCPOA. IS THAT DEAL EFFECTIVELY DEAD? Since the United States left the JCPOA in May 2018, Iran has breached multiple terms of the agreement. It has enriched uranium beyond the permitted level, refused to ship out its enriched uranium, accelerated research and development of advanced centrifuges, and denied the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to two facilities. Still, the JCPOA is not quite dead.

Thus far, Iran and other members of the JCPOA, including China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom, seem to want to keep the deal alive. They still see it as a basic framework for arms control. They also hope that if former Vice President Joe Biden is elected U.S. president, he will return to the deal as he has pledged and Iran will come back to compliance. Still, reviving the deal would be tough; Iran is adamant it will not renegotiate any aspect of the deal because it says the United States is the offending party for leaving the agreement and then imposing sanctions on Iran. The Donald J. Trump administration left the deal in part, it said, because the deal rewarded Iran for

ongoing aggressive behavior, including support for the Syrian regime and the rebel Houthis in Yemen.

CHINA IS REPORTEDLY POISED TO SIGN ENERGY DEALS WITH IRAN THAT WOULD BRING THE TWO CLOSER ECONOMICALLY. WHAT COULD THIS MEAN? The agreement calls for an extraordinary degree of cooperation between the two countries, according to a leaked version of the eighteen-page draft, known as the Iran-China Twenty-Five-Year Comprehensive Partnership Document. Iran pledges to provide China with crude oil at a mutually agreed upon price, opening the possibility of selling at discounted rates. In addition, China will become a major player in developing Iran’s oil, natural gas, and petrochemical facilities. Beyond petroleum, China will be active in many aspects of Iran’s economy, such as agriculture, banking, infrastructure, and telecommunications. The draft agreement also calls for closer military ties. If finalized, the deal would bind Iran to a foreign power in an unprecedented way.

It is important to note that the draft agreement is still aspirational. But if all this comes to fruition, it will signal that the Iranian government has given up President Hassan Rouhani’s longtime aims to rejuvenate Iran’s economy by relying on Western investments and trade. However, the notion of being tied to a single power for a prolonged period of time does not sit well with many in Iran.

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

BUSINESS 09

TuRKiSh AiRLineS TO MAnAge PAKiSTAn'S FRuiT, vegeTABLe exPORTS AFTeR PiA BAn

CORPORATE CORNER

TURKISH AIRLINES WILL CHARGE A REDUCED FREIGHT FOR EXPORTS TO ENGLAND, GERMANY AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES KARACHI: EFU Life and Soneri Bank Limited have signed a landmark agreement for distributing life insurance products through Soneri Bank’s Digital and Alternative Channels. The agreement was signed by EFU Life Managing Director & Chief Executive Taher G Sachak and Soneri Bank Ltd President & CEO Muhtashim Ashai.

Motorbike, three-wheeler sales drop 23.1pc in FY20

ISLAMABAD

W

GHULAM ABBAS

HILE Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight operations to Europe remain suspended, Turkish Airline has offered its services to transport Pakistani fruit and vegetable exports to other countries. According to fruit and vegetable exporters, the Turkish airlines will charge lower freight charges for transport of Pakistani fruits and vegetables to England, Germany and other western countries and has assured that it will facilitate the promotion of Pakistani fruit and vegetable exports.

Earlier the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) imposed a six month ban on PIA’s flight operations to Europe after reports emerged that around

262 PIA pilots held dubious flying licences.

Among other issues, the ban created problems for export of Pakistani fruits and vegetables. In this regard, the Pakistani Embassy in Istanbul Commercial Counselor Bilal Khan Pasha met with Turkish Airlines Chairman Ilker Ayci who assured that the Turkish Airlines will resume its flight operation in Pakistan and will help in the export of fruits and vegetables to the European Union (EU).

Moreover, a delegation of exporters led by Waheed Ahmed, the head of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) met with Turkish Airlines General Manager (GM) Gurhan Sozen.

According to Waheed Ahmed, PIA had recently reduced freight charges in order to assist exporters to reduce cost of export shipments, however, after the

ISLAMABAD APP

The sales of motorbikes and three-wheelers decreased by 23.11 per cent during FY20 compared to FY19. According to data released by the Pakistan Automobile Manufacturing Association (PAMA), during July 2019 to June 2020, 1,370,005 motorbikes and three-wheelers were sold compared to the sale of 1,781,959 units during July 2018 to June 2019. Sales of Honda motorbikes reduced by 21.62 per cent to 873,902 units in FY20 from 1,114,956 units in FY19, while sales of Suzuki motorbikes decreased by 25.91 per cent to 17,301 units in FY20 from 23,352 units in FY19. Similarly, sales of Yamaha motorbikes decreased by 17.95 per cent to 19,371 units in FY20 from 23,610 units in the previous year. Sales of Ravi motorbikes reduced by a whopping 54.35 per cent to 12,380 units in FY20 from 27,125 units in FY19. Sales of United Auto motorbikes decreased by 18.96 per cent to 295,459 units in FY20 from 364,614 units in the preceding year. Sales of Road Prince motorcycles decreased by 32.4 per cent to 108,990 units in FY20 from 161,231 units in FY19. Meanwhile, sales of Road Prince three-wheelers witnessed a decrease of 16.33 percent to 10,320 units in FY20 from 12,335 units FY19 while sales of Sazgar three-wheelers decreased by 22.53 per cent to 12,274 units in FY20 from 15,845 units in the previous year. Furthermore, sales of Qingqi three-wheelers decreased by 45.5 per cent, to 12.893 units in FY20 from 23,661 units in FY19 whereas sales of United Auto’s threewheelers dropped by 47.72 per cent from to 6,098 units in FY20 from 11,666 units during the previous year.

Business community demands maintenance, development work in Isb markets ISLAMABAD APP

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday urged the government to initiate work on repairing and development of basic infrastructure in Islamabad’s markets in order to bring them at par with international standards and to facilitate the growth of business activities.

In a press statement, ICCI President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed said that no development work has been undertaken in Islamabad’s markets and industrial areas since the last four years, due to which condition of these areas has deteriorated.

He added that the business community has been paying multiple taxes and charges to Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) including property tax, water charges and conservancy charges stressing that these funds should be utilised

for the rehabilitation of infrastructure in markets and industrial areas. He stressed the need for repairing roads, footpaths, street lights, water and sewerage systems and the provision of filtration plants and public toilets. The ICCI president added that the Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz has recently undertaken the ground-breaking of a public toilet in F-10 Markaz, however, all markets and industrial areas in Islamabad urgently repair basic infrastructure repairs.

ICCI Senior Vice President Tahir Abbasi and Vice President Saif ur Rehman said that the lockdown has badly affected business activities in Islamabad. They also urged the MCI to remove all encroachments from Islamabad’s markets adding that such encroachments tarnish the look of markets and create hurdles in business promotion.

They also urged for a reduction in taxes and water charges to provide relief to the business community affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Traders seek revision in Pak-Afghan transit trade agreement PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

The business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has urged the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to rationalise tariffs, revise duties and remove complicated regulations and policies in order to enhance the volume of mutual trade between the two neighbouring countries.

"The Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), which was signed back in 2011, should be reviewed and a fresh agreement should be signed so that the apprehensions and reservations of traders, exporters and importers could be addressed," said Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz while chairing a high-level meeting of traders on Tuesday.

Among other dignitaries, the meeting was attended by Afghan Consul General in Peshawar Najeebullah Ahmadzai, SCCI Senior

BOTH GOVTS URGED TO RATIONALISE TARIFFS, REVISE DUTIES AND REMOVE COMPLICATED REGULATIONS HAMPERING MUTUAL TRADE Vice President Shahid Hussain, Vice President Abdul Jalil Jan, former presidents Faiz Muhammad Faizi, Zahidullah Shinwari, former SVP Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, Ex-vice presidents Shuja Muhammad and Abidullah Yousafzai, Afghan Commercial Attaché Fawad Arash, member Hameed Fazil Khel and Afghan Consulate (Peshawar) first secretary Ghulam Habib. In his address, Maqsood Pervaiz noted that Pakistan and Afghanistan were enjoying cordial relations owing to their common religion, culture and language, but the bilateral trade volume between the neighbouring countries was very low and needed to be enhanced through joint efforts from both sides.

"Islamabad and Kabul should set aside their differences and focus on the enhancement of mutual trade volume by ensuring the provision of facilities to businessmen on both sides

of the border," the SCCI chief stated. He lamented that Pak-Afghan bilateral trade volume had declined from $2.5 billion to less than $1 billion due to complicated regulations, policies, high tariffs and duties, which should be altered at the earliest. Speaking on the occasion, the Afghan diplomat said that his government was taking steps to resolve issues of Pakistan traders, importers and exporters and was willing to facilitate them at every level. He also voiced concerns over the declining mutual trade volume between the two countries.

"Afghanistan wants to promote trade, economic, cultural and religious ties with Pakistan," Ahmadzai remarked, stressing that both the countries need to chalk out a workable mechanism wherein issues of the business community could be resolved on a fast-track basis.

six month ban on PIA, exporters will have to use the services of foreign airlines who might charge higher freight charges.

According to exporters, during the meeting with the Turkish Airlines GM the need for reduction in freight charges and provision of special handling facilities for perishable cargo to facilitate export of Pakistani fruits and vegetables to Europe, UK and Canada was stressed. Exporters further stated that Pakistan’s economy is under immense pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic which can be mitigated by enhancing the country’s exports. They assured that exporters are keen to export fruits and vegetables through the Turkish Airlines on a long term basis.

The Turkish Airlines GM assured the exporters that freight charges will be reduced and that the airline will provide excellent ground handling facilities for export shipments.

He also requested the PFVA to provide details of export volume so that space required for each export shipment can be estimated and planned accordingly.

JS Bank recognised as biggest disburser of loans under the Rozgar scheme BUSINESS DESK When lockdowns were initiated in response to the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases, it was expected that Pakistan would witness heavy job losses throughout the financial year. The State Bank was quick to spring into action with various policies and initiatives including the Rozgar Refinance Scheme which provided subsidized credit at 3pc markup to organizations which committed to no job cuts during April to June. The refinance package has since been extended for another 3 months effective from 30th June 2020 along with a 40pc Risk Sharing Facility on first loss basis from the government. JS, Habib and Bank Al Habib have been at the forefront of all relief measures introduced by the SBP, facilitating and forwarding the benefits of these initiatives to the general public. The State Bank recently acknowledged JS Bank for being the biggest disburser of loans under the Rozgar scheme to employers at various scales.

MOL discovers gas, condensate in Kohat BUSINESS DESK The MOL Group, as the operator of TAL Block in Pakistan, has announced the discovery of a new oil and gas reservoir in district Kohat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to a statement released by the company on Tuesday, "The Mamikhel South-1 exploratory well successfully reached a total depth of 4,939m on 23rd May 2020. Upon testing, the well flowed gas and condensate from Lockhart & Hangu formation at a flow rate of 6,516 BOEPD (16.12mmscfd and 3,240bpd respectively), with flowing well-head pressure of 4,476 PSI at 32/64' choke." MOL has a proven track record of successfully operating in Pakistan's upstream sector for 21 years and holds equity stakes in four blocks in the country. MOL has made 13 oil, gas and condensate discoveries in Pakistan since 2000, discovering over 400 million BOE hydrocarbon reserves. As the operating shareholder, MOL is responsible for 89 million BOEPD gross production (as of Q1 2020) in the TAL block, one of the largest hydrocarbon producing blocks in the country, where MOL has 8.4 per cent share. MOL’s partners in the joint venture consortium include Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Pakistan Oilfields (POL) and Government Holdings Pvt Ltd. (GHPL). MOL Pakistan is the country’s secondlargest producer of LPG, crude oil and condensate. As an operator, it currently addresses around 9pc of the natural gas needs of Pakistan, 25pc of oil and condensate needs and 22pc of LPG requirements. Commenting on the achievement, MOL Group Executive Vice President (Exploration & Production) Dr Berislav Gašosaid, "I am delighted to announce that we have made another discovery in Pakistan. This new discovery has de-risked an exploration play in deeper reservoir in the TAL Block, leading to new upside opportunities.

MARKET DAILY

KSE-100 maintains upward trend with 126-point gain KARACHI ARIBA SHAHID

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rallied for yet another session on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 closing in on the 37,000-mark amid soaring volumes.

“Despite international crude prices facing a down day, the exploration and production scrips, particularly Pakistan Petroleum Ltd and Pakistan Oilfields Ltd, posted decent gains, with PPL witnessing a significant increase in volumes,” said a report issued by AHL Research. “Profit booking was ob-

served throughout the day in the cement sector, which made the index shed some gains towards the end.”

It may be noted that crude oil prices headed south on Tuesday, with WTI crude oil price falling to $39.77 (-0.82pc) and Brent crude oil price sliding to $42.45 (0.61pc). The decline comes on the back of a spike in US Covid-19 cases over the weekend.

MARKET SUMMARY Losing 83.87 points in early trade, the KSE-100 Index touched its intraday low at 36,534.70. The index, however, reversed its

direction thereon, accumulating 317.46 points to record its intraday high at 36,936.03. It finally settled higher by 126.65 points at 36,745.22.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gathered 279.36 points to close at 59,206.04, while the KSE All Share Index added 68.09 points, ending at 26,157.20. Of the total traded shares, 193 advanced and 141 declined. The overall market volumes dipped slightly from 468.88 million shares in the previous session to 466.24 million shares.

Average traded value also declined by 2pc, from $111 million to $109.5 million. K-Elec-

tric Limited (KEL +7.62pc), Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +4.71pc) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF -0.75pc) led the volume chart, exchnaging 39.27 million, 33.54 million and 25.27 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that brought value to the benchmark index included oil & gas exploration (+65.71 points), investment banking (+36.43 points) and fertilizer (+24.04 points). Among the companies, Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL +43.58 points), Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH +31.08 points) and Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +15.58

points) remained the top points contributors.

Adding 1.05pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the automobile assembling sector turned to be the session top gainer, with Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU +2.47pc), Hinopak Motors Limited (HINO +7.50pc) and Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited (AGTL +2.13pc) accumulating decent gains.

Analysts attribute the auto sectors gain to the latest figures announced by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), wherein passenger car sales witnessed a decline of 50.39pc in June 2020 as compared to the same period last year.

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

US reJectS NeArly All chINeSe clAImS IN SoUth chINA SeA WASHINGTON

t

AGENCIES

HE Trump administration escalated its actions against China on Monday by stepping squarely into one of the most sensitive regional issues dividing them and rejecting outright nearly all of Beijing’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea. The administration presented the decision as an attempt to curb China’s increasing assertiveness in the region with a commitment to recognizing international law. But it will almost certainly have the more immediate effect of further infuriating the Chinese, who are already retaliating against numerous U.S. sanctions and other penalties on other matters.

It also comes as President Donald Trump has come under growing fire for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, stepped up criticism of China ahead of the 2020 election and sought to paint his expected Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, as weak on China.

Previously, U.S. policy had been to insist that maritime disputes between China and its smaller neighbors be resolved peacefully through U.N.-backed arbitration. But in a statement released Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. now regards virtually all Chinese maritime claims outside its internationally recognized waters to be illegitimate. The shift does not involve disputes over land fea-

main neutral in territorial disputes, the announcement means the administration is in effect siding with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, all of which oppose Chinese assertions of sovereignty over maritime areas surrounding contested islands, reefs and shoals.

“There are clear cases where (China) is claiming sovereignty over areas that no country can lawfully claim,” the State Department said in a fact sheet that accompanied the statement.

In a statement Monday night from its embassy in Washington, China accused the State Department of “deliberately distorting

tures that are above sea level, which are considered to be “territorial” in nature.

“The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire,” Pompeo said. “America stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law. We stand with the international community in defense of freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose ‘might makes right’ in the South China Sea or the wider region.”

Although the U.S. will continue to re-

the facts and international law.” It added that the U.S. “exaggerates the situation in the region and attempts to sow discord between China and other littoral countries. The accusation is completely unjustified. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to it.”

China also accused the U.S. of interfering in disputes in which it was not directly involved and “throwing its weight around in every sea of the world.”

“We advise the US side to earnestly honor its commitment of not taking sides on the issue of territorial sovereignty, respect regional countries’ efforts for a peaceful and stable South China Sea and stop its attempts to disrupt and sabotage regional peace and stability,” the embassy statement said.

The U.S. announcement came a day after the fourth anniversary of a binding decision by an arbitration panel in favor of the Philippines that rejected China’s maritime claims around the Spratly Islands and neighboring reefs and shoals.

China has refused to recognize that decision, which it has dismissed as a “sham,” and refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings. It has continued to defy the decision with aggressive actions that have brought it into territorial spats with Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in recent years.

However, as a result, the administration says China has no valid maritime claims to the fish- and potentially energy-rich Scarborough Reef, Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal. The U.S. has repeatedly said that areas regarded to be part of the Philippines are covered by a U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty in the event of an attack on them.

In addition to reiterating support for that decision, Pompeo said China cannot legally claim the James Shoal near Malaysia, waters surrounding the Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, the Luconia Shoals near Brunei and Natuna Besar off Indonesia. As such, it says the U.S.

Google announces $10bn ‘digitisation’ fund for India

UK set to ban Huawei from 5G, angering China and pleasing Trump LONDON AGENCIES

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network on Tuesday, angering China but delighting US President Donald Trump by signalling that the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker is no longer welcome in the West.

The United States has pushed Johnson to reverse his January decision to grant Huawei a limited role in 5G, while London has been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception China did not tell the whole truth over the coronavirus.

Now, as Britain prepares to cast off from the European Union, Johnson will risk the ire of the world’s second-largest economy by ordering a purge of Huawei equipment which the US says could be used to spy on the West.

Johnson chaired a meeting of Britain’s National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday morning to discuss Huawei. Media Secretary Oliver Dowden was set to announce the decision to the House of Com-

mons at around 1130 GMT. The immediate excuse for the aboutturn in policy is the impact of new US sanctions on chip technology, which London says affects Huawei’s ability to remain a reliable supplier.

“Obviously the context has changed slightly with some of the sanctions that the US has brought in,” Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News when asked about Huawei.

In what some have compared to the Cold War antagonism with the Soviet Union, the US is worried that 5G dominance is a milestone towards Chinese technological supremacy that could define the geopolitics of the 21st century.

With faster data and increased capacity, 5G will become the nervous system of the future economy — carrying data on everything from global financial flows to critical infrastructure such as energy, defence and transport.

After Australia first recognised the destructive power of 5G if hijacked by a hostile state, the West has become steadily

Jordan king warns that Israel's annexation plans will jeopardise regional peace AMMAN AGENCIES

Jordan’s King Abdullah warned on Monday that any unilateral Israeli moves to annex territory in the occupied West Bank would fuel instability and dim hopes of a final settlement of the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict. The monarch told British lawmakers the only path to a comprehensive and lasting Middle East peace was the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on land captured by Israel in the 1967 war, and with East Jerusalem as its capital. “Any unilateral Israeli measure to annex lands in the West Bank is unacceptable, as it would undermine the prospects of achieving peace and stability in the Middle East,” the monarch was quoted in a palace statement as telling British foreign and defense parliamentary committee members in a virtual meeting. Jordan has led a diplomatic campaign along with most other European countries that opposes Israeli plans that envisage annexing parts of the occupied West Bank as part of a deal being promoted by US President Donald Trump’s administration. King Abdullah, a staunch US ally, has also in recent months warned that Israeli policies along with Trump’s peace plan would lead to conflict and deal a blow to Israeli-Jordanian relations.

will regard any Chinese harassment of fishing vessels or oil exploration in those areas as unlawful.

The announcement came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China over numerous issues, including the coronavirus pandemic, human rights, Chinese policy in Hong Kong and Tibet and trade, that have sent relations plummeting in recent months.

But the practical impact wasn’t immediately clear. The U.S. is not a party of the U.N. Law of the Sea treaty that sets out a mechanism for the resolution of disputes.

Despite that, the State Department noted that China and its neighbors, including the Philippines, are parties to the treaty and should respect the decision.

China has sought to shore up its claim to the sea by building military bases on coral atolls, leading the U.S. to sail its warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions. The United States has no claims itself to the waters but has deployed warships and aircraft for decades to patrol and promote freedom of navigation and overflight in the busy waterway.

Last week, China angrily complained about the U.S. flexing its military muscle in the South China Sea by conducting joint exercises with two U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the strategic waterway. The Navy said the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan, along with their accompanying vessels and aircraft, conducted exercises “designed to maximize air defense capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations.”

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and routinely objects to any action by the U.S. military in the region. Five other governments claim all or part of the sea, through which approximately $5 trillion in goods are shipped every year.

NEW YORK AGENCIES

more worried about Huawei.

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien is meeting representatives of France, the UK, Germany and Italy in Paris this week to discuss security, including 5G. UK Telecoms firms already had to cap Huawei’s role in 5G at 35 per cent by 2023. Reducing it to zero over another two to four years is now being discussed, though going too fast could disrupt services and prove costly.

The West is trying to create a group of rivals to Huawei to build 5G networks.

Other large-scale telecoms equipment suppliers are Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia. Hanging up on Huawei, founded by a former People’s Liberation Army engineer in 1987, marks the end of what former Prime Minister David Cameron cast as a “golden era” in ties, with Britain as Europe’s top destination for Chinese capital.

UN preparing team to visit derelict oil tanker off Yemen NEW YORK TLTP

The United Nations is preparing a team to assess a neglected tanker off Yemen to avoid a possible catastrophic spill of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil, a UN spokesman said on Monday. "The local de facto authorities in Yemen have officially communicated to the UN their approval for

an UN-led technical assessment and repair mission onboard the Safer oil tanker off the coast of Ras Issa," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The "local de facto authorities" refer to the Houthi rebels controlling much of the embattled country's northern area.

"We are working to ensure the technical team can deploy as soon as possible to assess the condition of the

tanker and undertake initial repairs," Dujarric told a virtual briefing.

After the assessment, and feasible light repairs, members of the team are to advise on any remaining measures that would be needed to avoid an oil spill, which would be catastrophic for Yemeni communities, the Red Sea environment, bordering countries and their communities, as well as international maritime traffic, he said.

Indian royal dynasty keep control of one of world's richest temples NEW DELHI AGENCIES

India’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld the right of a former royal dynasty to run the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, one of the world’s richest places of worship, after the state government tried to take it over when the family patriarch died.

When one of the vaults of the towering centuriesold Hindu temple in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala

CMYK

state was opened in 2011, it was found to hold diamonds by the sackful along with tonnes of gold coins and jewelry – a hoard estimated at over $20 billion.

The Kerala High Court had ruled that year, after public interest petitions, that the Travancore family must give up its custodianship of the temple following the death of its head, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last ruling Maharaja of Travancore, in 1991.

But on Monday, the Supreme Court reversed that decision.

US tech giant Google is investing in a $10 billion fund to help accelerate India’s transition to a digital economy in the next five to seven years. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc’s Google, said on Monday that the project will focus on building products that are relevant to India’s needs and empowering businesses for their “digital transformation”. “Our goal is to ensure India not only benefits from the next wave of innovation, but leads it,” Pichai said in a digital keynote at a Google for India event. The company also announced it will invest $1 million to support digital education in India. It said the fund will enable one million teachers in 22,000 schools across the country to use Google services that can facilitate online learning.

UN chief voices concern over ArmeniaAzerbaijan clashes NEW YORK: United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern over reports of deadly clashes along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, said his spokesman. The secretary-general called for an immediate end to the fighting and called on all involved to take immediate steps to deescalate the situation and refrain from provocative rhetoric, Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. In the clashes on Sunday and Monday, four Azerbaijani soldiers were killed and at least two Armenian police officers were wounded, according to the defense authorities of the two countries. TLTP

“We allow the appeal of the royal family of Travancore. Death does not effect Shebaitship (management and maintenance of the deity) of the Travancore Family,” justices U.U. Lalit and Indu Malhotra said in their order.

Several Hindu temples in India have wealth running into billions of dollars as devotees donate gold and other precious objects as gifts to spiritual or religious institutions that run hospitals, schools and colleges. The Supreme Court said a new committee that the royal family will set up to run the temple, some seven stories high and replete with ornate carvings, will have the right to decide what to do with the temple’s wealth, including the contents of another ancient vault yet to be opened.”A large number of devotees had prayed for us. The judgement is their victory,” Gauri Lakshmi Bai, a member of the family, told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

SPORTS 11

ATLANTA

T

AGENCIES

HE PGA Tour will conduct the rest of its season without fans after the circuit’s three playoff events announced on Tuesday that they will be contested without spectators due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

In three separate statements, The Northern Trust in Norton Massachusetts, BMW Championships in Olympia Fields, Illinois and Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia all confirmed the events would be closed to the general public.

The decisions by the three tournaments, which determine the season’s champion, follow similar announcements from the other remaining PGA Tour events on the circuit’s revamped schedule. “These decisions are never easy, and we would like to thank the city of Atlanta and PGA Tour headquarters for their extensive collaboration as we arrived at what was the best decision for all involved,” said Allison Fillmore, executive director of the Tour Championship.

PGA Tour Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer Andy Pazder said in a statement along with the BMW Championship’s decision that: “Our No. 1 priority remains the health and safety of everyone in the communities where we are invited.”

“We would like to thank the State of Massachusetts and PGA Tour headquarters for

PGA TOur TO finish seAsOn wiTh nO sPeCTATOrs Amid COvid-19 their guidance and support as we arrived at what was the best decision for all involved in The Northern Trust,” said tournament executive director Julie Tyson. The PGA Tour’s playoffs are scheduled to begin Aug. 20-23 at TPC Boston for The Northern Trust, followed by the Aug. 27-30 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club and Sept. 4-7 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.

This week’s Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio will mark the sixth consecutive PGA Tour event held without spectators since the circuit swung back into action in mid-June after a three-month Covid-19 hiatus. The tournament, which begins on Thursday, was originally supposed to be the first since the break to have spectators last week the PGA Tour scrapped those plans.

The U.S. Open and Masters, which not managed by the PGA Tour, have not yet announced whether fans will be present at the two majors. This year’s British Open has been cancelled and the PGA Championship will be closed to the general public.

Real two points from La Liga title after surviving Granada scare

MADRID AGENCIES

Leaders Real Madrid moved to within one win of the La Liga title after surviving a scare against Granada.

France defender Ferland Mendy

opened the scoring with a ferocious finish from a tight angle before countryman Karim Benzema doubled the lead.

But Real were forced to endure a nervous second half after Darwin Machis fired through Thibaut Courtois’ legs.

Zinedine Zidane’s side are four points

clear of nearest rivals Barcelona with two games remaining.

Given Real’s superior head-to-head record over Barca, Real require two points from their final two games, at home to fifth-placed Villarreal on Thursday and at relegation-threatened Leganes on Sunday, to win the league.

“We have to be happy and rest up for Thursday,” said Real boss Zidane after his side’s ninth successive win since La Liga resumed in June. “We will be back training on Tuesday and we will be back on the pitch on Thursday. The final minutes were tough. Granada made us defend a lot in the second half.”

Gareth Bale was once again an unused substitute as Real scored twice in six firsthalf minutes before the hosts hit back.

Skipper Sergio Ramos made a crucial clearance off the line to deny Ramon Azeez a dramatic equaliser in the closing stages.

Wales forward Bale, who has been at Real since 2013, has started just 12 La Liga matches this season. He has not played since being substituted in the on 24 June.

Cricket Australia to appoint mental health overseer SYDNEY AGENCIES

In the wake of 40 redundancies at Cricket Australia and more than 150 around the states in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is some logic to the news that the first new job created at the downsized governing body will be devoted entirely to mental health.

CA this week advertised for the role of mental health and wellbeing lead, to report to its head of sports science Alex Kountouris. It is a little less than a year since the AFL appointed its own head of mental health and wellbeing, Kate Hall, and the winter after , and all made very public withdrawals from cricket to deal with their mental health.

While Maxwell, Maddinson and Pucovski were all dealing with issues stemming one way or another from the unrelenting treadmill of constant cricket, its attendant pressures and risks, the more recent Covid-19 crisis has laid bare matters concerned with what happens when that particular schedule and the sporting business in general are brought to a shuddering halt by unforeseen external events. Both instances, though, have underlined the need for more focus on the area, the better to allow CA’s two dedicated sports psychologists, Michael Lloyd for the men’s team and Peter Clarke for the women’s team and pathways, to spend more time with individual cricketers and staff.

Meanwhile the new role is geared at taking a broader approach to the area, whether that be in managing cases between CA, states and W/BBL clubs, updat-

ing the governing body’s approach according to new research, or evolving the remit beyond high performance to the whole of CA. “The new Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead will give a greater focus on mental health at Cricket Australia, giving us an individual resource dedicated to this area,” CA’s high performance chief Drew Ginn told ESPNcricinfo. “The role will also provide broader case management support for CA contracted players.

“It’s a great chance to prioritise mental health. It will provide further reinforcement to our current psychologists working with our teams. To have a dedicated leader in a national role and having them focus on a national strategy, policy, future partnerships, critical case management and support for players and states is a positive step forward for the sport.

“This role is more important than ever, particularly in a world where mental health issues continue to be prevalent, particularly with the demands of elite cricket, Covid and all of the uncertainty. It’s crucial for us

to provide the right support and environment for our players, coaches and staff, and this builds on fantastic work being done by Michael Lloyd and Peter Clarke.”

Required qualifications for the role include post-graduate qualification in psychology/psychiatry, behavioural science, or a related field and clinical practice experience, in addition to senior management and case management expertise.

One of the areas needing to be negotiated will be the varying approaches taken in each state association, where not every department has the same structure or resources regarding mental health or other areas. This has only been exacerbated by the aforementioned staff cuts, where only Cricket New South Wales has so far managed to steer clear of cost-cutting.

At the same time, CA staff are still regaining their composure after the traumas of April, May and June, when 200 staff were stood down that also saw the departure of the chief executive Kevin Roberts amid widespread rancour between CA, the states and the players’ union.

“We are looking for a senior mental health professional who has experience in systems leadership,” the position description states. “You will have expertise in the development and operationalisation of best practice mental health and wellbeing strategies, policy, governance and partnerships. In this role you will also be assisting Australian Cricket health professionals in case management. “Reporting to the Head of Sports Science & Medicine, you will bring your previous success in implementing best in class mental health and wellbeing outcomes.

CMYK

PHF announces to resume hockey activities in August

ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Tuesday announced to resume hockey activities in the country by holding a series of events within next few months.

“International competitive hockey will be back with the start of FIH Pro League between Germany and Belgium in September.

We’ve also received letters from International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Asian Hockey Federation. They also want us to restart our activities”.

“We are trying to start Hockey5s League by the end of August so that doors of our domestic hockey are opened,” Secretary PHF Asif Bajwa said in a video message.

“We are also planning to hold the first round of national tray championship in September-October. Afterward, we’ll hold [another] national championship,” he added.

He said that these events would be held while following standard operating procedures (SOPs). He said he had talked to PHF president Brig (retired) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, national head coach Khawaja Junaid and junior team coach Danish Kaleem and discussed the plans to hold the events.

According to Bajwa the FIH was concen-

trating on Hockey5s, adding that this format would be crucial for hockey’s future in Pakistan. “If we want to revive the national game, then we’ll have to focus on this format in the school hockey and youth hockey as it can play a major role to achieve that target.”

He said the FIH had also announced Hockey5s World Cup in 2023, which might be pushed to 2024 due to coronavirus pandemic.

“But we’ve started our preparations for that event. “The FIH has started coaching for that [Hockey5s] format. And we’ve also involved our coaches in these courses as we want to fully introduce this format in Pakistan.”

Bajwa expressed the hope that like T20 cricket, Hockey5s would provide a lot of entertainment to fans. “This format will give a new direction to hockey,” he reckoned. He said that in order to mitigate players’ financial problems during the prevailing situation, the PHF President had announced to give pandemic allowance to 30 hockey players on the recommendations of hockey coaches.

“Both senior and junior players are included in the list for that allowance. Each player will get 30,000 rupees, and the amount will be directly transferred to their accounts.”

He said although the federation was facing financial hardships, it would keep on working for the welfare of players.

One positive in latest Premier League Covid-19 tests, total now 20 LONDON: The Premier League said on Monday that one person returned a positive result in its latest round of Covid-19 tests conducted on players and staff last week, taking the total number of cases to 20 since testing began in May. The English top flight restarted its season last month after a 100-day hiatus due to the pandemic. “The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday July 6 and Sunday July 12, 2,071 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19. Of these, one has tested positive,” the league said in a statement. The league did not reveal the club or the name of the individual who tested positive. There have been 13 rounds of testing since players returned to contact training in May. AGENCIES

Wednesday, 15 July, 2020

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

4:25

12:38

5:20

5:52

7:24

8:51

PAkIStAN’S ACtIve CovID-19 CASeS oN A DowNwArD trAjeCtory ISLAMABAD

A

TLTP

total of 1,979 new coronavirus cases were reported in the country during the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 253,604, while 50 more patients died of the virus during the aforementioned period taking the death toll to 5,320.

According to the latest statistics issued

by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday, 170,656 patients have so far recovered from coronavirus across the

country. The number of total active Covid19 cases in the country stands at 77,628.

A total of 21,020 corona tests were carried out during the last 24 hours.

The total reported cases include 106,622 in Sindh, 87,492 in Punjab, 30,747 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 11,192 in Balochistan, 14,202 in Islamabad, 1,694 Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 1,655 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

RECOVERIES REACH 65,420 IN SINDH: Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that 1,151 new cases of coronavirus were reported during

the past 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the province to 107,773.

In a statement on the coronavirus situation, CM Murad said that 37 more people succumbed to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 1,863. The chief minister said that 1591 more Covid-19 patients have recovered, taking the number of recovered patients in the province to 65,420. The chief minister said that 40,490 coronavirus patients are undergoing treatment in the province, including 412 at isolation centres and 38,917 at their homes. He maintained that 1,161 Covid-19

patients are admitted at the hospitals and out of these patients, 843 are in critical condition. The chief minister said that 121 patients are on ventilators in the province.

CM Murad said that 9,972 tests were

conducted in Sindh during the past 24 hours and the overall number of tests in the province has reached 593,668. He said that among 1,151 fresh cases in Sindh, 415 were detected in Karachi in the past 24 hours.

Pakistan condemns Armenian attack on Azerbaijan army FO SAYS CONFLICT POSES ‘SERIOUS THREAT’TO REGIONAL PEACE 3 soldiers martyred in Panjgur terror attack RAWALPINDI: Three soldiers were martyred and eight others injured when terrorists opened fire on security forces in Balochistan’s Panjgur district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday. The militants carried out the “fire raid” when a security personnel party was on a routine patrol near Gichak valley in Punjgur’s Kahan area, the statement said. The injured soldiers include an officer.

Five of the injured security personnel are in critical condition and have been evacuated to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Quetta, it added. The incident comes two days after four soldiers were martyred during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in North Waziristan, according to the ISPR. Four terrorists were shot dead by security forces during the operation. STAFF REPORT

India no longer part of Iran’s Chabahar rail project India has been dropped from Iran’s Chabahar rail project over funding delays, according to a report in The Hindu. The two countries had signed an agreement four years ago to construct the 628kilometre railway line along the Iran-Afghanistan border. It was signed between the Indian Railways Construction Ltd, and the Iranian Railways as part of a trilateral project between India, Iran and Afghanistan. It aimed to set up a new trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

India had agreed to provide $1.6 billion for “all services, superstructure work and financing,” according to The Hindu. The line, which will run from Chabahar to Zaranj in Afghanistan, was expected to be completed by March 2022. The investment, however, slowed down over concerns following US sanctions on Iran. Iran has now decided to fund the project itself at a cost of $400 million. Last week, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami inaugurated the track-laying process railway line. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the spokesperson of India’s Congress party, said on Twitter that the development was a “big loss” for India. NEWS DESK

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan condemned on Tuesday Armenia’s recent provocative attack on the Azerbaijan army, saying the unresolved bilateral conflict “pose [a] serious threat to regional peace.”

At least four Azerbaijani soldiers were martyred and three others injured when Armenian forces violated a ceasefire, and targeted positions held by the Azerbaijan army on Sunday. In response to Armenia’s weekend attack, the Azerbaijan army launched counterattacks Monday with cannon shots. The positions of the Armenian army, military radar station, vehicle depot, tanks and armored vehicles were hit, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. More than 20 personnel from the Armenian army were killed in the attack, it added.

Responding to the attack through a statement, the Foreign Office said: “Pakistan strongly condemns the at-

tack by Armenian forces in the Tovuz district of Azerbaijan on July 12, 2020, which resulted in several Azeri casualties. We extend our sincere condolences to the bereaved families, ” Islamabad said the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict poses a serious threat to regional peace and security with far-reaching consequences. “The recent provoca-

tive action is the manifestation of the Armenian attempt to distract the international community and hamper the ongoing negotiation process for peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the statement said.

“Pakistan reaffirms its principled position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and reiterates its support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, is under Armenia’s occupation since 1991.

DEADLY BORDER CLASHES: Deadly border clashes between arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan began last week, as the European Union and regional power broker Moscow urged restraint. Three Azerbaijanis were killed on Sunday and one on Monday, Baku’s defense ministry said, adding that both sides were using artillery, mortars and tanks in the north part of their border.

The Armenian foreign ministry said the artillery fire from Azerbaijan “receded” later on Monday, claiming Yerevan was “fully controlling” the situation. The two former Soviet republics have been locked in a simmering conflict for decades over Azerbaijan’s region of Nagorny Karabakh, which was seized by ethnic-Armenian separatists in a 1990s war that claimed 30,000 lives.

US pushes Taliban to reduce violence as deal enters 'next phase'

WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The United States has said that its landmark deal with the Taliban is entering its second phase, urging militants to stop violence so that the Afghan peace talks can be held.

The two sides signed an agreement in February that saw Washington pledge to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the middle of next year, in return for the insurgents promising to hold negotiations with the Afghan government to end the decades-old war.

Under phase one, the US said it would reduce troops to 8,600 within 135 days, while completely removing forces

from five military bases. On the 135th day, US Special Representative on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated the deal for Washington, tweeted that both sides had reached a “key milestone”. “The US has worked hard to carry out 1st phase of its commitments under the agreement, including to reduce troops & depart five bases,” he said Monday. As the deal entered its “next phase,” Washington’s approach will be based on certain conditions, Khalilzad warned.

“We will press for completion of prisoner releases, reduction of violence […] & start of & progress in intraAfghan negotiations,” he said.

Talks between the Taliban and Kabul hinge on a nearlycompleted prisoner exchange agreed in the deal.

Kabul pledged to free some 5,000 Taliban prisoners in a swap that would see the insurgents release around 1,000 Afghan security force captives. The government has so far released more than 4,000 Taliban inmates, while the insurgents have freed more than 600 Afghan security personnel.

Since the deal was signed, the Taliban have stepped up attacks across much of Afghanistan, killing hundreds.

Khalilzad too condemned the violence, saying “large numbers” of Afghans continued to die without a reason, while acknowledging that no American had been killed since the deal. “Violence has been high, especially in recent days and weeks,” Khalilzad said, condemning a Taliban attack on Monday on a rural office of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency that killed 11 security personnel.

Arif Naqvi unable to contest extradition trial due to US-UK political treaty BUSINESS DESK Abraaj Group Founder Airf Naqvi was not allowed to contest the charges in the indictment against him or submit evidence pertaining to case facts during an extradition hearing on Tuesday at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court, due to a political treaty between the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).

The extradition hearing pertaining to allegations of money-laundering, fraud and racketeering against the Abraaj Group founder was initiated at the request of the US government. According to reports published by local media outlets, if extradited to the US, Naqvi would face a jail term of 291 years on 16 counts levelled against him.

An extradition treaty between the US and the UK signed in 2003, makes accusations under extradition cases, incapable of challenge which limits Arif Naqvi’s defence to legal technicalities around extradition.

Naqvi was arrested by the UK authorities last year, who say there are no allegations of wrongdoing within the

UK against the Pakistani businessmen.

Under the current extradition hearing the UK court is examining whether Naqvi should be sent to US, where charges of wrongdoing have been levelled against him.

According to reports, Naqvi has urged the court to dismiss US’s request of extradition.

Earlier on June 23, Naqvi’s lawyers urged the UK court to refuse his extradition to the US on fraud charges, arguing London was the nexus of the firm’s business and so he should stand trial there. Arif Naqvi is among several people charged by US prosecutors with being part of an international scheme to defraud investors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Naqvi has previously denied the charges through a public relations firm.

Lawyers for Naqvi, currently out on bail in UK, said US authorities intended to rely extensively on the evidence of his co-accused Sev Vettivettipillai, a former managing director of Abraaj, who was based in the United Kingdom. Dubai-based Abraaj was the largest buyout fund in the Middle East and North Africa until it collapsed

in 2018 after investors raised concerns about the management of its $1 billion healthcare fund.

The Pakistani’s lawyers argued the extradition request should be refused as a substantial part of Naqvi’s activity central to the US allegations was based in London, including Abraaj’s investor coverage team, in addition to his family ties to the city.

“If the group had a beating heart it was in Dubai, but its mind and control was wherever Arif was, which was often in London, which is where the main investor coverage operation was,” the defence’s skeleton argument quoted Adnan Siddiqui, Abraaj’s former general counsel, as saying.

If extradited, the document said there were grounds for believing Naqvi might be detained before a US trial.

In New York, he might be held in either the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) or the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC), the defence said, adding conditions would be incompatible with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

CDA asks Pakistan Navy Sailing Club to halt 'illegal construction' ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad administration has issued a notice to the Pakistan Navy Sailing Club to halt its illegal construction. It has reported that the club near the Lake View Park was inaugurated on July 10. The Capital Development Authority, in a notification on July 13, said that the club was told to halt construction on September 17, 2019 and February 24, 2020. “It has once again come to notice that illegal construction has resumed and the club has been made functional,” according to the notification. “This is a sheer violation of the CDA laws and it needs to be halted immediately.” The CDA has instructed the club owners to stop the construction work.

If, however, they fail to comply then the authority has threatened to “take action” over the demolition of the structure at the club’s risk and cost. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan's air safety rating downgraded by US aviation regulators WASHINGTON: In another blow to Pakistan’s travel industry, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded the South Asian country’s air safety rating, following the scandal related to pilot certifications. The decision, disclosed on an FAA spreadsheet dated July 15 that was posted on an agency website and confirmed by an agency official, means the US air safety agency determined Pakistan does not achieve international standards and now has a Category 2 rating. Pakistan last month grounded almost a third of its pilots after discovering they may have falsified their qualifications. The Pakistani embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The new rating means Pakistan airlines could be subject to additional inspections at US airports and could not add additional flights. A company spokesman told Reuters last week the airline was planning to expand the current special flights arrangements to re-initiate a regular schedule from Pakistan to the United States to provide direct flights. On Friday, the US Department of Transportation said it has revoked permission for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to conduct charter flights to the United States. AGENCIES

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 66-C, 1st Floor, 21st Commercial Street, Phase-II (Extension), DHA Karachi and printed at Ibn-e-Hassan Printing Press, Hockey Stadium, Karachi. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk