Epaper – July 27 ISB 2020

Monday, 27 July, 2020 I 5 Dhul-Hijjah, 1441 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 29 I 52 Pages I Islamabad Edition

soPs’ violation Can unflatten CoviD-19 Curve, Mirza warns

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

D

R Zafar Mirza, special assistant to the prime minister on health, on Sunday warned that the prospect of a second wave of coronavirus infection across the country will no longer be a distant theory if the government-devised standard operating procedures (SOPs) were violated on Eidul Azha

and Muharram.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Mirza said that the virus had peaked in the country in mid-June and cases had been declining since then.

He said that the experience of other countries had shown that there could be a spike in cases again. “We saw this in Spain, Iran, the United States and other European countries that there can be a resurgence in cases.”

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

274,026

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

35

1,226

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

237,434 5,840 SINDH:

118,311

PUNJAB:

91,901

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

33,397

11,601

2,023/1,952 14,841

Talking about the danger of the virus spreading during Eid celebrations, Mirza said that the government had “learned from last Eid’s experience” and had started preparations earlier. “During the last few weeks, we discussed SOPs with provinces and adopted a strategy at the national level.”

The SAPM urged people to follow SOPs while visiting cattle markets. “Wear a mask, maintain social distancing and wash your hands frequently,” he instructed, adding that elderly or sick people should not visit the markets.

The appeal comes weeks after an address of Prime Minister Imran Khan wherein he had urged the nation to mark the upcoming Eid with simplicity and take precautionary measures so that the number of cases do not rise again.

He further said that the government had disallowed cattle markets being set up inside the cities. “You will have seen that small cattle markets start popping up in cities around Eid. That will not be allowed this time but cattle markets are allowed to be set up as far outside cities as possible.”

Mirza also urged people to opt for booking sacrificial animals online or for ijtimai qurbani (collective sacrifice). He said that the SOPs based on a 20-point agenda agreed between the government and ulema for Eidul Fitr would be implemented for prayers on this Eid as well.

“Please follow all SOPs. I appeal to you, for God’s sake, take responsibility and celebrate [Eid] in a good way. If we [follow SOPs], not only will be able to maintain the trend of lesser infections but will also be able to get rid of this pandemic,” Mirza said.

Active coronavirus cases decline as recoveries inch towards 240,000 KARACHI STAFF REPORT

There has been a significant improvement in the number of recoveries from Covid-19 in Pakistan with the tally reaching 237,434.

According to the latest statistics issued by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday, 1,226 new coronavirus cases have surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours taking the total figure to 273,112. These include 117,598 in Sindh, 91,901 in Punjab, 33,220 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 11,578 in Balochistan, 2,023 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and 1,952 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

35 deaths were reported during the last 24 hours, while 23,254 tests were carried out during this period.

The number of total active Covid19 cases is 29,857. According to the NCOC, there is no patient on ventilator in AJK and Balochistan.

Out of 1,859 ventilators allocated for Covid-19 patients across the country, 238 are occupied.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday announced that the province witnessed 3,384 recoveries from the infection during the last 24 hours.

The province has witnessed 107,403 recoveries from coronavirus so far, said the chief minister while announcing daily figures of the virus.

He said that the province

FO rejects report on Pakistan, China conducting bio-warfare experiments ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Foreign Office has dismissed a report published in an Australian newspaper on a Chinese lab conducting alleged covert bio-warfare operations in Pakistan, calling it “politically motivated and fake”.

A July 23 report in The Klaxon, citing unnamed “intelligence experts”, claimed Wuhan Institute of Virology has “set up operations in Pakistan as part of a broader offensive against India and Western rivals”. The institute came under heavy scrutiny in April with the US probing whether the virus actually originated in the said lab.

“The secret facility is allegedly making anthrax-like pathogens which could be used in biological warfare,” the report further alleged.

Responding to the allegations, a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said the report “is composed of distortion of facts and fabrications that quote anonymous sources.”

“There is nothing secret about the Bio-Safety Level-3 (BSL3) Laboratory of Pakistan referred to in the report,” said the

recorded 713 fresh cases of Covid-19 during the past 24-hours, bringing the tally of overall infections in the province to 118,311.

The province witnessed 2,151 fatalities from coronavirus so far, including 16 more patients who succumbed to the infection within last 24 hours, CM Murad said.

He said that currently there are 8,634 patients being treated in hospitals with a majority of them, 8137 people, isolated at their homes, while 418 patients are shifted to hospitals and 16 to isolation centres for medical care.

“The province currently has 415 critically ill Covid-19 patients,” the chief minister said with over 60 of them put on ventilators.

Meanwhile, the government of Punjab on Sunday reported 210 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the province’s total number of confirmed infections to 91,901.

According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, three more people died of the disease during the aforementioned period, due to which the death toll in the province rose to 2,116.

Opp should accept success of govt’s Covid19 policy, says Faraz STORY ON PAGE 03

more inside

At least three die of electrocution in Karachi in third monsoon spell STORY ON PAGE 02

Army downs 10th Indian quadcopter in 2020: ISPR STORY ON BACK PAGE

UNGA president-elect postpones Pakistan visit statement. “Pakistan has been sharing information about the facility with the States Parties to the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) in its submission of Confidence Building Measures.”

“The facility is meant for diagnostic and protective system improvement by Research and Development (R&D) on emerging health threats, surveillance and disease outbreak investigation.”

“Pakistan strictly abides by its BTWC obligations and has been one of the most vocal support-

ers for a strong verification mechanism to ensure full compliance by the States Parties to the Convention.”

“The attempt to cast aspersions about the facility is particularly absurd against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the need for better preparedness in the areas of disease surveillance and control and international collaborations in that regard, consistent with Article X of BTWC,” added the statement.

STORY ON BACK PAGE in today’s issue

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Monday, 27 July, 2020

NEWS

At leAst three die of electrocution in KArAchi in third monsoon spell POWER OUTAGES REPORTED ACROSS CITY AS 550 K-ELECTRIC FEEDERS TRIP KARACHI

A

STAFF REPORT

T least three people were electrocuted to death in in Karachi after heavy rainfall lashed several parts of the city on Sunday. The torrential rain has flooded Surjani Town, Clifton, Gadap Town, Garden Town, Federal B Area and Jamshed Road while locals in Gulshan Iqbal, Liaquatabad, North Karachi, Landhi and Buffer Zone are facing electricity load-shedding.

The rain which started Sunday afternoon brought city life to a standstill. Rainwater inundated most parts of the city roads, which is causing problems for the masses.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the rainfall resulted

under the influence of low-pressure area developed in India’s Gujrat.

According to the Met Office, the current spell of monsoon rains is likely to continue over the next 24 hours.

POWER OUTAGES: With heavy downpour, multiple areas of the port city underwent power outages as over 550 K-Electric (KE) feeders tripped.

Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulistan-eJohar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, FB Area, Liaquatabad, PIB Colony, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Korangi and Old City Area were reported to be without power as the rain started.

KE said that it would restore power as soon as it is safe to do so. A spokesperson for the power supplier said that electricity supply of low-lying areas and those with illegal hooks has been suspended.

“We urge government departments to work as quickly as possible to drain the water out of these areas,” the spokesperson said.

According to data provided by the Met Office, the highest rainfall was recorded in Gulistan-e-Johar, at 66 millimetres (mm), while 55 mm was registered at Old Airport and Pehlwan Goth, and 42 mm in Malir. The MET department said that the city could face urban flooding.

Separately, a rain emergency has been declared at the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) on the orders of Provincial Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, a KWSB spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said de-watering pumps have been deployed in low-lying areas and roads with the Board’s complaint centre to register complaints all night.

Punjab to enforce smart lockdown on Eid LAHORE TLTP

pti to move court against appointment of fazl's brother as Karachi central dc ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Sindh chapter’s leader Haleem Adil Sheikh on Sunday hinted at moving Sindh High Court (SHC) against the appointment of Ziaur Rehman, the brother of Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) president Fazlur Rehman, as deputy commissioner of a key Karachi district. The Sindh government had on July 23 posted Rehman, an officer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Management Service (PMS) in BPS-19, as the deputy commissioner of Karachi’s Central district by transferring Farhan Ghani, an ex-PCS officer in the same grade. It remains unclear as to how an official of the KP government managed to bring himself at the disposal of the Sindh government against the service rules.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Sheikh, while rejecting Rehman’s appointment, accused the provincial government of appointing a “fake deputy commissioner”. “Earlier there were officials holding fake/dubious degrees, now fake officials are being appointed against key posts,” he declared. He called for the immediate annulment of the appointment of Fazl’s brother. Rehman’s appointment came to be publicly known last Friday. Both the main opposition parties, PTI and Muttahida Qaumi MovementPakistan (MQM-P), voiced concern over the move since the incumbent had no prior administrative experience in Sindh. STAFF REPORT

pakistan committed to safeguarding saudi Arabia: fm ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to continue mutual consultation on important regional and bilateral issues, including global pandemic. This agreement was reached in a telephonic conversation on Sunday between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud. Qureshi said that Pakistan will continue all possible cooperation in safeguarding territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia. The foreign minister inquired about the health of King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and prayed for speedy recovery of Saudi King after a successful surgery. The foreign minister apprised of the effective measures taken by Pakistan to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, including the smart lockdown policy. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan's smart lockdown strategy has not only reduced the spread of pandemic, but also significantly declined the death rate in the country. The Saudi foreign minister said that the coronavirus situation in Saudi Arabia is also improving. Qureshi strongly condemned the recent missile attacks by the militias on Saudi defense installations and expressed solidarity with the Saudi government and people on behalf of the people and government of Pakistan. The two foreign ministers also discussed the forthcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). TLTP

The Punjab government has decided to enforce smart lockdown on the occasion of Eidul Azha in the light of the federal government’s directives to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Chief Secretary Punjab Jawwad Rafique Malik presided over a meeting to review the arrangements for the enforcement of the smart lockdown and implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in cattle markets on Sunday.

The chief secretary said that the protection of human lives is of utmost importance for the government and all possible steps, including strict implementation of SOPs in cattle markets, would be taken to curb the spread of Covid-19.

He said that the smart lockdown in Lahore and other affected cities of the province has yielded positive results and the number of new coronavirus cases continues to tail off. He also said that shopping activities in the markets before Eidul Azha can cause the spread of the Covid-19, adding that keeping in view

the experience of Eidul Fitr, it has been decided in the larger public interest to enforce smart lockdown on the eve of the upcoming religious festival.

The chief secretary asked all the divisional commissioners to strictly enforce SOPs, including wearing masks and ban on entry of elderly persons and children in the cattle markets. He said

that officials of the health department, local government, and livestock must be deployed in the cattle markets and joint teams of administration, and law enforcement agencies should be formed for carrying out inspections.

He ordered that to ensure social distancing, only a specific number of people should be allowed to enter the cattle mar-

housing initiative to kick-start economy, create jobs: faraz

We’re focusing on building roads in southern Balochistan, says Asim ISLAMABAD TLTP

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that the current focus is on building roads for better connectivity and socioeconomic development in south Balochistan.

In a tweet on Sunday, Asim Saleem Bajwa, who is also special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, said that Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar and Awaran-Bela roads are in focus to transform this region.

Earlier on June 18, Asim Saleem Bajwa announced that the second phase of CPEC would create job opportunities for Pakistani youth. He said that an agreement signing ceremony was held between CPEC Authority and Chinese companies in Taxila. Bajwa elaborated that phase-II of the mega project has been started, which

kets as per the capacity, besides setting up special counters at the entry points for screening. The chief secretary also issued instructions to continue anti-dengue activities and prepare a solid waste management plan during Eid. The meeting decided to empower the deputy commissioners to extend the working hours of cattle markets in the districts as and when required.

The secretary local government informed the meeting that apart from temporary sale points, at present there are 300 cattle markets in the province. He said that the officers of district administration and the local government department are regularly monitoring these cattle markets.

Additional Chief Secretary Home Momin Agha, IG Police Shoaib Dastgir, Secretary Primary Health Capt (r) Muhammad Usman, Commissioner Lahore Division Danish Afzal and DIG Operations Lahore Ashfaq Ahmad Khan attended the meeting whereas Secretary Local Government Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi, all divisional commissioners and RPOs participated through video-link.

will provide further investment opportunities to foreign investors in Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Sunday said that for the first time in the history of the country, a massive construction initiative, Naya Pakistan Housing Project, has been unleashed by the government to enable affordable housing and facilitate construction industry through different incentives. In a tweet, he said that this initiative will also kickstart the economy and create jobs. Earlier, Faraz said that the new housing policy is one of such initiatives aimed at helping the poor people build their own houses. He urged the resourceful people to take full advantage of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s policy as they would not be asked about their source of investment in the construction sector till December. TLTP

Federal capital witnesses a surge in child abuse cases ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The number of reported child abuse cases has increased to 55 in the federal capital during the last 1.5 years, from January 1, 2019, to June 7, 2020.

According to documents available with this scribe, out of these 55 cases, 40 were boys and 15 were girls.

Of the 55 children, three were aged between one to five years old, whereas the other 52 were aged between six to 17 years old.

Police have nominated 73 people for these 55 cases and have also arrested 71 accused people. These accused people were sent to judicial custody, according to documents. Challans were sent against them to the court of

competent jurisdiction where they are now facing trial.

According to documents, Islamabad police have taken steps to sensitise violence against children, particularly on child abuse.

Islamabad police have formulated standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the education of police officers while dealing with the victim (child) of such issues.

In addition to this, a model desk at a women police station has been established with the help of NGOs and volunteers in a productive manner. Capacity building programmes for police officers have also been established, in addition to the awareness campaign launched in social, print and electronic media.

The SHO has been directed to register the First

Information Report (FIR) of such cases upon receipt of any complaint without any delay and if necessary, the victim of violence may be sent to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, with necessary counsel/advice provided to the victim/complainant.

A SIT has been constituted under the supervision of SP to investigate the cases of child abuse/abduction.

A police official also reported that the administration is arranging refresher courses for police officials, on the direction of Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP), with the purpose to improve the investigation skills. The police are also giving awareness to parents of affected children.

The IGP has said that he will not tolerate any negligence in child abuse/child kidnapping cases.

Monday, 27 July, 2020

NEWS

GovT FInAlIses DrAFT ACCounTAbIlITy bIll To ProvIDe relIeF To PolITICIAns, bureAuCrATs ISLAMABAD

T

MIAN ABRAR

HE federal government is about to table another bill in the National Assembly (NA) to amend the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, aimed at providing relief to politicians, bureaucrats and federal and provincial public office holders, federal or provincial taxation, levies or imposts in discharge of their duties.

The bill is a result of long and hectic consultations between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the top bureaucrats who demanded to reform the accountability law to enable them undertake projects with our fear from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). NAB has been under strong criticism from the opposition as well treasury benches for arresting politicians, bureaucrats and private consultants and often its legal team fails to prove its references in the courts. The opposition may support the bill whose top leaders have been rounded up by NAB have long been asking the federal government to reform the accountability law to make the accountability process transparent and fair. The bill would also provide relief to the

bureaucrats and businessmen who have also were not ready to undertake mega projects and investments due to fear of NAB. The draft bill, National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2020, seeks to transfer all inquiries and investigations into matters pertaining to federal and provincial taxation, levies or imposts to the respective authorities or departments which administer the relevant laws of taxation, levies or imposts in question.

“This Ordinance extends to the whole of Pakistan and shall apply to all persons, including those persons who are or have been in the service of Pakistan. except in respect of persons and transactions specified in sub-section (2),” reads the bill, a copy of which is exclusively available with Pakistan Today. According to the draft bill, the trials of federal or provincial taxation, levies or imposts would also be transferred from the relevant accountability courts to the criminal courts which deal with offences under the respective laws pertaining to taxation, levies or imposts in question.

The bill says that the bill would also apply on any person or entity, or transaction in relation thereto, who or which are not directly or indirectly connected with a holder of public office, except offences falling under clauses (ix), (x) and (xi) of sub-section (a) of section 9 of the NAO, 1999. “With re-

gard to procedural lapses in any government project or scheme, no action under this Ordinance shall be taken against any holder of public office, unless it is shown that the holder of public office, his dependents or benamidars have benefitted by gaining any material benefit, and there is evidence to corroborate the acquiring of such benefit,” reads the bill. The bill also brings relief to the bureaucrats dealing with major projects and schemes. “With regard to any matter pertaining to the rendition of any advice, opinion or report, no action under this Ordinance shall be taken against any holder of public office, unless it is shown that the holder of public office, his dependents or benamidars have gained any material benefit, and there is evidence to corroborate such benefit,” reads the draft bill.

“Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance or any other law for the time being in force, the valuation of immovable properties, for the purposes of assessing as to whether a holder of public office has assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, shall be reckoned either according to the applicable rate prescribed by the District Collector or the Federal Board of Revenue, whichever is higher. No evidence contrary to the latter shall be admissible,” the draft bill states.

shujaat says allegations against them are over 20 years old

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Sunday revealed that more than 500 illegal cattle markets across the country have been shut down over the last few days. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which Umar chairs, had on July 14 decided to increase the number of cattle markets across the country but shrink their size and implement strict standing operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of Covid19 during Eidul Azha. Some 700 cattle markets established on the outskirts of cities across the country were allowed to remain open from 6 am to 7 pm. No cattle market was allowed inside any city. In a tweet on Sunday, Umar said: “A few days ago, the chief secretaries were instructed to take action against illegal cattle markets in a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Law enforcement agencies are doing this [shutting down illegal cattle markets] for our protection.” He also appealed to the people to cooperate with the authorities.

NEWS DESK Today marks the 72nd martyrdom anniversary of Captain Raja Muhammad Sarwar, the first person honored with Nishan-e-Haider for his exceptional acts of gallantry during the war between India and Pakistan.

Muhammad Sarwar was born on November 10, 1910 in Rawalpindi district, Punjab, in British India. He served the military from 1929 to 1948 and was martyred during service in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir in India. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar, in a tweet, memorialized Captain Sarwar's service: "Nation venerates supreme sacrifice of Capt Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed, NH, Kashmir War 1948. His insurmountable courage and unwavering loyalty will forever be an epitome of valiance. Every bullet he took for country, for Kashmir, strengthens our resolve to defend Pakistan at all cost.

PESHAWAR

INP

over 500 illegal cattle markets shut down across country, says umar

nation remembers Captain muhammad sarwar on his 72nd martyrdom anniversary

KP decides to celebrate eid with simplicity

LAHORE Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Sunday said that accusations levelled against them were 20 years old and they had vanished a number of times. Talking to media in Lahore on Sunday, he said that the accusers are just trying to “sell old wine in a new bottle”. “I do not want to comment on a case which is subjudice,” Chaudhary Shujaat said, adding that Pervaiz Elahi’s son and his family member, MNA Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, had explained their position regarding the allegations levelled by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The PML-Q president went on to say that such allegations are printed in media without evidence which is aimed at defaming politicians by slandering them. “The accusers just wanted to prove that they treat all the parties, whether they are guilty or not, equally,” he said.

03

TLTP

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to celebrate the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha with simplicity in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation. In a statement issued on Sunday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan urged all elected public representatives to celebrate Eid with simplicity at their residences and also play their role in convincing the general public to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in letter and spirit during Eid. He said the tourism spots will remain closed as usual for all kinds of tourist activities.

ISLAMABAD: A beautiful view of Constitution Avenue in the federal capital with Margalla Hills in the background. ONLINE

Opp should accept success of govt’s Covid-19 policy, says Faraz FARAZ SAYS OTHER COUNTRIES EYEING TO ADOPT PAKISTAN’S MODEL AGAINST THE OUTBREAK ISLAMABAD TLTP

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has said that those who criticized Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Covid-19 policy should at least praise him after the policy has succeeded in establishing a balance between the public health and national economy.

“Even at that time, the elite in the country tried to do politics over the issue and called for complete lockdown without keeping in view the situation faced by the poor segments of the society,” he said while taking a jibe at the opposition parties during a press conference on Sunday. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Pakistan Tania Aidrus, and Focal person to the PM on Covid19 Dr. Faisal Sultan were also present on the occasion.

Faraz said that PM Imran was not deterred despite criticism and

reiterated his calls for a balance between the anti-coronavirus measures and economic activities.

“There are countries now who are eyeing to follow Pakistan’s model to cope with the Covid-19 situation,” he said and asked the opposition leaders to be ashamed over politicizing the matter rather than praising the premier’s efforts.

He said that PM Imran launched the Ehsaas Programme to provide relief to the masses during the pandemic and 13.1 million people availed the facility.

Talking about other efforts to tackle virus outbreak in the country, he said that they did not even have details of beds in the country at the beginning and have since established the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to improve coordination with the provinces.

The information minister said that Allah helped them in tackling Covid-19, followed by praise-worthy inputs from doctors, police, para-

medics, and other frontline workers.

“It is due to our consistent policies and by the grace of Allah that we are able to achieve these successes,” he said and further lauded the untiring efforts of Dr. Faisal from Shaukat Khanum Hospital and SAPM Tania.

Faraz said the Covid-19 situation was far more threatening than a war-like situation and if it was not tackled properly, it could have led to a civil war-like situation. “Food shortage is a far more dangerous situation than war,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, SAPM Tania stated that the federal and provincial governments and armed forces took collective decisions and introduced a targeted trace, testing, and quarantine strategy.

She said one-third of Covid-19 tests are being conducted under this strategy. She said that the objective of the smart lockdown policy was to control the epidemic while keeping the economy intact. She further said that a complete lockdown could have a detrimental effect on the public as well as the economy. She noted how the number of cases was declining daily.

Focal person to PM on Covid-19 Dr. Faisal said that all provinces and other federating units are on one page to combat this global pandemic, and played a commendable role in this regard.

balochistan allocates rs4bn for rural development QUETTA TLTP

The government of Balochistan has allocated Rs4 billion in the current fiscal year for development of rural areas of the province. According to documents, 74 development schemes of local government are near to completion at a cost of Rs2 billion. Similarly, a new public park would be set up at Spinkarez area in the outskirts of Quetta city at a cost of Rs100 million. In an effort to boost tourism in Balochistan, the provincial government has announced the development of seven tourist destinations. Taking to Twitter, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan has said that there were vast opportunities for investment and tourism in coastal areas of the province. He said the government is paying special attention to the development and progress of the coastal belt. He said that the Balochistan government has allocated Rs150 million for the development of the coastal areas. The chief minister maintained that Rs1 billion have been allocated for promotion of tourism in the province. A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a second meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) and reviewed uplift projects in the Balochistan province. The meeting had been attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, federal ministers including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Hammad Azhar, Ali Zaidi, Adviser to PM on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal and others. The agenda for the national development including road infrastructure, better utilization of water resources, agriculture, energy and establishment of border markets in the Balochistan province had come under discussion during the NDC meeting.

04

Monday, 27 July, 2020

NEWS

PTI has sunk The economy In Two years: wahab KARACHI

b

TLTP

ARRISTeR Murtaza Wahab, the spokesperson of the Sindh government and adviser for law, environment & coastal development, on Sunday said that “incompetent” rulers have sunk the country's economy in a short span of two years, be-

sides setting a record for external debt.

He said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has plunged the country into crisis in two years.

He also said that the federal government of PTI has not introduced a single plan for the welfare of the people in the last two years, while not a single electoral promise has been fulfilled.

He added that the prices of food

items are skyrocketing due to inefficient policies in the country by making flour, sugar and electricity and gas out of reach of the people.

The Sindh government spokesperson said that Imran Khan imposed foreign nationals on the country which is a great example of U-turn.

He said that there is a long list of dark deeds of the present “incompetent” rulers

on which many books can be written. He further said that the country would face more crises if the current incompetent government, which used accountability institutions only for opposition leaders, continues to rule.

Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Local Government and Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that due to incompetence and instability of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, inflation has skyrocketed.

He said that rates of dollar, gold and petrol determine the course of any economy.

He said that former president Asif Ali Zardari gave the nation a revolutionary pro-poor gift like the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to eradicate poverty, which was changed by the present government to further break the back of the poor.

Three injured in Lahore knife attack LAHORE INP

Three people were injured after attacked with knives in the provincial capital on Sunday, the police said. The incident took place in Harbanspura area of Lahore where culprits attack opponents with knives after exchange of hot words over a petty dispute. Three people identified as Irfan, Rehan and Aamir were injured in the attack. The culprits fled the scene after committing the crime and the injured were shifted to hospital for treatment. The police after registering a case against the attackers started raids for their arrest.

Buzdar pledges relief to masses through uplift projects across province LAHORE APP

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that work on various mega projects was underway to provide relief to citizens of Lahore and the Punjab province at large.

In a statement issued on Sunday, he said that the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government had started projects which would provide them relief in a real sense.

He said that the government did not believe in verbosity or exhibitory projects.

Buzdar said that the government would construct a state-of-the-art hospital near the Punjab University and added that the latest treatment facilities would be provided to Lahoris there.

He said that a 600-bed state-ofthe-art mother and child healthcare centre was near completion at

Ganga Ram Hospital. He said that the government would complete Firdous Market underpass project in a record period of time to reduce load of traffic in that area.

He said that in order to conserve rainwater, an underground water storage reservoir was being constructed in Lahore. He said that the stored rainwater could be utilised for irrigation and other purposes.

The CM highlighted that water drainage problems would be resolved with the construction of a drain from Haji Camp to River Ravi.

He said that he himself was monitoring progress on the ongoing development projects in various cities including Lahore.

He regretted that development in the past was done on papers only and added that the PTI government, on the contrary, believed in undertaking practical steps.

He said that now development was also seen on the ground and

vowed that the PTI government was pursuing its vision to ensure progress of people.

The CM said that development projects had been initiated in the backward areas and in the big cities at the same time after ascertaining the public needs.

He stressed that backward districts of south Punjab were being given equal importance in the journey of progress.

He said that the Punjab government had started work on various special economic zones in the last two years. He added that the provincial government was going to initiate work on special economic zone in Bahawalpur.

Buzdar said that a mother and child cardiology hospital and general hospital was being constructed in south Punjab as well. The CM pledged that no city, area or village of Punjab would remain deprived of the fruits of progress.

KP ensuring flour price at Rs860 per 20kg bag, says CM’s aide PESHAWAR TLTP

For the first time in the history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), wheat quota has been released in July to flour mills at discounted rates to ensure supply of flour to the people at Rs860 per 20kg bag.

This was said by Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Information and Local Government, Kamran Khan Bangash in a statement on Sunday.

He said that on the special direc-

tive of Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, the supply of 2,000 tonnes of wheat to the flour mills of the province has been started regularly.

He said that the process of supplying cheap flour has also been started to provide relief to the people. A 20-kg bag of flour has been provided at Rs860, he added.

Bangash said that 12,428 bags of flour have been distributed in Peshawar at the official rate of Rs860.

He said that there is a quota of 2,000 metric tonnes of wheat for the entire province for which release orders

have been issued and for this purpose all the district food controllers have compiled lists of dealers.

He said that the government is not only monitoring the price of flour and supply of wheat but regular action is also being taken in this regard. “We will ensure the supply of flour to the people at affordable rates,” Kamran Bangash added.

He said that the government officials are in touch with PASSCO to ensure timely and quality supply of wheat in the province and to make more purchases.

Regional peace can’t be attained without resolving Kashmir dispute, says AJK PM ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider khan has said that unresolved Kashmir dispute is a potential threat for peace in South Asia and made it clear that permanent and durable peace could not be established between Pakistan and India unless and until Kashmir issue is resolved in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiri people in the line with the United Nations (UN) resolutions.

In an interview on Sunday, he urged the international community to exert pressure over India to immediately stop the flagrant human rights violations and systematic killings of Kashmiri people at the hands of oppressive Indian forces.

The premier said that the Kashmir issue has become in the sharp focus of the world attention due to unprecedented sacrifices offered by the Kashmiri people for the liberation of their mother land. It is now the collective responsibility of the international community to come forward and play their practical role in resolving the lingering Kashmir dispute, he added.

He said that implementation of UN resolutions on Kashmir is the only way to settle the Kashmir dispute for establishing permanent and lasting peace in the region. He underscored the need for immediately stopping

killings of Kashmiri's and human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and to explore the avenues through diplomatic means for the settlement of Kashmir dispute.

He said that occupied Kashmir is under complete siege and lock down for the last eleven months and even communication system is not operating in held territory while 800,000 Indian troops have been engaged to crush the indigenous struggle of the Kashmiri people. Indian government has been using all illegal and immoral tactics to change the demography of the state for this purpose 27,000 illegal state subjects have been issued to non-state residents, he added.

Turning to the observance of Black Day on August 5, he said that Kashmiris will again demonstrate their firm determination on this day that whole Kashmiri nation is united against the Indian repressions and will continue their struggle till the complete liberation of occupied Kashmir.

He said that the Senate chairman has informed that the special session of the Senate will be held in Muzaffarabad on August 5 to express complete solidarity with the people occupied Kashmir. This session, he added, will be a milestone in context of current situation obtaining in occupied Kashmir.

He urged upon the Indian government to allow the foreign journalists and human rights activists to visit occupied Kashmir to monitor the grave situation prevailing over there.

Monday, 27 July, 2020

NEWS

The women of RAwALpinDi rivals, but with her when he beat her up along with his wife. The video of the beating went viral. Who made the video? Arsalan’s sister, and the beaten woman’s daughter. Do I sense some illconcealed hostility towards the sister-inlaw? I suspect that the mother blames her daughter-in-law for instigating her son, who of course she remembers as an ideal son before the marriage.

It’s not as if that was the only violence against women in Rawalpindi. Remember the couple who killed their maid over a couple of escaped parrots?

Or the judge’s wife who beat up her maid routinely, until she got her husband dismissed.

That’s another aspect of life that needs social distancing. Was it maintained during the massacre? And the question arises, when the killers are arrested (and let us not forget that the main accused is absconding in an earlier murder case), they will probably shout the loudest that social distancing in ignored in jails. So not only are they killers, but they could be coronavirus carriers.

Well, it seems they didn’t allow social distancing from having their fun.

That is what seems to be happening in the USA. They’re closing down bars over there almost as soon as they open them because it seems that the combination of loud music and overcrowding forces people to shout, getting infected, not to mention having to jostle for

City Notes M A NiAzi

w

HAT’s it with Rawalpindi?

There was a massacre there of nine people in Mial in the Chontra police area, including five women and three girls, something which had been done apparently to revenge the murder of Zahida Bibi, whose husband Rab Nawaz was already a proclaimed offender in a murder.

Apparently a particularly gory episode in one of those stories of Punjab which have given rise to the theory that the Punjabi peasant wasted huge sums to the point of getting heavily indebted to the Hindu sahukar of lengthy court cases and extravagant weddings.

It was not as if that was the only example of violence against women in Rawalpindi. An important barrier had been crossed in the massacre: it seemed directed against the women of the rival party, in revenge for the attack on the wife of one of the principals. Women are normally spared, their role being to bear male children who would carry on the enmity when they grew up, and when the husband too had been murdered.

However, the mother of Arsalan Qureshi of that benighted city found that her son was not busy feuding with old

drinks. It seems again that the coronavirus is a spoilsport, stopping young people from having a good time, which seems to mean getting into an alcoholbefuddled daze.

Oh, and let’s not forget throwing up.

Look, even US President Donald Trump is telling kids not to go to bars any more. Look, Trump is 73, he’s against anything young people do.

When before was he in favour of social distancing? When he held that rally in Oklahoma? He only wore a mask once, even though everyone says it should be worn. But he’s against the young people having fun. Don’t go to bars.

Imran Khan is one of those young people, though he met his first wife in his mother-in-law’s nightclub, where, he says, he had gone to preach Islam. He’s only 67, which is much younger than Trump at 77, and Joe Biden, who is 77.

Trump has risked the youth vote because he’s not facing someone like Imran who will run away with the youth vote.

Iran has got the concern of chairing the National Finance Commission, now that Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has been excluded because he’s just an adviser, not a minister. And the PTI was apparently not ready to find a seat in the Senate, which it could have done from either KP or Punjab. Or was it difficult to ask a sitting Senator to resign? Especially in KP, where vast sums are still paid even to PTI MPAs. And those who object to Imran

being NFC Chairman should remember that Winston Churchill was the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer five years, even though he had objected in childhood to how figures added up to the same total every time and had been offered the Exchequer in the hope he would refuse. He was Chancellor when the Great Depression began, but it wasn’t his fault, just as the current depression isn’t Imran’s.

The NFC has also seen Javed Jabbar replaced as the unofficial member for Baluchistan by Dr Qaiser Bengali.

Somehow, I’ve got a bad feeling about a Commission where Baluchistan is represented by someone named Bengali. But with so many SAPMs with dual nationality or US permanent residency, Baluchistan seems not to have strayed too far.

One person who didn’t have any objections to adviser-status was Shehzad Akbar, the SAPM on Accountability.

That means the Interior Ministry both has a minister and an Adviser. To make way for Shahzad, there being a limit on advisers, The Adviser on Climate Change was downgraded to SAPM, with minister-of-state rank. There’s already a minister of state there. So Imran now has two Interior Ministers, but no minister of state, while at Climate Change, there are two ministers of state, but no minister. That’s the sort of magic he’s been using to run the country, and the sort of magic he’ll bring to the NFC.

Minister encroached govt land, CDA tells IHC NEWS dESK The Capital Development Authority (CDA) confirmed in a report submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), that senior minister in Punjab Aleem Khan encroached on government land to connect his Park View Housing Society to Kuri Road.

The report was filed on Saturday, which was earlier scheduled to be filed in December, after the IHC criticised the inordinate delay. In response to IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah’s directions, the CDA submitted the report.

The housing developer had claimed that they built a road on land that was allocated for this purpose, but the CDA’s report revealed that to be false, and also highlighted two senior bureau-

crats who worked as CDA chairmen in the recent past.

The report said, “The developer was not in ownership of the gap between CDA land and project land.” Regarding the housing society’s claim that the road was already proposed by the CDA in its concept plan, the authority said that “this was only a concept plan for Kurri and not an approved layout of Kurri project. The authority’s report also said that the developer built a road on land not meant for this purpose, on the basis of which it received an NOC. The authority admitted to its mistake in allowing Mr Khan to build the road in May 2018. “This decision of the CDA board of May 09, 2018, allowed the developer to fulfil the requirements of the conditions of no objection certificate

(NOC).” There was no access road between Khan’s development and the main road, which is a requirement for an NOC. However, the CDA allowed the road to be built, thereby enabling it to qualify for the NOC. The report added, “Had CDA not granted access through its land and taken up a concept plan road as an actual road, the condition could not have been fulfilled.” An NOC was later issued on the basis of the provision of this access road.

Towards the end of 2018, the land on which the road was built was transferred to the CDA, the report said.

In an earlier hearing in this matter in November 2019, the IHC had asked the CDA to justify the permission granted to the housing society to utilise the acquired land and to “satisfy this court that it is not

a case which ought to be referred to [the National Accountability Bureau] to be dealt with under National Accountability Ordinance 1999.”

Park View City was being developed in an inaccessible area, and according to CDA records permission to use the land was given to the society in June 2018 when Usman Akhtar Bajwa was CDA chairman. Furthermore, during the tenure of CDA chairman Afzal Lateef, permission to use the access road was also provided. The matter was pursued by the CDA planning wing, then headed by member planning Asad Mehboob Kayani, who has since retired. No one from CDA was in attendance during this latest hearing.

Further hearing in this case has been adjourned until Aug 3.

05

20-year-old maid tortured, kept into captivity in Lahore LAHORE: A 20-year-old housemaid was tortured and kept into illegal captivity for two days by house owners in Lahore over accusation of stealing a mobile phone.

Relatives of the maid alleged on Sunday that the house owners tortured her and filmed their cruel actions by calling it an interrogation. They also sent the ‘interrogation’ video to the relatives of the housemaid, besides keeping the 20-year-old girl in detention inside their home for two days. Later, they handed over the housemaid to Kot Lakhpat police on Saturday evening.

The relatives also complained about the presence of the girl in Kot Lakhpat instead of being kept at a women police station. Earlier on July 11, a 20-year-old maid had been found dead from Lahore’s Defence area, according to police. The deceased, identified as Aliya Kausar, has allegedly committed suicide, said police.

The police had reached the scene after being informed and launched an investigation. TLTP

LDA retrieves precious plot from land mafia LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has successfully retrieved a precious commercial property in Tajpura Scheme worth more than Rs50 million from the land mafia. According to details, a person named Muhammad Shah had tried to grab commercial plot 54 A/1 of LDA, however timely action by the authority resulted in the landgrabber’s eviction and subsequent arrest. It merits a mention here that the same property had been retrieved from Shah a month ago also. Sources in LDA told Pakistan Today that illegal occupation of government land in Tajpura and adjoining areas by the local land mafias was being carried out with the help of some LDA employees. LDA Director Estate Aslam Langah said that Shah had constructed a furniture mart on the property. “We raided the place and reclaimed its possession after getting a case registered against the accused,” he said.

Truck-bike collisions leave nine dead in Lahore, Okara LAHORE: At least nine people died in two separate road accidents in Punjab on Sunday. According to details, four members of a family died after a trawler collided with their motorcycle in Lahore’s Sundar area on Sunday. According to rescue sources, the accident happened near Maraka, killing the four riders on the bike, a man, his wife and their two kids. The deceased have been identified as Muneer Ahmed, Shakeela Bibi, seven-year-old Hammad and six-yearold Fatima, rescue sources said. In another incident in Renala Khurd area of Okara district, five people died after a truck smashed into a motorcycle. TLTP

Of Manto and modernity in literature

By SyEd AfSAR SAjid Title: Manto Revisited Translated by: Amir Rizvi Publisher: Ferozsons (Pvt.) Ltd., Lahore Pages: 120 – Price: Rs.595/Title: Jadeed Adab ka Siyaq – Aik pas-enauabadiyati muta’lia Author: Prof. Dr. Syed Alamdar Hussain Bukhari Publisher: Fiction House, Book Street, 68-Mozang Road, Lahore Pages: 280 – Price: Rs.600/-

Progressive literature in Urdu owes its origin to inter alia, the advent of the progressive movement launched by a group of Indian writers in the early 1930s. Subsequently Saadat Hasan Manto spearheaded it as it were, in the domain of Urdu fiction.

Initially it was seen as an attempt to modernize literature in its different genres in tune with the changing socio-cultural milieu of the new age. The nascent tidings of decolonization from different parts of the world encouraged the progressive literati to divert their attention from the clichéd mythopoeic pattern of literary creativity to a fresh but enlightened concept of contemporaneity in literature.

This review is intended to discuss two such literary works Impinging on the said concept viz. Amir Rizvi’s translation of selected stories of Manto and Prof. Dr. Syed Alamdar Hussain Bukhari’s theorization of the context of the modernistic literature.

The relevance of these works to the norms and forms of our collective socio-cultural existence can hardly be gainsaid.

MAntO REvisitEd Manto (1912-55) was a kind of a social

rebel, a non-conformist so to say, who would not compromise on anything short of a realistic but penetrative representation of the ‘truth’, the non-subjective apperception of the reality as it existed on ground vis-àvis the plight of the socially distanced nay discarded sections of the community like prostitutes, pimps and daily wage earners.

In essence his short stories spotlight the latent incongruities in our sociological fabric.

In the instant book, Amir Rizvi, a noted translator, has ventured to translate into English some sixteen selected stories of Manto, titled for example (in vernacular) 1919 Eisvi ki aik baat, Thanda gosht, Aik ishqia kahani, Nafsiati muta’lia, Aurat zaat, Director Kripalani, Miss Adna Jackson, Khol do, Aulad, Toba Tek Singh, and others.

In his revealing foreword to the book, renowned scholar, poet and critic of English, Ejaz Rahim rightfully observes that the

book ‘will leave no doubt in a reader’s mind that with Manto we are face to face with one of the most significant short story writers of our times’ who once proclaimed that ‘I don’t write stories; the stories write me.’

Short story as a literary genre is now a vogue in world literature let alone the literature of Urdu. Within a limited canvas of operation, it seeks to delve deep into an infinite variety of human experience. In a quasiKafkaesque mode, it brings to bear some of the most horrid, and yet inescapable, existential realities that have haunted and confounded the humankind since times immemorial. So the ‘macabre dilemma of human existence’ is the ruling concern (and passion too) of Manto’s creative world. His characters face to face with a volley of indiscreet pornographic insinuations from their author’s detractors, stand out firmly as prototypes of contradictions typifying the human conduct in general. Manto’s defence in the infamous ‘Thanda Gosht’ trial would bear testimony to his true artistic intent viz. to unmask the ‘inanities of sex’ in an environment of rampant hypocrisy and selfrighteousness. He was thus rousing the human conscience on the misfortunes of the socially outcast who, like Lear, were more sinned against than sinning.

Reverting to the appraisal of the book, errors and omissions excepted, it is a useful compendium on Manto representing a relatable selection of his work, aiming to introduce him to the English knowing world.

JAdEEd AdAb kA siyAqc Prof. Dr. Alamdar Hussain Bukhari is a veteran teacher and scholar of Urdu and Seraiki. He is a known progressive and critic of culture, creed and custom in a neocolonial, euphemistically termed as post-

CMYK

colonial, world scenario. The afore-mentioned book is purported to be a post-colonial study of modern literature. The ‘introduction’ to the work contains a broad outline of the subjects eruditely broached in its content.

The book contains five chapters dealing with, in seriatim, a study of the history of the sub-continent in the context of the postcolonial discourse and its literary versions; the post-colonial paradigm versus the educational system of the sub-continent, evolution of a modern sensibility and its impact on literary creativity; the post-colonial politico-social manifesto and the transmutation of the Indian society; the impact of the colonialist intellectual florescence on the modern Indian sensibility; and, a postcolonial study of the emergence of a new Urdu literary tradition.

The author contends that in the dying

decades of the past century, post-colonialism has woven an obtuse web of an intellectual discipline meant to obstruct the natural growth of an alternate discourse embodying the imperatives of a changed sociopolitical scenario following large-scale decolonization of the world at the apocalyptic end of the World War II. The author seems to regret that the postcolonial literary discourses have virtually befogged the emergence of Enlightenment as a reincarnation of sweetness and light of culture which incorporates knowledge, wisdom and foresight. He attributes the exposure of the abysmal sociological shades of the postcolonial doctrine to Edward Said (19352003), who in the line of Michel Foucault (1926-84), strongly discredited it.

The book is like a repertoire of data in the domains of history, politics and political philosophies, academics, orientalism, and comparative literatures. The author has brought his vast but variegated knowledge of men, matters and books to bear upon the composition of this book. Apart from postcolonialism, he has discussed other theories also i.e., neo-colonialism, globalization, modernism, post-modernism, structuralism, post-structuralism, intertextuality, feminism, humanism/humanitarianism, liberalism, rationalism, et al. His understanding and relevant interpretation of poststructuralists/philosophers like Sassure (1857-1913), Lacan (1901-81), Lyotard (1924-98), Baudrillard (1929-2007), Derrida (1930-2004), Barthes and their ilk is unbiased and hence credible.

The book is thus a creditable addition to the extant literature on the ubiquitous phenomenon of post-colonialism and its multiple but diverse interpretations in relation to the windy landscape of contemporary literature.

Monday, 27 July, 2020

06 COMMENT

The perils of child labour

Amending the NAB law Making terms extendable shows sloppy thinking

The problem is destroying society

T

HE PTI government badly needs to get opposition support for its changes to the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, because the changes it made to it to save bureaucrats and businessmen are lapsing. The government has already twice promulgated an ordinance and to do so again would risk having the courts strike down the law. The PTI may also be looking forward to next March, when Senate elections should yield it a majority in that House. If the National Assembly has passed a law by then, passage through the Senate will only be a matter of introducing it. The draft does not just preserve the protections for bureaucrats and businessmen, but also allows the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Prosecutor General to have their terms extended. This is as naked an attempt as any to gain control over NAB, not that, going by the recent Supreme Court judgment, the government has much need of gaining control.

The idea of preventing any official for having an extendible tenure is to prevent the extending authority from having a lever over him. Even without that lever, it seems, much can be done. If the extension to the present Chairman is meant to prevent the Prime Minister from sullying himself by the required consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, that goes against the spirit of consultation, which requires the PM to ascertain the opinion of the Opposition Leader, no matter how abhorrent the exercise. The PM should remember that this consultation is required by the Constitution in such matters and appointments to the superior judiciary, which he will not be able to amend for the foreseeable future, and will be obliged nonetheless. Meanwhile, he will be discarding an important safeguard. There is also the apparent confusion as to whether it will be possible for the government to extend the tenure of any official without the consultation. After all, the appointing authority is also the extending authority.

The government should also test the amendment by the touchstone of how it will operate if the PTI was to go back in the opposition. While it may feel it can be trusted with the extension power, does it also feel that the opposition can be trusted with it, particularly when it considers these parties to consist of corrupt elements?

Iqra Javed

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child labourer is one who works at early age to meet his or her necessities. Child labour has escalated worldwide. The reason is not only poverty but also negligence, unemployment, lack of education, overpopulation, environmental destruction like floods or earthquakes, migration, among others. A study by UNICEF estimated 158 million children in the world are part of the labour market, which includes wage labour, domestic, non-domestic and non-monetary work. Child labour includes girls and boys who have been working since their childhood either being distant from their homes or living in the streets because of homelessness. As a result of this children who are facing violence in heir homes are likely to leave them. These are hired by different mafias and militant wings for forced labour work. Pakistan is ranked 154th out of 181 countries in the Global Children Rights Index. Another private survey reported that there are 1.5 million treet children in Pakistan. The report by UNICEF (2017) stated that 16 percent of children aged from 5 to 17, engage in labour work and are more vulnerable to abuse.

The children from worst financial strata or populated household are forced to earn their livelihood or they often belong to the families that live and sleep on the streets around the town or at the garbage dump. To fulfill the basic needs of food and other necessities, they work for minimal wages in an unfriendly and tough environment. More worrisome is they have to sometimes eat unhygienic and inedible food from garbage dumps to satisfy hunger which makes them more vulnerable to, and exposed to, harmful diseases.

The laws FATF wants Pakistan is not out of the woods yet

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OREIGN Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the government has proposed eight bills for passage by Parliament so that Pakistan might be moved from the grey list to the white list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). While addressing a press conference in Multan on Saturday, he also said that the bills had been given to Opposition for study along with a draft of the NAB amendment. Mr Qureshi should realize that the NAB law should not have been linked with the anti-money-laundering laws, because while the NAB law amendment would occupy the opposition, the other laws urgently need passage.

Mr Qureshi predicted a dire fate if Pakistan was not found to be in compliance with the FATF Action Plan.

For its purposes, it will not be enough to pass the laws, but to implement them as well. The need for such laws can be seen from the presence of as many as 6500 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, according to a report submitted to the UN Security Council. Mostly with the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan, those fighters represent a threat to both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Obviously, they are funded from somewhere. It is only if loopholes are plugged that the presence of such forces can be stopped.

That these laws have to be passed is incontrovertible.

That the opposition will be tempted to seek some concessions in the NAB law is inevitable, but to link the anti-money-laundering laws is to make pieces of required legislation controversial. It does help that the government has treated the opposition as pariahs, with the result that it cannot ask for the required support now. It is too much to expect that the same forces will help the government pull its chestnuts out of the fire as did when the government needed opposition support over the legislation needed when the COAS’s extension was at stake. The government must use its political skills to engage the opposition and persuade it to pass the needed legislation without any fuss.

Construction in Naya Pakistan A detailed analysis Syed MohaMMad WaJIh Zafar

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ROM a humanistic perspective Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan Housing Program will go a long way. In an impoverished country, many dream of owning a house or an apartment.

Sadly this dream doesn’t convert into reality for most. Men from a young age in our society are pressured into providing a home and due to other economic circumstances being unfavorable, they fail in doing so. Thanks to this initiative, millions will now live peacefully under the roofs of their own houses.

This programme is not for the lobbyists or land mafias or the higher ups in bureaucracy, who hoard land and exploit their powers and contacts to get what they want when they want it. It is for the common man who has longed to live in a house he can call his own.

Construction is a major industry throughout the world accounting for a sizeable proportion of most countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The rise of the economies of Japan, Germany and Europe to the present state from the ashes of World War-II, behind the magnificent industrial, agro-based and housing structures, is largely attributed to the construction industry. The construction industry has a snowball effect on the whole economy in a chain like reaction.

Some of the industries that benefit are cement, iron, steel, timber and wood, marbles, tiles and stones, electrical and sanitary works, glass, paints and varnishes, electrical lightning, power and gas, horticulture, interior decoration, transport, light-heavy construction machinery, plastics, fibers, furniture, electrical appliances and many others.

In the Pakistani context, construction and agriculture are industries that employ the most amount of people in the country. In them, construction is an industry that pulls the weight of other industries as it brings them into function, hence acting as an economic catalyst. According to a report by FBR, construction helps move about 40 other related industries in Pakistan. Construction industry also attracts for-

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

Pakistan has a young population in which about Moreover, orphan children are coerced into work out of home for monetary purpose because they 445,000 students graduate yearly. These graduate alone have to work to survive. They prefer shoe- can put their efforts voluntarily by implementing the shining, car-cleaning or hawking on the roads and “each one, teach one” theory of Nobel Peace Laustreets, auto-repair shop work, stations, markets, reate Malala Yousufzai. For this purpose, promoting garbage dumping points, brick kilns, farm fields, reading and writing campaigns must be started insmall industries, domestic services and carpet weav- dividually. Political parties prefer the active particing, or garbage-carrying, where they can be e hired ipation of youth wings. These wings can influence easily in cheapest wages. Mostly children works in to promulgate special legislation for child labour manufacturing and different industries like tobacco. rights and their special education (Which could give The industries avail their services at a low cost and an opportunity to get free and quality education).

Our educated youth can start counselling prowork them hard.

More worryingly, underprivileged families sell grammes for supporting the self-development theme their child to fulfill their financial necessities. As a among them by which they would be able to share their concerns. They can result, these kids are misprovide also parents counused by mafias or gangs for selling to eliminate them. begging and other harmful Civil society can conacts like prostitution or slavduct workshops and awareery or sometimes non-state The youth has vast social ness campaigns, which can actors use them for accomactivism through digital play a vital role to let them plishing their nefarious debe cognizant about their signs of terrorism. Boys platforms. Through citizen’s rights. By knowing workwho work and live on place harassment, physical streets become a hit with journalism, social media and mental abuses, they will militant organizations by platforms can monitor the be able to identify the gangs shaping their personality as mafias that hire them for deadliest suicide attackers. issues of vulnerable or victim or extreme-level crime, such as They are also involved in prostitution, because they the exchange of drugs, abchildren at all levels of are accessible targets. duction and other crimes.

Every child has the Further, the entire situasociety to let them know right to access resources of tion seems more complex what is child labour and how education. Therefore, those for girls. They are appointed children who are helping as fulltime maids in houses to mitigate it out families or themselves where the employer regards to earn a livelihood must be them as property and vioencouraged to attend lates basic children’s rights, school. Flexible hours and harasses them physically and mentally which often results in death. In 2019, days may help to enroll a large number of kids into Uzma, a 16-year-old maid, working for 8 months, schools. Special technical education assistance with had been killed brutally by her female employers proper toolkits should be provided. These trainees owing to her eating a meal. Another maid, a 10-year- must be further funded for their personal startups.

Media is now the fourth pillar of the state. To old girl Tayyaba, working as domestic helper, was found injured from the house of session judge Raja rehabilitate them, the media can enforce government Khurram Ali. This is awful behaviour by our edu- and child protection organizations for implementation on legislations. Everyone should comply with cated people.

The children are the builders of the future; if they the law and not incite anyone to break it. Influential survive, the nation will move forward. At present, people can be approached for using their power to we must proceed with serious initiatives to eradicate force industrialists to arrange special shelter, educathe curse of child labour. There are a few practices tional and health facilities mandatory for children.

The youth has vast social activism through digwhich can be useful to adopt.

Unfortunately, Pakistan is an underdeveloped ital platforms. Through citizen’s journalism, social country with overpopulation. Our citizens do not es- media platforms can monitor the issues of vulnerable teem child in their care. This aspect is totally ig- or victim children at all levels of society to let them nored in the children having no or worst know what is child labour and how to mitigate it. background. The time sa come to look back towards Iqra javed, working on Youth Empowerment kids who are neglected in society. If you are financially stable, invest in the needs of these kids to Project by United Nations Development Program as Youth Ambassador. boost the future of Pakistan.

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

eign investment. With the right health and safety reg- will be exempted from providing source of funds. ulations, foreign investors feel content investing in This will encourage more activity in the sector.

Banks were earlier told to keep aside five percent construction in any economy. The Dubai-based Emaar group of industries is a noteworthy example. of their entire portfolio for this industry also. This Investing in property is also a big business in Pakistan comes out to be Rs 330 billion. Earlier this month, Khan further allocated a as it is sure to give back in Rs30 billion subsidy for the most cases.

Naya Pakistan Housing ProFrom the reasons stated which is building acabove, it is established that Once again this initiative will gram commodation in both construction is not only esmetropolitans and smaller sential for just about any nahave a cyclical effect on the cities across Pakistan. This tion, but it is more so he feels will attract investespecially for Pakistan. For economy. It will pay off in ment from all sectors of the reasons based around the dividends for decades to country. It is also a visionary sheer vitality of a booming step by Imran Khan in terms construction industry for a come financially as well of job creation and overall developing economy, the economic activity generapresent government decided emotionally for people who tion. For starters, if on averto give a healthy push to it. never thought they could age 15 to 20 people are Imran Khan introduced poliin the construccies to develop this sector have a house they could call employed tion of one house then this further. He started with inprogramme alleviates unemtroducing a project called their own. In Pakistan ployment for millions of “Naya Pakistan Housing governments tend to learn Pakistanis.

Program” (NPHP) in 2018. again this initiaIn this, a fixed-tax regime with experience of others and tive Once will have a cyclical effor builders and developers fect on the economy. It will was introduced by Khan it is quite possible that pay off in dividends for under which there is no decades to come financially withholding tax on transacgovernments ahead emulate as well emotionally for peotions thereby encouraging this successful programme. ple who never thought they financial movement within could have a house they and with the respective secThe advantages of growth on could call their own. In Paktor. Low-cost housing of all istan governments tend to sorts within the programme similar patterns again in the learn with experience of is exempted from 90 ercent future would be great! others and it is quite possiof fixed taxes. A subsidy of ble that governments ahead Rs 300,000 was given to the emulate this successful profirst 100,000 houses congramme. The advantages of structed/to be constructed.

Loans with mark up as low as five percent for five- growth on similar patterns again in the future would marla houses and 7 percent mark-up for 10-marla be great! houses are offered to make it easier in terms of afSyed Mohammad Wajih Zafar can be reached at fordability for the desirous. Lastly, all parties’ income and finances to be used in the construction industry zafar.wajih.m3@gmail.com

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Monday, 27 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

Dawn of hope SINCE last few months our country has faced alot of problems in the form of pandemic, load shedding and petrol shortage. Public, on one side was terrified by the pandemic and on the other side the load shedding and petrol shortage was getting on their nerves. Where we surely had face alot of problems, a small news of joy today really eased the people of Pakistan.

The diminution in the cases of corona. It was announced today that the decline in corona cases has been recorder upto 80%, where more than half of the people has been recovered and the decline shows the power of SOPs and precautions. We might have got an incredible decline in the cases but we must not forget that the Eid al Adha is ahead and this could be a very a crucial day because all the ritual like animal scarifies and Eid prayer are must to be performed, but we should also take SOPs seriously in order to keep this number as declined as possible. Soon there will the day when we can freely go out and enjoy like earlier days but till then the precaution must be implemented to keep you and your family safe.

Mian aizaz ahMEd Shadakot

International friendship day

Sham accountability The current Chairman headed NAB when it was seen being used as a tool

Syed KaSWar GardeZI

A

CCOUNTABILITY is the bedrock of any democracy in the world. Taking to task public functionaries for their actions reflects a successful nation and it is imperative that questions be asked and the answers be provided. Similarly, while discussing accountability, it is also important that accountability be across the board and not selective. In order to achieve that, the people responsible for holding others accountable must pass the test of accountability themselves.

The National Accountability Bureau for the past two decades has been tasked with holding public officials accountable. While they may have secured a few convictions, most have been overturned by the superior courts and the alleged culprits have walked free. Statistically, a vast majority of those charged with accountability offences walk free owing to either faulty prosecution or lack of evidence. NAB’s role in the past few years has been more proactive, more noticeably during the incumbent chairman’s tenure.

Chairman Javed Iqbal has remained at the forefront to apparently pursue and take to task corrupt people. On a daily basis, he authorizes multiple inquires and investigations and signs warrants pursuant to which dozens of individuals remain incarcerated for months, in some cases for years.

Owing to his proactive approach, the PTI government is reportedly considering extending his tenure as chairman. Amidst allegations of using NAB as a tool for political victimization, the Imran-led tigers have no remorse over the allegations and are adamant to continue with the Javed Iqbal legacy. While the stance of the opposition may not be relevant for the PTI government, but a commentary on the professional capabilities of the NAB under its incumbent chairman by the real umpires is crucial and must be taken into account. The superior judiciary of Pakistan, for the past few years, has been exer-

cising its extra-ordinary constitutional jurisdic- eration and created chaos. The NAB, till now, tion and protecting the dignity and liberty of has merely been used with an oblique motive of those individuals who had been picked up and arm twisting and pressurizing political oppodetained by NAB under the pretext of ongoing nents into subjugation, submission and compliance or to remove them from the electoral scene inquiries and investigations.

Tremendous amount of bails have been at least temporarily. Despite the ‘alleged’ proacgranted in NAB matters by the respective High tive approach of the incumbent chairman, corCourts in the country. In some cases, the apex ruption, misconduct and malpractice in court has taken the lead and interfered with, governance continues to rise to exponential levwhat have been termed as, unlawful arrests els. Rather than doing away with this menace, made by the accountability watchdog. Numer- the conduct of the NAB so far has maintained ous judgements have been rendered wherein the the status quo if not added to it. Mere political role of NAB has been termed dubious and its victimization is what has been seen till now.

Interestingly, the unfettered discrescant regard for the law has been highlighted.

All this has been done under the captaincy of the tion conferred upon the chairman, does not incumbent chairman. The powers of the chair- have an honorable background. The ordinance man are already under question and somewhat under which he enjoys his autocratic powers was promulgated by a unfettered. To top it all, military dictator to judicial observations arm-twist his oppohave been made reflectnents into subjugation. ing that the chairman The superior courts, with The highest constituhas, indeed, exercised tional and lawmaking his powers in an arbiconsistency, have lambasted body never debated trary and capricious manner and such unbrithe NAB’s utter disregard for upon the veracity of the powers which were dled powers cannot be the law and under such conferred on a single extended which in turn individual despite this divest and abridge the circumstances, extending the being a democratic fundamental rights of state. The faith of the the citizenry. tenure of the current people has been Most recently, the chairman, would be a direct shaken due to the disSupreme Court, whilst criminatory approach issuing the verdict for confrontation with the view of NAB and the citithe Khawaja brothers, zens have little faith in has taken NAB to task being adopted by the its credibility and imand it has been highjudiciary, after reviewing the partiality. Despite lighted that fundameninvolved in fital rights of the record of different cases and being nancial scams of mascitizenry are being desive value, the NAB is nied and flouted with forming judicial opinions apparently reluctant to impunity. “NAB’s conproceed against the duct throughout this thereafter people on the right side case is a clear manifesof the current political tation of their utter disscenario. regard for law, fair With such harsh comments being present play, equity and propriety” observed Justice on the record, nobody in their right mind would Maqbool Baqar in his judgement.

Similar to the Khawaja brothers’ case, there suggest extending the tenure of the incumbent are countless other matters where the arbitrary chairman. The latter has brought nothing but exercise of unfettered powers by the Chairman shame to the name of the bureau and his highNAB has been highlighted. Despite not having handedness in dealing with multiple matters any new material presented before him, the in- has put NAB at the receiving end of the shots cumbent chairman ordered the arrest of PTI being fired. The superior courts, with consisminister Sibtain Khan last year, in a case which tency, have lambasted the NAB’s utter disrehad already been closed by NAB itself. The gard for the law and under such circumstances, verdict of the Lahore High Court, which fol- extending the tenure of the current chairman, lowed, speaks volumes of the dogmatic ap- would be a direct confrontation with the view proach which was adhered to in order to push being adopted by the judiciary, after reviewing forward a narrative of self-aggrandizement. If the record of different cases and forming judithere was even a semblance of morality pres- cial opinions thereafter.

In order to protect this country from further ent, the chairman should have resigned after such verdicts issued by constitutional courts constitutional degeneration, the government whereby not only his capriciousness, but rather, must not, under any circumstances, grant an exhis incompetence, has been highlighted time tension to the chairman NAB. and again.

Syed Kaswar Gardezi is a lawyer and a In the words of the Supreme Court, rather than doing any good to the country, these actions columnist. He can be contacted at by bodies like NAB have caused further degen- kaswargardezi@gmail.com

ON the first Sunday in august national friendship day encourages people across country and world to connect with friends. Make a new friend or correct with an old one. Friendship come in many forms and we begin developing them when were very young throughout our lives friendship and their marriage evolve our classmates and neighborhood pals explored the world with us. Together we shared experience and made plans for the future. Eventually paths diverge and new friends find a place in our social experience our world expands and our culture charges.

With each new friend we expand our view of the world . their experience contribute to new meaning in our lives. Through friendships we grow and broaden our horizons. Eventually the world becomes smaller and more connected. National friendship day was originally founded by Hallmark in 1919. It was intended to be a day for people to celebrate their friendship by sending each other cards. However by 1940 the market had dried up and eventually it died out completely. The in 1998 Winnie the pooh was nation officially recognized 30th july as international friendship day although most countries celebrate on the first Sunday of august.

The official declaration invites us to observe this day in an appropriate manner in accordance with the cultural and other appropriate circumstance or customs of their local national and regional communities including through education and public awareness raising activities.

Shafiq Ur rEhMan karachi

Hagia Sophia HAGIA Sophia also known as Ayasofia was constructed as cathedral church in Constantinople (Now Istanbul) in 6th century by Byzantine emperor Justanian I. In 1456 when Constantinople fell into Ottoman empire it was turned into mosque. It was the rule of wars that time specially of Muslims that when they capture the enemy’s territory they use it for their own, and convert the places though example of the Makkah can be cited. Later on when the founder of secular turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came into power he shut down the mosque and turn it into museum in an attempt to make the country more secular. Now it was the decision of turkey’s highest court which converted it to same position of mosque on the request of now country’s ruler President Recep tayyip Ordagan . Therefore turkey being sovereign state has right to enjoy complete sovereignty over it as it is the most important feature of an independent state under international law. why should desi liberals mourn on the reconversion into Mosque? Why President Ordagan is criticized?

Does he need to ask for doing anything within his territory?

SanaUllah kalwar kaShMorE

A new cold war THE changing nature of relations of two nuclear-armed and rival countries the US and China will depict their effects on the world. The strategic and economic shift between Iran and India is also isolating the whole region. In 2016 India and Iran signed multiple deals to uplift the Chabahar port against Gwadar Port. They also signed a different trilateral agreement including Afghanistan and Iran to build an alternate trade route to Central Asia through Afghanistan. Chabahar port was understood as a rival port to CPEC. Although, continuously lame excuses and citing India’s delay in funding. Ostensibly, India was not investing in Iran due to the fear of sanctions from the USA. After withdrawal from the JCPOA Trump administration announced sanctions on whom; who will keep economic relations with Iran. The recent withdrawal of Iran from bilateral agreements is a new strategic shift to counterbalance the USA and India. It is also to be said that China will invest more than US$400 billion, on more than 20 projects in Iran. Including railway lines, special economic zones, to endorse Chabahar port and on infrastructure. Additionally, China has Occupied 640 Sq Km of Indian Territory on the eastern side of Ladakh. It is considered as a big strategic move in South Asia.

Moreover, other countries in South-Asia are moving against India and joining the Chinese led block. The Sino- Iran deal will be favorable for China and other neighboring countries. In return for the investment, Iran will provide fossil fuel oil at a low cost of 30%. However, the Iranian supreme leader in recent year’s meeting with Chinese officials showed great interest in linking Chabahar port with CPEC. It will be a great move to counter India, the USA, and all other hostile neighbors through “String of Pearls” and with “Golden Ring”. Unfortunately, the new cold war is on the rise. The world is dividing into Alliances and Camps again as they were in WW1 and WW2. The US asks China to close Houston consulate as tension rises. It accused China of ramping up spy operations in the USA. It has also imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese companies over Human Rights violations on Uyghur Muslims. The USA also urges India, its close ally to minimize dependence on China.

These changing regional dynamics, allies, and economic moves will determine the fate of Pakistan. The Rising Dragon (China) and the Shitte Muslims Leader (Iran) both are Pakistan’s neighbors. Any strategic move from both of them will forge its effects in Pakistan. arSlan aShiq kot adU

Monday, 27 July, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

What Mike PoMPeo doesn’t understand about China, riChard nixon and us foreign PoliCy POMPEO ALSO SOUGHT TO COMMIT THE UNITED STATES TO A PATH THAT IS BOUND TO FAIL. IT IS NOT WITHIN OUR POWER TO DETERMINE CHINA’S FUTURE, MUCH LESS TRANSFORM IT

WashingTon posT

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RICHARd HAASS

ECRETARy of State Mike Pompeo delivered a blistering speech about China on Thursday. The problem was not simply that the nation’s chief diplomat was decidedly undiplomatic. Worse was his misrepresentation of history and his failure to suggest a coherent or viable path forward for managing a relationship that more than any other will define this era.

The secretary asked what Americans have to show for 50 years of “blind engagement” and said the answer was little or nothing. He instead erected a straw man: U.S. policy failed, he said, because China did not evolve into a democracy when, in fact, the purpose of the policy developed by Richard M. Nixon and Henry Kissinger was to use

China as a counterweight to the Soviet Union and shape China’s foreign policy, not its internal nature.

What’s more, their efforts largely succeeded. In cementing China’s split from the Soviet Union, the United States gained leverage that contributed to the Cold War ending when and how it did. yes, China continues to flex its muscles in the South China Sea, but Pompeo failed to note it has not fought a war with another country since its 1979 border conflict with Vietnam. Importantly, China has not used force against Taiwan, which has emerged as a thriving democracy.

Pompeo also sought to commit the United States to a path that is bound to fail.

It is not within our power to determine China’s future, much less transform it. To be sure, the country faces enormous challenges: an aging society that will soon start shrinking dramatically, a badly damaged environment, an inadequate public health system, an unsustainable economic model that relies on massive amounts of investment for growth, and a top-heavy leadership that stifles creativity and has difficulty correcting its mis-

takes.

But all this and more — including the role of the Chinese Communist Party — will be for the Chinese people and their leaders to determine. For now, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, Pompeo and his colleagues need to negotiate with the Chinese government they have.

What the United States can and should try to do is shape China’s choices, to bring about a China that acts with a degree of restraint at home and abroad and that works with us to deal with regional challenges, such as North Korea and Afghanistan, and global challenges, such as nonproliferation and climate change.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration is undermining prospects for moderating China’s behavior. The first foreign policy decision of the then-new administration was to pull out of the emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership. This grouping, which represented about 40 percent of global gross domestic product, had the potential to force China to change the very economic behavior the secretary criticizes. Instead, the United States focused on negotiating a bilateral trade

agreement with China that has achieved little more than a Chinese commitment (so far not realized) to import slightly more U.S. products while shelving larger structural issues.

An administration committed to changing Chinese economic behavior would be spearheading reform of the World Trade Organization, rather than paralyzing its appellate body.

An effective U.S. policy toward China would work with, not against, our allies and partners. Instead, under this administration, we treat the European Union as an economic foe, bash South Korea and Japan over how much they pay to offset the costs of our stationing soldiers on their territory and regularly raise doubts as to our reliability, be it by unilaterally canceling military exercises on the Korean Peninsula or threatening to withdraw some of our troops from South Korea, as we are doing from Germany. It is not realistic to expect allies to stand up to a powerful neighbor if they cannot count on us.

Similarly, we should be working with countries of the region to produce a collective front against Chinese claims and actions in the South China Sea; instead, it took threeand-a-half years for the State Department to produce a tougher but still unilateral U.S. policy. Meanwhile, we press our allies not to use China’s 5G technology but have failed to work with them to develop an alternative.

It is ironic, too, that an administration

that embraces “America First” is doing so little to make this country more competitive vis-a-vis China. A real strategy would include the federal government spending more on basic research, modernizing infrastructure and making it possible for the most talented people in the world to come and stay here, rather than pushing them away.

Pompeo spent a good deal of his speech highlighting China’s human rights failures, which are many and deserve U.S. condemnation. But our standing for criticizing China would be immeasurably greater if we were equally tough on Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Otherwise, our words appear to be nothing so much as opportunistic.

America’s voice would be even stronger if we practiced at home what we preached abroad. President Trump and those who work for him have forfeited much of their credibility as democracy advocates with their repeated descriptions of the U.S. media as an enemy, their attacks on an independent judiciary and their use of federal forces to repress dissent in our cities. Here and elsewhere, foreign policy begins at home.

Theodore Roosevelt advised the United States to speak softly and carry a big stick.

This president and his chief diplomat are perilously close to getting it backward.

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of “The World: A Brief Introduction.”

India's nuclear weapons What to make of Japan’s annual defence report arsenal could easily kill millions SOUTH ASIA IS THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS NUCLEAR HOTSPOT naTional inTeresT CALEB LARSOn

Here's what you need to remember: India’s nuclear triad is a mix of capabilities—free-falling bombs, long-range and quite sophisticated missiles, and sub-launched missiles of unclear capabilities and likely limited range. Still, India is one of the preeminent nuclear powers in the region, behind China.

India’s indigenously developed technology—and a lot of Russian hardware and help—all keep Pakistan and China at bay.

NO-FIRST-USE: “An NFU policy essentially constitutes a promise, backed by a survivable nuclear arsenal, to only use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack,” explained a Carnegie publication. “The logic is simple and effective: you don’t nuke me, and I won’t nuke you. India and China both have declared no-first-use policies, whereas Pakistan and the United States, among others, do not rule out the first use of nuclear weapons in a conflict.”

PRIMIS PLAYER PLACEHOLDER: Despite India’s formidable nuclear arsenal, India had since 2003 maintained it will not use said weapons of mass destruction first, but strictly in a retaliatory manner for deterrence.

However, 2019, India called their no first use policy into question when Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that “Till today, our nuclear policy is ‘no first use’. What happens in future depends on the circumstances.” This curious statement is perhaps an example of deliberate strategic ambiguity.

TRIAD: India maintains a nuclear triad—that is a three-pronged nuclear weapon delivery system that utilizes a diverse array of means for delivering nuclear payload on target. New Delhi has air-launched nuclear missiles, landbased nuclear missiles, and most recently submarine-launched missiles.

AIR: Air delivery was India’s original nuclear delivery prong. Although speculative, it is believed that Indian SEPECAT Jaguars and Dassault Mirage 2000s are the primary (perhaps only) vehicles capable of delivering nuclear bombs from the air. It is also possible that Indian nuclear bombs are

non-precision munitions that rely on impact to detonate.

LAND: From land, India has a formidable missile launch capability intended to deter both China and Pakistan—though China especially rarely acknowledges India’s nuclear missile capability.

In order to maintain a credible threat against China, India has pursued a strategy of improving their nuclear inter-continental ballistic missiles. This has been often done in tandem with Russia, despite the latter’s partnership with China in other defense-related areas.

The Agni missile family forms the backbone of the land-based nuclear triad. Although the Agni-IV and AgniV are still in development, once deployed they would comfortably be able to strike Beijing, though the Agni-II and Agni-III are very likely already capable of doing so.

The jointly Russian-Indian developed BrahMos hypersonic missile may also potentially be able to carry nuclear payload in the future, although this remains unconcrete and speculative.

SEA: According to a quoted CIA report, “Russia has significantly supported in developing India’s nuclear programmes with technology and equipment, and become a main source of arms for the country,” especially regarding the sea-based part of the triad.

What India’s sea-based nuclear prong looks like is somewhat speculative as well, although the range of submarine-based missiles will likely be limited to below-1,000 kilometers, or approximately 620 miles.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS: Over all, India’s nuclear triad is a mix of capabilities—free-falling bombs, longrange and quite sophisticated missiles, and sub-launched missiles of unclear capabilities and likely limited range.

Still, India is one of the preeminent nuclear powers in the region, behind China. Look to Russia for more developmental help in the future.

Caleb Larson is a Defense Writer with The National Interest. He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture.

Japan Times MICHAEL MACARTHUR BOSACK

The Defence of Japan 2020 annual white paper came out last week, and just like every year it has sparked media reporting on what it all means.

Like other governments' formal defence reports, this document provides a summary of the country’s security practice for the year — that is, the authorities and allowances afforded to defence forces and how they have used them based on the strategic environment. Since this report only comes once a year and is eventually made available in foreign languages, its arrival is a much-anticipated event for many a Japan observer.

When the document does come out, myriad interpretations and analyses inevitably follow.

Some argue that the length of certain sections compared with previous years is steeped in meaning. Others will look at the order in which countries are listed and try to discern how changes connote a major “downgrading” or “upgrading” of a relationship. Still others will analyze what they believe to be novel policy positions. However, that analysis can be unhelpful or misleading while obscuring the real value of the white paper.

White papers can be important documents, but it is critical to know how and why. Those answers are different for every country and for every white paper. For some governments, reports may be mandated by domestic law for watchdog purposes. For others, it is solely a strategic communications tool to try to shape public perceptions or to deliver pointed messages to partners and adversaries. For Japan, its nature and purpose has changed over time.

Japan has been publishing defence white papers for decades, sparingly at first and then annualized. The first white paper came out in 1970, then a second in 1976. Starting in 1980, they became annual publications for the thenDefence Agency. In 2003, the series received the "Defence of Japan" title.

These documents, like other nations' defence white papers, explained Japan's security practice with a focus on near-term policies, activities and issues. This often included things like how the nation conducts operations with adherence to provisions under Article 9 (the war-renouncing clause of the Constitution), support for U.S. forces under the alliance, measures for accommodating basehosting communities and Self-Defence Forces activities, while offering the strategic context underwriting all those things.

That sort of information is useful, but it is important to recognize that the reason for publishing that information changed over time. The 1970s were a dynamic period for Japan's security. U.S. President Richard Nixon had just announced the "Guam Doctrine" in 1969 calling for America's allies to do more. The government negotiated the reversion of Okinawa from U.S. administration, which happened in 1972. Japan was working on its first National Defence Program Outline (now National Defence Program Guideline) and completed its Fourth Defence Buildup Plan.

Consequently, the 1970 and 1976 white papers were tools for the government to manage public perceptions of the evolving dynamics of Japanese security and to signal foreign players, especially its U.S. ally.

In many ways, the purpose of managing domestic understanding and signaling foreign players still exists, but after the white paper became serialized with annual publication, it evolved the document in ways that dampened those effects. In essence, what now exists is a principally a bureaucratic document, not a political one.

Here's why: To accommodate the requirement to produce an annual report that usually sits at a few hundred pages in length, the Defence of Japan white paper is written by a single office within the Defence Ministry. That is all the office does for the entire year. The members of that office compile established policy documents (like the National Defence Program Guideline), budget documents, briefings that ministry officials have delivered throughout the past few years, statements by members of the Cabinet in the Diet, and past Defence of Japan publications.

They then compile the new edition, never veering too far off precedent, before routing it for approval through their intra-ministry and Cabinet chains. Understandably, senior political leadership is not reviewing a 500-plus page document line by line, so it is really up to the original drafters and each of their different sections to ensure the text aligns with well-established policy positions.

Given this, there are five things to keep in mind when reviewing or reading about Japan’s defence white paper.

First, understand that nothing in there is going to be groundbreaking. It may be new to some readers, but it is not new to the government of Japan. What is stated in a given year's version may use slightly different phrasing, but the policy positions have all been written down in other documents or uttered during Diet interpellations before they ever find themselves in the white paper.

If searching for the foundational policy documents that show how Japan is evolving its security practice for the future, the National Security Strategy, National Defence Program Guidelines, Mid-term Defence Program and annual budget requests are the best publicly available sources. For the most up-to-date positions, one should reference Diet interpellations, which yield de facto policy positions.

Second, despite none of its content being groundbreaking, Japan's is one of the most detailed and informative white papers out there. It usually contains a digest up front, which offers a

summary of all of the major policy positions and strategic issues underwriting Japanese security practice for the year. It then dives into detailed chapters on all of the things mentioned in the digest, often including specific and clear explanations of Japan’s legal provisions and prohibitions vis-a-vis different scenarios. At the end of the document is an unparalleled reference section, which offers years of data and background information.

Which leads to the third point, which is that because it is so detailed, the Defence of Japan white papers are a triumph of transparency. There are plenty of critics who will argue that the Special Secrets Protection Act (or Specially Designated Secrets Law) demonstrates the Abe administration’s retreat toward government opaqueness, but a counter to that is this white paper, which lays more to bare than any other country with comparable military power.

It explains legal processes, provides records of defence expenditures, clearly indicates personnel end-strength, presents a chronology of events that have informed defence decision-making since 1954 and weaves in policy briefs on the issues of the day. Further, because a single office is responsible for putting the document together, the report often incorporates briefing materials that had already been prepared for Diet sessions and presentations to foreign officials. What this means is that the casual observer is able to gain about as much information as most Diet members and diplomats working in Tokyo — albeit with some time lag — simply by reading this document cover to cover.

Fourth, the Defence of Japan series is an excellent resource for those seeking to understand the evolution of Japanese security practice. As discussed, each white paper offers comprehensive explanations of the policy issues and SDF activities of the day. Because every single one of the Defence of Japan publications are publicly available on the Defence Ministry website, one can read through them all to track the evolution of Japanese security practice for the past 50 years.

Fifth, the most important thing for Japan observers to look for following publication is not in the text itself, but in audience reaction. Many, especially Japan's foreign competitors, may feel compelled to respond to the document in diplomatic rhetoric or military posturing. The things they protest and laud, as well as possible changes in behavior toward Japan, are really the most important things to observe immediately following the release of the white paper.

So, if you endeavor to examine this year's Defence of Japan or the reporting surrounding it, remember that there are no hidden messages and no attempts to sneak in some policy fait accompli.

While that does make the document less sensational, it does not detract from its overall value as a repository of quality information about Japanese security practice. If you understand what really to make of it, you can get the most out of it.

Michael MacArthur Bosack is the special adviser for government relations at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies. He was deputy chief of government relations at Headquarters, U.S. Forces Japan.

Monday, 27 July, 2020

BUSINESS 09

Mask manufacturers seek govts approval for export LOCAL DEMAND FOR MASKS IS ON A DECREASING TRAJECTORY DUE TO SLOWDOWN IN SPREAD OF COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN MONITORING REPORT As local demand for disposable masks declines, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) producing such masks have urged the government to allow them to explore the export markets. During the previous months, disposal masks had been in short supply in the country due to high demand induced by Covid-19. According to a report published by a local media outlet, the price of a box containing 50 masks surged from Rs150 to Rs1,2001,800. A large number of people in the country opted to enter the business of mask production anticipating a sustained high demand, however, the demand is now on a downward trajectory as Covid-19 cases fall in the country. The drop in demand is expected to reduce prices of masks, prompting manufacturers to move into export markets or move away from the business entirely.

According to the report, Gulf, Middle East and European countries have already approved samples of Pakistani masks and have been sending regular enquiries to import masks from Pakistan. Earlier on July 10, Advisor to the Prime Minister (PM) on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood had said that the government was considering export of surgical masks and will allow export once more authentic data regarding their availability in the domestic market emerges.

IFC Invests $25m in Packages Limited to modernise operations, cut energy and water use ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a deal for a five-year loan investment of US$25 million in Packages Limited, one of Pakistan’s leading packaging and tissue paper producers, to modernize its operations, and cut its water and energy use. The investment in Packages will help the company sustain and expand its operations to respond to rising consumer demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Packages produce essential hygiene products such as tissues, toilet rolls, wipes as well as packaging for food, pharmaceuticals and other products needed by other producers of other consumer goods. The company’s market standing as a critical and reliable provider of hygiene products and packaging materials will help ensure that supply chains are not disrupted and that prices in the sector remain at reasonable levels. “This IFC program will not only contribute towards our core sustainability drive for resource conservation but will also upgrade our packaging capability to serve the growing needs of our clients in a more sustainable manner,” said Syed Hyder Ali, Chief Executive Officer of Packages. IFC has been advising Packages on ways to cut its water and energy use, in a country ranked as among the world’s most energy intensive and facing water shortages. By adopting resource efficiency measures, Packages will be able to annually decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 11,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, and save about 43,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) and about 214,000 cubic meters (m3) of water per annum. Overall the company will save annually about $1.4 million in its operations. “This is an investment which will deliver multiple dividends for Pakistan. It will help ensure that people can continue to buy critically needed hygiene products amid COVID-19, at reasonable prices. There’s also the additional benefit of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and importantly conserving water and energy use,” said Nadeem A. Siddiqui, IFC Senior Country Manager for Pakistan. “IFC financing will play a countercyclical role during the current COVID-19 crisis and provide the company with access to much needed long-term foreign currency funding. It will help Packages improve its competitiveness and allow it to stay ahead of the technological curve.” Packages is one of IFC’s oldest clients with a relationship initiated in 1964. The project aligns with IFC’s COVID-19 response strategy to support clients. It also addresses IFC’s strategic focus on climate change through investment in energy conservation and efficiency programs.

Govt taKes notICe oF sPIKe In CeMent PRICes In noRtheRn ReGIon ISLAMABAD

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SHAHZAD PARACHA

EDERAL Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on Sunday, took notice of reports of increasing cement prices in the northern region which includes, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

From June 25, 2020, to July 16, 2020, the price of a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of cement went up by Rs40 to Rs45 in the twin cities. An increase in the price of cement bags ranging from Rs7 to Rs26 was also witnessed in the other cities of Punjab.

On the other hand, the prices of cement have decreased in areas of Sindh and Balochistan, with the price going down by Rs11 in Karachi, Rs30 in Hyderabad, and Rs10 in Khuzdar and Quetta.

According to documents, the current

THE CCP IS INVESTIGATING SUSPECTED COLLUSION BETWEEN CEMENT COMPANIES WHICH HAS LED TO THE INCREASE IN PRICES cement prices were reported at Rs547 in Islamabad, Rs539 in Rawalpindi, Rs553 in Gujranwala, Rs530 in Lahore, Rs681 in Karachi, Rs610 in Larkana, and Rs620 in Khuzdar. On July 23, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported the price of a 50kg cement bag at Rs553. However, according to cement industry representatives, the price reported by PBS was the highest price of brands and not the average price.

Earlier, the government had reduced the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cement from Rs2 per kg to Rs1.5 per kg during the budget. Tax officials had estimated that prices of cement should

be reduced by Rs.25 per bag. This decrease, however, has not been observed.

During the last week of April, the cement manufacturing industry had reportedly increased the price of a 50kg cement bag by around Rs55, causing the prices to jump in Punjab and KPK. In May, the federal minister for industries and production had requested the cement companies to revert the price increase, but the cement manufacturers declined to do so.

According to sources, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is investigating suspected collusion between the cement companies, which has

Govt preparing long-term LPG policy MONITORING REPORT The government is preparing a long-term Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) policy aimed at increasing the commodity production, stabilising its price and ensuring uninterrupted supply at affordable prices across the country, especially during the peak winter season, a national daily reported on Sunday.

The petroleum levy on local production of LPG for financial year 2020-21 has been set at Rs5.5 billion, up from the budget of Rs4 billion for financial year 2019-20. The government is formulating an LPG pricing formula that will help eliminate the disparity between locally-produced and imported LPG for marketing companies and distributors.

It would also be beneficial for the end consumer, an official of the Petroleum Division said.

Under the new policy, taxes on imported LPG will be downward revised, revision of marketing and distribution margins, while linking locally-produced LPG with 90 percent of Saudi Aramco contract price (CP).

The Petroleum Division has

PETROLEUM LEVY HAS BEEN SET AT RS5.5BN FOR 2020-21 further proposed that the stateowned companies must import at least 50 percent of yearly LPG demand deficit and develop storages.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has been notifying LPG prices since February 2018 based on the matters that producers' price to be determined monthly is based on Saudi Aramco CP. The Petroleum Division also presented some other proposals for the government's approval for sustainable LPG supplies at reasonable prices in future. It recommended that state-owned companies involved in LPG supply chain like the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGCL) and the PakArab Refinery Limited (Parco) may either develop LPG storages or explore alternate means to manage adequate stocks of LPG to meet peak demand in the country.

It also recommended offering some incentives to state-owned

companies to develop the storage, import and manage adequate LPG stocks. The average production of domestic LPG was around 2,150 metric tons per day during 2019. During the winter months, the LPG demand increases by around 1,000 metric tons per day compared to the rest of the months of the year.

The LPG is mostly used for cooking purposes in remote areas of the country, where gas companies' network is not available.

Due to increased development and expected expansion of the LPG projects within the country, significant investments in the LPG supply and distribution infrastructure have been witnessed.

The Ogra has created an environment for additional investment especially in the LPG storage/filling plants and auto sector, which will result in creation of infrastructure in the LPG sector all over the country. During fiscal year 2018-2019, an estimated investment of Rs5.76 billion has been made in the LPG supply infrastructure, whereas, total investment in the sector till date, is estimated at about Rs36.44 billion.

Bread, bakery items to get more expensive as Eid approaches NEWS DESK Manufacturers of bread and other bakery items have decided to increase prices by over 11 per cent in the last week of this month ahead of Eidul Azha., a national daily reported.

The Karachi Bread Association (KBA) has also planned to raise the school bun price from November 2020 by Rs5 to Rs15, when schools are likely to reopen. As per new prices, which have been mutually approved among KBA members, the mini-plain and milky bread will cost Rs40 and Rs41 as compared to Rs35 and Rs36, the present rates.

The price of small bread has been increased to Rs60 and Rs61 from Rs55 and Rs56. Large plain bread may be available at Rs110 instead of Rs100.

The price of burger roll has been raised by Rs3 to Rs20 and bran bread and pillow pack rusk pack prices

have been increased by Rs 10 each, to Rs90 and Rs80, respectively. KBA General Secretary Haroon Iqbal, while speaking to media, said that the price of maida (super fine flour) had risen to Rs2,950 per 50kg [an increase of Rs 825] followed by hike in sugar rates to Rs87 per kg from Rs58 since last year.

He said that imported raw materials and products like preservatives, improving agents and emulsifiers make up for 22 percent of the total cost of bread and over the past year, the prices of these items had surged by 25-27 percent due to devaluation of the rupee against the dollar.

He said utility bills’ rate has also swelled by 3035 percent in the last year, thus pushing the cost of manufacturing up. “If the maida price further rises to Rs3,100 per 50kg then consumers may have to brave another jump of 10 percent increase in rates of bread and other items,” he said.

HSBC denies media reports that it ‘framed’ Huawei BEIJING AGENCIES

HSBC on Saturday denied Chinese media reports that it had “framed” Huawei Technologies and played a role in the arrest of the chief financial officer (CFO) of the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker.

In a statement posted on the bank’s Chinese WeChat messaging service account, the London-headquartered lender said it did not participate in the decision

of the US Department of Justice to investigate Huawei.

The HSBC statement comes a day after China’s official People’s Daily newspaper published a report accusing HSBC of being an accomplice of the United States and lying about Huawei, resulting in the arrest of its CFO Meng Wanzhou.

Meng was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a warrant from the United States.

She is accused by US authorities of

bank fraud for misleading HSBC about Huawei’s relationship with a company operating in Iran, putting HSBC at risk of fines and penalties for breaking US sanctions on Tehran.

“The context of the development of the Huawei incident clearly shows that the US investigation of Huawei was not triggered by HSBC,” the bank said in its WeChat post, without directly referring to the People’s Daily report.

“HSBC has no malice against Huawei, nor has it ‘framed’ Huawei,” it said.

CMYK

“In response to information requests from the US Department of Justice, HSBC only provided factual information. HSBC has not ‘fabricated’ evidence or ‘concealed’ facts, nor will it distort facts or harm any customers for our own benefit.”

The People’s Daily report on Friday alleged HSBC was well aware of Huawei’s business in Iran, and had been “setting traps” for the company since 2012.

Other Chinese media, including the China Global Television Network, have made similar allegations against HSBC.

caused the reported price spike.

Earlier, the CCP had also passed an order imposing a penalty of Rs6.4 billion on the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), and its members, for cartelization. APCMA and its members were able to obtain a stay order from the court, due to which the CCP has failed to recover the penalty to date. According to sources, in the coming days, the Lahore High Court is likely to announce a decision on CCP’s fine on APCMA after 10 years.

Hammad Azhar said that few brands have increased the prices in the Punjab and KP, whereas cement prices have witnessed a small decrease in Sindh and Balochistan. He, however, failed to ascertain the reasoning behind the price fluctuation and differential.

Profit approached APCMA regarding the issue, however the association denied any comment.

Prices of food items surge in KP PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

After the rise in the prices of flour and sugar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), prices of fruits, vegetables and other general food items have recorded a significant increase in the province. A general survey of price levels revealed that prices of vegetables and fruits have increased by 20 to 30 per cent in Peshawar during the last three days. Prices of tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, garlic and other vegetables surged by 30 per cent compared to price levels recorded three days earlier. Fazal Maula, a vegetable seller based in Peshawar while talking to Profit said that vegetables are being supplied to vegetable sellers at higher prices, hence the vegetable sellers are left with no option other than to charge higher prices to the end consumer. He added that prices of items such as garlic, ginger, onions, tomatoes, coriander and green chillies, which are specifically used on Eid-ul-Azha, are expected to rise in the coming days. During the the last two days the price of tomatoes in the province has increased from Rs40 per kilogramme (kg) to Rs70 per kg, price of onions increased from Rs30 to Rs60 per kg, price of ginger increased from Rs200 to Rs440 per kg, price of garlic increased from Rs250 to Rs350 per kg and price of green chillies increased from Rs80 to Rs150 per kg. Similarly, the price of mangoes increased from Rs100 to Rs250 per kg, price of apples increased from Rs120 to Rs180 per kg, price of peaches increased from Rs150 to Rs250 per kg.

Currently, in KP a 20kg bag of flour is being sold at Rs1,200 despite the official price set at Rs860.

Moreover, over the last week, the price of sugar in the province has increased by Rs10 per kg to Rs100 per kg while the price of cooking oil and ghee has been increased by Rs5 to Rs8 per kg. Citizens of Peshawar while talking to Profit blamed the surge in prices of food items on the “incompetence” of the district administration. “While millions of daily laborers have lost their jobs due to coronavirus pandemic, the district administration has completely failed to control inflation that has had a negative impact on the masses,” said Anwar Zaib, a citizen of Peshawar.

KP approves Rs8bn tax relief for construction industry NEWS DESK The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved a Rs8 billion tax relief for the construction sector on property transfer, Dawn news reported on Sunday.

Under the tax relief package, 0.5 percent registration fee on deeds and two percent local council tax on the transfer of immovable property had been waived. The province’s construction sector also got a special exclusion from sales tax on services like Punjab’s and a discounted rate of two percent for all other activities under the same head. The relief package also includes zero percent capital value tax, which is already part of the Finance Act, 2020-21. “The government intends to harmonise the [construction] sector in a holistic manner by improvising ease of doing business and providing monetary relief through either revising tax or improving tax processes,” a policy document on this tax relief said, adding that the role of the provincial government in boosting construction sector could be defined in two major areas: property transfer-related transactions and taxes charged from construction-related services. It is equally important to simplify processes by removing multiple taxes and instead create a single-window operation with the goal to enhance the ease of doing business for the construction sector.

Monday, 27 July, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

24 RoHINgya mIgRaNtS dRowN off malaySIa KUALA LUMPUR

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TLTP

Rohingya migrant is feared to be the only survivor from a boat carrying at least two dozen asylum seekers that is believed to have run into difficulty off the Malaysian coast near Thailand, a coast guard official said Sunday.

Mohamad Zawawi Abdullah, coast guard chief for the northern states of Kedah and Perlis, said the 27-year-old named Nor Hossain was detained by police after he swam to shore on the resort island of Langkawi.

“Based on the information from the police, the illegal Rohingya migrant had jumped off the boat that had 24 other people and that he was the only one who managed to swim to the shore safely,” Zawawi said.

A search and rescue operation had been

launched, but another official said that no bodies or survivors have been found. It is

N Korea declares emergency in border town as first suspected Covid-19 case reported SEOUL AGENCIES

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared an emergency and a lockdown in a border town after a person suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus returned from South Korea after illegally crossing the border, state media said on Sunday. If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by North Korean authorities. Kim convened an emergency politburo meeting in response to what he called a “critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country”, the North’s KCNA state news reported. A person who defected to South Korea three years ago returned across the fortified border that divides the two Koreas to the town of Kaesong this month with symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, KCNA reported. “An emergency event happened in Kaesong City where a runaway who went to the south three years ago, a person who is suspected to have been infected with the vicious virus returned on July 19 after illegally crossing the demarcation line,” KCNA said. KCNA did not say if the person had been tested, but said an “uncertain result was made from several medical check-ups of the secretion of that person’s upper respiratory organ and blood”, prompting officials to quarantine the person and investigate anyone he may have been in contact with. One analyst said the announcement was important, not only because North Korea was for the first time reporting a suspected coronavirus case but also because it suggested it was appealing for help.

“It’s an ice-breaking moment for North Korea to admit a case,” said Choo Jae-woo, a professor at Kyung Hee University. “It could be reaching out to the world for help. Perhaps for humanitarian assistance.” North Korea is under huge economic pressure because of international sanctions over its nuclear programme.

India’s Reliance becomes world’s second-most valuable energy firm NEW DELHI

not clear what happened to the boat.

Muslim-majority Malaysia is a favored

destination for Rohingya, who face persecution in their mostly Buddhist homeland of Myanmar, but authorities have in recent months been trying to stop them entering over coronavirus fears.

Many of the 700,000-plus Rohingya Muslims who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar three years ago have attempted to leave overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district on boats headed for Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia.

Zawawi said two coast guard aircraft and two boats have been deployed to search the suspected area.

Malaysia has stepped up maritime patrols since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in a bid to stop Rohingya boats from landing.

Although some have made it ashore many boats have been turned back, sparking anger from rights groups.

US resumes funding for miners amid tensions with China WASHINGTON TLTP

The Pentagon has reportedly decided to resume sponsoring two rare earth mineral processing projects, to cut US dependence on the top global supplier of the vital materials, China, as tensions soar between the two nations.

Australia’s Lynas Corporation, the world’s largest rare earth miner outside China, and its US rival, MP Materials, won grants from the US military for rare earth separation facilities in Texas and California in April.

However, the funding was quickly put on hold as senators urged that only US

rare earth projects be provided with support. At the same time, the US Department of Energy expressed concern about Beijing’s influence in MP Materials, as a Chinese company holds a minority stake.

After months-long additional research conducted by a third party, the Department of Defense decided to resume funding of the projects. According to documents dated July 10, the review concluded that the award process had been followed fairly. It is not clear how much money the firms are set to receive under the program.

Rare earths are a group of elements vital for the production of multiple de-

vices, from cell phones to advanced military gear. As is the case for the rest of the world, the US is heavily reliant on China for the widely used materials as it accounts for most of the global production. Since China signaled that it could cut off the supplies at the height of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies last year, the Trump administration has been looking for ways to boost domestic production.

However, China has not mentioned restricting these imports amid the recent escalation with the US, and even included the materials in the latest tariff waivers, issued in May.

12 held in Israel in protests against coronavirus handling JERUSALEM TLTP

Israeli police have arrested 12 people and used a water cannon in Jerusalem before dawn on Sunday to disperse furious demonstrators protesting against the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The arrests came as thousands of Israelis held several demonstrations across the country on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the main protest taking place in Jerusalem outside his official residence.

The protests have been going on for the past few weeks, sparked by what critics see as the government's failure in handling the coronavirus crisis after initially seeming to succeed in keeping the virus at bay.

Corruption charges against Netanyahu have further fuelled the demonstrations.

"Bibi, go home," read one sign held by a protester.

Other placards said: "We are fed up with the corrupt", and "Where are the morals? Where are the values?"

They blew horns, beat drums and chanted slogans, including "One million unemployed," "Bibi resign," "Crime Minister," "Shame," and "Bloated, corrupt cabinet, we are sick of you".

Protesters also slammed a law passed this week that gives the government special powers, under the banner of fighting COVID-19, until the end of 2021.

Hundreds of protesters also gathered outside Netanyahu's beach house in Caesarea, and in the capital Tel Aviv.

According to Rosenfeld, police handed out face masks before they called on the largest crowd in Jerusalem to go home over police-van loudspeakers several hours later.

They carried away some protesters who sat on sidewalks and refused calls to disperse in a show of civil disobedience.

"Police will allow demonstrations. However, it will not allow disturbances of the order," Rosenfeld said.

After what has been called a hasty and erratic reopening of the economy in May, infections shot up with the average number of new cases 2,000 a day.

The government has reimposed some restrictions, including closing bars, nightclubs and gyms.

Out of some nine million people, Israel has so far recorded 60,496 confirmed cases, including 455 deaths.

On Sunday, the government is expected to endorse an economic plan worth 6.5 billion shekels ($1.9bn) to address the crisis, according to local media reports.

Protesters say the government's offers of financial assistance have been nowhere near enough, with the unemployment rate skyrocketing to nearly 20 percent.

The protests came as Netanyahu faces trial for corruption, which resumed this month. He is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals. Hearings will start in January.

US break-into Houston consulate no different from burglary: China BEIJING TLTP

The US break-into the Chinese consulate in Houston is "no different from burglary," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying tweeted on Sunday as US legal enforcement agents were reported to have broken into the consulate compound on Friday afternoon. The premises of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston are the Chinese government's property. The US' break-in is in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as well as the US Constitution and the Foreign Missions Act, Hua said. Such behavior is no different from burglary, Hua noted. According to US media, US officials and a locksmith broke into a back door of the consulate at about 40 minutes after 4:00pm - the deadline the US administration gave for the closure of the consulate. Based on the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-US Consular Convention, the United States must not infringe on the premises of the Chinese consulate general in Houston in any way, he said. "China has expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to U.S. forced entry into the premises of the Chinese consulate general in Houston, and has lodged solemn representations. China will make a proper and necessary response in this regard," Wang said.

Chinese legal experts echoed Hua's comments, believing that the US' move apparently violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-US Consular Treaty.

Regardless if the compound is rented or has been purchased by the Chinese consulate, the US legal enforcement authorities are not entitled to enter the compound without the consulate's consent, experts noted.

UK announces to vaccinate 30m in flu season LONDON TLTP

The UK government has vastly expanded its free flu vaccination program, as the NHS prepares for a potential second spike in COVID19 cases in winter. The hope is to vaccinate 30 million people during the upcoming flu season, in an effort to mitigate the effects of a potential resurgence of coronavirus, the government has announced. The flu shot program will, for the first time, include all people over the age of 50, as well as children in their first year of secondary school. In previous years, the shot was offered for free to anyone over the age of 65, as well as young children, pregnant women, and people with serious underlying health conditions. However, the government is prioritizing those who are seen as most at risk.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the health initiative as “the biggest flu vaccine program in history.” According to Public Health England, some 15 million doses of the flu vaccine were administered in 2019-2020. Health experts are concerned that there could be a second spike of coronavirus cases in winter, which would coincide with the start of the flu season. Hancock argued that increasing the number of flu vaccinations would help the NHS cope with a potential surge in Covid-19 cases.

TLTP

Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani, has outpaced other energy majors to become the second-largest energy company in terms of market capitalization, after Saudi Arabia’s oil behemoth Aramco. Shares in the Indian conglomerate, which mostly owns businesses engaged in energy and resources, as well as other spheres such as retail and telecoms, added over four percent at the end of the trading week. The recent gains boosted the company’s value to a record 14.15 trillion rupees, or over $189 billion – a mark that no Indian company has ever crossed. This allowed Reliance Industries to overtake American corporation ExxonMobil, which faced losses on Friday. While its stock dropped less than one percent, it lost around $1 billion in market value, settling at less than $184 billion. This puts the Indian business as the most valued energy company after Saudi Aramco – which is also the most valuable company on the planet with a market cap of more than $1.7 trillion, followed by Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet (Google). Reliance Industries is currently at 46th position among the world's most valuable firms, and is ranked 10th largest among its peers in Asia.

How risky is dining out during the Covid-19 pandemic?

LONDON AGENCIES

How risky is dining out during the Covid19 pandemic? There is some risk, but health officials say there are precautions you can take to minimize the chances you’ll be exposed to the virus.

Ordering takeout or delivery is still the safest option for getting restaurant food, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you decide to eat at a restaurant, it’s best to opt for outdoor seating where tables are at least 6 feet apart, the agency says. Dining inside a restaurant that hasn’t reduced its capacity or safely distanced tables poses the most risk, it says.

The coronavirus spreads through droplets that are emitted when people talk, laugh, sing, cough, or sneeze. Indoor spaces are riskier than outdoor spaces because it

might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation, the CDC says.

Diners should assess what other safety steps the restaurant is taking.

For example, servers should be wearing masks and the restaurant should have a process to ensure people are not congregating too closely while waiting for a table, says Dr. Susan Casey Bleasdale, an infectious disease expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Digital or disposable menus and throwaway utensils are also preferable, according to the CDC. The agency says touchless payment options, like those available on your mobile device, are optimal. Otherwise, restaurants should have procedures for avoiding hand-to-hand contact with cash and credit cards.

If you are gathering at a restaurant with a group, Bleasdale suggests only dining with people you know and checking if

they have been feeling sick or experiencing any symptoms.

People more vulnerable to severe ill-

ness from the virus, such as the elderly, might want to avoid eating out at restaurants altogether.

Monday, 27 July, 2020

SPORTS 11

Stuart Broad inSPireS england witH Bat and Ball aS weSt indieS come unStuck LONDON

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AGENCIES

throw-back performance with the bat and a more modern turn with the ball from had England in control of their destiny after the second day of the deciding Test against West Indies. weighed in heavily as part of an enviable England seam attack in favourable conditions at Emirates Old Trafford to leave West Indies 137 for 6 - still 33 short of avoiding the follow-on - when bad light stopped play.

England’s position was not nearly as promising after a mini-collapse sent them from 258 for 4 at the start of play to 280 for 8 inside the first hour.

The scene was set for Ollie Pope, resuming on 91 not out, to reach his second Test century and Jos Buttler, unbeaten on 56, to convert a confidence-boosting knock into a statement-making big score. But neither of the protagonists from the previous day featured and nor did the rain that was expected to wipe out all of Saturday’s play, but which didn’t make an entrance at all.

Shannon Gabriel ignited West Indies’ charge with the second new ball - which was only 3.4 overs old before bad light had stopped play the previous evening - when he had Pope out without adding to his overnight score in an eventful spell.

Gabriel twice over-stepped while hitting Buttler on the pad, with replays also suggesting he’d found an inside edge both times. He then had Pope put down at slip by Rahkeem Cornwall, who had taken a blinder there the previous day and whose slips fielding is highly rated. On this occasion, Cornwall got both hands to an outside edge from Pope at waist height but shelled it to hand the batsman a life. With the first ball of his next over, however, Gabriel got his man when Pope aimed to whip a straight ball into the leg

side, but it whizzed past his bat and crashed into middle and off. then claimed his 200th Test wicket when he had Chris Woakes out, chopping on.

Having waited the best part of 11 months and 521 deliveries before breaking his wicket drought in last week’s second Test, Roach became the ninth West Indies player to reach the milestone.

Gabriel had Buttler out for 67 to a sharp,

low catch by Jason Holder at second slip, then and Roach and Holder combined to dismiss Jofra Archer, Holder taking another good slips catch.

That brought Broad to the crease and it was the Broad of old, the one known for his batting ability and regarded as a genuine allround talent before he was struck by a Varun Aaron bouncer on this ground in 2014. On this occasion, he raced to fifty off just 33

Broad sending a low full toss straight to Jermaine Blackwood at deep midwicket, but not before he had put on a very handy 62 from 45 balls. It was Broad’s 13th Test halfcentury but his first since 2017.

In keeping with the nostalgic theme, old heads Anderson and Broad opened the bowling for England. Broad, 34, may object to being put in the same age category, having recently stated his intention to emulate Anderson, who turns 38 this month, and well into his late 30s. Broad started well, enticing an edge from Kraigg Brathwaite that went to Joe Root at slip with his fourth ball, the 10th of the innings.

Anderson then watched as Ben Stokes produced a rare fumble to put down John Campbell at second slip. The outside edge reached him at a decent height but Stokes went low and dropped it as the under-pressure opener, WEST INDIES 137 on 10, survived.

It was a while before FOR 6 (HOLDER 24*, England made another DOWRICH 10*) TRAIL breakthrough, but they ENGLAND 369 (POPE 91, did it in style with Archer setting Campbell up with BUTTLER 67, BROAD 62, a series of full-length balls BURNS 57, ROACH 4-72) before unleashing a short one at his ribs, the ball flying BY 232 RUNS off the bat handle and looping to Rory Burns at gully. Campbell was gone for 32.

Anderson got his rewards with an excellent delivery that straightened late to have the struggling Shai Hope caught behind just balls - equal third-fastest by an England bats- before tea, and he removed the in-form man. He sent a thunderous six off Roach Shamarh Brooks three balls after the rehigh over midwicket and drove Gabriel in- sumption, this time finding the inside edge tently for four, but Broad took a particular to give Buttler another catch. liking to Holder’s bowling, picking off three Broad had Chase out lbw to match Anfours from one over and two consecutive derson’s figures of 2 for 17 and when fours off his next. Broad also brought up his Woakes flattened Jermaine Blackwood’s half-century with a blazing stroke over back- middle stump, West Indies were left needing ward square off Holder. a big partnership from captain Holder and It was Roston Chase who got rid of him, Shane Dowrich.

Imamul Haq cleared of serious injury as rain blights Pakistan warm-up LONDON AGENCIES

Halep withdraws from Palermo, organisers ‘profoundly disappointed’ ROME: World number two Simona Halep has withdrawn from next month’s Palermo Ladies Open following Italy’s decision to impose a mandatory quarantine for people coming from Romania and Bulgaria amid the coronavirus pandemic, organisers said on Sunday. Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Friday people who have been in Romania and Bulgaria in the past 14 days will be quarantined upon arrival in Italy, a move aimed at preventing the importation of Covid-19 cases. “We found out with great bitterness the decision of the world number two to cancel her participation,” the tournament’s director Oliviero Palma said in a statement. Palermo will be the first professional tennis event across the WTA and men’s ATP Tours after a fivemonth break, with action scheduled to get underway on the clay courts of the Sicilian capital from Aug. 3. “Given the recent rise in Covid-19 cases in Romania and my anxieties around international air travel at this time, I have made the tough decision to withdraw from Palermo,” Halep said on Twitter. “I want to thank the tournament director and the Italian ministry of health for all their efforts on my behalf and I wish the tournament a successful week.” Halep, the reigning Wimbledon champion and 2018 French Open winner, has also committed to the Prague Open, scheduled to start on Aug. 10. Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by the novel coronavirus but the amount of daily new infections being reported is a fraction of the numbers in late March. The country has recorded over 35,000 deaths from the virus. AGENCIES

Imam-ul-Haq will be fit to play in Pakistan’s Test series against England despite an injury scare on the first day of their intra-squad warm-up match at Derby.

Imam, who looks set to be the back-up opener behind Abid Ali and Shan Masood, was forced to retire hurt on Friday evening after being struck on the left hand by a ball from , but was able to take part in a warmup session in the morning and will resume his innings on the third day.

Pakistan’s preparations for the series were hit by rain on the second day of the warm-up match, with only 35 minutes’ play possible after a downpour shortly before the scheduled start washed out the first two session.

Umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy and Alex Wharf decided play could begin at 4pm but after seven overs, more heavy rain set in with Team White 108 for 3 in reply to Team Green’s 113.

With two days remaining in the game, the tourists will want the batsmen who are expected to play in the first Test to spend time in the middle after they failed in Team Green’s first innings.

Abid, Masood and captain Azhar Ali were all dismissed for single-figure scores by experienced pace bowler who took 5 for 37 in 16 overs.

Only Babar Azam batted for any length of time on the same pitch that was used for the first warm-up match, facing 77 balls for his 32. The outlook is better for Sunday, but rain is expected to ruin the final day on Monday.

TEAM WHITE 108 FOR 3 (FAWAD ALAM 21*, SARFARAZ AHMED 13*) TRAIL TEAM GREEN 113 BY FIVE RUNS

PCB came under pressure over England tour after positive Covid-19 tests, says CEO LAHORE AGENCIES

The PCB came under intense pressure in deciding whether to send its team to England or not after , but eventually went ahead with the tour to help with the resumption of the game amid the pandemic, CEO Wasim Khan has said.

Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain and Kashif Bhatti were among those who tested positive in the first round of testing ahead of the tour. Some of these players subsequently cleared a second or later test and joined the rest of the squad in England.

Pakistan play a three-match Test series against England starting on August 5, followed by three T20Is. “The Board was under pressure when so

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many players’ tests came positive. Thus sending the cricket team to England during the coronavirus pandemic was quite a tough decision,” Wasim Khan was quoted as saying by Pakistani channel Geo News. “We kept to our plan to go ahead with the tour because we had in the first place decided to send the team to play our important part in the restoration of world cricket, and to keep it on track it is imperative to continue with matches.”

Khan also said that “cricket and Covid-19 will have to co-exist”.

He said the PCB also took into account that West Indies proceeded with their tour of England despite the uncertainties. “Whenever we are asked regarding our decision to proceed with the tour to England, the same question should also be posed to the West Indies cricket team, which has also continued with scheduled matches,” he said. “West Indies decided to go to England when the situation was quite worse over there [due to the pandemic].”

Monday, 27 July, 2020

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ArMy dOwnS 10Th IndIAn qUAdcOPTEr In 2020: ISPr RAWALPINDI

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HE Pakistan Army on Sunday shot down yet another spy quadcopter which had crossed over from India, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

According to the military’s media wing, the Indian quadcopter was shot down in the Pandu sector along the Line of Control (LoC). “It had intruded 200 metres on Pakistan’s side of the LoC,” it said on Twitter. “This is the 10th Indian quadcopter shot down by Pakistan Army this year,” the ISPR added.

The last drone which had intruded 850 metres on Pakistan’s side of the LoC, was shot down on June 28 in the Hot Spring Sector. Earlier this month, another quadcopter had intruded into Pakistani territory and was shot down in Khanjar Sector along

PIA cuts fares for domestic flights ahead of Eid

the LoC. It had crossed 500 metres on Pakistan’s side of the border. In May, two quadcopters were shot down within the same week. On May 29, the army had downed a drone that violated Pakistani airspace from Kanzalwan Sector along the LoC. Two days prior to that, an Indian surveillance drone that had crossed over the LoC into the Rakh Chakri sector was shot down by the army. Early in June, ISPR DirectorGeneral Major General Babar Iftikhar had warned India that Pakistan would respond with full might to any misadventure and that it should “not play with fire”.

Maj Gen Iftikhar had said Pakistan was ready for any military adventurism and there would be “uncontrollable and unintended consequences”. The military spokesperson had said Pakistan Army’s capability was demonstrated in its response last year. “Do not play with fire,” he had warned the Indian side.

UNGA president-elect postpones Pakistan visit

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday announced that it has reduced fares for domestic flights prior to Eidul Azha. The decision was taken as per the directives of PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik in order to facilitate passengers ahead of Eid. A spokesman of the national flag carrier said that the one-way ticket of Lahore or Islamabadbound flight from Karachi would cost Rs8,652. Similarly, a one-way ticket of a Quetta-bound flight from Karachi would cost Rs11,535, while Peshawar-bound flights from Karachi would cost Rs11,714 including taxes.

Earlier on Eidul Fitr, the national airline announced a 10 per cent discount on all flights for doctors and paramedical staff who wanted to travel before and during the Eid. TLTP

NEW YORK STAFF REPORT

The incoming president of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) announced Sunday that he was postponing a scheduled visit to Pakistan “due to some technical flight problems.”

Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected president of the 75th session of the UNGA last month and was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday.

But in a Twitter post, he said the visit to Islamabad would have to wait.

Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted in response to Bozkir that “I look forward to welcoming you to Pakistan soon for a constructive and fruitful visit.” A day earlier, a jubilant Qureshi, while announcing the visit, had hoped he would discuss a range of issues with Bozkir, including Indian held Kashmir.

Pakistan wants the United Nations

One shot and killed during BLM protest in Texas AUSTIN: Authorities confirmed that one person had been shot and killed during a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, Texas on Saturday. Footage posted during a Facebook Live showed the moment when several shots rang out in the Texas capital as about 100 people marched and chanted, “Fists up! Fight back!” Austin police and emergency medical services said on Twitter that one person was killed during the shooting. There were no other deaths or people shot, according to the EMS department. Initial reports indicate the suspect was carrying a rifle and shot at the victim, who was in his car, police told a briefing. The suspect has been detained, they said. Protests against racism and police brutality were sparked worldwide following the May killing of African-American George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis. AGENCIES

to play its role in resolving the issue of Kashmir under its resolutions by allowing people living in the Himalayan re-

gion to decide whether they want to merge with India, with Pakistan or whether they prefer independence.

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Explosion hits southern Baghdad weapons depot, blamed on heat BAGHDAD: A weapons depot belonging to Iraq’s federal police force exploded on Sunday in Baghdad’s southern suburbs because of high summer temperatures and poor storage, the military said in a statement. Multiple explosions could be heard in Baghdad on Sunday evening. Security sources said the depot, which is part of a military base used by both the police and paramilitary forces, was one that had caught fire in August last year.

That fire also set off explosions heard across Baghdad, killing one person and injuring 29 others. There were no casualties reported immediately on Sunday. Iraqi paramilitary groups with links to Iran last year blamed a series of blasts at their weapons depots and bases on the United States and Israel as tension escalated between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. killing of Iran’s military mastermind Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a missile strike in Baghdad in January raised the threat that Iraq could become a battlefield in a conflict between Washington and Tehran. AGENCIES

Gulf dispute has gone on too long, U.S. envoy says on visit DUBAI: US Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook said on Sunday a rift between Qatar and some of its other Gulf Arab allies had lasted too long and urged them to rebuild trust and unity. Gulf states Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June 2017 over accusations it supports terrorism. Doha denies the charges and says the bloc aims to infringe its sovereignty. The United States, along with Gulf state Kuwait, has so far unsuccessfully tried to mediate the dispute, which Washington sees as a threat to efforts to contain Iran. “The dispute has continued for too long and it ultimately harms our shared regional interests in stability, prosperity and security,” Hook told reporters from Qatar after meeting with the Gulf state’s foreign minister. “Bringing an end to this dispute really will advance the collective interests of all the parties to this conflict.” Hook is in the Middle East to urge the extension of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran. He has visited U.N. Security Council member Tunisia and will soon travel to Kuwait, he said. Hook said he would raise the Gulf dispute with Kuwaiti officials and hoped that the hospitalisation of its 91-year-old ruler would “not have any negative effect on diplomatic efforts”. AGENCIES

Moderna gets further $472m US award for coronavirus vaccine development WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Moderna Inc said on Sunday it has received an additional $472 million from the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support development of its novel coronavirus vaccine.

The U.S.-based drug maker said the additional funding will support its latestage clinical development including the expanded Phase 3 study of Moderna’s vac-

cine candidate. In April, Moderna had received $483 million from the U.S. federal agency that funds disease-fighting technology, when the experimental vaccine was in an early-stage trial conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

“Encouraged by the Phase 1 data, we believe that our mRNA vaccine may aid in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing future outbreaks,” Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said in a press release. BARDA’s total funding for the experimental vaccine of Moderna, the

first in the United States to begin human trials of a coronavirus vaccine, is now about $955 million. The vaccine uses synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) to inoculate against the coronavirus. Such treatments help the body immunize against a virus and can potentially be developed and manufactured more quickly than traditional vaccines.

A Phase 3 study, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will begin on July 27 and involve about 30,000 participants,

according to the company. Moderna said it remains on track to be able to deliver about 500 million doses per year, and possibly up to 1 billion doses per year, beginning in 2021. The announcement about further funding came two days after the drug developer said its formula used in developing the vaccine was not covered under patents owned by Arbutus Biopharma Pfizer Inc, Novavax Inc, Britian’s AstraZeneca Plc are other few drug makers that received funding from BARDA for coronavirus vaccine development.

Industrialist’s raise questions over appointment of transaction advisers for PSM privatisation ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

While the transaction advisers appointed for privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) have reportedly submitted their proposals, sources belonging to the steel industry have raised questions regarding the process of appointment of the advisers.

A steel industrialist while talking to Profit on the condition of anonymity, claimed that transaction advisers for privatisation of PSM on a public private partnership basis, have been appointed in a non-transparent manner.

The industrialist said that instead of appointing a single qualified transaction adviser, the government has appointed a consortium of transaction advisers which includes multiple organisations. Some of the organisations are controversial while others lack experience pertaining to advising on highly technical projects like PSM. The seven-member consortium includes

Pak China Investment Company Limited (PCICL) as the lead of the consortium, Fergusons & Co, Cornelius, Lane & Mufti, Abacus Consulting, Sino Steel and Iqbal Nanjee & Co. According to the steel industrialist, the transaction adviser should have been appointed in accordance with international law.

He added that the transparent appointment of a single company having technical and commercial knowledge of PSM and its operations and processes would have been enough.

“PCICL is a Development Financial Institution (DFI) formed under the initiatives taken by the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and People's Republic of China for the promotion of trade, investment and economic growth of Pakistan. The company is a joint venture in which equity is equally contributed by the GoP and China Development Bank,” he said.

“It is not in the scope of PCICL to act as a transaction adviser as it is already a Joint Venture (JV) partner of the GoP and any decision or advice coming it can favor the GoP

or the Chinese government.”

According to sources, the inclusion of Sino Steel in the consortium, which is also a candidate for the acquisition of PSM on a public private partnership basis is also a controversial move. The Privatization Commission (PC) has shared the first draft of human resource, financial and tax due diligence with PCICL and the Bank of China (BoC) for the purpose of reviving PSM. As of April 2020, PSM had provisional losses of Rs300 billion and payable debts liabilities above Rs280 billion.

Earlier while briefing a meeting of the Senate's Standing Committee on Industries and Production, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hamad Azhar also claimed that the steel mill would be run in collaboration with private partners adding that the bidding for a joint venture would be held later this year.

The minister for industries and production further said that out of the 12 international companies which expressed interest in

PSM, six companies have already visited the steel mills. Hammad Azhar informed that some lands belonging to the steel mills were being leased out, adding that big decisions needed to be taken in order to make PSM self-reliant.

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

The minister further informed that Pakistan’s steel consumption stands at seven million tonnes adding that despite several steel mills being operational in the country Pakistan still imports iron and steel products to fulfill its demand.