Epaper – March 2 ISB 2021

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021 I 17 Rajab, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 243 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

SC upholdS SeCret ballot for Senate eleCtionS g

4-1 majority judgement observes Senate polls held in accordance with law and Constitution

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

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nnounCing its verdict on a presidential reference seeking legal opinion on the holding of Senate election through an open vote, the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said polls for the upper house will be held through a secret ballot.

The 4-1 majority opinion was announced by a five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice umar Ata Bandial, Justice ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Yahya Afridi.

The dissenting note was written by Justice Afridi who observed that “the opinion sought [by the president] is not a question of law within the contemplation of Article 186 of the Constitution of the islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973”. He, therefore, abstained from giving his opinion on the case.

The reference was forwarded to the top court in December under Article 186 of the Constitution, which relates to the ad-

visory jurisdiction of the forum, after Prime Minister imran Khan expressed his desire to curtail the practice of horsetrading in Senate elections by introducing an open-ballot system.

Following two months of proceedings, the court had on Thursday reserved its verdict, later announcing to issue it on Monday. in the eight-page verdict, the apex court observed elections to the House are held in accordance with the law and the Constitution, saying it “is the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly, and in accordance with [the] law and that corrupt practices are guarded against.” it also said that the commission could “use the latest technology to ensure the holding of transparent elections” by exercising powers granted to it under Article 218.

However, the verdict admitted that the secrecy of the ballot papers was “not final”, quoting a decision by the top court on the same in 1967 (niaz Ahmed versus Azizuddin case). While the order cited Arti-

CoronaviruS in

pakiStan

CONFIRMED CASES:

581,365

cle 226 of the Constitution to support its argument, the judges said the Parliament can decide if it feels the need to end the secrecy of the voting process.

Commenting on the verdict, Attorney general of Pakistan (AgP) Khalid Jawed Khan said it was now up to the ECP to select what method to use in the March 3 elections to check corruption.

“The ECP is bound to investigate and trace the ballot to see whether any corrupt practice occurred,” he said in a statement. The commission, he said, was “constitutionally bound” to follow the opinion of the apex court and implement it without any amendments to existing rules or legislation.

‘HISTORIC DECISION’: Addressing a press conference soon after the verdict was issued, Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) Senator Faisal Javed Khan while terming the ruling a “splendid decision” said it was a “victory for Pakistan”. He said he was grateful that the court listened to all the stakeholders.

“The attorney general’s team worked hard and great arguments were done.

Such a detailed discussion on the Senate has not happened before,” Khan said.

“The honourable court said secrecy (of the election process) is not absolute,” he observed and said the verdict implies “it cannot stay (the same way) till the Day of Judgement.” Prime Minister imran, he said, had made efforts to end “bribery, thievery and buying and selling” in the Senate polls.

“When elections are held through identifiable ballots, no one would dare to sell their vote,” he said, adding: “This is a splendid opinion for transparency.”

The senator said after the verdict, the election commission would have to ensure three things: identifiable ballots, proportional representation and ensuring free and transparent elections.

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NEW CASES:

36

1,392

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

546,371 12,896 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

258,266 172,054 KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

72,424

19,049

10,243/4,956

44,373

PM listens to grievances of ruling coalition ISLAMABAD Mian abRaR

Prime Minister imran Khan on Monday met with members of the national Assembly (MnAs) and discussed matters related to their constituencies ahead of the upcoming Senate elections.

The prime minister is meeting the lawmakers from the ruling coalition to listen to their grievances and address their reservations.

The MnAs, who called on the prime minister here at the Parliament House, included gul Dad Khan, gul Zafar Khan, Jawad Hussain, Muhammad iqbal Afridi, Sajid Khan, Dr Haider Ali, noor Alam Khan, Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, uzma Riaz, Zille-eHuma, nafeesa Khattak and Shandana gulzar.

Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Minister for Religious Affairs Pir noor-ul-Haq Qadi and Special Assistant Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar were also present during the meeting.

After the meeting, the MnAs have claimed that Prime Minister

Judge says he seeks an early verdict on the set of review requests, seeking larger-bench hearings, as one justice is due to retire in April ISLAMABAD

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

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Justice Isa seeks speedy trial as SC takes up review petitions

Staff RepoRt

LAST UPDATED AT 7:20 AM ON MARCH 1, 2021

PM meets MNAs, discusses their constituencies’ matters

Justice Qazi Faez isa sought an early decision on his appeal in the majority judgement that quashed the presidential reference against him as the Supreme Court (SC) took up his petition in the case on Monday.

Justice isa, who called on a 10-judge bench of the top court, said he seeks an early verdict on the set of review requests, seeking larger-bench hearings, as one judge, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, is due to retire in April.

“This case is important because it relates to the accountability of the judiciary and transparency of their conduct,” he said.

Subsequently, the court served a notice on Attorney general of Pakistan (AgP) Khalid Jawed Khan and adjourned the hearing until Tuesday. in June, the apex court had dismissed the presidential reference which sought action

against Justice isa for non-disclosure of family members’ properties in his wealth statement.

The reference filed in May 2019 alleged that he acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015, but did not disclose them in his wealth returns. Justice isa contested the allegation, saying he is not a beneficial owner of the flats — neither directly nor indirectly.

However, seven of the 10 judges on the bench hearing

the case ordered the inland Revenue Department (iRS) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to seek explanations from the judge’s wife and children on the nature and source of funding for three properties in their names in the united Kingdom and submit a report to the SC registrar.

Justice isa then approached the apex court, seeking a review of the decision. Bar associations, including the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), also filed similar petitions.

The petitioners had contended that the three judges — Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi — who wrote dissenting notes in the detailed reasons should not be excluded from the bench hearing the review petitions. in December, the apex court reserved its verdict, before releasing it on February 22 wherein it referred the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) gulzar Ahmed.

imran talked of increasing MnA funds from Rs150 million to Rs500 million.

Talking on a television programme, PTi MnA Dr Seemi Bukhari claimed that Prime Minister imran, during the parliamentary meeting, said that MnAs’ funds should be increased from Rs150 million to Rs500 million.

She said that everyone applauded and chanted slogans of ‘Well done prime minister’ upon this announcement. The MnAs were crying a lot that our work was not going well, she added.

According to assembly member Rubina Jamil, Rs150 million have been released so far, while Rs500 million has been claimed for the future. no one, including Dr Hafeez Shaikh, objected to the PM’s announcement.

He further said that they used to criticise the PML-n for misuse of funds but it will be audited.

Parliamentary Secretary Rukhsana naveed stated that the premier had talked about increasing development funds.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

MORE INSIDE

Govt offers technological support for electronic voting STORY ON PAGE 03

Maryam lauds SC, says govt scared of ‘power of the vote’ STORY ON PAGE 02

COAS, British envoy discuss Afghan peace process STORY ON BACK PAGE

Hafeez for expediting efforts to get out of FATF grey list STORY ON BACK PAGE

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Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

MAryAM lAuds sC, sAys govt sCAred of ‘Power of the vote’

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NewS DeSk

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz lauded the decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the tradition of the secret ballot within the Senate elections and accused the incumbent government of being afraid of the power of the vote.

“Mark my words, no measures similar to the breakdown of the results transmission system (RTS) system and the Daska byelection will be tolerated. Why are you afraid of the power of the vote?” she asked on Twitter.

She added that the Constitution has proven itself superior to the “conspiratorial ordinances and ill-intentioned references”, taunting the government for creating a fuss about the use of technology to trace the votes polled at the Senate elections.

Similarly, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has said that the government has been miserably

OPPOSITION WANTS TO MAKE SENATE ELECTIONS DISPUTED: FAWAD defeated before the Senate elections as the Supreme Court has given its opinion that the Senate elections will be held according to the constitution.

In a statement on Monday, he said that the government wanted to avoid the Senate elections but failed. It is so ridiculous that the government spokesmen are declaring this opinion as if it was their victory. The Supreme Court has responded in the negative to the question by the government, he maintained.

Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khohar said that these spokesmen have no answer to the questions like has the Supreme Court asked to hold the Senate elections by show of hands as the government wanted. They also do not have the answer to the question that is the Presidential order effective after the Supreme Court’s opinion.

The PPP leader said that March 03, is the

schools resume regular classes after drop in Covid-19 cases ISLAMABAD STaff REPoRT

Schools across Pakistan resumed Monday regular five-day classes after the country witnessed a decline in Covid-19 infections and deaths in recent weeks. In November, the government had shut schools and postponed exams to try to curb new infections and a rise in the number of people in hospitals with Covid-19 before opening them in phases earlier this month. “All schools will go back to regular 5 day classes from Monday March 1,” Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood had tweeted February 25. “Restrictions imposed in some major cities on schools to conduct staggered classes was only till Feb 28.” The government portal keeping track of the outbreak in Pakistan on Monday reported 1,392 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 38,338 tests, receiving back a positivity ratio of 3.63 per cent. Mahmood’s tweet came a day after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said to have devised new rules after a “comprehensive review” of the coronavirus situation. “Time-limit lifted from commercial activities and amusement parks, condition of 50% work from home removed,” NCOC said. “Indoor wedding ceremonies will be allowed from 15th March 21 […] Indoor dining allowed from 15th March subject to the review on 10th March.” The NCOC also allowed cinemas and shrines to reopen from March 15, with coronavirus guidelines in place. “Wearing of masks, social distancing, smart lockdowns will continue and will be ensured,” the body said.

shC rejects objection over PPP leader’s nomination for senate kARACHI STaff REPoRT

The election tribunal of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday rejected the objection raised on the nomination of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and Senate hopeful Palwasha Khan, declaring her eligible for the March 3 elections. In a previous hearing, the petitioner had informed the court that her vote was unlawfully transferred from Punjab to Sindh. “She hid the details of her assets and misrepresented herself and shouldn’t be allowed to contest the elections,” the petitioner maintained. But the court observed that the practice of vote transfer is supported by the law. “How did vote transfer from Punjab to Sindh violate the law?” questioned the court. “This court is not an appellate tribunal to examine documents,” it observed. The court further said the petitioner should instead look into Article 62 which says that a person is not qualified to become a member of the legislative assemblies if they are not Sadiq and Ameen, and Article 63 (disqualifications for membership of Parliament) of the Constitution. Subsequently, the high court allowed Khan to contest the upcoming elections.

day of the victory of Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani and the defeat of the candidate of selected Prime Minister Imran Khan. This puppet government will be defeated in the Senate election similar to the defeats in byeelections, he concluded.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Monday asserted that the opposition intentionally wanted to make Senate elections disputed.

“The opposition knew they would not be able to win the Senate elections and consider horse-trading as the only option to win”, he stated while talking to media outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The minister was accompanied by Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat

Mahmood and Senior leader Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Babar Awan.

Chaudhry Fawad said that the delegation from the government side had expressed full confidence over the ECP as the final decision of the ECP to prevail.

“We have expressed full confidence over ECP considering the fact that if the institutions will be strengthened, the country will become strong”, he stated.

“Secrecy of ballot, as per SC decision, will be kept for the political parties but not for ECP which would empower ECP to conduct inquiry if there will be any allegation of horse-trading raised by any member”, he said. However, the final decision would be of ECP, the minister added.

This was the principle on which Prime Minister Imran Khan and our cabinet had filed reference before Supreme Court, he

said. He emphasized that the Supreme Court’s decision should be implemented in letter and spirit.

He said this was the principle for which Prime Minister Imran Khan had been struggling since the year 2013.

“We have requested the ECP to implement the decision of Supreme Court which empowers the commission to ensure complete transparency in election and eliminate the chances of horse-trading and corruption”, he said.

PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had signed the Charter of Democracy in that regard in the year 2006 but PML-N stepped back before formally pursuing the law, he said.

He maintained that PML-N, PPP and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) did not have a majority in the upper house and they could not win the elections.

“This is the reason they are against every such effort that brings transparency in the election. Otherwise, there would be no need of horse-trading if they knew that they would get maximum votes in Senate election,” he stated.

“We have presented our stance in front of ECP with sufficient arguments”, he said.

Around 1,700 total ballot papers would be required to be printed for the elections for which we had the required technology, he added. ”If we can print a big number of currency notes in Pakistan on a daily basis which is a highly secure tender why not 1,700 ballot papers,” he asked.

Gillani asks for PM’s support in Senate elections NewS DeSk Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader and former premier Yousaf Raza Gillani has asked members of the National Assembly as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan to vote for him in the upcoming Senate elections.

The request was made in a letter written by Gillani, who will be contesting the elections as the joint candidate for the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of the 10 parties against the incumbent government. Gillani has asked the premier to forsake the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) own candidate, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Sharing his lifelong struggle and contributions in Pakistani politics, the PDM candidate termed the upcoming polls as crucial as they will determine the direction of the future of Pakistani politics. The seasoned politician added

that we need political unity and need to put aside self-serving desires and political differences.

Addressing the parliamentarians, he said they have to come together to restore the sanctity and dignity of the

legislature.

Gillani has stated that during his tenures as both a speaker of the NA and a prime minister for the country, he provided a level playing field to both treasury and opposition members.

IHC seeks opinions of NA speaker, Senate chief in pleas for Zardari’s disqualification ISLAMABAD TLTP

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday took up petitions seeking disqualification of former president Asif Ali Zardari as a member of the National Assembly (NA). An IHC bench, headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, was hearing the petitions filed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Usman Dar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA from Karachi Khurram Sher Zaman, who sought disqualification of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) CoChairman Zardari.

Over the course of the hearing, the PTI lawmaker’s

lawyer contended before the court that an election tribunal could disqualify a candidate after the election.

At this, the chief justice questioned whether the person disqualified by the tribunal doesn’t have the right to go to the court against the verdict. “Why should the court meddle in unnecessary matters?” he questioned and asked the council to satisfy the court in this regard. This court disqualified a foreign minister but the Supreme Court overturned his disqualification, the judge said.

The court regards elected representatives, the IHC judge said and directed the counsel to submit documents regarding the disqualification. “Why should Parliament not deal with this matter without the court’s intervention?” he asked.

“My journey comprises four long decades. I got elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly in 1985 and became the Prime Minister in the year 2008. Most of you are well aware of my partial actions about those days,” the letter read. The former prime minister said he took the decision of contesting the Senate elections after giving it much thought.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court (SC) announced that the coming Senate elections will be held through a secret ballot.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that the campaign for upcoming Senate elections in the country will come to end by midnight tonight.

The ECP has asked all the political parties and the contesting candidates to follow the provisions of law and exercise self-restraint so that the poll is held in an orderly and peaceful manner on Wednesday.

CAA issues fresh guidelines for inbound flights The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Monday issued a new travel advisory for inbound flights, private, and chartered planes, a notification issued in this regard said. According to the notification, the CAA reduced the countries in Category A from 24 to 15, while the ban on passengers from countries in Category C remained intact. The guidelines will remain in place until March 14, the notification said.

Australia, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka are among the 21 countries included in Category A, according to the notification. Meanwhile, Botswana, Brazil, Columbia, Ghana, Ireland, United Kingdom, Zambia, and Netherland are among the 15 countries included in Category C. NEWS DESK

Senate elections: PPP asks ECP to address code of conduct violations NewS DeSk The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) wrote a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over alleged code of conduct violations by top public officeholders ahead of Senate elections and asked the body to take note of the meetings between the aforementioned governors with various candidates.

PPP Secretary-General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said in the letter that the president and governors could not run an election campaign in accordance with the code of conduct.

He stated that the governors of all provinces were violating the code of conduct for Senate elections.

“Despite the clear directions contained in the Code of Conduct, the governors of the provinces are often reported in the media to be holding meetings with various candidates for the Senate elections,” the PPP leader pointed out.

“It appears that either the governors have not read the CoC or they are willfully violating it. I will be grateful if the governors are asked to strictly observe the Code of Conduct and desist from using their offices and houses in connection with the Senate election due on March 3, 2021,” he stated.

It was formulated following consultations with political parties having representation in the National

Assembly (NA) or provincial assemblies, according to the notification.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday had issued the code of conduct for the forthcoming Senate elections on March 3.

According to the code, the president of Pakistan and the governors will not take part in the campaign for the polls or use their residences for the purpose.

Political parties and the candidates will abide by the rules set for peaceful and organised polls. “No one will be allowed to speak against the state, its sovereignty, stability, or interest.”

The concerned will also have to abstain from issuing statements that could harm the independent status of the

judiciary, parliament, or the military.

The authority further restrained the concerned from any propaganda against Islam or the ideology of Pakistan. “All parties and the candidates will abstain from causing any harm to ECP’s stature.”

The communique added that those participating shall follow the directions issued from time to time, and avoid becoming part of any illegal or corrupt activity.

“The candidates and their supporters may not seek or accept the help of any sort from any official,” ECP said and added, “no official shall promote a candidate nor impede the electoral process.”

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Govt offerS teChNoloGiCal SuPPort for eleCtroNiC votiNG

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StAff RepoRt

HE Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been offered technological support by the government to carry out electronic voting, it emerged on Monday. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and other members of the ECP met with a delegation of federal ministers wherein they were offered the support after the release of the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to upload electronic voting.

Separately, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill on Monday said that the Supreme Court’s ruling will end horse-trading in Senate.

Talking to a private TV channel Shahbaz Gill said that Prime Minister Imran Khan adopted a clear stance against those involved in vote trading in Senate and the latest ruling of the top court will end the vote corruption in the Upper House.

He said that the ECP has been directed

Non-bailable arrest warrants for Pashteen, Dawar issued in inflammatory speech case KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders Manzoor Pashteen and Mohsin Javed Dawar in a case related to inflammatory speech and sedition. During the hearing, the anti-terrorism court approved the interim challan against Pashteen and Dawar which declared the PTM leaders as fugitives. Later, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for them and ordered the authorities to arrest and produce the accused till March 9. According to the police challan, five more arrests were made against those nominated in the case.

The arrested persons included Javed, Tahir, Ibrahim, Naimat and Sarwar over allegedly delivering objectionable remarks against the national institutions. It is pertinent to mention here that the case was registered against PTM’s Ali Wazir and others in the Sohrab Goth police station in Karachi. tLtP

the Federal Capital, seven general seats, two seats for women, two seats for Technocrats including Ulema from each province like Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan and one seat for non-Muslims each from KP and Balochistan province.

TRACEABLE BALLOT TO END VOTE TRADING IN SENATE, SAYS GILL ON SC’S RULING to hold transparent Senate elections and directed to make ballot papers traceable through bar code or serial number.

The traceable ballot papers will end vote-trading through using the technology to spot those involved in corrupt practices, said Shahbaz Gill. The top court orders could not be violated and it is now the duty of the election commission to add serial numbers in the ballot papers, added the PM’s aide on political communication.

He termed the apex court’s ruling as the victory of PM Imran Khan and said that traceable ballot will pave the way to open a probe against the persons involved in vote corruption.

In a Twitter message, Gill said that Allah Almighty has given another victory to Imran Khan against the mafia. He added that PM Imran had earlier introduced neutral umpires in cricket and led a historical sit-in against

vote-rigging.

The premier had ousted the persons involved in Senate vote trading and fought a war against horse-trading in Senate in the court and the parliament for the first time in Pakistan, he added.

Earlier in the day, the SC ruled that the forthcoming Senate elections are to be held through secret ballot under Article 226 of the country’s Constitution.

The apex court’s 4:1 majority decision, however, held that the ECP is empowered to take all measures, including the use of the latest technology, to hold free and fair elections and curb corrupt practices under Article 218 of the Constitution.

A five-judge larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi

pronounced the reserved opinion.

The ECP has finalised all arrangements for holding Senate elections on March 3 on those seats which are going to be vacant after expiration of term of incumbent members on March 11. According to an official of ECP, the polling will be held from 0900 hours to 1700 hours simultaneously in Parliament House Islamabad, and provincial assembly buildings in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

The polling was due on 48 seats- two in Islamabad, 11 each in Punjab and Sindh, and 12 each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan- that will fall vacant on the expiration of the term of the members.

However, on duly electing un-contested candidates on all 11 seats of Punjab, there will be no polling in Punjab.

The election will be held to fill one general seat and one seat for women from

Imran seeks speedy trial of petition in foreign funding case ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of his appeal in the foreign funding case.

The prime minister, through his counsel Anwar Mansoor Khan, moved the application, maintaining his appeal against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Islamabad High Court (IHC) rulings declaring Akbar S. Babar, a founding member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a member of his party is pending disposal before it.

The ECP is pursuing the 2014 claim, filed by Babar, accusing the PTI of receiving foreign funding during years leading to and after the 2013 election.

The matter pertains to the party’s membership and its pendency is damaging the party’s reputation, Imran said, urging the court to fix his appeal for March 18.

The trial gained fame and momentum earlier this week following a protest of opposition parties outside

Pakistan reports 1,392 new Covid-19 cases, transmission rate further decreases ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

Pakistan on Monday reported 1,392 new infections of the coronavirus after conducting 38,338 tests, receiving back a positivity ratio of 3.63 percent.

In the last 24 hours, 36 people died of coronavirusrelated complications. Of them, 32 were under treatment in hospitals while the rest at their homes, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

Punjab topped the chart with 13 deaths, followed closely behind by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The percentage of ventilators occupied in four cities is as following: Multan 18 per cent, Islamabad 28 per cent, Peshawar 18 per cent and Lahore 34 per cent. Oxygen chambers were also occupied in four cities: Gujrat 94 per cent, Peshawar 37 per cent,

Lahore 24 per cent and Islamabad 24 per cent.

About 206 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no Covid-19 positive person was on a ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.

Meanwhile, 38,338 tests were conducted on Sunday, including 10,057 in Sindh, 16,777 in Punjab, 6,344 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,907 in Islamabad, 383 in Balochistan, 330 in GB, and 540 in AJK. So far, 546,371 people have recovered from the disease across Pakistan, with the nation achieving a significant 90 per cent recovery rate. Since the Covid19 outbreak in February last, a total of 581,365 Covid-positive cases have been detected including the dead, recovered and under-treatment patients. Some 12,896 deaths were recorded of which 4,350 died in Sindh, 5,363 in Punjab, 2,079 in KP, 501 in Islamabad, 200 in Balochistan, 102 in GB and 301 in AJK.

Coalition partners announce support for PTI in Senate polls ISLAMABAD APP

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Monday said the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) and its coalition parties were fighting the battle for the future of Pakistan and would achieve historic victory in the Senate elections on March 3.

Addressing a press conference along with the leaders of coalition parties, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the minister said all the coalition parties wanted to put the country on right direction and that was why were united.

"The MQM-P, GDA, BAP and PML-Q - we all are

standing with each other," he added. The people wanted that their leadership should be honest and they found the PTI most suitable, he said. He expressed hope that there would not be any bargaining on Senate seats in the current elections. The minister stated that his family had been in politics for decades and he himself had been elected as senator thrice and hopefully he would would again be elected as member of the Senate. It was imperative for democracy that whoever got a chance he or she should come forward to serve the country, he added. “Some persons are endowed with some capabilities by Allah Almighty such as education and hard work due to which their services are demanded across the world,” he said.

“If Allah has given me the opportunity to be affiliated with the best university of the world, Harvard, it is a matter of pride for me and my family and friends.”

PTI HAS SOUGHT TO DISTANCE ITSELF FROM THE CASE, SAYING ITS FUNDS WERE GATHERED BY 'AGENTS' WORKING AT ODDS WITH INSTRUCTIONS the offices of the ECP in Islamabad in January to “question” the delay in the probe that has dragged on throughout the tenure of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the two-and-a-half years of the incumbent setup without a verdict.

The PTI has sought to distance itself from the case, saying its funds were gathered by “agents” who were working at odds with the instructions of then chairman Imran Khan, and as such, the party was not liable for their sources.

03

The commission has appointed returning officers (ROs) and polling officers (POs) to conduct Senate elections. The ECP made these appointments in pursuance of section 105 of the Elections Act, 2017, read with clause (3) of Article 224 of the Constitution of the lslamic Republic of Pakistan.

He said the commission has announced names of duly elected un-contested candidates on various vacant seats of Senate from Punjab included Azam Nazeer Tarar (PML-N) and Syed Ali Zafar (PTI) on Technocrat and Ulema seat while Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur (PTI) and Saadia Abbasi (PML-N) on Women seats besides seven candidates on General seats included Kamil Ali Agha (PML-Q), Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee (PTI), Afnan Ullah Khan (PML-N), Aon Abbas (PTI), Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry (PTI), Sajid Mir (PML-N) and Irfan-ul-Haq Siddiqui (PML-N).

He said the election campaign for Senate election in the country would come to an end with effect from the midnight falling between the March 1 and 2. The commission has asked all the political parties and the contesting candidates to follow the provisions of law and exercise self-restraint so that the poll is held in an orderly and peaceful manner on the March 3, he added.

Govt’s stance highlighted in SC’s opinion over presidential reference: Babar ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan has said that the stance of the government has been highlighted in the opinion of the Supreme Court (SC) on presidential reference seeking a view of the court on senate election and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been asked to ensure transparency in elections. The ECP has received the SC’s opinion on presidential reference seeking apex court’s view on holding of Senate election through the open ballot.

Dr Babar Awan termed apex court’s opinion’s paragraph number 3, 5 and 6 very important where the court had highlighted PTI’s stance. Talking to media persons outside ECP along with Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Shehbaz Gill on Monday, he stated that the SC opinion had quoted a verdict of 5-member bench in Niaz Ahmed case in which the court held that the secrecy of the ballot was not absolute and that the secrecy of ballot had not to be tempered by practical consideration necessitated by the process of election. INP

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Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PLRA dIgITIsEs RECoRds of moRE THAn 50 mILLIon LAndownERs LAHORE

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SHAHAB OMER

HE Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) has so far digitised and secured the records of more than 50 million landowners. The trainee officers of Civil Services Group 48 Common led by Syed Rehan Haider Kazmi, deputy director IT (information technology), paid a visit to the PLRA head office. Additional director projects of PLRA briefed the officers on the working procedures and performance of PLRA. The purpose of the visit was to pro-

vide information to the officers regarding Computerised Land Records Management and Information System.

The delegation was informed that PLRA was also providing Fard (land document) issuance and transfer services to more than 5 million customers annually from 184 Land Record Centres and Mobile Land Record Centres across Punjab and the provision of services generates billions of rupees annually to the national exchequer.

The delegation was further informed that the Punjab government has taken several steps to facilitate the provision of land record-related services to the consumers, including setting up of 115 Land

Record Centres at the Qanoon Goi level, document issuance and transfer services at doorstep through mobile land record centres, issuance of online land documents, computerisation of the registry system in all 143 tehsils, automatic postregistration transfers, and provision of land records related services at the embassies of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Similarly, more than 10,000 saplings have been planted in Land Record Centres under the Green Punjab Campaign.

Later, a senior official of the PLRA informed this scribe that the authority was

working expeditiously for the establishment of 115 Qanoon Goi land record centres.

The official further informed that apart from 19 satellite land record centres, approval has also been given to set up satellite centers in all the remaining 134 tehsils where services for issuance of land documents and transfer of land would be provided for the convenience of the people.

“The management of PLRA solved more than 200,000 issues related to Khewat while more than 130,000 interim transfers were verified and more than 171,000 pending transfers were passed to provide better facilities to the people,” he concluded.

Admiral Niazi lauds services of outgoing air chief ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan paid a farewell call on Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi at Naval Headquarters on Monday. During the call-on, Admiral Niazi commended the remarkable services of Air Chief Marshal Khan for Pakistan and Pakistan Air Force during a long and illustrious career, according to a press statement. The naval chief also highlighted the dynamic role played by air chief marshal and acknowledged PAF’s all-out support to Pakistan Navy in strengthening the maritime defence during his tenure of command to enhance the operational capabilities of sister services. Air Chief Marshal Khan also thanked Admiral Niazi for his support and well wishes.

Earlier upon arrival at the Naval Headquarters, the air chief was received by the naval chief and a smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Navy presented him guard of honour. Thereafter, the dignitary laid a floral wreath at the Martyrs Monument.

ATC extends judicial remand of three in IHC attack case

PRA collects Rs10.1 billion during Feb 2021 LAHORE

Uzair Baloch acquitted in police station attack case for want of evidence KARACHI TLTP

The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge South on Monday acquitted the kingpin of the infamous Lyari gang war Uzair Baloch in Baghdadi police station attack case over lack of evidence. Uzair was booked in Baghdadi PS attack case in 2012. At the outset of the hearing, the police apprised the court that the police station was attacked on the behest of Baloch in 2012. Upon being asked by the court how the police came to the conclusion that Uzair was the mastermind of the attack, the police said residents of the area confirmed this. Was any of the residents made a witness in the case by the police? the judge asked. Police replied, “No one was made a witness in the case.” Later, the court acquitted Baloch in the case. Baloch is facing more than 52 cases and so far, acquitted in 10 cases by the court.

He has been accused of committing 198 murders during the Lyari gang war. In April 2017, his custody was handed over to the Pakistan Army after he was accused of espionage. The army handed him over to the police on April 6, 2020, after three years.

KP govt plans to extend Ehsas Programme to tribal districts

SHAHAB OMER

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday extended judicial remand of three arrested lawyers in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) attack case until March 4. Three accused of the attack, Naveed Hayat Malik, Nazia Bibi and Shoaib Gujjar, were produced before the ATC for hearing of the case.

The court directed the police to submit a case challan and issued orders for the presence of the investigation officer. The court extended judicial remand of the arrested lawyers alleged of the attack and vandalising the Chief Justice Block in IHC, until March 4. On February 8 last year, after demolition of illegal chambers in district and sessions court in Islamabad, furious lawyers stormed the IHC building and manhandled police officials, staff and journalists. A large number of protesting lawyers outside the building had hurled stones while raising slogans against the district administration and IHC chief justice. The lawyers had also manhandled journalists to stop the coverage of the incident. TLTP

The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has collected Rs10.1 billion during February 2021, compared to Rs9.2 billion in February 2020.

According to the spokesperson of PRA, “This is the first time that the authority has crossed the Rs10 billion mark in the month of February.

According to the provisional figures, PRA’s total collection for the first eight months of the fiscal year 2020-21, is Rs96.3 billion compared to Rs71.5 billion in the same period of the last year, which represents a growth of 35 per cent in revenue collection. Once the figures are finalised, the collection is expected to improve further,” she said.

“This growth reflects that the economy is doing well despite the second wave of Covid-19. As the fiscal year

PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

draws to a close, the collection is likely to improve further as the economy continues to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic,” she added.

The spokesperson further informed that the workforce of the authority was all geared up to increase its efforts and ensure that the target for 2020-21 was surpassed.

“Based on the current figures, the authority expects to collect Rs140 billion in 2020-21 against the assigned target of Rs125 billion. PRA intends to continue its policy of focusing on compliance and stakeholder involvement and avoiding coercive measures, as envisioned by the Punjab finance minister,” she maintained.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has finalised the plan to extend the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme to the tribal districts where payments to deserving families will be provided from the funds of the Annual Development Programme (ADP). KP Social Welfare Department said that tribal districts will now be included in Ehsas Programme for which a special scheme of Rs1.289 billion has been included in the ADP. According to sources, during the survey conducted under Benazir Income Support Programme, a large number of tribal citizens were displaced due to insurgency and were living in settled districts due to which they could not be surveyed.

However, this time they have also been included in the survey and payments will be made according to the new survey.

Ex-CM gets bail on Rs0.1m surety bond for being ‘poor’ KARACHI TLTP

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday granted interim bail to former chief minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah in a case related to alleged illegal appointments. Fearing arrest in the alleged illegal appointments case after National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) call-up notice, Shah had approached the high court for bail before arrest earlier in the day.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been barred from arresting Shah. “Sir, I’m a poor man,” the former CM said and pleaded with the court to keep the surety amount low and affordable for him. To this, Justice Iqbal Kalhoro remarked, “You have been the chief minister of Sindh.

Will Rs200,000 be okay?”

Later, the court approved the interim bail of the PPP leader against a surety bond of Rs100,000.

SHC MOVED FOR REPATRIATION OF WOMAN ‘HELD HOSTAGE' IN CANADA’ The former chief minister Sindh is already facing two separate NAB inquiries. According to the anti-graft body, Shah is accused of abusing his powers while being CM Sindh and allowed 43 acres of land in Brohi Goth, Nazimabad.

The former chief minister is also facing charges of massive corruption in Roshan Sindh project initiated by the provincial government for the installation of solar streetlights across the province. The senior PPP leader has won seven out of eight general elections he contested, becoming a MPA six times, and MNA and senator once. Shah completed his second term as chief minister of Sindh on March 21, 2013. He was once again, for the third time, elected to the office of chief minister of Sindh after the 2013 general elections. In July 2016, the PPP leadership decided to replace

Shah with Murad Ali Shah as Sindh CM. Separately, the brother of a 56-yearold Pakistani woman moved the SHC on Monday to seek repatriation of Najma Pardesi who has been allegedly held hostage by her husband in Canada.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard a petition filed by a citizen Younus to seek orders for bringing back her 56year-old sister Najma Pardesi who was allegedly held hostage for the last three years by her husband in Canada.

The petitioner told the court that her sister was being treated like servants in Canada. He added that Najma managed to contact him secretly to apprise her of the deteriorating situation in Canada.

Younus said that his brother-in-law seized the passport of her sister. According to the petitioner, Najma had tied the knot in Canada 35 years ago, however, she was not being allowed to fly to Pakistan for the last three years.

Justice Mazhar questioned the assistant attorney general about the actions Pakistani authorities could take against her husband in Canada. He directed the assistant attorney general to find a solution to reach the woman by contacting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The AAG apprised the SHC judge that the Foreign Ministry could play its role for her return.

Later, the high court wrapped up the petition after directing the office of the Attorney General to take necessary steps for the return of the Pakistani woman.

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NAB BoArd MAy tighteN NooSe ArouNd ZArdAri, ShehBAZ ShArif ANd otherS NAB EBM LIKELY TO APPROVE INITIATION OF INQUIRY OVER SHUTTING DOWN OF ROOSEVELT HOTEL, NY ISLAmABAd

t

AhmAd AhmAdAni

HE next Executive Board Meeting (EBM) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is likely to approve the filing of references against former president Asif Ali Zardari and ex-senator Waqar Khan. It will also take up the matter of initiation of inquiries against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently in jail; as well as the closure of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, USA. According to sources, the EBM of NAB scheduled to meet on March 3, 2021, wherein it would discuss the case of Zardari, which is related to his alleged involvement in a fake account scandal, and Waqar Ahmed Khan over accusations of misuse of powers.

Similarly, the upcoming NAB EBM may decide to launch an inquiry against the incumbent Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz and others over the accusation of misuse of the prime minister’s jet during the years 2014-2018.

As per details, during the complaint verification (CV) process, the NAB has learnt that shutting down of PIA Roosevelt Hotel was made without proper feasibility reports. The potential ulterior motives of this shut down have emerged, and the move can be viewed as a pressure tactic on the government to decide this hotel’s fate due to the heavy annual expenditure of $13 million with no profits at all.

It is pertinent here to mention that Pakistan People’s

Party (PPP) former senator Raza Rabbani had alleged last month that the government wanted to bring the national airline into a position where other airlines could be provided space to operate by replacing it.

“Is this a conspiracy against the PIA?” he had questioned, alleging that the government wanted to make PIA redundant to fulfil its dream of privatising it. As part of the argument, the opposition had accused that the government planned of selling the PIA hotel at a throwaway price. However, the government on January 27, 2021, had assured the Senate it had no plans on privatising the hotel.

PIA Roosevelt Hotel is a 19 storey building located in Manhattan’s Midtown. This hotel has remained profitable since its acquisition on lease. The hotel earned huge profits of $7-8 million until 2015 and $3-4 million till 2018. Roosevelt Hotel had announced to permanently shut its doors on guests from Oct 31, 2020; after which the antigraft watchdog had decided to probe the closure of prime Pakistan International Airlines’ property.

According to a press release issued by the anti-graft agency, its chairperson Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, while taking notice of the closure, had directed the bureau’s Rawalpindi chief to probe the reasons behind the decision to close down the “national asset”.

The property which is valued at more than a billion dollars has been incurring for quite some time now.

At the time, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had revealed the hotel’s management had taken out a loan of $160 million from JP Morgan Chase, an American investment bank, and was making regular payments from its own revenue stream. The balance outstanding at

the moment is $105 million, he had said.

Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Amir Farooq, while presiding the hearing of a petition against the hotel’s closure in November 2020, had inquired about the government’s plans for the future of the property.

“It is being converted into apartments and offices.

The Roosevelt Hotel has its own historical significance [so much so that] US President Donald Trump wants to buy it,” had responded the petitioner’s counsel at the time of the hearing. The court had observed it had already disposed of a petition regarding the hotel after the federal government’s statement.

Earlier on October 2, Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was told the Roosevelt Hotel was not being sold but would either be renovated or reconstructed in the future. “Either the Roosevelt Hotel will be renovated or it will be demolished to build a 100-storey building,” PIA chief executive officer Arshad Malik told the panel of the Upper House, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahidullah Khan.

Malik observed that the purpose of reconstructing the hotel was to reduce the expenses and turn it into a profit-making entity.

He had told the body that the current market value of the Roosevelt Hotel assessed by Deloitte was $562 million. At this, Senator Khan pointed out that the value of the hotel had already been assessed as $1,700 million and that it was a profit-making entity a year ago. He asked how it was now going into losses.

Malik replied that since 2015, the property had been making profits and incurring losses as well and added that $105 million were due towards it.

PTI MPA refuses to vote for party in Senate polls; two go ‘missing’ KARIM BUX GABOL SAYS HE WON’T VOTE FOR PTI BECAUSE TICKETS WERE AWARDED ‘IN EXCHANGE OF MONEY’ KARACHI TLTP

A member of the Sindh Assembly of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced on Monday that he will not vote for his party’s candidates, alleging that “a few candidates were given tickets only in exchange of money”.

In a video message, Karim Bux Gabol — who was elected from PS-100 Karachi East-II in the 2018 general elections — claimed that his party has given Senate tickets to candidates in exchange of money, adding that the Constitution of the country allows him to vote for any candidate.

“I am a PTI worker and will remain with the party, but cannot vote for its candidates in the Senate elections

because the party has given the ticket to candidates in exchange of money,” he could be heard as saying in the video. He added that he cannot support such candidates who have “purchased” a ticket.

Criticising his own party for failing to deliver as per the people’s expectations, he said that Sindh was being given “step-motherly treatment” by the federal government.

The video message of the PTI MPA has come at a time when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have claimed to be in touch with members of assemblies belonging to the ruling party.

Meanwhile, PTI leader in Sindh Khurrum Sher Zaman has said, “PDM parties are busy in the purchase and sale of the assembly members in Sindh and other

provinces. We will take legal action against those who are found guilty in floor crossing.”

He said that his government has approached the apex court to prevent corruption and bribery practices. “We are consulting with the leadership and legal team and action will be taken against those lawmakers who change party loyalty,” he added.

Speaking about Gabol, Zaman alleged that PPP has pressured many MPAs of his party by registering cases against them to change their loyalty. “Kareem Bux Gabol is among those who have succumbed to PPP pressure.

We know where he is,” he added.

Zaman said that two other MPAs of PTI have also “gone missing” before the Senate election. “We cannot trace them. We know very well that the PPP government is involved in it,” he remarked.

UBL posts strong Profits of over Rs. 34 billion in 2020 PRESS RELEASE UBL reported Profit After Tax of Rs. 20.9 billion for the financial year ended 2020, which was 9% higher than 2019.

These results were delivered by the highly dedicated UBL team which has worked with the utmost discipline and perseverance despite the challenges from COVID-19. The Bank maintained strong payouts to shareholders, declaring dividends of Rs. 14.7 billion for the year 2020 (Rs. 12.0 per share). The Bank’s capital position remains strong and provides a solid foundation to support future business expansion. The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) was measured at 24.4% as at December 31, 2020., an excess of 11.9% over the applicable minimum regulatory requirements.

UBL maintains one of the largest networks in Pakistan. The bank serves over 10 million customers nationwide, through its footprint of 1,356 branches, including 100 Islamic branches, 1,442 ATMs and over 35,000 ‘UBL Omni’ dukaans. The network is well supported by our innovative and transformative UBL Digital app serving over 1.5 million customers today.

Overall gross revenues stood at Rs. 92.1 billion for 2020, growing by 10% over 2019. The bank recorded a strong year on year growth of 21% in net markup income which stood at Rs. 75.0

billion for 2020. Non-markup income stood at Rs. 17.1 billion for 2020, down 21% compared with last year, lower mainly due to the COVID led slowdown in fee earnings. However non-mark up income picked up during the last quarter of the year, as business momentum is now returning to pre-COVID levels.

UBL’s asset base stood at over Rs. 2.0 trillion at Dec’20, growing by 8% over Dec’19. The domestic franchise remains the core of the UBL brand. Branch banking continued is strong momentum, with 17% growth in deposits which stood at Rs. 1.4 trillion. The bank added over 571,000 new to bank customers within current accounts, which enabled the domestic bank to record a 13% growth in average current deposits, which stood at Rs. 538 billion in 2020. The savings portfolio stood at Rs. 544 billion in 2020 with 15% growth in averages. The Bank maintained strong CASA ratio of over 85% throughout 2020. The bank’s net advances stood at Rs. 530 billion as at December 31, 2020, down 17% over the previous year. UBL’s government securities holdings grew to over Rs. 1.0 trillion with Rs. 576 billion invested in fixed and floating rate Pakistan Investment Bonds and Rs. 345 billion deployed within Treasury Bills.

This enabled the bank to maintain healthy mark-up income in 2020.

UBL maintained its leadership in the home remittance space, with an average market share of over 23% in 2020, maintaining its status as the preferred partner of the Pakistani diaspora for home remittances. As part of State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) efforts to provide non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) with basic banking and investment opportunities within Pakistan, UBL has been playing a leading role in supporting the Roshan Digital Account initiative. For its efforts, UBL has been recognized for the highest number of Roshan Digital accounts opened in 2020 by the Government of Pakistan.

UBL is the pioneer in the local banking industry in providing state of the art digital banking services. The bank’s digital strategy is centered around making banking easier and accessible to the mass public in an easy and convenient manner.

For its role in spearheading innovation in the Pakistani banking space, UBL was declared Pakistan's Best Digital Bank for 2020 by Asiamoney, an associate of Euromoney. UBL was also declared the 'Best Digital Bank' at the 2020 Pakistan Banking Awards. The year has seen UBL work on innovative ventures to bring about many customer centric technological offerings. The award recognizes UBL's position as Pakistan's leading progressive and innovative Bank.

Furthermore, UBL was recognized as

the “Bank of the Year 2020 - Pakistan” at the Banker Awards. The Banker, is an affiliate of the Financial Times UK and is the world’s leading financial publication.

The award recognizes UBL’s excellence in performance, adding customer value, innovation and leadership in society, particularly during extraordinary times due to the current pandemic. UBL has won this award for the fourth time this decade which is a testament to the bank’s efforts in expanding the scope of financial services in Pakistan as a core strategy and spearheading innovation.

Mr. Shazad G. Dada, President & CEO of UBL said, “Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, UBL delivered solid results. Our strong balance sheet gives us the foundations for future growth. We will build on our award-winning digital proposition, introducing innovative banking solutions. Our focus is on enhancing performance across our core businesses and building greater operational efficiencies and agility across the organization. I am proud of the way our people have shown great resilience to maintain the highest level of customer service during the pandemic. They are our greatest asset and we will continue to invest in their development and wellbeing.

Customer centricity is at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to providing market leading services to our ever-growing customer base.”

NEWS

05

husband burns woman with acid in Bahawalpur AHMEDPUR EAST: In yet another horrific incident of acid attack in the country, a man on Monday allegedly threw acid on his wife in Ahmedpur East, a tehsil of Bahawalpur district. A 22-year-old woman suffered serious burn wounds on her legs, shoulders and back after her husband threw acid on her. The woman got another case registered against her husband after the incident, as earlier she had blamed her husband and her inlaws for torturing her. The police, while commenting on the matter, said that the woman is said to be out of danger and they would soon arrest the culprits involved in the heinous act. On February 17, an unknown person threw acid on three siblings in Faisalabad’s Karkhana Bazaar area. According to rescue officials, the three victims sustained burn wounds as a result of the acid attack and were shifted to Allied Hospital for medical attention. The man who poured acid over them managed to flee. The siblings were identified as 17-year-old Amina, 14-year-old Khadija, and 12-year-old Yousuf. Earlier in February, a person from transgender community suffered severe burns after an accused threw acid on him at Tibbi Mochi village of Sinawan in tahsil Kot Addu, police said. TLTP

SC upholds secret ballot for Senate elections ContInuEd fRom PAgE 01 Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz speaks to the press in Peshawar. Photo courtesy: Radio Pakistan Separately, speaking to reporters in Peshawar, Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz dubbed the verdict as “historic” under which the upcoming elections will be held “as per Article 226”, Radio Pakistan reported. Faraz, too, observed the top court has directed the election commission to use the latest technology and take the necessary steps to ensure transparency in the elections. The minister further asked the ECP to take requisite steps to ensure transparency in the light of the court decision.

‘SUPREMACY OF CONSTITUTION’: Welcoming the verdict, the opposition parties, which had opposed the move, said it was “victory of the Constitution.” Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, said the ruling had confirmed that the upcoming polls would be held “according to the Constitution”. The order has “established the supremacy of the constitution,” Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said in a statement.

THE REFERENCE: AGP Khan had on December 23 moved the 11-page reference wherein President Dr Arif Alvi had sought the answer to the question of whether or not the condition of the secret ballot under Article 226 applied to the Senate elections.

The proceedings started on January 4. While the court urged the government to decide the issue through Parliament, President Alvi in February approved an ordinance to hold the Senate polls through an open vote after the government failed to sail it through the National Assembly where it lacks a two-thirds majority required to pass legislation.

Under the Constitution, all elections, except for the election of the prime minister and chief ministers of provinces, must be held through a secret ballot. On March 3 (Wednesday), over 1,100 members of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies will elect 52 new members to the 104-seat Senate for six-year terms.

PM meets MNAs, discusses their constituencies’ matters ContInuEd fRom PAgE 01 IT should be noted that on January 27, 2021, it was reported in the media reports that a meeting of the Parliamentary Party of the PTI was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran.

MPs asked the prime minister about the delay in the Karachi Transformation Plan (KPT), to which Imran Khan had replied that for the first time the KPT is being worked on seriously.

Karachi cannot be left at the mercy of the provincial government, the premier had said.

“The provincial government may or may not agree, but we will fulfil our responsibility,” he had maintained. According to sources, members of the assembly were also questioned about the rising debts and said that the media says that the government has borrowed more than before, regarding which Finance Minister Shaikh asked the PTI parliamentary party to repay the loans.

The ruling party is making hectic efforts to ensure the victory of Dr Shaikh, who is contesting the election from the Islamabad seat against the former premier and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) joint candidate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. The Senate elections will be held on March 3, 2021.

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

06 COMMENT

Fundamental ‘inadequacies’ of religion?

A new setback to the PTI government

Beware of philosophers!

Ballot to remain secret, not open

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he SC verdict has further added to the nightmares of PM Imran Khan. The setbacks suffered recently by the ruling PTI in the bypolls, particularly in the Nowshera constituency that was considered PTI’s most secure stronghold, had shocked Mr Khan. That losing PTI candidates in Sindh got lesser votes than in 2018 was another blow. The gross malpractices committed by the PTI in NA-75 Daska and the incriminating charge sheet issue by the eCP deprived Mr Khan of the moral high ground he had been claiming all along. Mr Khan had fears that party legislators, unhappy over the government’s failure to deliver, may decide to vote against the party’s advice which is not uncommon in democracies and was in fact the reason behind the PTI’s debacle in Nowshera.

There were also suspicions that money could play a role in the party’s defeat in Senate elections. The reports that quite a few party legislators were unhappy over the nomination of Finance Minister Abdul hafeez Sheikh on a Senate seat finally led Mr Khan to propose open ballot as a disincentive against hidden rebellion. The apex court’s verdict has thrown a spanner in the works as it has dashed the PM’s hopes of keeping a grip on dissidents in the party.

The apex Court has maintained that the Senate elections should be held through secret ballot under Article 226 of Constitution which says “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, shall be by secret ballot.”

The court also maintained that the secrecy of the ballot papers was “not final,” whatever that might mean. Further that “it is the responsibility of the eCP to protect the election from corruption by using the latest technology to ensure the holding of transparent elections”.

The apex Court’s orders strengthen the hands of the eCP. The federal government can no more shield bureaucrats sentenced by the eCP for negligence or connivance in NA-75 by-elections. It is for the eCP to decide how to reconcile the requirement of holding polls through secret ballot with the use of technology to ensure the holding of transparent elections.

HaSan aFTaB SaEED

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he other day a friend was rebuking liberals for their shallow criticism of religion. his complaint was this: by obsessing with the religious conceptions of evidence, marriage, sex, inheritance and the like they were guilty of inadvertently helping the religious cause instead.

That was because their focus on such matters meant that the fundamental inadequacies of religion remained unexposed. So, if critics were intelligent enough to invalidate religion itself by exposing its irrational foundations, there would no longer be any need of tedious debates on minor issues, which are merely applications of those foundations. When I asked what some of the fundamental inadequacies of religion were, he provided the following list: Belief in the unseen, destiny/fate, free-will and reward/punishment.

While this is not an exhaustive list of ‘fundamental flaws’ of religion as commonly enumerated by the those of a philosophical bent, it is a representative sample of the objections usually raised. It is not appreciated nearly enough (and is therefore worth emphasising) that the list (and any other variant thereof) consists of items which everybody (including the most hardened atheist) believes in and lives by. Therefore, there is nothing inadequate about any of it so long as everyday life is concerned. When it comes to religion however, the very same ideas suddenly become problematic – to the extent of being unacceptable. The very same concept can therefore be both valid and invalid,

Auto sector boom New entrants change market dynamics

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AKISTAN’S automobile industry has remained an oligopoly for the better part of the past four decades, dominated by what has been dubbed the ‘big three’. Due to the natural barriers to entry that therefore exist, customers have to put up with a very limited and unnecessarily expensive variety of automobiles that lack safety and luxury features, which have become industry standards across the world. A comprehensive auto policy was introduced by the previous government in 2016 to address these issues to not only provide customers better options but also generate FDI for the government and in turn, much – needed economic activity as well. Incentives were offered for Greenfield and Brownfield investments that have produced two to three prominent new players that have now started to disrupt the market, having finally set up plants that are running at full capacity to meet the exponential demand for their cars. A combination of more features as standard and an overall better build quality by brand names that are renowned the world over has set off a buying frenzy in the country and this year will see another 15 new cars launch meaning more options for eager customers. Last year saw a 53.5% drop in car sales due to Covid-19 that forced many manufacturers to keep their plants closed as there were practically no new orders for their products coming in. The industry has however bounced back, recording a 44% increase in car sales yearon-year in January alone with a clear expectation that demand will grow stronger in the coming months.

Another issue facing consumers is that there are simply no good quality new cars available at lower price points, forcing them to buy used imported or older locally manufactured models from the secondary market. The variants being introduced in the country by new entrants have started to fill in those gaps, which is a welcome relief for consumers looking for cars in limited budgets. It is commendable that the PTI government has also given due importance to electric vehicles, formulating and announcing a policy that aims to make them cheaper than conventional cars through lower duties, taxes and registration costs.

Although it will take time for the country’s auto sector to truly become a buyer’s market, the policy in place currently is a good first step that puts the customer first.

Sulman ali

I

N an astonishing verdict last month, Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl. The Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl was in Pakistan to investigate militant groups, when he was kidnapped in January 2002, and then a gruesome video of his beheading was sent to US authorities in Pakistan. The killing shocked Pakistan and US, eventually Sheikh and three others were arrested by the authorities. A local court sentenced Sheikh to death, while three others were sent to prison for life. however, in April 2020, Sindh high Court (ShC) set aside the verdict, and ordered the Sindh government to release the accused. The provincial government, along with parents of Daniel Pearl, submitted a petition in Supreme Court against ShC verdict. After hearing the arguments, three-judge bench held up the ShC decision and ordered authorities to release all four suspects. The Provincial Advocate General, Salman Talibuddin confirmed: “By a majority of 2-1, they have acquitted all the accused persons and ordered their release.” Meanwhile, Pearl’s lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said that there is now only one way left, to file a review petition, but it would not be much help because the same bench will hear the review petition of the case.

A British national of Pakistani heritage, Sheikh

Editor Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

When it comes to religion however, the very same ideas suddenly become problematic – to the extent of being unacceptable. The very same concept can therefore be both valid and invalid, useful and beneath one’s serious consideration at the very same time. It is as if a man has two heads, one for the contemplation of worldly affairs and the other for religious matters.

Hasan Aftab Saeed is a connoisseur of music, literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be reached at hasanas@live.jp.

Omar Saeed Sheikh’s release puts a question mark over state’s security policy

Arif Nizami

Managing Editor

best one can with whatever talents and abilities one has at one’s disposal (instead of whining about how others are more fortunate than one). everybody accepts this as a wise approach to life. Destiny in religion is no more and no less than this. That one should accept things that are out of one’s control and should strive to do the best within those limitations. But coming from religion, the same idea is too outrageous for some. The selective sensitivity is distinctly reminiscent of desi films where the girl’s folks sleep like corpses while she sings a highpitched duet with her boyfriend but who spring into action with the intention of reading the riot act the moment the lovers indulge in some discreet whispering.

The verdict on the existence of free-will and the fairness of reward/punishment is no less selective and convenient. When the whole world operates on the principle of free-will and responsibility, nobody as much as bats an eyelid. This covers the entire range from social and economic life to the criminal justice system to adulation of heroes and denunciation of villains. But when religion says essentially the same thing, namely, each man is responsible for his own actions; all sorts of arguments are pressed into service to conclude that man is a mechanism completely governed by external input. It is illogical (and unfair) for him to be rewarded or punished based on actions and thoughts on which he has no control whatsoever. ‘Illusion’ is the fancy word employed to negate the existence or truth of something practised by everybody without exception. Their conclusion: though we seem to be making our own decisions; that is only what appears to be the case. Philosophy is Greek for ‘love of wisdom’. In Latin it might as well mean ‘extreme dopiness’.

The Daniel Pearl case

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

useful and beneath one’s serious consideration at the very same time. It is as if a man has two heads, one for the contemplation of worldly affairs and the other for religious matters. There could be any number of philosophies which are great so long as one spends all one’s time in one armchair. But most of them cannot be lived. Inconsistency is the price one must pay for subscribing to such philosophies.

Let us take up the ‘inadequacies’ one by one. Belief in the unseen: far from being irrational, the capacity to accept facts without insisting on first ‘seeing’ them is what sets human beings apart from beasts, insects, and philosophers. each one of us believes in things that he does not/cannot see but in support of which there are valid reasons. Beliefs are based on arguments and are reached by employing the intellect, making them reasonable. No living soul saw Genghis Khan, but we do not therefore insist that he did not exist. Scientific facts are established by long series of inferences, many of which we do not actually ‘see’. In religion too, believing in the unseen does not mean suspending rationality and believing things blindly. The power to abstract is a uniquely human capability.

The ability to believe in the unseen then, instead of being something to be ashamed of, is the distinguishing feature of man.

When it comes to fate, even philosophers acknowledge the fact that some people are born rich while others are born poor; some are stunningly good looking while others look like potatoes; some have an extraordinary musical talent, while others are tonedeaf. Some of the social inequalities are indeed artificial and are therefore amenable to correction; and of course, every effort must be made to make society as just as possible. But it is also true that equality in opportunity will still result in inequality in outcome because people are differently endowed with mental and physical abilities. It is therefore a good idea to do the

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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has enjoyed a privileged life in London, and even attended the top London School of economics. however, the 1990s Bosnia war changed him. The continuous attacks on Bosnian Muslims by Serbs, and their treatment in camps, and western countries’ indifference to their plight pushed Sheikh towards antiWest radicalism. he went to Bosnia and joined harakat-ul Ansar, which later became harakat-ul Mujahideen. The organization was declared a terrorist outfit by US in 1997. he also travelled to Indian Occupied Kashmir and was involved in abduction of foreign tourists. Multiple reports have further said that his British origin might have eased Pearl as he sought Sheikh’s help in tracking militants.

Security experts question why this is happening suddenly, after 18 years, since over the last two decades, there had been no significant development as Sheikh had been waiting for his death sentence, there were no reports of his innocence in the crime, but suddenly, the top courts have ordered the government to let him go. ‘Could it be another game of strategic assets,’ is now an oft asked question.

It is not new that the agencies have kept a tab of these ‘assets’ and these developments can also be taken in context of recent change of the government in Washington DC. Could Sheikh be used as ‘Trump card’ against the Biden administration, to balance out Islamabad’s position in bilateral ties and more importantly in-currently stopped-Afghan peace process?

Observers maintain that media reports and diplomatic signs are showing that the Biden administration is not as eager as the Trump government in engaging in talks with Afghan Taliban, jeopardizing the US forces withdrawal from Afghanistan. It should also be remembered that a recent ‘asset’ has gotten free, former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesper-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

son ehsanullah ehsan and currently threatening the Pakistani military of retaliation.

The US has retorted strongly. Washington is ‘outraged’ over the verdict by Supreme Court of Pakistan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the decision: “an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including Pakistan.”

“I am deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder. We are committed to securing justice for the Pearl family and holding terrorists accountable,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pearl’s father, Judae Pearl told CNN that the family is in shock and total disbelief. “It is a crime against humanity, against journalism, against the core of our civilization. So, we are very shocked and hope some steps will be taken to correct for this injustice.” experts underline the impact of the development on US-Pakistan bilateral ties, because currently the water is unclear about how Biden administration wants to walk with Pakistan. Analysts further maintain that the decision coming right after the new government is US is crucial.

“Sheikh’s acquittal has created a conundrum for both countries. Until now, Pakistan has taken every legal step to keep Sheikh in jail but sending him to America could rile up opposition at home,” said Mohammad Amir Rana, executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies.

“For America, snubbing Pakistan just when the two have agreed on exchanging intelligence on terror financing and the road to a political settlement in Afghanistan is at a critical juncture, could result in setbacks on both fronts.”

Experts underline the impact of the development on US-Pakistan bilateral ties, because currently the water is unclear about how Biden administration wants to walk with Pakistan.

Analysts further maintain that the decision coming right after the new government is US is crucial.

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Sulman Ali is a staff member. https://twitter.com/sulman_85

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

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

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

Reviving the spirit of freedom

All the prime minister’s men and a woman Speak less, do more

Salman munir

J

. edgar hoover was the first head of FBI and remained its Director for some 48 years from 1924 to 1972. Under Director hoover, FBI became a very powerful organization, highly effective in law enforcement although sometimes a little controversial. It was rumored that the Director maintained secret files on successive Presidents of the United States.

The 36th President Lyndon Baines Johnson famously said of him “Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in.” That is a great strategy to control a Frankenstein like that, if the system has created one.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has a team of such specialists, quite unlike his cricket team of yesteryears who specialized in different departments of the game. These specialists speak from inside the tent (the readers know what I actually mean), mostly say the same thing, pick the same topic and then go hoarse repeating it ad nauseam. From early in the mornings to late in the evenings, they start taking airtime one by one and sometimes together on the most frivolous matters. One talks about the same thing from Islamabad, soon followed by someone from Lahore and then from Karachi. I have never seen them say anything of substance, or something concerning the betterment of the extremely poor people of Pakistan. They are so one dimensional that most people can tell you what they are going to say even before they say it. even the Prime Minister is getting extremely one dimensional no matter what the occasion is.

The speech is the same, well most of it. I guess what new can you come up with if you speak every hour or every day? Familiarity does breed contempt after all. The Prime Minister does not tire talking about the past and sometimes I wonder why he lives so much in the past rather than the present? For example, he talks about a welfare state, which we all like, but his plan to make Pakistan a welfare state with this burgeoning population is impossible to achieve. And he never ever talks about the fast increasing population of Pakistan. In my view both go hand in hand. Just imagine if our population, a ticking bomb, was just 80 or 100 million compared to 220 million, how prosperous and happy Pakistan would have been?

The Prime Minister when living in the present, talks a lot about the People’s Republic of China (China) and its phenomenal growth, eradication of corruption and now just last week

eradication of poverty. One of the major or perhaps the biggest reason for China’s growth was one-child-one-family-policy implemented in 1979/80 primarily designed to control the rapid growth of population. According to one estimate this step by China prevented some 400 million births. This policy was enforced across the board for the rich and the poor, educated and the uneducated, for the powerful and the weak. This policy alone made a world of difference between China and India.

Getting back to the topic, to tick off this brigade of specialists, one of the Sharif’s just has to take a walk outside in public view or say a few words and the whole battery will be out to batter that Sharif and all the other Sharifs to no end. In their exuberance they will even throw in one or two Zardaris for good measure. Poor TV channels air this pathetic show by choice or by force or for the love of government or its advertisements is anyone’s guess.

This is not the first time we the people of Pakistan are made to suffer hoarse voices, bad language and unsubstantiated allegations.

PML(N) remained in power in J. edgar hoover style for some thirty years in the Punjab and a little lesser years in the Center. It also created a team of specialists sitting inside the tent. One of them was the current Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed. Prime Minister Imran Khan has very wisely kept Sheikh Rasheed in his tent from where he is more effective against the other two large parties. There were others like Rana Sanaullah, also famous for his “speeches”. PML(N) went a step ahead and created a thing called “Gullu Butt.” Once this word enters a dictionary, and it is just a matter of time, it will mean “sporty vandalism.” Mian Nawaz Sharif, the ex-Premier, except for a brief period after his ouster by the Supreme Court, generally remained calm and quiet during his long tenures. I wish he had heard enoch Powell, the British Conservative Politician say “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.” exactly! But then we, in Pakistan, have a national disease called “indispensability”, which essentially means that without me you will go nowhere or you need me to succeed. everyone in every job or profession embarks on longevity track even though the graveyards are full of indispensable people. The most astonishing is the track taken in the national game of Cricket. We have at least a 100,000 high potential, high quality and top-of-the-line cricketers in the waiting but no present day cricketer wants to retire or is even allowed to retire by PCB itself staffed by same kind of stuff. So, a 100,000 dreams die without materializing. But who cares about dreams of our masses?

how can we forget the way Karachi suffered, indeed the whole country suffered, the MQM leaders’ speeches at the drop of a hat with a very captive audience out of an obligation to support the party. Their tent was pretty large and strong for years and years and they had many specialists. even then, the same speech was, more or less, repeated by several leaders. They wielded enormous power and with President Musharraf watching their back they could have really transformed Karachi. I wish, how I wish, they had fixed the water and electricity problems in the city and eliminated water Mafia, and fixed KeSC. Changed the traffic habits of people forcing them to observe traffic rules, and introduced good public transportation through the private sector if the Provincial government did not care.

None of these three measures would have required large amounts of money but would have changed the shape of this beautiful city. And they had the street power to implement these measures and then some. That is the sad part. They used that power instead in making speeches and over speaking and under doing never helps.

Then there were two MQMs and we had to suffer the leadership of both with essentially the same message.

Now there are maybe three MQMs and the frequency of its leaders’ appearances is becoming less and less for now because of this division and their declining effectiveness.

Otherwise just imagine the leaders of all three MQMs taking airtime?

There would be no time for anything else. Not even for PTI leadership.

The Pakistan Peoples Party has its fair share of specialists in the tent, but has improvised over the years and made sure its specialists graduate to higher offices and show less of themselves. Its Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has improved over the years and I think he will become a prolific speaker, like his mother, given the time and training to control his voice just like that of a soprano or a tenor and speak from the chest rather than the throat. This is one way to remove hoarseness.

We have other players in the field but I cannot possibly cover all and want to stick to the active politicians because the nation looks up to them for problem solving not speech making. have we ever thought why Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was so great that he overshadowed all other leaders of the time whether British, hindu, Sikh or even other Muslims? he achieved all this through sheer greatness of his character and iron will. Spoke little and did more generating credibility among the masses. Maybe it’s time if we have to look at the past then we look at the recent past, and look at Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the dignity he enthused.

But then we, in Pakistan, have a national disease called “indispensability”, which essentially means that without me you will go nowhere or you need me to succeed. Everyone in every job or profession embarks on longevity track even though the graveyards are full of indispensable people.

The writer is a management consultant and innocence lawyer. He can be reached at as1236m@gmail.com

TODAy is the day when PAF surprised our enemy India by shooting down their fighter jet infringing into our territory. This sudden lightning strike brought down the Indian fighter jet and gave the enemy a clear message that any adventure will be met with a response it would never forget. That was the day I saw the spirit of unity and vibrance in our nation momentarily. however, overall, we have not been able to do justice to the hard-earned freedom we got in 1947. While many countries after getting freedom from the colonial powers have progressed forming strong and stable economies, we have been marred with poor leadership that failed to move the country in the right direction. For example, South Korea has emerged as the strongest economies in the world, but we on the other hand failed to capitalize on the momentum and spirit of freedom. I remember during the days of the freedom movement, no matter how hard life was, we would find time and energy to participate.

I used to walk five miles to my school, return to help my parents with chores such as grazing animals and fetching water but still found time and energy to attend rallies held by the Muslim League. We were so charged up to imagine that we would soon have a country of our own.

Unfortunately, the selfish and power-hungry leaders, who grabbed the reins of the country after the demise of the Quaid failed to channel that energy and guide the country in the right direction. Their selfish behaviors, constant bickering, and wrangling for power over the past seventy years have disheartened the masses. Losing hope, people have given up and are not willing to toil for the country. They like their leaders wish for the short-cuts to success and want everything the easy way. I wish and pray that our leadership realizes that they need to be the role models for newer generations to ignite the spirit of hard work to achieve success for themselves and their country. Reviving the spirit of the freedom movement, despite all the hardships, everyone must work hard and keep hopes high to transform the country into a strong and vibrant economy that thrives among the world nations.

Raja Shafatullah ISlamabad

Unfavourable conditions IN the year 2021, Pakistan continues to face economic and political. In these following days of price hike, the government is terribly criticized with allegations by the opposition and reinforces a fraught environment. Further, the opposition gave a deadline to Prime Minister to resign and step down or get ready to face a march in the capital.

Otherwise, if both conditions are not fulfilled so PDM can be attentive for Long March toward Islamabad. even these conflicting views continue to escalate pressure on government. It is very greatly emphasized by the PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari that resignations card are our nuclear option which should be given soon. And along with Sindh government give a response to resign which should again restart fresh election rather they refuse to accept the selected. The ongoing political dilemmas are once again bring unfavorable conditions and unpreventable crisis. And remember that these resignations will no more affect government's from power. baRkatullah tuRbat

TCF doing good work TCF (The citizens foundation) is such an organization which is rendering its services in entire Pakistan for the purpose of quality education. It aims at providing quality education in less privileged areas.

TCF was established in 1995; In this short period of time, it has changed the lives of many poor students and has made innumerable doctors and engineers. It has more than thousand branches in Pakistan and more than one lac students. It has assisted poor students a lot by taking small amount of fee monthly and providing excellent education.

Not only this, it also helps students in availing scholarships and prepares its students for the test of different universities spontaneously.

The overwhelming services of such foundations and schools must not be over looked; they should be appreciated for their efforts. Long live, TCF. WaSEEm ahmEd hub

Role of charities PUNJAB Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar has lauded the role of the leading charities and corporate sector in Pakistan in lessening the miseries of the deprived people during the anti-coronavirus lockdown imposed last year. Punjab Governor stated this as he along with Azad Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan conferred 13th CSR Awards on 75 different companies and organisations for showing excellence in the field of corporate social responsibility during last one year. The Punjab Governor on behalf of the present government assured fullest support to the corporate entities doing philanthropic work. he said the corporate organisations through their CSR initiatives had been helping out the government in its drive to uplift the socio-economic status of the underprivileged segments of society. he said the government always required assistance from bona fide charities and corporate sector to manage disastrous situations like the coronavirus pandemic. The governor mentioned that he personally had led the initiatives with the help of the welfare organisations to assist the poor people during the lockdown imposed last year against the spread of coronavirus. he mentioned that the quality of work undertaken by the charities to do welfare projects in the country had been far better than that of the development projects completed by the government. he mentioned that his own charity had installed water projects to benefit two million people with 10 times less cost than similar water supply schemes of the government. Speaking on the occasion, AJK President lauded services of National Command and Operation Centre owing to which coronavirusrelated sufferings remained much less in Azad Kashmir area. he mentioned that Azad Kashmir had so far witnessed just 296 deaths due to Covid-19 out of around 10,000 cases of coronavirus. he appreciated the role of CSR works in alleviating the miseries of the needy people.

ShakIl QuREShI lahoRE

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

is democracy in decline globally?

CORRUPTION AND DEBT DARKEN THE GLOBAL OUTLOOK FOR DEMOCRACY

GlobAliST

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testimony to the parlous state of democracy in today’s world — and the true legacy of Donald Trump’s stint in the White House.

Frank VoGl

CCORDInG to the Corruption Transparency Index, government corruption is perceived to be high in more than two-thirds of the 180 countries surveyed. That the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has demoted the US from “full democracy” to “flawed democracy” should escape nobody’s attention. Beyond the US, 2020 was a terrible year for democracy across the globe. Approximately 85% of all foreign debt held by 120 middle and low-income countries is on nonconcessional terms. The big hope for 2021 is that leading Western industrial countries will overcome the pandemic and that this may set off a boom start in their economies.

The fact that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) underscores that the United States is a “flawed democracy” and far behind its northern neighbor Canada — a “full democracy” — in its new annual Democracy Index should escape nobody’s attention. It is a sad

2020 WAS A TERRIBLE YEAR: Beyond the United States, 2020 was terrible for democracy across the globe. many governments dispensed with parliamentary oversight and checks and balances, canceled or postponed elections, prohibited public protests, curtailed freedom of expression and perpetrated healthcare fraud and corruption. The overall state of global democracy took a dive in part because democracy in Hong Kong got hammered by China. It suffered badly in mali, leading to a military coup — due in part to terrorist insurgents — and, on a regional basis, trends across the middle East and north Africa — as well as Latin America — were depressing. According to the EIU, the list “may sound dystopian, yet this was the experience of most people in 2020.” I believe 2021 may be worse.

CORRUPTION PERVADES: For some years, the EIU’s survey has been painting a picture of democracy in retreat. now, in part due to the COVID 19 pandemic, authoritar-

ianism is gaining. The depressing finding is reinforced by the newly published Corruption Transparency Index (CPI), issued annually by Transparency International (TI). It shows that government corruption is perceived to be high in more than two-thirds of the 180 countries surveyed.

FINANCIAL TURMOIL: The big hope for 2021 is that leading Western industrial countries will overcome the pandemic, with at least a great majority of their populations vaccinated, and that this may set off a boom start in their economies. The global impact of such a development, so the hope goes, would lift all boats and pull the poorest countries out of the rough seas that engulf them.

POOR GOVERNANCE STANDS IN THE WAY: And yet, the continuing reality of poor governance including corruption — along with increasing authoritarianism — may counter the positive impact of a revival of Western economies. The critical issue, as I have warned before, is that many of these countries are over-burdened with debt. On the domestic front, some of these countries

are just broke — mainly thanks to pervasive corruption. Lebanon is one current example, South Africa is another. In January, amid calls for far greater spending to counter the pandemic, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa confessed: “We do not have the money . . . that’s the simple truth.”

“HIGH RISK” Domestic debt crises are compounded by the rising challenge that many countries have in servicing their foreign debts.

A decade ago, many developing countries were encouraged by private investment managers to use the private markets to borrow — and they did. meanwhile, approximately 85% of all foreign debt held by 120 middle- and low-income countries today is on non-concessional terms. It is owed to hedge funds, pension funds and other private investors. A new report by World Bank economists Peter nagle and naotaka Sugawara concludes: “more debt defaults and debt distress are possible.” I think that is an understatement — more countries will default. Their debts are unsustainable.

They will follow Lebanon, Argentina, zambia and others into debt restructuring negotiations with their private creditors. The two economists provide a new chart that shows that more than 40% of the countries are now viewed as being in the “high risk” category.

IMF BAILOUTS: The prospect of the world’s worst sovereign debt crisis is leading

Indian Islam: How the world’s second largest religion is practised in the country AN EXCERPT FROM ‘BORN A MUSLIM: SOME TRUTHS ABOUT ISLAM IN INDIA’ Scroll

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Ghazala WahaB

IzAmUDDIn Auliya’s most famous disciple, the poet Amir Khusro had read in a Hadith that South Asia was the place where Adam descended to earth after being expelled from paradise. Azad Bilgrami, a seventeenth-century Islamic scholar, described India as the place where the eternal light of Prophet muhammed (PBUH) first manifested in Adam, while Arabia is where it found its final expression in the physical form of the Prophet (PBUH).

The mughal emperor Akbar sponsored caravans of pilgrims to Arabia for many years, but few commoners undertook hajj. In any case, no mughal emperor ever went for hajj. They patronised the Sufi shrines, and the Sufis in turn accorded spiritual and moral legitimacy to the emperors. On the strength of this legitimacy, Akbar assumed the position of the leader of the faithful. Akbar even went as far as challenging the Ottomans, who were the caretakers of the holy lands of mecca and medina, and considered the leaders of the Islamic world at that time.

“In early September 1579, a group of theologians, including the Shaikh ul-Islam, were pressured into signing a text claiming for Akbar a special status of Padshah-iIslam, beyond that even of a Sultan-i-Adil…one of the epithets used for him was now mujtahid, as also Imam-i-Adil…Indeed, the challenge was directed in good measure at the Ottomans, who had claimed superior status as the Khalifas of the east, with their conquest of Egypt.”

In addition to challenging the Ottomans, Akbar assumed these grand titles to keep the conservative ulema from interfering in governance, especially in matters pertaining to the treatment of non-muslims.

Yet, despite this desire for the leadership of the muslim world, muslim rulers in India worked towards greater synthesis between Islam and Hinduism. Of course, this was driven by pragmatism rather than altruism, but the effect was that the two communities were able to not only coexist in harmony but also developed several similar customs and traditions.

The pinnacle of this collaboration was suhl-e-kul, a new creed for universal peace and coexistence that Akbar propounded that celebrated what he believed was common to all religions. Suhl-e-kul, also referred to as Din-i-Ilahi, did not live on beyond Akbar’s reign, but the idea of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence survived. Even Aurangzeb, his zealousness notwithstanding, did not disrupt the balance between the two communities and neither did his successors. However, the most interesting aspect of this six-and-half-century-long muslim rule in India, which started with the founding of the Slave Dynasty in 1206 CE was that none declared India an Islamic state and none

ruled by Quranic law or Shariah.

Even as late as the nineteenth century, muslim rulers remained sensitive to the religious sensibilities of the Hindus. William Dalrymple writes of the last mughal emperor Bahadur Shah zafar, that “when a party of two hundred muslims turned up at the Palace demanding to be allowed to slaughter cows – holy to Hindus – at Id, zafar told them in a ‘decided and angry tone that the religion of the mussalmen did not depend upon the sacrifice of cows’.” But in 1857, when the first war of Independence against the British ended in ignominious defeat and the collapse of muslim power in India, coexistence came under attack.

Though the war was symbolically led by the last mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah zafar, under whose “command” Hindus and muslims fought the British, the truth was that it was largely a muslim–British affair, which brutally ruptured the delicate balance between Hindus and muslims that had thrived for nearly seven centuries through mutual tolerance and economic interdependence. Three possible factors worked in tandem to cause this breach.

One, though the sepoys rose against the British quite spontaneously, irrespective of religion, once they were ensconced in Delhi, the radical muslims, the products of the madrassa-e-Rahimiya, saw an opportunity to reclaim muslim power. As a result, fatwa were issued declaring jihad against the British and likening the revolt to an Islamic war.

The debilitated mughal court did not sense the polarising impact of this call. After all, the early mughals had labelled their military campaigns jihad to motivate the soldiery. Incidentally, even in today’s Indian Army, all pure regiments (as opposed to mixed regiments like artillery or armoured) of the infantry have religious war cries. However, in 1857, overt and frequent references to jihad led to unease amongst non-muslim sepoys.

Two, since the war was being waged in the name of the mughal emperor and with the hope of restoring muslim power, muslims of all classes and status threw their weight behind the revolt, thereby exposing themselves and their leanings. This was the not the case amongst non-muslims, where the rich and upper castes either stayed away or covertly supported the British, as they saw this as a war between the muslim and the British.

Three, the British were quick to sense this chasm and worked to widen the rift. This was partly because of their own prejudice borne of centuries of Crusades against the muslims further fanned by the Evangelical Christians in India; and partly from their own experiences with muslims in various continents, from north Africa to Asia in the nineteenth century.

“From around the middle of the nineteenth century,” Christopher de Bellaigue writes in The Islamic Enlightenment, “when European colonial interests ran up against muslim resistance from north Africa to India, it is possible to say that a rolling agenda of conflicts between an expanding Western imperium and the muslims in its path became inevitable. India’s subjugation by the British had produced a situation of almost chronic religious revolt, of which the rebellion of 1857, or Indian mutiny, was a virulent spasm.”

G7 finance ministers to start developing plans for a large boost to the resources of the International monetary Fund (ImF). The Biden administration, unlike the Trump team, supports this. The plans, likely to be finalized by the summer, may see the ImF striving to bail out many of the debt-distressed countries and help them to restructure their private debts, but this just adds debt upon debt while aiding the private creditors.

The solution, which may also include further postponement by official creditors of debt repayments to them from the poorest nations, may stave off a global financial crisis. But it will do very little for the poorest people in the debt-defaulting, high-risk, nondemocratic countries. Equally bad, such solutions do nothing to counter the grand corruption that pervades so many countries and that is adding gravely today to poverty — while sustaining the decline of democracy across the world. One piece of good news: The EIU reported that improvements in transparency in government and elections in Albania enabled this country to move up in 2020 from a “hybrid” country close to authoritarianism to the “flawed democracy” group — thus joining the United States.

Frank Vogl is co-founder of Transparency International and author of Waging War on Corruption: Inside the Movement Fighting the Abuse of Power.

WithdraW troops as trump administration scheduled. the afghanistan study group is Wrong.

USA TodAy Don BolDuc

In addition to the wholesale retributive killings of the muslims, the British fanned the narrative of Hindu victimhood of several centuries. This narrative continued to get more traction over the years as several right-wing Hindu ideologues emerged from the embers of 1857. The Hindus believed that the muslims had finally got their comeuppance after several centuries of ruling over them; the muslims felt let down by their leaders, cheated by their Hindu neighbours, and disillusioned by their faith. They had believed the ulema who told them that, as in the historic Battle of Badr, Allah would intervene to ensure their victory.

And so as a defeated people tend to do, they became despondent and inward-looking.

The ulema were quick to turn this to their advantage They claimed that while the muslims’ cause was just, their faith was weak. Hence, the faith needed to be strengthened.

The growth and eventual rise of Sunni muslim sects like Deobandi and Barelvi were the consequence of this new dependence of the ordinary muslims on the ulema.

“By the turn of the century,” Bellaigue writes, “the word ‘pan-Islamism’ had become a portmanteau term to explain the political solidarity that seemed to extend across the muslim lands in opposition to imperialism. From Cambridge the late-Victorian scholar and Islamophile EG Browne deprecated the term as unfairly connoting fanaticism. In his view it was ‘certainly no more fanatical than Pan-Germanism, or Pan-Slavism, or British Imperialism, and indeed, much less so, being, in the first place defensive, and, in the second, based on the more rational ground of a common faith, not on the less rational ground of a common race’.”

The responders in India to this supposed global awakening were the religious scholars and ulema, who had assumed the role of “rehnumah” or one who shows the way for the community. As a result, ordinary muslims started shrinking away from the national mainstream, increasingly identifying with the idea of the global ummah.

Besides this development, one of the effects of the 1857 revolt was the erosion of the economic and educational foundations of the muslims. This idea of lost glory and victimhood had a cascading effect on their collective psyche leading to inertia and loss of hope – afflictions that linger on in some way or the other even today.

Do not change the course established by the Trump administration for withdrawing U.S. service members from Afghanistan. I could not disagree more with the congressionally appointed Afghanistan Study Group that recommended reversing on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The panel just made the military industrial complex very happy and covered the butts of Congress, many generals and officers and senior federal civilians for making nearly 20 years of bad decisions.

To the “think tank” experts, pundits and members of Congress, senior civilian and senior military officers who say, oh, our withdrawal from Afghanistan will make America more dangerous and susceptible to terrorist attack, I say, there are no credible assessments that support this conclusion.

We need a regional focus that gets us out of the “muddle through” strategy in Afghanistan that has tied us down to one country for two decades. For quite some time now, the filling of body bags and hospital beds has not been justified, and nobody is being held accountable for that.

Our departure would need to be an international effort and focus on economic and diplomatic support underwritten by political support. The military would leave a small regional counterterrorism capability to support the Afghan government with targeting al-Qaida and the Islamic State terrorist organization.

Our tactical level units have performed admirably, but our political leaders, policymakers and senior general officers have failed them. They have taken the Afghan government, military and police as far as they can go. It is now up to the Afghans. Good tactics never fix bad strategy.

As a retired general officer, with 10 tours in Afghanistan, I include myself in these failures. We have lionized the generals when we should have lionized our men and women who did the work under poor policy and strategy and an inadequate operational approach. It is time now to draw the right lessons from the experience, if only to honor the sacrifices made by the service members who fought there.

Don Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general who did 10 tours in Afghanistan from 2001-13 and who commanded special operations troops, is an associate professor at New England College.

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

BUSINESS 09

ISLAMABAD

InFlATIon soArs To Four-monTh hIgh In FEbruAry

CORPORATE CORNER

ConSumer inFlAtion riSeS to 8.7pC in FebruArY From 5.7pC in the previouS month KARACHI: Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited President & CEO Dr Ghaib Nishar reveices decade-long partnership recoginition award from HANDS Pakistan Chief Health & Reseach Dr muhammad Sarwat Mirza .

KARACHI: Promoting its mission of inclusivity, Faysal Islami, one of the leading Islamic banks in Pakistan, was the platinum sponsor for the 6th Special Olympics Pakistan Unified Marathon 2021, held at Emaar Pakistan on 28th February, 2021.

sanofi, bImA mobile Pakistan partner to improve access to healthcare KARACHI: Sanofi Pakistan and BIMA Mobile Pakistan inked a unique partnership to work together to address the unmet need for access to healthcare in Pakistan. This is probably the first time in Pakistan that a leading multinational pharmaceutical company and a micro-insurance company have joined hands to disrupt the health eco-system positively. Pakistan is predominately a self-pay market whereby people cover their health care expenses on their own. With an access to health care rate of ~40% and 1 doctor available for 905 people, the majority of people in Pakistan do not have adequate access to healthcare.Technology has now made it possible to access medical professionals and medicines without the patient having to leave home.

Qatar Airways resumes 3 weekly flights to sialkot KARACHI: Qatar Airways has announced that it has resumed three-weekly flights to Sialkot from Doha, starting today. The Sialkot service is operated by Qatar Airways’ state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in the award-winning Qsuite Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. The airline recently increased its services to Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, and now operates 52 weekly flights to five gateways in Pakistan with its Boeing 787 and A350 aircraft. Qatar Airways Group Regional Manager, Indian Subcontinent, Karthik Viswanathan, said: “We are excited to resume our services to Sialkot in Pakistan, offering our Pakistan passengers extended connectivity to 33 destinations in Europe, 13 destinations in the Americas, and the UK via the Best Airport in the Middle East.

shell’s relerases annual lng outlook KARACHI: Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade increased to 360 million tonnes in 2020, according to Shell’s latest annual LNG Outlook published today, despite the unprecedented volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in lockdowns around the world. Though marginal, the increase in volume reflects the resilience and flexibility of the global LNG market in 2020, a year which saw losses to global GDP of several trillion dollars as economies large and small struggled to contain the COVID19 outbreak. “LNG provided flexible energy which the world needed during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating its resilience and ability to power people’s lives in these unprecedented times,” said Maarten Wetselaar, Integrated Gas, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director at Shell.

LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

HE Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based monthly inflation increased to a four-month high of 8.7pc in February 2021 as compared to 5.7pc in January, data issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed on Monday.

Urban CPI rose to 8.6pc vs. 5.0pc in the previous month, while Rural CPI clocked in at 8.8pc vs. 6.6pc in January 2021.

"We think the monthly increase in CPI is broadly a reflection of the surging global commodity prices (depicted by many indices as discussed below), coupled with 15pc power tariff hike (an IMF precondition for program resumption)," said an analysis issued by the Intermarket Securities Lim-

ited read. "Also note that the February reading could have been higher, had it not been for a high-base (CPI in Feb 2020: 12.4pc)."

Core inflation, however, remained moderate during the month under review. Urban core inflation was recorded 6.4pc in February vs. 5.4pc in January. Rural core inflation, on the other hand, fell to 7.7pc vs. 7.8pc in the previous month. During July-February FY21, urban and rural core inflation have averaged 5.6pc and 7.7pc, respectively.

According to the PBS data, urban/rural food inflation crept up again to 10.3pc/9.1pc in February, after reporting a multi-month low in January (7.3pc/7.2pc). This was driven by non-perishable food items (up c.15pc YoY) including chicken, cooking oil, and pulses (the latter two entail imports and are driven by global prices).

National CPI has averaged 8.3pc YoY during JulyFebruary period (urban 7.2pc and rural 9.9pc) within the SBP's projected range of 7-9pc. While core inflation continues to point to moderate demand-led inflation, the headline CPI remains high and could be higher in the coming months. Food prices are prone to rising ahead of Ramadan (falling in April 2021), while global commodity prices remain up-trending.

Petrol price changes have recently been held back by the government and a potentially big change in future will push CPI higher.

"We believe that the SBP will overweigh the headline CPI in future monetary policy decisions, as it did in the previous spell of monetary tightening. In this context, the present trends support increase in interest rates as early as May (SBP guided no change in stance till March MPS)," the IMS report read.

Private LNG import likely to start in April, May ISLAMABAD APP

The award of unutilised Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal capacity is currently in process, following which the private sector is likely to start the import of LNG in April or May. According to a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments, a similar trend of importing LNG through private firms may be seen in the future.

At present, the official said, the re-gasification volume is at around 1,000 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) against the total existing capacity of around 1,200 MMCFD gas. “So, the government has no serious concern with regard to any unutilised capacity and if there is any [unutilised capacity], it has auctioned it,” he said. The Oil and Gas Development Authority (OGRA) had recently granted the first-ever

marketing licences to two companies for undertaking regulated activities with regard to the sale of natural gas and LNG. Besides, it issued two ‘provisional licences’ of supplying LNG through cryogenic bowzers to consumers, especially where a regular gas transmission network does not exist. Currently, the country’s indigenous gas production is around 3.7 BCFD against the demand of 6 BCFD to meet the requirements of more than 9.6 million consumers across the country. According to a recent report by OGRA, the gap between demand and supply of gas could increase by 5,389 MMCFD by 2029-30, if necessary measures are not taken to increase local exploration and production activities.

INCREASE IN LPG PRICE: Meanwhile, OGRA on Monday notified an increase of Rs1.84 per kilogramme in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the month of March.

Agha Steel posts 1.05bn profit for July-Dec FY21 NEWS DESK Agha Steel Industries on Monday announced its financial results for the half year ended on 31st December 2020. The company announced a cumulative profit after tax (PAT) of 1,057 million for the half year, while its PAT for October-December quarter clocked in at Rs548 million.

The earning per share for the half year increased to Rs2.13 from last year's Rs1.95. The current quarter's EPS remained Rs1.11 compared with the last

quarter EPS of Rs1.11. Despite the addition of 120,000,000 shares to the share capital of the company, the EPS remains the same. The company's total gross sales for the six-month period remained Rs12,026 million while quarterly gross sales clocked in at Rs6,136 million.

Agha Steel's half yearly results clearly reflects a progressive trend of the company. During the period, the company posted exemplary standards while raising equity with in the industry by achieving (1.6x) oversubscription of its recently floated IPO.

ISLAMABAD A simple procedure regarding transfer of development funds from the Center to GilgitBaltistan takes up to 40 days mainly due to unnecessary and lengthy procedures being followed for decades.

The above came to light during a recent meeting among officials of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (PD&SI), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan (KA&GB) and the GB government. The meeting was held on the request of GB to simplify the funds transfer procedure.

ISLAMABAD INP

The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) said on Monday that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is conspiring to further weaken Pakistan’s fragile economy. PEW President Dr Murtaz Mughal said that the FATF’s decision to keep Pakistan on its grey list till June is "political, disappointing, and against the merit". He deplored that the decision was made despite Pakistan’s significant progress on the recommended actions. "People are terming the global watchdog's decision as biased, since many countries have been taken off the watch list despite their performance being below Pakistan," he noted, adding that Pakistan has complied with 24 of the 27 actions and is acting to fulfil the remaining three conditions to eliminate terror financing. Dr Murtaza Mughal said Pakistan's significant progress towards FATF's plan could be gauged from the unprecedented increase in home remittances. "However, we have no other option but to show progress on the rest of the action plan otherwise there will be an economic cost." He stressed that the FATF should not work as a tool for superpowers to ignore countries that are in their good books and penalise the nations which are not. Presently, there are 18 countries in the FATF grey list while two states, North Korea and Iran, are on the blacklist.

MARKET DAILY

PSX sheds 271 points ahead of Senate polls KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bearish on Monday mainly due to political uncertainty ahead of Senate elections scheduled for March 3.

The performance of global equity markets remained mixed, whereas crude oil prices moved up from the previous close; WTI crude oil price appreciating 1.28pc to $62.30 while Brent crude oil price was rising 1.24pc to $65.22 (as at 3:44pm PST).

"The market opened on a positive note, but across the board selling pressure brought the index down over 750 points intraday. TRG announced financial results today, which resulted in profit booking, bringing the stock below LDCP. The last half hour saw brisk buying with the index recovering some lost territory," a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session on Monday, registering its intraday high at 46,009.38 (+144.36 points) and low at

45,092.80 (-772.22 points). It settled lower by 271.59 points at 45,593.43.

Among other indices, the KMI030 Index dropped 275.78 points to end at 76,002.59, while the KSE All Share Index lost 166.90 points, closing at 31,269.25. The overall market volumes contracted from 479.97 million shares on Friday to 368.21 million shares (23pc). Average traded value also declined by 29pc, from $162.8 million to $116.4 million. Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL +2.28pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG 0.40pc) and Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY

GB development suffers amid delay in transfer of federal funds GHULAM ABBAS

PEW deplores FATF's decision to keep Pakistan on grey list

It may be noted that the lengthy process regarding the release of funds is only specific to GB, as all other provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), are being facilitated with fast-track procedures for funds transfer. As per documents available with this scribe, it takes only 10 days to transfer funds to the accounts of AJK from the Center once a release request is made.

"As per the existing procedure, the AJK government directly sends [funds] release request to the Planning Commission, which completes the entire necessary paperwork with the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) within 10 days," an official explained. "But for GB, the regional

government needs to first make a release request to KA&GB, which forwards the same to the Planning Commission. PC then sends authorization letters back to KA&GB and the latter sends a sanction letter to the Accountant General Office in Gilgit since the ministry cannot directly send the letter to SBP. The AG office in Gilgit, after due process, sends a credit request letter to SBP." According to documents, in case of GB, the KA&GB ministry takes at least two weeks to issue a release sanction letter, apart from the time involved at the Planning Commission. Similarly, the Gilgit AG Office takes a minimum of 10 days to issue a credit request to SBP. The involvement of KA&GB

in case of GB delays the disbursement of project funds by around 35 to 40 days.

Although both GB and AJK fall under the ministry of KA&GB, but the lengthy procedure was being followed only for GB. Keeping in view the unnecessary delay in transfer of funds, the GB government had requested the Center to release development funds as per the AJK model so as to enable the GB government fast track development portfolio.

It is pertinent to mention that the delay was being seen only in the transfer of development funds, whereas non-development funds (block allocation) of GB were already being transferred through the Finance Division without the involvement of KA&GB.

-5.35pc) led the volume chart, exchnaging 31.73 million, 24.61 million and 21.19 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that drove the benchmark index north included banking (-104.78 points), textile composite (-27.05 points) and pharmaceutical (-25.61 points).

Among the companies, banking players United Bank Ltd (UBL -38.64 points), Habib Bank ltd (HBL -32.51 points) and Bank Al Habib Ltd (BAHL -18.44 points) dented the index the most. Shedding 1.61pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd and Pakistan Refinery Ltd ending in the negative.

On the request of the GB government, the Planning Commission had asked the concerned ministries to consider the request of GB and ensure fast track disbursement of funds of PSDP-funded GB portfolio projects.

According to an official, after some earlier meetings on the subject, a meeting on February 24, 2021, was held at KA&GB to discuss the issue. However, surprising to officials of PD&SI, the Ministry of Finance and KA&GB secretary Ejaz Ahmed Khan out rightly denied to go for the proposed AJK model for transfer of development funds to GB, saying his ministry was the sponsoring agency. He even hinted at rolling back the easy procedure of transferring funds to AJK as both GB and AJK fall under the domain of his ministry. He also reportedly made excuses of capacity issues in GB for following the AJK model.

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

10 foreign newS

iSlaMabad

Tehran denIes responsIbIlITy as neTanyahu says Iran 'Clearly' behInd blasT on IsraelI-owned shIp

I

AGENCIES

SRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran on Monday for an explosion aboard an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week, an accusation rejected by Tehran.

The vehicle-carrier MV Helios Ray was hit between Thursday night and Friday morning by a blast above the water line that a US official said ripped holes in both sides

of its hull. An Israeli official said limpet mines were used.

“This was indeed an operation by Iran.

That is clear,” Netanyahu told Kan radio.

Asked if Israel would retaliate, he said: “You know my policy. Iran is Israel’s biggest enemy. I am determined to fend it off. We are striking at it all over the region.”

Iran denied involvement. “We strongly reject this accusation,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the foreign ministry in

Tehran, told a news conference. “The security of the Persian Gulf is extremely important for Iran.”

Kan said the Netanyahu interview was pre-recorded on Sunday night, before Syria accused Israel of carrying out missile strikes around southern Damascus.

Israel did not confirm carrying out those strikes, but has previously said it was launching frequent military actions against Iranian deployment or arms handovers within Syria.

Yoav Galant, a minister in Netanyahu’s security cabinet and a former navy admiral, said pictures of the Helios Ray showed each hole resulted from “a mine affixed to the exterior, apparently in a nighttime navy commando operation”.

The perpetrators would have known about the ship’s Israeli ownership from open-source material, and the incident took place close to Iranian-controlled coastline, Galant told Ynet TV — adding

'Inferior' women: China counters Uighur criticism with explicit attacks on women who made claims of abuse AGENCIES China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of a Muslim minority in its far west, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse.

As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number of western lawmakers accusing China of genocide, Beijing is focusing on discrediting the female Uighur witnesses behind recent reports of abuse.

Chinese officials have named women, disclosed what they say is private medical data and information on the women’s fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease.

The officials said the information was evidence of bad character, invalidating the women’s accounts of abuse in Xinjiang.

“To rebuke some media’s disgusting acts, we have taken a series of measures,” Xu Guixiang, the deputy head of Xinjiang’s

publicity department, told a December news conference that was part of China’s pushback campaign. It included hours-long briefings, with footage of Xinjiang residents and family members reading monologues.

A Reuters review of dozens of hours of presentations from recent months and hundreds of pages of literature, as well as interviews with experts, shows a meticulous and wide-reaching campaign that hints at China’s fears that it is losing control of the Xinjiang narrative.

“One reason that the Communist Party is so concerned about these testimonies from women is because it undermines their initial premise for what they’re doing there, which is anti-terrorism”, said James Millward, a professor of Chinese history at Georgetown University and expert in Xinjiang policy.

“The fact that there are so many women in the camps [...] who don’t have the faintest appearance of being violent people, this just shows how this has nothing to do with terrorism.”

Uighurs make up most of the one million

Chinese hackers target Indian vaccine makers, says firm NEW DELHI AGENCIES

A Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country’s immunisation campaign, cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma told Reuters.

Rivals China and India have both sold or gifted Covid-19 shots to many countries. India produces more than 60 percent of all vaccines sold in the world. Goldman Sachs-backed Cyfirma, based in Singapore and Tokyo, said Chinese hacking group APT10, also known as Stone Panda, had identified gaps and vulnerabilities in the IT infrastructure and supply chain software of Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker. “The real motivation here is actually exfiltrating intellectual property and getting [a] competitive advantage over Indian pharmaceutical companies,” said Cyfirma Chief Executive Kumar Ritesh, formerly a top cyber official with British foreign intelligence agency MI6. He said APT10 was actively targeting SII, which is making the AstraZeneca vaccine for many countries and will soon start bulk-manufacturing Novavax shots. “In the case of Serum Institute, they have found a number of their public servers running weak web servers, these are vulnerable web servers,” Ritesh said, referring to the hackers. “They have spoken about weak web application, they are also talking about the weak content-management systems. It’s quite alarming.” China’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. SII and Bharat Biotech declined to comment. The government-run Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, with whom Cyfirma said it had shared its findings, had no immediate comment. The US Department of Justice said in 2018 that APT10 had acted in association with the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Microsoft said in November that it had detected cyberattacks from Russia and North Korea targeting Covid-19 vaccine companies in India, Canada, France, South Korea and the United States. North Korean hackers also tried to break into the systems of British drugmaker AstraZeneca. Ritesh, whose firm follows the activities of some 750 cybercriminals and monitors nearly 2,000 hacking campaigns using a tool called decipher, said it was not yet clear what vaccine-related information APT10 may have accessed from the Indian companies. Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN shot, developed with the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, will be exported to many countries, including Brazil. US drugmaker Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said in December that documents related to the development of their Covid-19 vaccine had been “unlawfully accessed” in a cyberattack on Europe’s medicines regulator.

people that a United Nations estimate says have been detained in Xinjiang camps under what the central government calls a campaign against terrorism. Accusations by activists and some western politicians include torture, forced labour and sterilisations.

In a rare US bipartisan agreement, the top diplomats of the former administration of Donald Trump and the new one of Joe Biden have called China’s treatment of the Uighurs genocide, a stance adopted last week by the Canadian and Dutch parliaments.

China faces sanctions such as a ban on US purchases of Xinjiang cotton and tomatoes, and calls by some western lawmakers to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on Monday. The government denies accusations of abuse at the “vocational training centres” in the remote western region, and says claims of systematic sexual abuse are unfounded.

Beijing has rejected calls for an inde-

pendent UN investigation into Xinjiang’s internment programme. Journalists and diplomats have not been permitted access to the camps outside of tightly controlled government tours. Uighurs in Xinjiang have told Reuters they fear reprisals for speaking to press while in China.

'LIES AND SLANDER': China’s tightly controlled, invitation-only media events on Xinjiang require journalists to submit questions days or weeks in advance. They include pre-recorded videos and prepared testimony by former camp inmates and religious figures.

Beijing has packaged content from the events in two volumes titled, “The Truth About Xinjiang: Exposing the US-Led Lies and Slanders About Xinjiang.”

In January, the Twitter account of China’s US embassy was suspended for a tweet that said Uighur women had been “baby-making machines” before Beijing instituted its system of camps.

“The biological, the reproductive, the gendered aspect of this is particularly horri-

Myanmar court files another charge against Suu Kyi as protesters march again YANGON AGENCIES

A Myanmar court filed another charge against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, a lawyer acting for her said, as protesters marched in defiance of a crackdown by security forces that killed at least 18 people the previous day. Suu Kyi looked healthy as she took part in a court hearing via video conferencing in the capital, Naypyitaw, though had perhaps lost some weight, and she asked to see her legal team, lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters.

The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has not been seen in public since her government was ousted in a February 1 military coup and she was detained along with other party leaders.

She was initially charged with illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Later, a charge of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols was added.

On Monday, a charge was added under a section of the colonial-era penal code prohibiting the publication of information that may “cause fear or alarm” or disrupt “public tranquillity”, Min Min Soe said.

The next hearing will be on March 15.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power after alleging fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi’s NLD in a landslide.

As Suu Kyi appeared in the video conference court hearing, police in the main city of Yangon used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters, witnesses said, a day after the worst violence since the coup.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties on Monday but the previous day, police opened fire on crowds in various parts of the country killing 18 people.

“It has been one month since the coup. They cracked down on us with shootings yesterday. We will come out today again,” prominent protest leader Ei Thinzar Maung said on Facebook earlier.

The military has not commented on Sunday’s violence and police and military spokesmen did not answer calls.

Earlier, police with water cannon and military vehicles were mobilised at protest hotspots in Yangon as crowds gathered to chant slogans.

‘ABHORRENT’: Demonstrators marched in the northwestern town of Kale holding up pictures of Suu Kyi and

chanting “democracy, our cause, our cause”.

Live video on Facebook showed a small crowd in hard hats gathered across a street in the northeastern town of Lashio, chanting slogans as police marched towards them.

Protesters also marched in the central town of Bagan.

The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced what he called “abhorrent violence” by security forces, while Canada’s foreign minister, Marc Garneau, called the military’s use of lethal force “appalling”. Both urged a united response. Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said it was clear the junta’s assault would continue so the international community should ratchet up its response. He proposed a global arms embargo, more sanctions from more countries on those behind the coup, sanctions on the military’s businesses and a U.N Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court.

“Words of condemnation are welcome but insufficient.

We must act,” Andrews said in a statement.

“The nightmare in Myanmar that is unfolding before our eyes will get worse. The world must act.” While some Western countries have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure with support from China and Russia. The junta has promised to hold a new election but not set a date.

that a formal investigation had confirmed his observations.

Iran said in November it would make a “calculated” response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist, which it blamed on Israel.

Israel has not responded to that accusation.

Tensions have risen in the Gulf region since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then-president Donald Trump withdrew Washington from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.

fying to the world,” said Georgetown’s Millward. China “seems to have recognised that [...] You now see them trying in this clumsy way to respond.”

During a regular daily press briefing last week, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin held up images of witnesses who had described sexual abuse in Xinjiang. The account of one of them, he said, was “lies and rumours” because she had not recounted the experience in previous interviews. He gave medical details about the woman’s fertility.

Xinjiang officials in January said a woman who had spoken to foreign media had syphilis, and they showed images of medical records — unsolicited information that was not directly related to her account.

A Xinjiang government official said of another witness last month: “Everyone knows about her inferior character. She’s lazy and likes comfort, her private life is chaotic, her neighbours say that she committed adultery while in China.”

Last week, the top spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, Hua Chunying, tweeted images of four named witnesses, saying they had “raked their brains for lies”, adding “they will never succeed”.

China has declined to provide data on the number of people in the camps. Beijing initially denied the camps existed but now says they are vocational and education centres and that all the people have “graduated”.

Modi takes home-grown vaccine as India widens immunisation drive NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inoculated with the first dose of a home-grown coronavirus vaccine on Monday, kicking off an expansion of the country’s immunisation campaign that began in mid-January with healthcare workers. People above 60, and those who are 45 or more and suffering from certain medical conditions, are now eligible for the vaccinations. India, which has reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world after the United States, has so far vaccinated more than 12 million health and front-line workers. “Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19,” Modi said on Twitter, posting a picture of him getting the shot at a government hospital in New Delhi. “I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India COVID-19 free!” The government said last week it would let people choose their vaccination centres, effectively letting beneficiaries pick either the home-grown COVAXIN shot or the AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike earlier. The inoculation campaign has progressed slower than expected due to a reluctance of health and front-line workers to take COVAXIN, which was approved without late-stage efficacy data.

Only about 11 percent of vaccinated people have opted for the product developed

by Bharat Biotech and the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research.

Bharat Biotech has said efficacy data from a late-stage trial on nearly 26,000 volunteers who took COVAXIN will be out soon. The company, along with India’s drug regulator, says COVAXIN is safe and effective, based on early and intermediate studies. India has reported more than 11 million coronavirus infections and over 157,000 deaths.

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

ISLAMABAD

PSL match PoStPoneD aFteR ISLamaBaD UnIteD’S FawaD ahmeD teStS FoR PoSItIve FoR covID-19 KARACHI

t

Rose to meet Dortmund as rivals eye cup chance in Bayern absence 44-YEAR-OLD HAS COME UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE AFTER HE ANNOUNCED HIS INTENTION TO JOIN THE BLACK AND YELLOW CLUB

AGENCIES

HE Pakistan Super League 2021 match scheduled for Monday was put off by a day after a player from the Islamabad United squad tested positive for the coronavirus.

The match between United and Quetta Gladiators will now be played on Tuesday (tomorrow) at 7pm.

An hour before the match was about to commence, the Pakistan Cricket Board on Twitter said “a player from one of the sides featuring in this evening’s match has tested positive. The player had [shown] symptoms two days ago and had been immediately isolated.” It added that other members of the player’s team had tested negative, while the players of the other side were being tested.

Islamabad United later identified the player as its bowler Fawad Ahmed. It confirmed that all other Islamabad United players and members had tested negative and had been “cleared to play”. “We wish Fawad a speedy recovery,” it tweeted. At the time, United had said their match against the Gladiators, which was scheduled to start at 7pm today, would now begin at 9pm.

“All other teams are currently under-

SPORTS 11

BERLIN AGENCIES

going tests. Islamabad United are cleared to play,” it said. However, the PCB later announced that the match had been rescheduled for Tuesday at 7pm.

It said the test results of both Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United squads had

Simeone pleased as benched Joao Felix makes ‘big impact’ VILLARREAL AGENCIES

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone heaped praised on Joao Felix after the 21year-old responded to being benched for Sunday’s match at Villarreal by scoring as a substitute to seal a badly-needed 2-0 win in La Liga. Atletico’s 126-million-euro ($152 million) forward was excluded from the starting lineup for the second time in three matches and had been largely ineffective when he did start in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League. He was introduced at the start of the second half with his side a goal up against Villarreal and settled their nerves with an instinctive volley, scoring for the first time since late January.

“He scored a great goal and made a big impact and that’s what we need from him. I love it when players rebel and try to prove how strong they are. He’s very important to us,” Simeone said. The Portuguese marked the goal by putting his finger to his lips although Simeone would not be drawn on whether his player was trying to send him a message over not starting the game. “We’ll have to ask him why he did that,” said the coach. Defender Stefan Savic added: “Joao hadn’t scored for a very long time and I’m delighted for him because he’s a player with incredible talent. I don’t think he was angry with anyone, he knows what we need.”

returned negative. “This (postponement) is being done to ensure [the] players from both sides get time to prepare for the game,” it tweeted, adding that tickets purchased for Monday would be valid tomorrow.

Last month, a player from one of the

PSL 6 franchises had tested positive for Covid-19, while another player and an official had been placed in a three-day quarantine after violating bio-security protocols, the PCB had said, without identifying the trio.

‘Written off’ Liverpool still ready to fight: Klopp SHEFFIELD AGENCIES

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool can prove the doubters that have written their season off wrong after snapping a fourgame Premier League losing streak to win 2-0 at Sheffield United on Sunday.

The English champions’ title defence has been decimated by injuries and they face a battle just to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a top-four finish. Klopp’s men remain in sixth, but are now just two points behind fourthplaced West Ham and can leapfrog Chelsea in fifth when the Blues visit Anfield on Thursday. “Plenty of people have written us off. That’s fine,” said Klopp.

“With all the problems we have had we’re still around the exciting places.”

Captain Jordan Henderson has been added to Liverpool’s long-term injury list, while goalkeeper Alisson Becker was absent after he lost his father to a swimming accident in Brazil this week.

But the Championship-bound Blades proved the perfect opponents for Klopp’s men to restore some confidence as Curtis Jones’s second-half strike and Kean Bryan’s own goal got

the Reds back to winning ways.

“This was about us showing we’re still there,” added Klopp. “We play Chelsea on Thursday, we have to show it again. We have to win football games, we know that. There’s no way into the Champions League without results.”

With Alisson’s understudy Caoimhin Kelleher also absent due to injury, Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper Adrian started in the Premier League for the first time since conceding nine goals in two games in October to Aston Villa and Everton.

However, the much-maligned Spaniard made an important early save to prevent David McGoldrick giving Sheffield United a shock lead.

Most of the action was taking place down the other end as Aaron Ramsdale brilliantly denied Roberto Firmino, who should have teed up Jones for a tap-in.

The former Bournemouth stopper also did well to block from Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijnaldum, while Firmino’s lack of confidence showed as he tried to tee up Sadio Mane rather than go for an open goal from a narrow angle.

Liverpool’s breakthrough finally

came three minutes into the second period when Alexander-Arnold was deemed not to have run the ball out of play before his cross was turned by Firmino into the path of Jones to slot home the opening goal. The same two players were involved again for the second as this time the Brazilian’s shot took a huge deflection off Bryan.

Firmino was denied his first goal in seven games with the goal credited to the defender. “He had a goal,” said Klopp. “For him it counts, if it’s not in the stats, I don’t care.”

Andy Robertson and Salah were guilty of passing up more clear-cut chances that could have given the scoreline the reflection Liverpool’s dominance deserved. Sheffield United are still 15 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table and manager Chris Wilder admitted his side lacked the quality to challenge even a depleted Liverpool. “You have to have your best players available and be at the top of your form and unfortunately we are not,” said Wilder.

“We had a right go but lacked quality and strength in depth. You need a bit more in this division because it’s brutal and it exposes you.”

Borussia Moenchengladbach coach Marco Rose will meet his future club Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday, as Germany’s top teams eye a rare chance for silverware in Bayern Munich’s absence.

Finalists in eight of the last ten seasons and 20-time winners overall, favourites Bayern suffered their earliest exit since 2001 with a penalty shootout defeat to second-tier minnows Holstein Kiel in the second round in January.

The upset left the race for the cup wide open, and handed rivals such as Dortmund, Gladbach and RB Leipzig their best chance in years of winning a trophy.

For Gladbach coach Rose, Tuesday’s clash is a chance to save a faltering final season before joining Dortmund at the end of the campaign.

After leading them to a top-four finish last season and the Champions League knockout stages in the current campaign, the 44-yearold has seen his side drop to eighth after four defeats in their last five league games.

Rose has come under increasing pressure after he announced his intention to join Dortmund earlier this month, with some fans and commentators calling for him to step down.

Yet on Saturday, he dismissed the notion that there would be a conflict of interest when his Gladbach side meet Dortmund this week.

“It’s not difficult for me at all. I am the coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach. I have goals with this club, and I am responsible for its sporting success and for my players,” he told Sky. For Gladbach, victory over Dortmund would move them one step closer to a first major title since 1995, the year they last won the cup. Dortmund, meanwhile, are hoping to get their hands on the trophy for the third time in the last decade, while RB Leipzig are eyeing a first major title.

Currently second in the Bundesliga, 2019 finalists Leipzig are arguably favourites ahead of their quarter-final clash with Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

Yet their opponents, who won the cup as recently as 2015, are also in fine form with six wins in their last seven games in all competitions.

The other quarter-finals see Werder Bremen travel to second-tier side Regensburg, while Rot-Weiss Essen and Holstein Kiel meet in a clash of the giant-killers on Wednesday.

While Kiel sensationally sank Bayern in the second round, fourth-tier Essen have claimed a number of major scalps on their way to the last eight, including Bundesliga sides Arminia Bielefeld and Bayer Leverkusen.

Three talking points from the Premier League LONDON AGENCIES

Manchester City’s lead at the top of the Premier League continues to grow as Pep Guardiola’s men have now won 20 consecutive games in all competitions, while the chasing pack struggle to maintain any consistent form.

Manchester United’s 0-0 draw at Chelsea and Leicester’s 3-1 home defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, mean City now enjoy a 12-point advantage after seeing off West Ham 2-1 on Saturday. The Hammers remain in fourth thanks to Chelsea’s stalemate, but Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Arsenal all won to tighten the race for a place in next season’s Champions League.

Even on a day when Guardiola admitted City “were not going to paint anything beautiful” they still found a way to win against a

’THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE MANAGER IN THE WORLD THAT DOESN’T PLAY BALE IF BALE IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION,’ SAYS MOURINHO well-organised West Ham, who had lost only once previously in the league in 2021.

The leaders were the only side in the top five to win this weekend as United’s dismal record against the traditional heavyweights of Liverpool, City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal continued. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have not won in seven league meetings against those sides this season and have scored only once, from the penalty spot in a 6-1 thrashing by Spurs early in the season.

Solskjaer was furious at the denial of a spot-kick at Stamford Bridge, but also has to reflect on whether his conservative nature against stronger opposition cost United the

chance to challenge City for the title.

Under fire after five defeats in six league game, Jose Mourinho brought Gareth Bale in from the cold to save his season and the Welshman delivered with a double in a much-needed 4-0 win against Burnley on Sunday. Bale’s return to Tottenham on loan from Real Madrid had been written off as a flop after he suffered with fitness issues and poor form for the first half of the campaign.

The 31-year-old was criticised by Mourinho after a spat over his fitness when he withdrew from the squad for an FA Cup defeat at Everton. But Bale showed signs of a revival with a goal in each leg of Totten-

CMYK

ham’s Europa League last 32 rout of Wolfsberger, earning just his third league start of the season against the Clarets.

The four-time Champions League winner seized his chance with two predatory finishes and an assist for Harry Kane to ease the pressure on Mourinho. “There is not one single manager in the world that doesn’t play Gareth Bale if Gareth Bale is in very good condition,” said Mourinho. “Now he is better than ever. He played very well and his condition is very good. He helped the team to win and that’s the most important thing.”

West Brom’s 1-0 win over Brighton kept the Baggies in the fight to beat the drop, but Sam Allardyce’s men needed more wayward finishing by the Seagulls from the penalty spot and a moment of madness from referee Lee Mason to claim all three points.

After Kyle Bartley’s early opener and Pascal Gross sent the first of two Brighton

penalties against the woodwork, Lewis Dunk thought he had brought Graham Potter’s men level with a clever quickly taken free-kick.

Dunk revealed he had even asked Mason if he could take the set-piece and the referee obliged by blowing the whistle. However, with West Brom ‘keeper Sam Johnstone still arranging his wall, Mason blew for a second time just before the ball crossed the line.

In the madness that ensued, Mason changed his mind twice over whether to give the goal before it was finally ruled out.

“It’s embarrassing, it’s just a horrendous decision,” said Dunk. “I said to the ref ‘can I take it’, he blew his whistle and I took it. I don’t think he knew what he was doing.”

Mason could argue the same be said of Brighton in front of goal. Danny Welbeck hit the post with a second penalty in the secondhalf as for the umpteenth time this season their domination of the play counted for little.

Tuesday, 2 March, 2021

prAyer timings

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:13

12:20

4:25

6:35

6:05

7:28

COAS, BritiSh EnvOy diSCuSS AfghAn PEACE PrOCESS RAWALPINDI

C

GEN BAJWA LAUDS PERFORMANCE OF RAWALPINDI LOGISTICS WORKSHOP

stAff report

HIEF of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner discussed Afghan peace process on Monday.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the British high commissioner called on the army chief at General Headquarters (GHQ). The military media wing said that matters of mutual interest and overall regional security situation came under discussion during the meeting.

The meeting takes place at a time when the Afghan peace process hangs in the balance. On Sunday, the Afghan Taliban had warned the US and international forces of dire consequences if they extend their “occupation” of the war-torn country. As part of the Doha deal, the US troops need to leave Afghanistan by May. However, the US as well as NATO have now indicated that they may not withdraw in summer. The US and NATO insist that troops’ withdrawal is condition-based. Both accused the Taliban of not honouring the commitment.

Taliban have been accused of not taking steps to reduce violence as well as not cutting ties with the terrorist groups.

The Taliban, however, rejected the allegation and insisted that they are fully committed to the peace accord.

Backing their claims in a statement, the Taliban said since the February 29, 2019 deal, not a single American was killed in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has advised the Biden administration to speak directly to the Taliban if it wants to extend foreign forces’ stay beyond May. Pakistan has a key role in brokering and facilitating the peace process, and has been emphasising that there is no military solution to the lingering war in Afghanistan.

GEN BAJWA LAUDS PERFORMANCE OF RAWALPINDI LOGISTICS WORKSHOP: Separately, COAS Bajwa visited a logistic installation/work-

shop in Rawalpindi, ISPR said in a statement on Monday. According to ISPR, the army chief appreciated the performance and commitment of the workshop in the provision of top-class maintenance facilities and services as per standard engineering practices in line with modern

and the latest standards.

The COAS visited various facilities and infrastructures of the workshop handling a vast range of specialized transport items for the army. The army chief was briefed regarding facilities being developed, up-grada-

tion mechanism of vehicles and handling of central stores, said the military’s media wing.

Earlier on arrival, the COAS was received by Chief of Logistic Staff (CLS) Lieutenant General Azhar Saleh Abbasi.

Hafeez for expediting efforts to get out of FATF grey list Eight foreign teams participate in Pakistan Army competition ISLAMABAD: The fourth International Pakistan Army Team Spirit (PATS) Competition-2021 commenced on Monday at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre in Pabbi near Kharian, the military’s media wing said in a statement. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), eight domestic teams of the Pakistan Army along with teams from eight allied countries will also participate in the competition. ISPR said that teams from Jordan, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uzbekistan will take part as participants whereas Morocco, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will be participating as observers in this three-day-long competition. The competition is designed to test tactical skills in physical and professional domains as well as the agility of the participating teams to generate responses in challenging real-time field scenarios. The 62-hours long event will subject the teams to various scenarios and will encompass tasks including physical endurance, water obstacle crossing, close target reconnaissance and protective approach under chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear environments. stAff report

Khashoggi’s fiancée wants Saudi crown prince punished ‘without delay’ ANKARA: The fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi called on Monday for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be punished after a US intelligence report found he had approved the killing. Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post criticising Saudi policies, was killed and dismembered by a team linked to the crown prince in the Saudi consulate in October 2018 in Istanbul. A US intelligence report on Friday claimed the prince had approved the killing, and Washington imposed sanctions on some of those involved — but not Prince Mohammed himself. The Saudi government, which has denied any involvement by the crown prince, rejected the report’s findings. “It is essential that the crown prince […] should be punished without delay,” Hatice Cengiz said on Twitter. “If the crown prince is not punished, it will forever signal that the main culprit can get away with murder which will endanger us all and be a stain on our humanity.” Agencies

FINANCE MINISTER STRESSES STRICT ADHERENCE TO TIMELINES FOR SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF ACTION PLAN ISLAMABAD tLtp

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has urged the concerned ministries and departments to expedite efforts for fulfilling requirements in a few remaining areas to get rid of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The finance minister said this while chairing the 17th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Anti-Money Laundering at the Finance Division on Monday.

The finance minister stressed that strict adherence to timelines would culminate into successful completion of the FATF Action Plan. He acknowledged the robust progress demonstrated by the relevant ministries and departments.

He commended the great efforts made by the National Executive Committee, under the chairmanship of the Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, in achieving major milestones with reference to the 27-point FATF Action Plan. The unity of purpose, teamwork and meticulous coordination among various ministries and departments concerned have brought Pakistan closer to achieving the target of completing FATF Action Plan despite enormous challenges, he added. FMU Director General Lubna Malik briefed the committee on overall progress achieved on the FATF Action Plan and outlined efforts

underway for the remaining targets to be achieved in due course of time. She said that Pakistan has received international recognition and support for making strides vis-a-vis an exigent Action Plan given by the FATF. Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad, Secretary Law Raja Naeem Akbar, Secretary Finance Kamran Ali Afzal, Director GeneralFATF Khawaja Adnan, Director General-OPS NAB Zahir Shah, Director General (CT) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Asim Ali Khan, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed, Additional Director General FIA Ahsan Saqib, Director General MO Major General Nauman Zakaria and senior officials of the Finance Ministry participated in the meeting. On Thursday, FATF decided to keep Pakistan on the grey list till June 2021 at the end of its four-day plenary meeting.

The announcement was made by FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer at a press briefing on the outcomes of the FATF plenary. “Pakistan remains under increased monitoring,” the president said.

“FATF recognises Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts, however, there are still some serious deficiencies that the country needs to address,” Dr Pleyer said. “All of these areas relate to terror financing, three out of 27 points need to be fully addressed,” he added.

While reiterating that Pakistan has made “progress”, the FATF president said, “We strongly urge completion of the plan by Pakistan.”

Khalilzad visits Kabul looking for ways to speed up Afghan peace process WASHINGTON/KABUL Agencies

The US special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, held discussions on Monday with a senior Afghan official in Kabul over ways to accelerate the peace process, before heading to Qatar, where negotiations with Taliban representatives are ongoing. USbrokered peace talks between the

Afghan government and the militant group began in September but progress has slowed and violence has risen, while there is also uncertainty over whether international forces will pull out troops by May as originally planned.

The State Department said in a statement on Sunday that Khalilzad and his team were visiting Kabul and Qatar. It said the US diplomats would

also visit other regional capitals as part of a mission aimed at working toward “a just and durable political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire”. It did not provide dates or other details of where they intended to go, though Pakistan has a keen interest in how the Afghan conflict plays out. On Monday, Khalilzad discussed the peace process with Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman

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

of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, and he was also expected to meet other Afghan officials.

“Development of the peace process, accelerating the process and the assessment of the Doha peace agreement by the US new administration were main topics of the discussion,” said Fraidoon Khwazoon, a spokesman for Abdullah.